“When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing” — Deut. 23:9.
GOD’S host of old was invincible so long as they walked in obedience to His Word. But sin tolerated rendered them weak and powerless against the enemy. We who wrestle not with flesh and blood but with wicked spirits in heavenly places, must deal unsparingly with every evil tendency in ourselves if we would triumph in the hour of conflict. Hidden sin, unjudged and unconfessed, will be our undoing when we attempt to meet the enemy. A bad conscience will nullify all our holy weapons and result in utter defeat. But if we deal unsparingly with the evil we can count on God to work in us and to fight for us.
“Search out in me all hidden sin,
And may Thy purity within
So cleanse my life, that it may be
A temple wholly it for Thee.
Oh, search my life, my will, my all,
As now on Thee, my Lord, I call:
Purge me from self, and sanctify
My life, while Thee I glorify.”