Have we not, all, bad passious and propensities? are we not all selfish? and is not selfishness the root and essence of all evil, and is it not that which leads to all manner of evil, and produces all the suffering and misery in the world? Do we not love ourselves better than our neighbor? Are we not, perhaps, this very day making plans for our own aggrandizement, which may cross our neighbour's path, and disturb his peace, which may be opposed to God's purposes and contrary to His will? And in that degree, are we not about to throw ourselves out of the Divine protection, and to plunge into trials, temptations, and dangers? We are—we are. We need to be protected against our evil selves. And there is no security for us, but in falling down on our knees, before going forth to the cares of the day, and looking up, praying to the Lord, that we may be kept from the evil of our own hearts, which will certainly lead us astray;—that we may be kept within the course of His Divine will, and in the stream of His providence;—that we may be led by Him, and that we may not lead ourselves, lest we fall into temptation. Thus looking up and thus praying—in simplicity, and earnest sincerity—the prayer will be answered in the utterance; in the very act of thus submitting ourselves humbly to the Lord's guidance, we bring ourselves under His Divine protection: because, by this act of prayer and self-submission, our own evil and self-will, which is our most dangerous enemy, and which was about to lead us astray, is broken. The spirits of darkness, which make one with the evil in our hearts, and have their habitation there,—are put to flight; and in their place, good angels from the Lord descend—messengers from Him, to be our guides and guardians throughout the day.
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