1 Samuel 17:29

"Is there not a cause?" 1 Samuel 17:29 .

Yet the man himself may not be able to explain it. We have seen again and again that it is possible even for rational men to be unable to give reasons for certain parts of their conduct. There is an inworking mystery, a subtle mysterious action of mind upon mind, spirit upon spirit, leading to results which cannot be accounted for by logical processes. On the other hand, we must guard ourselves against the mastery of mere impulse, never supposing that because we feel impelled in a certain direction therefore the direction is right. We should not forget the art and the duty of self-analysis, and if ever we find that obedience to an impulse results to our material advantage, then we are entitled to suspect the inspiration of that impulse. When an impulse carries a man away to become a missionary, a hero, a subject of personal sacrifice; when it inflicts upon him great inconvenience, disadvantage, and even loss; when it drags him forth to a place called Golgotha; we may begin to feel that he is in reality following an impulse other than human. We are not to walk in the line of our inclination, which is always a treacherous course, but to walk in that line which involves great self-denial, and an increasing sense of the necessity of absolute dependence upon the living God.