Two conditions are laid down in the text. One is negative-the unclean
can find no footing there. It is 'the way of holiness,' not only
because holiness is in some sense the goal to which it leads, but still
more, because only holy feet can tread it, holy at least in the
travellers' aspiration and inward consecration, though still needing to
be washed daily. One is positive--it is 'the simple' who shall not err
therein. They who distrust themselves and their own skill to find or
force a path through life's jungle, and trust themselves to higher
guidance, are they whose feet will be kept in the way.
No lion or ravenous beast can spring or creep up thereon. Simple
keeping on Christ's highway elevates us above temptations and evils of
all sorts, whether nightly prowlers or daylight foes.
This generation is boasting or complaining that old landmarks are
blotted out, ancient paths broken, footmarks obliterated, stars hid,
and mist shrouding the desert. But Christ still guides, and His promise
still holds good: 'He that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness,
but shall have the light of life.' The alternative for each 'traveller
between life and death' is to tread in His footsteps or to 'wander in
the wilderness in a solitary way, hungry and thirsty,' with fainting
soul. Let us make the ancient prayer ours: 'See if there be any wicked
way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.'