The Prick of a Pin and a Heavy Blow

“The prick of a pin maketh a man start, but a heavy bloit stunneth him. David, luhen he cut off the lap ofSanVs garment, his heaj’t smote hijn; but when he fell into adultery and blood, he was like one in a sivoon.” Thus it is that a sHoht departure from right will startle the unsophisticated conscience, while a gross sin may stun it into a horrible insensibihty. Much serious thought is suggested by this most striking simile. Among other things it teaches us to dread a benumbed or swooning conscience, for it may have been brought into that condition by a terrible sin. Better far to be morbidly sensitive, and condemn one’s self needlessly, than to be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. A quick and tender conscience is among the best gifts of grace; let those who have it guard its delicacy with jealous care.

Lord, let my conscience be as tender as the apple of my eye. As well-balanced scales are tremulous at the fall of a single grain of dust, so let the minutest sin set me on the move. Never, I beseech thee, permit mc to become heavy with the intoxication caused by a deep draught of evil:” Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.’’