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A missionary from Polynesia brought home a "soul trap." It was a series of rings twisted in cocoanut fibre. If a native should commit a great offence, or offend a sorcerer, he proceeds to make a new ring in his chain, so as to form a trap to catch the poor man's spirit. Soon the sorcerer asserts that the soul of the culprit, assuming this form, has passed into the trap. It is immediately known throughout the tribe that a certain man has lost his soul. As a matter of fact, it invariably happens that the soulless man shortly afterwards dies, of course through sheer mental distress at having had his soul thus entrapped. We smile at such traps, but we are all familiar with soul traps of a far more subtle and dangerous character. In the verses before us the Psalmist vividly pictures the crafty schemes of the wicked in order to entrap their victims. They seek by most subtle arts to entangle and destroy.

I. IT IS THUS THAT SELFISH MEN SET WRAPS FOR THE YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED. With lies and enticements the covetous seek to entrap and destroy the young. Soul traps for the young! How numerous they are! How cleverly contrived! The utmost artifice and plausibility. How successful they are (ver. 10). "Crouching down as low as possible, he lies on the watch, and the feeble and defenceless fall into his strong ones, i.e. claws." — Delitzsch. How many thus fall! Our cities are full of fallen young men and women. We have thousands of heartless men in society answering to the vile robber pictured in these verses. For the sake of gain they set traps in which the health, honour, happiness, soul of the youthful perish. The whole civilised world was shocked the other day by the discovery that, by means of an infernal machine, a villain sent ships and their crews to the bottom of the sea for the sake of the insurance money; but thousands of atheistical, covetous men, for the sake of gain, are ingeniously seeking to sink the souls of the people in the gulf of hell.

II. IT IS THUS THAT THE WORLD CONTRIVES TRAPS FOR THE GODLY. The world does not like the godly, and in various subtle methods it seeks to worst them.

1. It has traps for their reputation. "His mouth is full of perjury and deceit." He sets a net of cunningly devised speech, that he may be able to bring their good name into discredit.

2. It has traps for their fortune. It will "privily seek" to damage their circumstances. It will adroitly circulate reports, frame laws, to bring them into financial trouble.

3. It has traps for their character. They know the natural weaknesses of a Christian, and they bait their hook, set their net, accordingly. He is short tempered, and they contrive to put in his way occasions of auger; he is given to levity, and they provoke his mirth; he has strong appetites, and they put drink to his lips; he is feeble in faith, and they press him with scepticisms. The world hates the righteous, and when it cannot injure them openly it will secretly. The devil is a wily destroyer, and his children imitate his tactics and seek to murder the innocent.

III. IT IS THUS THAT SATAN SETS TRAPS FOR US ALL. He is the great bandit pictured in the text; he is the great sorcerer whose soul traps beset us at every turn. What a clever fowler is he! what a politic huntsman! what a subtle angler! The devil hides himself, he disguises his movements, and in an evil hour men are drawn "into the net." Here he betrays by pleasure. Bates tells us of a spider in South America which looks like a blossom, and insects alighting on it for sweetness find death. So the great foe, under the aspect of pleasure, betrays thousands. Here he betrays by honour. One of the Roman emperors used to fish with a net of purple and gold; the devil has used this net largely and taken great prey. And by many other devices does he destroy the unwary. Beware! Beware of those soul traps made of flowers, called pleasure; of those purple-lined ones called greatness; of those gay-painted ones called fashion; of those scientific ones called philosophy; of those jewelled ones called honour; of those golden ones called wealth; of those most plausible ones called morality. "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." The devil will lie, fawn, flatter, and do this patiently for years to ruin us.

1. Let the innocent put their trust in God, and walk circumspectly. The afflicted committeth himself unto Thee; Thou art the helper of the fatherless" (ver. 14). Alas for us if we attempt to stand in our own strength, and take our defence into our own hands! "He that takes himself out of God's hands into his own, by and by will not know what to do with himself." — Whichcote. And in our darkest hours of temptation and trial we may have the fullest, assurance that God has not forgotten us. The wicked say, "God will never see it" (ver. 11). But the Psalmist replies, "Thou hast seen it; for Thou beholdest mischief and spite to requite it with Thy hand" (ver. 14). "The Psalmist means to say, so far from the assertion of the wicked man being true, that God is forgetful of the poor, He is, on the contrary, observant of their trouble and vexation; and in order not to forget their calamities He places a memorial of them on His hands" (Isaiah 49:26).

2. Let the wicked be assured that God's eye is upon them, and that justice must overtake them (ver 15). "Because the Lord continues to spare them, therefore they go on to provoke Him. As He adds to their lives, so they add to their lusts. Because justice seems to wink, men suppose her blind; because she delays punishment, they imagine she denies to punish them; because she does not always reprove them for their sins, they suppose she always approves of their sins. But let such know that the silent arrow can destroy as well as the roaring cannon. Though the patience of God be lasting, yet it is not everlasting." — Spurgeon.

(W. L. Watkinson.)

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KJV: His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

WEB: His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.