Proverbs 6:20 My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 21 Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. 22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. 23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. 26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. 27 Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? 29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

I John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Related:

Photo credit: Young Cape Foxes in Etosha N.P., Namibia found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kapfuchs-nachwuchs.jpg | taken by Susann Eurich (Kilara) | CC by - SA 3.0

Scripture quotations from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.

 
Psalm 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4  How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land? 5  If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6  If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

I. The mournful posture they were in as to their affairs and as to their spirits. 1. They were posted by the rivers of Babylon, in a strange land, a great way from their own country, whence they were brought as prisoners of war. The land of Babylon was now a house of bondage to that people, as Egypt had been in their beginning. Their conquerors quartered them by the rivers, with design to employ them there, and keep them to work in their galleys; or perhaps they chose it as the most melancholy place, and therefore most suitable to their sorrowful spirits. If they must build houses there (Jer. xxix. 5), it shall not be in the cities, the places of concourse, but by the rivers, the places of solitude, where they might mingle their tears with the streams. We find some of them by the river Chebar (Ezek. i. 3), others by the river Ulai, Dan. viii. 2. 2. There they sat down to indulge their grief by poring on their miseries. Jeremiah had taught them under this yoke to sit alone, and keep silence, and put their mouths in the dust, Lam. iii. 28, 29. "We sat down, as those that expected to stay, and were content, since it was the will of God that it must be so." 3. Thoughts of Zion drew tears from their eyes; and it was not a sudden passion of weeping, such as we are sometimes put into by a trouble that surprises us, but they were deliberate tears (we sat down and wept), tears with consideration--we wept when we remembered Zion, the holy hill on which the temple was built. Their affection to God's house swallowed up their concern for their own houses. They remembered Zion's former glory and the satisfaction they had had in Zion's courts, Lam. i. 7. Jerusalem remembered, in the days of her misery, all her pleasant things which she had in the days of old, Ps. xlii. 4. They remembered Zion's present desolations, and favoured the dust thereof, which was a good sign that the time for God to favour it was not far off, Ps. cii. 13, 14. 4. They laid by their instruments of music (2): We hung our harps upon the willows. (1.) The harps they used for their own diversion and entertainment. These they laid aside, both because it was their judgment that they ought not to use them now that God called to weeping and mourning (Isa. xxii. 12), and their spirits were so sad that they had no hearts to use them; they brought their harps with them, designing perhaps to use them for the alleviating of their grief, but it proved so great that it would not admit the experiment. Music makes some people melancholy. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart. (2.) The harps they used in God's worship, the Levites' harps. These they did not throw away, hoping they might yet again have occasion to use them, but they laid them aside because they had no present use for them; God had cut them out other work by turning their feasting into mourning and their songs into lamentations, Amos viii. 10. Every thing is beautiful in its season. They did not hide their harps in the bushes, or the hollows of the rocks; but hung them up in view, that the sight of them might affect them with this deplorable change. Yet perhaps they were faulty in doing this; for praising God is never out of season; it is his will that we should in every thing give thanks, Isa. xxiv. 15, 16.

Song of Solomon 5:9  What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 10  My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

Isaiah 24:14  They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 15  Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

my other letters on assurance and fighting for joy, including these:

Naphtali News: musing on this ocean of Xanga/Revelife
Why not pray for the baptism of the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, Come! (Joseph Hart)
As a deer pants ... Is your soul panting for God? (Psalms 42 & 43)
O, Lord, I have need of endurance today (yet You are here with me in the midst)
Though beyond all measure I be pressed ~ "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials"
In darkest place
even in my disappointment - still blessed by my Father
when grace delays, has Love gone astray? ~ a hymn of assurance
In hope against hope believe, Blessed are all who believe
"And they cast him out." (John 9) ~ Providence is not surprised
By Shimei Cursed, By Jordan Refreshed (II Samuel 16:5-14)
In the multitude of our anxieties, the Lord's comforts alone delight our souls

II Samuel 16:5  When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. 6  And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7  And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man! 8  The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood.”

9  Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.” 10  But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the LORD has said to him, ‘Curse David,’ who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11  And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. 12  It may be that the LORD will look on the wrong done to me, and that the LORD will repay me with good for his cursing today.” 13  So David and his men went on the road, while Shimei went along on the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went and threw stones at him and flung dust. 14  And the king, and all the people who were with him, arrived weary at the Jordan. And there he refreshed himself.

I Peter, Romans 12
Reflections on 9/11: "You have heard that it was said... But I say to you..."
"And they cast him out." (John 9) ~ Providence is not surprised
Learning to run without fear
Kingdom-Obsessed People don't keep looking in the rear view mirror at past hurts, # 5
Bible Reading-Isaiah: When We Think the LORD Has Forsaken and Forgotten Us
The Often Unwanted but Necessary Gift: The Gift of the Broken Heart
All things (even bad things) work together for good...
Lent I.–Suffering and Glory
Our Twisted View of God
The art of life is the art of avoiding pain?
The story of Job: bad luck, God's sovereign will or ?
some reflections about prayer
Bible Reading: II Corinthians 1-Blessings out of buffetings (Alan Redpath)
God's sovereign grace & care in Genesis (the story of Joseph)
Lenten Reflections: "Come near to me, please." (Genesis 45)
Whitefield's prayers: more reminders of God's sovereign grace & care
Are you a Jonah?
Letter 11 on assurance and fighting for joy (the Lord is at hand! - Philippians 4)
Letter 15 on assurance and fighting for joy (Joy is a gift of God, more than a feeling)
Letter 16 on assurance and fighting for joy (our prayers, His wise denials and joy)
Shall we not drink the cup the Father has given us? (Letter 53 on assurance & fighting for joy)
In the multitude of your anxieties, may His comforts delight your soul: Letter 60 on assurance & joy
In the multitude of our anxieties, the Lord's comforts alone delight our souls
What is your attitude toward trials and sufferings? ~ Whitefield's Journals
year end reflections, # 1: "end of the year ... in the midst of heartache" | Letter 97 on joy
year end reflections, # 2: rejoicing in "The Often Unwanted but Necessary Gift" | Letter 98 on joy
disappointment ~ appointment | letter 119 on assurance & fighting for joy
disaster's hidden call
O, this cross! ~ We are but vessels

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Camera crusade through the Holy Land, C. Scribner's Sons, New York 1912 found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jordan_river_1912.jpg by Dwight Lathrop Elmendorf - Public Domain.