Psalm 65:3

“Iniquities prevail against me; as for our transgressions, you shall purge them away!”

From reading the experience of the saints, as recorded in the Holy Scriptures, we derive not only comfort and encouragement, but the most refined instruction that can be conveyed to the mind of man. As in light there is a combination of widely different rays, and it is that combination, together with their simultaneous action, which gives to light its peculiar sweetness. Just so, it is a combination of widely different views and feelings that gives to the Christian his divinely-tempered experience in the things of God.

In the passage before us, we behold the man after God’s own heart bewailing his sinfulness—yet not discouraged; and sweetly comforted in his soul, without any abatement of his contrition. It is this mixture of feeling which so greatly elevates the Christian character. His graces, by means of it, shine with a subdued luster; and being thus tempered, they are “pleasing to the eyes both of God and man, Ecclesiastes 11:7.” Let us notice,

I. David’s distress.

What are we to understand by this expression, “Iniquities prevail against me?”

It cannot be meant that he indulged in sin of any kind; for “one who is born of God does not practice sin; nor indeed can he practice sin (willingly and habitually), because he is born of God.” “Whoever practices sin in this way, is of the devil! 1 John 3:8-9.”

Indeed the very terms here used suppose a conflict. David hated and resisted sin in the daily habit of his mind; but he had within him a principle of evil as well as of good, “the flesh lusting against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, so that he could not do the things that he would, Galatians 5:17.” He was in the same predicament with the Apostle Paul; who, though he delighted in the Law of God after the inward man, “found a law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which was in his members.” And under a painful sense of his infirmities he cried, “O what a wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death,” which I am constrained thus to drag along with me, as a putrid carcass, even to my dying hour! Romans 7:22-24.

Alluding to a punishment which some tyrants have inflicted on the objects of their displeasure. We understand, therefore, David as saying precisely what Paul also says, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing, Romans 7:18-19.”

And who is there among us that has not reason to adopt this language in reference to his own soul?

If we look at the workings of actual corruption, we shall all find occasion to confess, “Iniquities prevail against me.” All, it is true, are not guilty of gross sin; but who is free from indwelling corruption? “Who can say, I have made my heart clean? Proverbs 20:9.” There is an abundance both of “spiritual and fleshly filthiness” in every man, 2 Corinthians 7:1; the most eminent saint on earth is renewed but in part, 1 Corinthians 13:9-10. It is in Heaven alone that absolute perfection exists. He can know but little of himself who does not see occasion to mourn over his many evil thoughts, and many corrupt propensities!

Let us take a view of the workings of our hearts in relation to pride, envy, malice, and revenge.

Let us call to mind the motions of anger, fretfulness, and impatience, of which our consciences must convict us.

Let us trace the influence of uncharitableness towards those who stand in competition with us, or have made themselves in any way liable to our displeasure.

We may soon discover how far any of us are from being perfect, and what need we all have to cry, “Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you! Psalm 143:2.”

But let us look at our short-comings and defects, and then we shall find no difficulty in adopting the words of David in our text. The true way to discover our real state before God, is to take his holy Law as the standard whereby to try our habits and attainments. How far are any of us from loving God with all our heart, and all our mind, and all our soul, and all our strength; and our neighbor as ourselves! Only let us notice the frame of our souls through the day, yes even in the exercises of devotion, and we shall have no need for anyone to tell us how far we are still alienated from God, and how little we have attained of habitual communion with him.

Though we may, on the whole, be kind towards our neighbor, let us only be brought by any circumstances into actual collision with him, and we shall reveal to others at least, if not discern in ourselves, how very far short of the divine standard our love to him is, and how unlike we are to Christ, who “laid down his life for his enemies.”

Let us go on to examine the state of our souls in reference to our blessed Lord and Savior, who died for us. What admiring and adoring thoughts of him should we entertain from day to day, from hour to hour! What floods of tears should run down our cheeks from a sense of love and gratitude to him for all the wonders of his love; and what an influence should they produce on the whole of our life and conduct.

I need go no further to confirm the truth which I am inculcating, namely, that “iniquities do indeed prevail against us” to a fearful extent; and that all of us have need to “walk softly before God” in the remembrance of them, Isaiah 38:15.

But, if we partake of David’s sorrows, we may also be partakers of,

II. David’s consolation.

As the Apostle, after his lamentation, found comfort in Christ, so David also found consolation in God through Christ.

1. We may derive comfort from the free grace and mercy of God.

It is evident that he regards God as a gracious and merciful Being, who would “not be extreme to mark what was done amiss, Psalm 130:3; but would in judgment remember mercy. And this ground of hope is open to us all; for mercy is the darling attribute of God, if I may so speak, the attribute “in which he delights, Micah 7:18;” while judgment is that strange work to which he is utterly averse, Isaiah 28:21.

See the description which Jehovah gives of his own character, “I am the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, patient, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin! Exodus 34:6-7.” See also his marvelous displays of this attribute towards men; to what an extent it could reach, 2 Chronicles 33:19, and with what rapidity it could fly to the discharge of its delightful office, 2 Samuel 12:13. Hear the language in which God “reasons” with sinners; (O, blessed reasoning! I pray God it may convince us all, and not leave so much as a shadow of doubt upon our minds!) “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool! Isaiah 1:18.” Yes, brethren, however discouraging your inward conflicts may be, you may well “encourage yourselves in the Lord your God! 1 Samuel 30:6.”

2. We may derive comfort from the sufficiency of the means ordained by God.

God had appointed sacrifices as an atonement for sin; and, though “they could never take away sin,” or “make a man perfect as pertaining to the conscience, Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:4; Hebrews 10:14,” they directed the offerers to that one great sacrifice which was in due time to be offered on the cross, and which was a sufficient “atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world, 1 John 2:2.” And, in the view of that sacrifice, David, with all his enormous guilt upon him, could say, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean! Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow! Psalm 51:7.”

Who then among us shall despair of mercy, if only we seek it in the Savior’s name? Indeed it is not mercy only, but justice also, that shall plead for us, if we approach our God in the name of Christ; for we are told that “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness! 1 John 1:9.”
—
Here, then, let the drooping sinner take courage; and to his complaints, that “iniquities prevail against him,” add the consolatory truth, “As for my transgressions, O Lord, you shall purge them away!” You have “opened a fountain for sin and for impurity, Zechariah 13:1;” and I believe that it shall be sufficient even for me; and that “the blood of Jesus Christ, your Son, shall cleanse me from all sin! 1 John 1:7.”

To all of you, then, I would say,

1. Acquaint yourselves with your own ways, that you may be truly humbled.

There can be no humility without self-knowledge; nor must anyone be satisfied with an examination of his outward conduct; (that, like Paul’s in his unconverted state, may be “blameless, Philippians 3:6.”). We must search our hearts, if we would know ourselves aright; yes, and “beg of God also to search and test us,” if we would attain that kind of self-knowledge which alone will be sufficient to humble our proud spirits, Psalm 139:23-24.

Mark, then, I beg you:
your thoughts,
your desires,
your motives,
your principles, and
the entire habit of your minds before God.

Mark all your tempers under the various circumstances that arise from day to day; and compare yourselves with the requirements of the Law, and with that great exemplar, the Lord Jesus Christ! Do this, and you will find no temptation to pride yourselves on your attainments, or to exalt yourselves above your less favored brethren. You will find your place, where the Apostle found his, among the chief of sinners, and will vie with him in magnifying and adoring the grace of God!

2. “Acquaint yourselves with God, that you may be at peace”.

This was the advice which Eliphaz gave to Job, Job 22:21, and which I would give to every one of you. It is self-knowledge which alone can humble us; but it is the knowledge of God alone that can afford us any comfort. Indeed, the more we know of our indwelling corruptions, the more shall we despair, if we do not proportionably grow in the knowledge of God and of his Son Jesus Christ. But if we bear in mind what we have already stated respecting the character of God, and the sufficiency of that sacrifice which Christ has offered for us—we shall attain that precise frame of mind, that just admixture:
of hope and fear,
of joy and sorrow,
of confidence and abasement,
which constitutes the perfection of Christian experience, and leads to the highest possible attainments in the divine life.

Go then, every one of you, my brethren, to God in Christ Jesus. Carry nothing with you but your sins! Do not think of purging them away by anything that you yourselves can do; but cast yourselves upon the mercy of God in Christ Jesus; and expect from him the mercy which you need for the pardon of your sins, and the grace which you need for the maintenance of your future conflicts. Only go with Paul, crying, “O what a wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” and you shall be enabled to add with him, “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:25.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 63:1-8

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me!”

It is justly said of God, that “he gives songs in the night;” and never was there a more striking evidence of it than in the psalm before us. David is supposed to have written it when he was in the wilderness of Ziph, fleeing from Saul who was seeking to destroy him 1 Samuel 23:15. But we can scarcely conceive that he would call himself “the king,” as he does in the 11th verse, in the life-time of Saul; for though he believed that God would ultimately raise him to the throne, it would have been treason against his legitimate prince to arrogate to himself the title of “king;” nor can we conceive that under his perilous circumstances he would have given Saul so just a ground of accusation against him.

For these reasons we are inclined to think it was written at the time that he fled into the wilderness from Absalom, when he, and the people that were with him, were in the greatest distress for every necessity of life, 2 Samuel 17:28-29. But what are the contents of this Psalm? Nothing but joy and triumph; the things of time and sense were as nothing in his eyes; but God was “all in all.”

From that portion of the Psalm which we have read, we shall take occasion to show you:

the desires of a renewed soul,

the purposes of a renewed soul, and

the expectations of a renewed soul.

I. The desires of a renewed soul.

As soon as the soul has obtained a saving interest in Christ, and reconciliation with God through him, it is privileged to claim God as its own special portion; it is entitled to say of Christ, “My Beloved is mine, and I am his;” “He has loved me, and given himself for me!” And to the Father himself also, as now reconciled to him, he can say, “O God, you are my God!” It is no wonder then, that from henceforth God becomes the one object of his desire.

The soul now finds no satisfaction in earthly things.

The whole world appears to it as “a land where there is no water.” The whole creation seems to be but “a broken cistern,” which, while it promises refreshment to the weary and heavy-laden, is never able to impart it.

If it is objected, that, though David, under his peculiar trials, found the world so barren of all good—but we may find it a source of comfort to us; we answer, That there is nothing in this world that is suited to satisfy the desires of an immortal soul; and that, the more we have of this world, the more fully shall we be convinced, that it is altogether an empty bubble, a cheat, a lie; and that “vanity and vexation of spirit” is written by the finger of God himself upon all that it contains. The carnal mind cannot believe this; but the renewed soul needs no argument to convince it of this truth.

The soul’s desire therefore is after God alone.

“Early will I seek you,” is the language of every one who is born of God. In the secret chamber his first waking thoughts will be,

Where is God my Maker?

Where is Jesus my Redeemer?

Where is the blessed Spirit my Sanctifier and my Comforter?

In the public ordinances also especially will his soul desire communion with its God. It has beheld somewhat of God’s power and glory in the manifestations of his love, and in the communications of his grace; and it bears those seasons in remembrance, and longs to have them renewed from time to time. The bare ordinances will not satisfy the believer, if God is not in them. It is not to perform a duty that he comes up to the sanctuary, but to meet his God, and enjoy sweet converse with him; and if he does not meet God there, he is like a man who, with much ardent expectation, has gone to a distant city to meet his friend, and has been disappointed of his hope; or rather he is like those of whom the prophet Jeremiah speaks, who in a season of extreme drought “came to the pits and found no water; and returning with their vessels empty, were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads, Jeremiah 14:3.”

They know by sad experience that “there is no water” elsewhere; and if they do not find access to “God, the living fountain,” their very “flesh” sympathizes with their “souls,” and faints by reason of the painful disappointment. This is beautifully described in another Psalm, Psalm 42:1-3; and it is realized in the experience of every believer, in proportion to the integrity of his soul before God, and to the measure of grace with which he is endued.

In perfect correspondence with the desires of a renewed soul, are,

II. The purposes of a renewed soul.

The believer determines to praise and glorify his God.

The language of his heart is, “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed! I will sing and give praise.” He knows what God has said, “Whoever offers me praise, glorifies me;” and he determines to offer unto God the tribute that is so justly due. Nor will he do this in a cold and formal manner; no; as a man of warm feelings expresses with his body the emotions of his soul—so will he, together with his heart, lift up his hands also in the name of his God. Nor will he pour forth these effusions only on some particular occasions, or during any one particular season; he will do it continually; he will do it to the last hour of his life. He considers “praise as lovely for the upright;” and he wishes it to be the constant language of his lips.

To this determination he is led by the consideration of the loving-kindness of his God.

O how wonderful does that love appear to him, which gave no less a person than God’s co-equal co-eternal Son to die for him! which gave him too the knowledge of that Savior, together with all spiritual and eternal blessings in him—while thousands and millions of the human race are dying in ignorance and perishing in their sins! This loving-kindness so free, so rich, so full, appears to him “better than even life itself;” and all that he can do to testify his gratitude seems nothing, yes “less than nothing,” in comparison with it. The language of his heart is, “If I should hold my peace, the very stones would cry out against me.” O that I had powers equal to the occasion! How would I praise him! how would I glorify him! Truly I would praise him on earth, even as they do in Heaven.

In these purposes the believing soul is yet further confirmed by,

III. The expectations of a renewed soul.

The service of God is not without its reward even in this life; and hence the believer, while engaged in his favorite employment,

1. The believer expects the richest consolation.

The carnal mind can see no pleasure in this holy exercise; but the spiritual mind is refreshed by it, more than the most luxurious epicure ever was by the richest dainties. His very meditations are unspeakably sweet; yes, while contemplating his God upon his bed, and during the silent watches of the night, “his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness;” it has a foretaste even of Heaven itself; From its own experience of this heavenly joy, the soul expects this glorious harvest, when it has sown in tears, and labored to glorify its God in songs of praise.

2. The believer expects the most assured safety.

Thus engaged, the soul looks down upon all its enemies with disdain; it feels itself in an impregnable fortress; it is conscious that it owes all its past preservation to the help of its Almighty Friend; and it rejoices in the thought that under the shadow of the Redeemer’s wings it must still be safe; and that “none shall ever pluck it out of the Father’s hands.” The state of Hezekiah, when surrounded by a vast army that was bent on his destruction, exactly shows what is the state of a believing soul in the midst of all its enemies, “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, has despised you, and laughed you to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you.” Such was the language of Zion to all the Assyrian hosts; and such is the blessed anticipation of victory which every believer is privileged to enjoy! Romans 8:33-39.

Improvement.

1. How greatly do the generality of religious professors live below their privileges!

It was not peculiar to David thus to delight in God; it is common to all the saints. Can it be thought that we, who live under so much better a dispensation than he, and have so much brighter discoveries of God’s power and glory than ever he had—should yet not be privileged to delight in God as he did? Were this the case, we would be losers by that religion which the Son of God came down from Heaven to establish. But it is not so; we may partake of all spiritual blessing in as rich abundance as he, or any other of the saints of old, did.

We have reason to be ashamed that:

our desires after God are so faint,

our purposes respecting him so weak, and

our expectations from him so contracted.

Let us, each for himself, look at our experience from day to day, and compare it with his; and let us not rest until we have attained somewhat of that delight in God which so eminently distinguished that blessed man.

2. What encouragement have all to seek after God!

It was not only after David had so grievously transgressed, but at the very moment that God was chastening him for his transgressions, that he was thus favored of his God. Absalom’s incest with David’s wives was foretold by Nathan, as a part of David’s punishment for his sin in taking to him the wife of his friend Uriah.

Can we then with propriety say, This mercy is not for me? it is not possible for such a sinner as I, ever to be thus highly favored? Know that there is no limit, either to the sovereign exercise of God’s grace, or to its influence on the souls of men. His grace often most abounds, where sin has most abounded; and the vilest of us all may yet become the richest monument of God’s love and mercy, if only, like David, he will humble himself for his iniquities, and sprinkle on his conscience the blood of our great sacrifice.

O beloved! know, if you come to God by Christ, you shall never be cast out; and if you commit yourself in faith entirely to Christ, you shall rejoice in him with joy unspeakable, and receive in due time the great end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 61:1-3

“Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you—I call when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe!”

In whatever situation we are, we shall find both consolation in the promises, and direction in the examples, that are recorded for our use in the Sacred Writings. But in seasons of affliction principally, will the holy Oracles be found precious, because they exhibit to us God’s dearest children in similar circumstances, and point out to us the means which they, in their troubles, found effectual for their relief.

In recommending the example of David, we shall,

I. Mention some seasons wherein our hearts are apt to be overwhelmed.

This poor world is a valley of tears to all; but to some more especially:

1. From temporal calamities.

Bodily pains, loss of friends, failures, will weigh down the spirits even of the best, 2 Samuel 18:33.” And though, at times, religion will enable them to triumph in the midst of all their tribulations—yet its more common operation is:
to moderate their grief,
to produce resignation in their souls, and
to sanctify the affliction to their spiritual advancement.

2. From spiritual troubles.

The first convictions of penitents are often accompanied with the deepest anguish; insomuch that, if God did not support them by a hope of his mercy—then they might, like Judas, destroy themselves in utter despair. Their subsequent views also of their indwelling corruptions are frequently attended with such dejection, as quite to enervate the body and overwhelm the soul! Isaiah 35:3-4. Romans 7:24. If to these are added the hidings of God’s face, the soul may have a foretaste even of Hell itself in the miseries that it endures! Psalm 77:2-9.

3. From the near prospect of death.

To a true believer enjoying the divine presence, death has no terrors, Philippians 1:21; Philippians 1:23; it is a welcome messenger, that cannot come too soon. But to one in spiritual darkness and desertion, death is inexpressibly dreadful; and the whole world would appear but a small price to pay for the respite of a few days.

The ungodly often die as insensible of eternal realities as the beasts! But the godly, who know the terrors of the Lord, cannot pass through that dreary valley without extreme horror, unless they have an inward witness of their acceptance with God, Psalm 55:4-5.

The example in the text may serve as a model, while we endeavor to,

II. Show how we should conduct ourselves in those seasons when our hearts are apt to be overwhelmed.

1. To speak generally, we should betake ourselves to prayer.

God is the only source of true strength and consolation. If we apply to the creature in our distress, we shall invariably find him but a broken reed! Hosea 5:14. Isaiah 31:3. On the contrary, the pressure that is on our minds will, for the most part, increase; or, if the trouble is removed, the removal will prove a heavier judgment than its continuance.

But if we apply with humility to the throne of grace, the desired effect will almost instantly appear, Isaiah 65:24. There is no trouble from which prayer has not extricated believers!

Prayer prolonged the life of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20:1-6.
Prayer brought Jonah from the bottom of the sea, Jonah 2:1-7.
Prayer restored to peace the tempest-tossed soul of David, Psalm 116:3-8.

For us also, if it is fervent, prayer shall effectually prevail, James 5:16.
There is no disquietude which prayer shall not pacify.
There is no sorrow which prayer shall not turn into songs of joy! Psalm 50:15.

Wherever we are therefore, even “at the very ends of the earth,” and however circumstanced—we should make our requests known unto God, in order to the attainment of solid peace, Philippians 4:6-7.

2. More particularly, we should beg of God to lead us to the Savior.

David, though a king, had no sufficiency in himself; he was forced to look to one higher than himself, even to Jesus, the Rock of his salvation! Psalm 89:19. But how should he come to Jesus, unless the Father should draw him? John 6:44. Hence he prayed so fervently, that God would “lead” him to that Rock.

There then must we also go; for there alone can we find stability.

Does guilt appall us? Nothing but the blood of Jesus can compose our minds! Acts 16:29-31.

Do temptations harass us? Nothing but his grace can enable us to withstand them! 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Do accumulated troubles threaten to overwhelm us? We can both do and suffer all things, if he strengthens us—yes, we shall be more than conquerors through him who loved us! Romans 8:37. Like a shipwrecked mariner standing on a rock, we may defy the waves that roar beneath our feet. Such was the experience of David himself Psalm 40:1-3,” and such shall be ours also, if the storms that threaten us drive us for security to that place of safety.

Let us then, in every affliction, look to Jesus as our help; and, with a deep impression of our inability to go to him aright, let us cry unto God, “Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I!”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who experience no overwhelming troubles.

However serene the sky at present is, no man knows how soon a storm may arise. But supposing our voyage through life is ever so favorable, it must come to an end; and what shall we do in the hour of death without a saving interest in Christ? Above all, what must become of us, if we are not fixed upon that Rock at the day of judgment?

Let us then improve our tranquil hours in securing a saving foundation on Christ Jesus; that, however suddenly calamities may come, or death may summon us into the presence of our God, we may be found standing immovably on the Rock of ages! Then, like Noah, shall we rejoice in God’s favor, when thoughtless myriads shall be overwhelmed in the deluge of his wrath!

2. Those who are bowed down under trouble.

You are but too apt to carry your distresses to men, instead of spreading them before God. What wonder then, that you find no deliverance? Has not David told you, that this was his very experience; and that nothing but the use of this remedy afforded him relief? Psalm 32:3-5.

Chide then, and resist, your backwardness to prayer. Lay the blame, not on God, who is willing to impart help, but on yourselves, who are unwilling to implore it. Your troubles are sent on purpose to drive you to the Savior, whom, in a time of prosperity, you are too prone to neglect! If they produce that effect, you shall soon number your trials among your richest blessings!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 60:4

“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah”

[N.B. Banners were used as rallying points for troops in preparation for battle and for leading them into action.]

This Psalm, in the title of it, is called “Michtam,” a golden Psalm; and it well deserves the name. It was written by David after he had come to the full possession of the kingdom, which, during the reign of Saul, 1 Samuel 31:7, and during the seven years’ division of the tribes under Ishbosheth, 2 Samuel 5:4-5, had been reduced to a very low condition, “God had showed his people hard things, and made them to drink the wine of astonishment.”

But the union of all Israel under David, and the victories they had already gained over their powerful and oppressive adversaries the Philistines, were tokens of God’s returning favor to them, and a pledge to them that all his promised blessings should in due season be poured out upon them.

It would seem as if the more pious part of the people had been discouraged by the long continuance of this adversity; and had begun almost to despair of ever seeing their hopes realized, respecting the extension and stability of their national power. But David tells them, that, in his advancement to the kingdom, and in their recent successes, “God had given them a banner,” and had unfurled it, as it were, before their eyes, as a signal of his presence in the midst of them, and as a pledge of victory over all their enemies.

What God did for the Jews as a pledge of temporal advancement, he has done for his redeemed people in all ages, to assure them of success in their spiritual warfare.

To illustrate this, I will show,

I. What banners God has given us.

The Church has a warfare to maintain; and, if, human prowess alone were considered, it is a warfare which would afford not the smallest prospect of success.

1. God has given to us a banner in the elevation of his Son.

David was an eminent type of Christ, and especially in the advancement of his kingdom; for Christ was appointed “to sit upon the throne of David forever and ever.” Was David’s elevation then a banner? Then so also is that of Christ, who is now seated at the right hand of God, above all the principalities and powers whether of earth or Hell. Believer, survey your Lord. Remember him in the manger, in the garden, on the cross, and in the grave. From a view of him in those scenes, you would be ready to say, There is no hope. But behold him risen, ascended, glorified, and in full possession of his kingdom; and then say, What a change awaits you after your present conflicts! Ephesians 1:19-20. His triumphs are a pledge of yours, “because he lives, you shall live also;” and “as he has overcome and has sat down with his Father upon his throne,” so shall you, in your victories and in your triumphs, resemble him! Luke 22:29-30. Revelation 3:21.

2. God has given to us a banner in the records of his Word.

Behold, what “a cloud of witnesses” present themselves to your view! Read the catalogue of worthies, as recorded by God himself. Are your trials heavier than theirs? Hebrews 11:33-38. Or is the power that was sufficient for them withheld from you? Will not faith bring Omnipotence to your support, even as it did for them? They are set before you expressly for your encouragement, that you, seeing how they have succeeded, may be stirred up “to run your race with patience, looking unto Jesus as the author and finisher of your faith,” even as he was of their faith! Hebrews 12:1-2.

Are you weak? so were they.

Are your enemies numerous and mighty? So were theirs.

Did they prevail through the grace of Christ? That same “grace shall be sufficient for you;” for He is the same gracious and Almighty Friend as ever! Time has made no change in him, “his hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor is his ear heavy, that he cannot hear, Isaiah 59:1;” as “he was mighty in them, so will he also be in you;” and “his strength shall be perfected in your weakness,” even as it was in theirs! 2 Corinthians 12:9.

3. God has given to us a banner in the experience of his saints.

You have found a divine change in your views, desires, pursuits. Tell me: Where has this change come from? Must you not say, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose, 2 Corinthians 5:5.” If you will look within, you will find that you have rather resisted this divine change than helped it forward. “Your carnal mind has been enmity against God;” and it would have been so still, if God, by the light of his Word, and the influences of his Spirit, had not subdued it to himself. If, then, the heart of stone has been taken away, and a heart of flesh been given to you—then that is itself “a banner” erected in your heart, a token of God’s presence, a pledge of his power, and a pledge of yet richer mercies in reserve! For, “if it have pleased him to make you of the number of his people, he will not forsake you, 1 Samuel 12:22;” and you may “be confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work within you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ! Philippians 1:6.”

Let us consider,

II. The end for which these divine banners are displayed unto us.

As the banner given to Israel in the time of David was to confirm their faith in his promises, and to assure them of God’s faithfulness—so are the banners which God has given to us bestowed,

1. To confirm our confidence in him.

We ought to “know in whom we have believed,” and to feel assured that he is both “able and willing to keep that which we have committed to him, 2 Timothy 1:12.” We should never forget who it is that is engaged for us. We should never forget that in God we have:
a wisdom that cannot be circumvented,
a power that cannot be withstood,
a faithfulness that is altogether inviolate and incapable of change.

What, then, have we to fear? The serpent, no doubt, is subtle, and the devices of Satan are very deep; but can he elude the eye of our heavenly Protector, or by any means defeat His purpose? Our enemies too, both within and without, are mighty; but what have we to fear, who have a Protector that is Almighty? “If God is for us—then who can be against us, Romans 8:31.” Let our enemies be ever so numerous, we may safely affirm that “those who are with us, are more than those who are with them, 2 Kings 6:16-17;” and if we have no more than a lamp and a trumpet against an armed host—then we shall in Jehovah’s name prevail against them all! Judges 7:15-22. A stone out of the brook shall suffice us to destroy our mightiest adversary; yes, his own sword shall serve us for the instrument whereby to complete our triumph! 1 Samuel 17:49-51.

2. To assure us of victory over all our enemies.

Among men, a banner is only a signal to enlist them for the combat; but with God it is a pledge of victory. See how David regarded it, “In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain. For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD is on his heavenly throne! Psalm 11:1-4;” and, while he is there, you need not attempt to alarm me; I know my security, and defy the efforts of all my enemies.

It was this consideration that enabled Paul also to hurl defiance at his enemies, and to assure himself of victory, as much as if it had been already gained, Romans 8:33-39; And we also, in dependence on our God, may dismiss every fear, and anticipate, as already ours, the glory and felicity that await us! 2 Corinthians 5:1-4. 2 Timothy 4:8.

APPLICATION.

What now can I say more but this:

1. Fear God.

“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow! Selah”

You will observe, that this is the description of the people to whom his banner was given; and for them is the same privilege reserved in every age. Do not let any undervalue the fear of God; for, in truth, it is that which as assuredly interests us in the divine favor as love itself. Of course, it is a filial fear of which we speak; and he who possesses that, may divest himself of every other fear, “Who are you, that you should be afraid of a man that shall die, or of the son of man, that shall be as grass, and forget the Lord your Maker! Isaiah 51:12-13.” Beloved brethren, “sanctify the Lord Almighty himself in your hearts, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread! Isaiah 8:12-13.”

2. Trust in God.

Excellent was that resolution of the Psalmist, “In the name of our God, we will set up our banners, Psalm 20:5.” It is not possible for our confidence to be too strong, provided only it is humble. There are, I confess, two different kinds of confidence, which yet I consider as dangerous in the extreme:

One of them is founded upon mere head-knowledge of divine truth, without any mixture of holy fear.

The other arises from some dream or vision, or enthusiastic conceit, about spiritual impressions coming to their mind in a peculiar way.

Against both of these I would guard you with all my might. The only confidence that is pleasing to God is that which is softened with fear, and tempered with contrition. Let this be in exercise to the utmost possible extent, and then you may adopt the language of this Psalm:

“Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered, Psalm 60:5.”

“Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies! Psalm 60:11-12.”

Only trust in God; and then, in every place where you go, you may behold an altar with this inscription, “Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord is my banner! Exodus 17:15.” Yes, the very graces which you exercise, shall be in you a pledge that God will fulfill and perfect in you the good work he has begun!

Charles Simeon

Psalm 55:6

“O that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest!”

Trouble is the portion of all, without exception; of the rich, as well as of the poor; of the godly, as well as of the ungodly, “man is born to it, as the sparks fly upward.” The godly indeed have, in some respects, a larger measure of it than others; for, from within, they have grounds of trouble which are unknown to others; and, from without, they are beset on every side with enemies, who hate them purely for their righteousness’ sake. Among all the saints of whom we read in Scripture, David seems to have been peculiarly distinguished as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” In the early part of his life, his persecutions from Saul kept him in continual jeopardy of his life; and during all his latter years, his own children furnished him with occasions of sorrow, which at times sunk him into the deepest distress, and rendered him weary even of life. The Psalm before us was written on one of these occasions; we suppose at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. And so greatly was he oppressed in spirit, that he would gladly have fled to the ends of the earth, with the loss of all his honors and dignities, if he could but have obtained rest from his accumulated and overwhelming afflictions; he said, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

This being by no means an uncommon sentiment, I will show,

I. What are the occasions which usually give rise to this wish.

The wish itself necessarily presupposes a state of trouble; and it may arise in the bosom,

1. From temporal troubles.

Afflictions do not lose their nature when they visit the godly. Piety may soften their pungency; but it does not divest them of their proper qualities, “they are not joyous to any, but grievous;” as God has condescended to declare. How grievous David’s trial was, may be seen in all the preceding context, “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not yourself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me! I mourn in my distress and make a noise; my heart is sore pained within me; and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfullness and trembling are come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me.” Nor do we wonder at this language, when we consider that his own son had driven him from his throne; that many of his subjects were in rebellion against him; and that there was about to be a conflict between two portions of them, the one headed by himself, and the other led on by his son; and that, whichever might be victorious, it must be the blood of his subjects only that must flow. Well might he wish to withdraw from such a distressing scene, and well might he express himself in those mournful terms, “O that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind and tempest.” And though such scenes are rare, it is by no means uncommon to find in families troubles of such an overwhelming nature, as to make life itself a burden to those who are afflicted by them. Husbands and wives, parents and children, who ought to be sources of the sublimest happiness to each other, are frequently occasions to each other of the deepest woe; a woe that embitters their whole lives, and makes them pant for death as a relief. And where there is no particular evil committed either by the head or members, there will often arise, from the dispensations of Providence, such afflictions as prove an insupportable burden to the mind. In Job, for instance, we see, from his accumulated trials, the same effect produced as from the afflictions of David. He wished that in his early infancy he had been consigned to the grave, “where the wicked cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest.” “Why,” says he, “is light given to him who is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; who long for death, but it comes not; and dig for it more than for hidden treasures? There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master Job 3:17-21.” In truth, almost all the suicides of which we hear originate in worldly sorrow, either personal or domestic; nor is it always found that piety itself is sufficient to counterbalance the effects of temporal calamity; so as to elevate the spirits which have been broken by it, and restore the constitution that has been destroyed.

2. From spiritual troubles.

Of these, none can judge, but those who have endured them. In reference to these it may well be said, “The spirit of man may sustain his infirmities; but a wounded spirit who can bear Proverbs 18:14.” Truly, when a man is bowed down under a sense of sin, and trembling under apprehensions of God’s wrath, he may well be dejected, and wish for anything which may pacify his fears and terminate his sorrows. Great as Job’s other troubles were, this was heavier than them all. Hear his complaint under it, “O that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together! for now it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words are swallowed up. For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinks up my spirit; the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me. O that I might have my request! that God would grant me the thing that I long for, even that it would please God to destroy me Job 6:2-4; Job 6:8-9, Terrible, beyond measure, are the hidings of God’s face under such circumstances; so at least David felt them to be, “You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps; your wrath lies hard upon me, and you have afflicted me with all your waves. Lord, why cast you off my soul? why hide you your face from me? I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer your terrors, I am distracted Psalm 88:7-8; Psalm 88:14-15.” So it is with some at this time; they go mourning all the day long; and by their anticipations of God’s wrath, feel almost the commencement of it in their souls. The Savior himself deprecated this bitter cup, and complained of the hidings of God’s face in his extremity; well, therefore, may frail men. who are crushed before the moth, implore “the staying of God’s rough wind in the day of his east wind. Isaiah 27:8.”

Seeing, then, that the wish of David is common in the world, let us inquire,

II. How far the godly are at liberty to indulge it.

Certainly we are at liberty to wish for death; for Paul “desired to depart, and to be with Christ,” which he deemed far better than the happiest state on earth; and we all are encouraged to be “looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of Christ.” But the wish then becomes evil, when it is attended with impatience, or has respect to a mere deliverance from present troubles. This distinction is clearly marked by Paul, in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, “We that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up of life 2 Corinthians 5:4.” It was not so much to get rid of the storms and tempests to which he was exposed in this present life, as to obtain the glory and felicity of the eternal world. And this was a highly commendable state of mind. But when we long merely to be released from the troubles of life, and the conflicts which we are here called to sustain, we do not well; for we should be content,

1. That God should glorify himself in his own way.

God sends trials to his people, in order that he may afford them such effectual support as shall advance his glory in the world. The trial of gold by fire is precious, because it purifies without consuming the gold; but “the trial of our faith is infinitely more precious,” because it purifies the souls of men; and it will, therefore, “be to the praise and honor and glory of our God, in the great day of his appearing 1 Peter 1:7.” On the part of those who occasion trials to his people he is dishonored, “but in the steadfastness of his people he is glorified 1 Peter 4:14.” Even in the sufferings of our blessed Lord this end was obtained; and therefore, though he deprecated sufferings as he was entitled to do, he submitted to bear his cross for the sake of reflecting glory on his heavenly Father, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify your name John 12:27-28.” Thus, if only in the event God may be glorified in us, we should be willing to bear any sufferings, or sustain any conflicts, which God, in his wisdom, may see fit to lay upon us.

2. That he should complete his work in his own way.

He calls all his people to bear their cross, in imitation, of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Now “the Lord Jesus, though he was a Son, vet learned obedience by the things which he suffered;” and “he was made perfect through sufferings;” and in the same war does God still teach and perfect us. He makes tribulation the way to glory; purging us from our corruptions by means of it Isaiah 27:9. Hebrews 12:10, and causing it to “work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 2 Corinthians 4:17.” Does it befit us, then, to be impatient under our troubles; or to wish for the removal of them, before they have accomplished the end for which they were sent? Surely we should be infinitely more anxious to have them sanctified, than to get them removed; and, however sorely they may press upon us, we should say, “Not my will, but your be done.” Be the furnace never so hot, we should welcome it, if only at last we may come out of it “vessels of honor, fit for the Master’s use.”

ADDRESS.

1. Those who have hitherto been exempt from heavy trials.

Doubtless, as far as the mere exemption from trouble goes, you have reason to be thankful; but yet. if for lack of it you are yet in a careless or lukewarm state, you have no great reason to congratulate yourselves; It would have been better that every bone in your body were broken, or that you should have the sword of the Almighty inflicting the deepest wounds in your souls, than that you should be left to go on wickedly in the way of your hearts, I do not say that you should pray for trials; for trials will do you no good, if they be not sanctified to your souls by the Spirit of God. But this I say, Let no rest satisfy you, except that which is to be found in the favor of a reconciled God, and in the hope of his glory.

2. Those who are sinking under the weight of them.

Perhaps some may be here, who, like David, are bowed down under the weight of domestic troubles, or under a dread of God’s heavy displeasure. And, if this be the case, let me tell you where you may find rest unto your souls, You need not the wings of a dove to fly away; you have your refuge close at hand, even Jesus, who says, “Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” If you will but run to Him, you shall find him “an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land Isaiah 32:2.” Yes, in truth, “He is a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall Isaiah 25:4.” Go to him then; take refuge in him; cast yourselves upon him; and let him give you rest, in his own time and way. Then will he walk with you in the furnace, as he did with the Hebrew youths; and in due season add you to the happy number of “those who have come out of great tribulation, and washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb Revelation 7:14.” Then will your rest be glorious indeed; for “then you will hunger no more, nor thirst any more; neither shall the sun rest on you, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed you, and shall lead you unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes Revelation 7:16-17.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 51:16-17

“You do not desire sacrifice; else would I give it; you do not delight in burnt-offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise!”

“How shall I come before the Lord?” is the first inquiry that will be made by an awakened sinner. No sooner were the murderers of our Lord “pierced to the heart” with a conviction of their guilt, than they cried out, (the whole assembly of them together), “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

In answer to this, man proposes many costly offerings; and for the obtaining of peace with God, he would present unto Him anything that he should require, Micah 6:6-7. Had God required sacrifices to be offered for David’s sins, he would gladly have offered them, however numerous or costly they had been, “You do not desire sacrifice; else would I give it to you.” But there is only one thing required, and that universally, of all people under Heaven; and what that is, we are informed in the words before us, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise!”

Here are two points to be inquired into:

I. What is that sacrifice which God approves.

The term “sacrifice” is metaphorically applied to many things:

to praise and thanksgivings, Hebrews 13:15;

to alms-deeds, or charity, Hebrews 13:16;

to a surrender of the soul to God, Romans 12:1.

But in our text it does not so much refer to any offerings whereby a pardoned sinner may honor God, as to that disposition of mind whereby an unpardoned sinner may facilitate his acceptance with God.

As to any external services, David informs us that these would not answer the desired end; for though many offerings under the law were appointed and approved by God as typical of the great sacrifice—yet were they in themselves of no value, Psalm 50:8-14, especially when compared with obedience, 1 Samuel 15:22. Hosea 6:6; and, when substituted for obedience, they were hateful and abominable in the sight of God, Isaiah 1:11-15; Isaiah 66:3 and Amos 5:21-23.

For such sins as David’s willful adultery and murder, there was actually no sacrifice appointed; no penalty less than death could be awarded to the person that was found guilty either of adultery or murder, Numbers 35:31 Deuteronomy 22:22. But there is a sacrifice which will forward the acceptance even of such an atrocious sinner as David; it is called in our text, “A broken and contrite heart.” To ascertain what is meant by this, let us consider,

1. The term: “A broken and contrite heart.”

We all have some idea of what is meant by “a broken heart,” when applied to worldly sorrow. It signifies a person overwhelmed with sorrow to such a degree, that he is always bowed down under its weight, and incapable of receiving consolation from anything but the actual removal of his burdens. Thus far it may serve to illustrate the meaning of our text, and to show what is meant by a heart broken with a sense of sin.

But in other respects there is an exceeding great difference between the two; for a heart broken with worldly troubles, argues:

an ignorance of our own demerit,

a lack of resignation to God,

a lack of trust in him,

and a low esteem of those benefits which sanctified affliction is calculated to produce.

In these respects therefore, it forms a contrast, rather than a resemblance, to true contrition.

Let us then drop the term, and consider the thing.

2. The thing itself: “A broken and contrite heart.”

“A broken and a contrite heart” consists in:

a deep sense of our sinfulness, guilt, and misery;

a self-loathing and abhorrence on account of the peculiar aggravations of our sin, as committed against such a gracious God and a merciful Redeemer;

a readiness to justify God in all His dealings with us, whatever they may be;

and such an insatiable desire after saving mercy, as swallows up every other sensation, whether of joy or sorrow.

View all these things distinctly and separately; compare them with the workings of David’s mind as set forth in this Psalm verses 3, 4, 7-9; view them as illustrated by other portions of Holy Writ, 2 Chronicles 34:27. Job 40:4; Job 42:6 with Zechariah 12:10. Luke 15:18-19. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13, or all together. 2 Corinthians 7:11. or as exemplified in other of David’s Psalms, Psalm 38:4-10; Psalm 40:12.

Perhaps it will be best to confine the illustrations to Psalms 51 and 38 for fear of swelling this part of the subject too much; and the more they are considered, the more will they reveal to us the precise nature of that sacrifice which is described in the text.

Let us now proceed to inquire,

II. Why God honors a broken and contrite heart with his peculiar favor.

That God does signally honor it, is certain.

When it is said that “a broken and contrite heart God will not despise,” more is meant than is expressed. It means that God will honor it with tokens of his peculiar approbation. Whoever he is that offers to him this sacrifice—God will notice him, even though he were the lowest and vilest of mankind. Not all the angels in Heaven should so occupy his attention as to prevent him from searching out that person, and keeping his eye continually fixed upon him for good! Isaiah 66:2.

Moreover, God will comfort him; he will not merely view him from Heaven, but will come down and dwell in his heart on purpose to comfort and revive him, Isaiah 57:15;

Nor is this all; for God will surely and eternally save him, Psalm 34:18. Job 33:27-28; and the more abased the man is in his own eyes—the higher will God exalt him on a throne of glory, Luke 18:14.

And the reasons of his so honoring it are plain.

A broken and a contrite heart is the work of his own Spirit on the soul of man. No created power can effect it; we may break and bruise the body, but we can never produce in anyone a broken and contrite spirit. This is God’s prerogative, Job 40:11. Ezekiel 11:19; and whoever has obtained this blessing must say, “Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose, 2 Corinthians 5:5.”

A broken and a contrite heart is the precise disposition that befits us. If the holy angels that never sinned veil their faces and their feet in the presence of their God, what prostration of mind must become such guilty creatures as we are! Surely we must “put our hands on our mouth, and our mouth in the dust, crying, Unclean! Unclean! Lamentations 3:29 with Leviticus 13:45.” Yes rather, we should “gird ourselves with sackcloth, and wallow in ashes, and make mourning as for an only son, even most bitter lamentation, Jeremiah 6:26 with James 4:9-10.”

Further, A broken and a contrite heart disposes us to acquiesce cordially in Gods’ appointed method of salvation. Until we are thoroughly broken-hearted with a sense of sin, we never estimate aright the unspeakable blessings of Redemption. “We may profess a regard for the Gospel; but we do not really “glory in the cross of Christ;” Christ does not truly become “all our salvation and all our desire.”

But to the truly contrite, O how precious is the name of Jesus, that adorable name, the foundation of all our hopes, the source of all our joys!

Lastly, A broken and a contrite heart invariably stimulates us to a cheerful unreserved obedience. No commandment is hard to a person, when once his heart is truly broken and contrite! Let us see that we were dead in sin, and that Christ died for us; and a sense of “his love will constrain us to live to him,” and to “glorify him with our body and our spirit, which are his.”

Say now, whether here is not reason sufficient for the distinguished favors which God grants to the contrite soul? We know that there is nothing meritorious in contrition; but there is in it a suitableness for the reception of the divine mercies, and for the reflecting back upon God the honor which he confers upon it.

This subject may well be improved,

1. For the conviction of the impenitent.

Worldly sorrow has more or less been the portion of us all; but how few have “sorrowed after a godly sort!” The generality have never laid to heart their sins at all; and they who have felt some compunction, have for the most part been satisfied with a little transient sorrow, and something of an outward reformation of life. But let this be remembered, that when it is said, “God will not despise the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart,” it is manifestly implied, that he will despise everything short of that.

Do not then deceive yourselves with an expectation that God will accept your feigned or partial humiliation; your penitence must be deep, and your change radical; your sorrow for sin must far exceed any worldly sorrow, and must bring you incessantly to the foot of the cross, as your only refuge and your only hope! Nor will any repentance short of this be “a repentance unto salvation, but only a repentance eternally to be repented of! 2 Corinthians 7:10.”

2. For consolation to the penitent.

When once you become truly penitent, men will begin to despise you; they will look upon you as a poor weak enthusiast, and will “cast out your name as evil.” But your comfort is, that God will not despise you. If the Psalmist had merely affirmed this, it would have been a rich ground of consolation; but he makes it a matter of appeal to God, “A broken and contrite spirit, O God, you will not despise.” What a glorious truth! When you are so vile and contemptible in your own eyes that you blush and are confounded before God, and “dare not even lift up your eyes unto Heaven,” God looks upon you with pleasure and delight, and acknowledges you as his dearly beloved child! Jeremiah 31:18-20.

Do you want evidence of this? See for whom God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, Isaiah 61:1-3; and read the account given of the very first sermon that Jesus ever preached, Luke 4:17-21; and hear to whom in particular he addressed his invitations in Matthew 11:28. Consider these, I say, and then reject the consolation if you can.

3. For instruction to the more advanced Christian.

Is a broken and contrite heart the sacrifice with which you must come to God? Know that it is that which you must continue also to offer him to the last hour of your lives. You are not to lose the remembrance of your shame and sorrow, but to “loath yourselves after God is pacified towards you,” Ezekiel 16:63, and because that God is pacified towards you.

The more abundant is his mercy towards you—the more should you abhor yourself for having ever sinned against so gracious a God!

You cannot but have seen in others, and probably felt within yourselves, a disposition to depart from this ground, and to indulge a spirit of self-sufficiency and pride. I entreat you to examine yourselves with respect to this. It is a common evil, and is very apt to lurk in us unperceived.

But if we see it not ourselves, we shall without fail reveal it to others; or, if they should not discover it, God will behold it, and that too with utter abhorrence! Proverbs 16:5 and 1 Peter 5:5. Watch over yourselves therefore, and pray that you may grow continually in lowliness of mind, in tenderness of conscience, in meekness of temper, and in purity of heart. The more you resemble little children—the higher will you be in the kingdom of God! Matthew 18:4

Charles Simeon

Psalm 51:14

“Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God—the God of my salvation! And my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness!”

This Psalm is full of encouragement to a real penitent; but in particular the petition before us, “Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God!”

Consider the atrocious crime committed—”Blood-guiltiness!” Murder—the most atrocious murder that ever was committed.

Consider by whom it had been committed—”Deliver me!” The man after God’s own heart, who had experienced from God more signal interpositions than almost any other man that ever breathed.

Consider the long and inconceivable obduracy which he had indulged since the commission of it, even to the very hour when his guilt was charged upon him by the Prophet of the Lord.

Could such a sin as this be forgiven? Could such an offender dare to ask forgiveness, or entertain the remotest hope of obtaining it? Surely, if David could approach his God under such circumstances as these, with the smallest hope of acceptance, then may we see in this passage,

I. The privilege of a contrite soul.

There is not a sinner in the universe who may not go to God, as “a God of salvation!”

Were there only a hope that mercy might be a constituent of the divine character, and an attribute which might by some possibility be displayed—it would be a sufficient encouragement to the vilest sinner upon earth to call upon his God. But the title here assigned to the Most High, opens to us a most wonderful view of his character.
He is “a God of salvation;”
as having devised a way of salvation for a ruined world;
as having given us his only dear Son to effect salvation;
as having accepted the sacrifice of his Son in our behalf;
and, as applying that salvation to those whom “he has chosen in Christ Jesus before the world began.”

He is “a God of salvation,” as making the redemption of the world his great concern. Yes, as altogether occupied in it; so as, if I may so speak, to be swallowed up in it, and to be “a God of it.” We read of him as “a God of patience and consolation,” yes, “a God of all grace;” but the title given in my text meets most fully the necessities of sinful mankind, and opens a door of hope to every sinner under Heaven.

Nor is there a sin which, if truly repented of, shall not be forgiven.

We read, indeed, of the sin against the Holy Spirit, as excepted from the tremendous catalogue of pardonable sins. But it is not excepted because of its enormity, as though it were too great to be forgiven; but only because that sin implies a willful and deliberate rejection of the only means of salvation. It destroys, not because it exceeds the efficacy of the Redeemer’s blood, but because it tramples on that blood which alone can expiate even the smallest sin. A man who determinately rejects all food, needs not to do anything else to ensure his own destruction; he rejects the necessary means of life, and therefore must inevitably perish.

But we may say without exception, that “the blood of Jesus Christ both can and will cleanse from all sin,” if only we sprinkle it upon our conscience, and trust in it for salvation. It is worthy of observation that the Psalmist expresses no doubt as to the possibility of his acceptance with God. He does not say, “If such guilt can be forgiven—then deliver me;” but simply, “Deliver me.” Nay, in a preceding part of this Psalm he says, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow! verse 7.” Whatever guilt, therefore, may lie upon the conscience of the vilest sinner under Heaven, let him go to God, and cry with humble confidence, “Deliver me, O God of my salvation!”

From this example of David, we may further learn,

II. The duty of all who have obtained mercy from the Lord.

“And my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness!”

The world is ready to complain, “Why do you not keep your religion to yourself?” But no pardoned sinner ought to do so; he is bound to render thanks for the mercies given unto him.

1. He owes it to God.

Surely God is to be honored, as a God of providence and a God of grace. Are we distinguished above the brute creation? We should bless God for the faculties bestowed upon us. Are we elevated above any of our fellows by the communication of spiritual blessings to our souls? We are bound to praise God for such “an unspeakable gift.” If we forbore to speak His praises, methinks “the very stones would cry out against us!”

2. He owes it to the world.

How is the world to be instructed in the knowledge of God, if those to whom that knowledge is imparted are silent respecting him? We owe a debt to them. “What our eyes have seen, our ears have heard, and our hands have handled of the Word of Life”—we are bound to declare to them. We are not at liberty to put our light under a bushel; but must “make it to shine before men, that they also may glorify our Father who is in Heaven.” “When we are converted,” we are bound in every possible way to “strengthen our brethren.”

3. He owes it to himself.

Suppose a man to “have been forgiven much, will he not love much?” And will not love vent itself in the praise of the object beloved? Especially if a man has been made a partaker of God’s righteousness; will he not sing aloud of that righteousness? No doubt he will; and, if the angelic hosts would account it a painful sacrifice if silence were imposed upon them, and they were forbidden to show forth the praises of their God—so would it be with the believing soul, in proportion to the measure of grace that had been conferred upon him.

To all, then, I say,

1. Be particular in your applications to God for saving mercy.

Do not rest in mere general confessions or general petitions; but search out the hidden iniquities of your hearts, and spread them distinctly before God in prayer. We have not all committed the sins of David—but are we not all sinners? And if we would search the records of our conscience, might we not find some evils which call for more than ordinary humiliation? Or, if in acts we have been free from any remarkable transgression, have we not felt such motions of sin within us, as might, if God had given us up to temptation, have issued in the foulest transgressions? We need only recollect what our Lord tells us, that an impure and angry thought is heart adultery and murder; and we shall see little reason to cast a stone at others, and abundant reason for humiliation before God. I say, then, search out, every one of you—your besetting sins; and implore of God the forgiveness of them.

2. Have respect to God under his proper character.

View God not merely as your Creator, your Governor, and your Judge—but as your Covenant God and Savior. See how David addresses him, “O God—God of my salvation!” Thus it will be well for every sinner to do. See your own saving interest in him; see what provision he has made for you; what invitations he has given to you; what promises he has held forth to you. This will encourage penitence; this will strike the rock for penitential sorrows to flow out.

In a word, view God as he is in Christ Jesus—a God reconciling the world unto himself; and you will never indulge despair, nor ever doubt but He will show mercy to all who call upon him in spirit and in truth.

3. Determine, through grace, to improve for God the blessings you receive.

It was a suitable determination of David, that, if his requests should be granted, then “his tongue would sing aloud of God’s righteousness.” A similar resolution befits us. Are we savingly interested in a salvation which displays “the righteousness of God,” and makes every perfection of his to concur in the promotion of our welfare? Let us not be silent; let us not be ashamed to confess him before men; though the whole world should endeavor to silence us, let us not regard them for one instant; but let us say with David, “I will praise you with music on the harp, because you are faithful to your promises, O my God. I will sing praises to you with a lyre, O Holy One of Israel. I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have ransomed me! Psalm 71:22-24.”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 51:7

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow!”

Every part of God’s Word is profitable for our instruction in righteousness; but in the Psalms, true religion is exemplified, and, as it were, embodied.

The workings of genuine repentance are admirably delineated in the Psalm before us. David traces his iniquities to their proper source, his original corruption. He acknowledges the necessity of a thorough renovation of soul; and, in legal terms, but of evangelical import, he implores forgiveness.

The expressions in the text teach us,

I. The nature of sin.

The generality of the world imagine sin to be a light and trivial thing.

Some indeed have learned to dread sin as destructive of their eternal happiness.

Very few have any idea of sin as defiling and debasing the soul.

It is in this view, however, that we are now called to consider it.

Sin has defiled every member of our body, and every faculty of our soul. Hence Paul speaks of it as “filthiness both of the flesh and spirit 2 Corinthians 7:1.”

What uncircumcised ears, Acts 7:51,
what venomous tongues, James 3:6,
what adulterous eyes, 2 Peter 2:14,
have the greater part of mankind! See Romans 3:10-19.

How are all their members used as instruments of unrighteousness! Romans 6:13. What pride, and envy, what wrath, and malice, are harbored in the bosom! How gladly would we cast off all allegiance to God, and be a god unto ourselves, Psalm 12:4.

Thus, in fleshly lusts, we degrade ourselves almost to a level with the beasts! 2 Peter 2:22; and, in spiritual filthiness, we too much resemble the fallen angels, John 8:44. How different is this state from that in which we were first created! Genesis 1:27. Yet the change is effected solely by the agency of sin! Romans 5:12.

In this view, more especially, is sin represented in the text.

The Psalmist evidently refers to the state of a leper, or a leprous house. No disorder was more loathsome than leprosy, Leviticus 13:8. A person infected with it was driven from the society of his dearest relatives, and was necessitated to proclaim his impurity to all who approached him, Leviticus 13:44-46. Nor could his disorder ever be cured by the art of man. If he were ever healed, it was by God alone, without the intervention of human means. Hence David, knowing the filthiness and incurableness of sin, cries unto God.

Similar representations also abound in every part of the sacred writings.

Our natural depravity is declared in expressions of the like import, Job 15:14-16.

Our acquired corruptions are said to render us loathsome objects, Proverbs 13:5.

The very remains of sin in the holiest of men are also described in similar terms, Romans 7:24. The allusion seems to be to a dead body, which was sometimes fastened to criminals, until they died in consequence of the stench arising from it. In such a light did Paul view the remains of sin which he felt within him; yes, the most eminent saints, in bewailing their sinfulness, have used the very same figure as David in the text, Isaiah 6:5. Happy would it be for us, if we had these views of sin; we should soon put away our proud, self-exalting thoughts, and should adopt the confessions of holy Job, Job 9:20-21; Job 9:30-31.

But, vile as sin is, it may be both forgiven and subdued!

II. The means of deliverance from sin.

It has been already observed, that David alludes to the case of a leper. This is manifest from the terms wherein he implores deliverance. Under Jewish figures he sets forth the only means of salvation.

Certain means were prescribed by God for the purification of a leper, Leviticus 14:2-7. When God had healed him, “the priest was to take two clean birds, with cedar-wood, scarlet, and hyssop.” Having killed one of the birds, the priest was to “dip the hyssop and the live bird in the blood of the bird that had been slain;” he was then to “sprinkle the leper seven times, and to let loose the living bird.” This ordinance typified the death of Christ, with his resurrection, and subsequent ascension into Heaven with his own blood, Hebrews 9:12.

A similar ordinance is explained by the Apostle in this very manner, Hebrews 9:13-14, and the same effect is plainly ascribed to the things here typified, Romans 4:25.” It is therefore in reference to Christ that David says, “Purge me with hyssop.”

In the purification of a leprous house, water was used with the blood, Leviticus 14:48-53. This further typified the renewing influences of the Spirit of Christ, and David seems to allude to it, when he adds, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow!”

Nor is this by any means a forced or fanciful distinction. An inspired writer lays peculiar stress upon it, 1 John 5:6, and every enlightened person sees as much need of Christ’s Spirit to wash him from the defilement of sin, as of his blood to purge him from the guilt of sin.

The efficacy ascribed to these means is not at all exaggerated. There is no sin whatever which the blood of Christ cannot cleanse. We cannot conceive more enormous transgressions than those of David—yet even he could say with confidence, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean!” Purified in this way, his soul would become “whiter than snow.” This blessed truth is attested by the beloved Apostle, 1 John 1:7, and it is urged by God himself as an inducement to repentance, Isaiah 1:18. Our renewal indeed by the Holy Spirit is not perfect in this life, but it shall be continually progressive towards perfection, 2 Corinthians 4:16, and, when the leprous tabernacle shall be taken down, it shall be reared anew in consummate purity and beauty! 2 Corinthians 5:1. Philippians 3:21.

INFERENCES.

1. How mistaken are those who seek salvation by any righteousness of their own!

We can no more eradicate sin from our souls, than a leprosy from our bodies. No man ever more deeply bewailed his sin, or more thoroughly turned from it than David Psalm 6:6; Psalm 38:4-6—yet he did not say, “Purge me with my tears, my repentances, or my duties—but purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;” he would make mention of no righteousness but that of Christ Psalm 71:15-16; nor would Paul himself trust for a moment in any other, Philippians 3:9.

Shall we then boast as if we were more penitent than David, more zealous than Paul? Let us rather humble ourselves in the language of Job, Job 9:15 and 40:4, and determine to glory in nothing but the cross of Christ! Galatians 6:14.

2. What encouragement is here afforded to mourning penitents!

If David did not despair of mercy—then who else can have cause to do so? If the blood of Christ could so purge him—then why may it not cleanse us also? If it had such efficacy a thousand years before it was shed, surely it will not be less efficacious now that it has been poured forth.

But it is not the mere shedding of Christ’s blood that will profit us. We must, by faith, apply it to our own souls. Let us then go to the blood of sprinkling which speaks such good things to us, Hebrews 12:24; let us cry with earnest and repeated entreaties, “Purge me! Wash me!” thus shall our polluted souls be whiter than snow itself, and before long we shall join, in that general chorus, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6.

Charles Simeon

Psalm 51:6

“Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom.”

Mankind at large are chiefly concerned of their outward conduct; but the child of God cannot rest in mere externals; he is concerned about the internal habits of his soul; and desires to have them conformed to the mind and will of God.

The words before us strongly express this idea. We think that the words relate, not to his sins, but his repentance for them. The sense of them appears to be to this effect, “You require me to be truly sincere in my present humiliation; and, if I am, as I desire to be, thoroughly sincere, you will make this whole dispensation a source of the most important instruction to my soul.” In this view of the words, they are a humble address to God, declarative of,

I. The heart disposition which God requires.

“Truth,” is a conformity of our feelings and actions to our professions; and this God requires of us in the whole of our spirit and conduct.

1. God requires truth in our acknowledgments.

We acknowledge ourselves to be sinners before God. But such a confession is of no value in his sight, unless it is accompanied with suitable feelings. Think then:

What befits us, as sinners!

What deep sorrow and contrition we should feel for having offended Almighty God!

What self-loathing and self-abhorrence for our extreme vileness and baseness!

What ardent desires after mercy!

What readiness to justify God in all that he may be pleased to inflict upon us in this world, whatever means or instruments he may see fit to use; yes, and in the eternal world also, even if he casts us into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, and make us everlasting monuments of his wrathful indignation!

This should be the state and habit of our minds; we should have “our hands on our mouths, and our mouths in the dust,” “crying, Unclean, unclean!” In a word, we should adopt from our inmost souls the language of Job, “Behold, I am vile! Therefore I repent and abhor myself in dust and ashes!”

In proportion as we feel thus, we are upright, and have “truth in our inward parts;” but so far as we are lacking in these feelings, we are hypocrites in heart,” drawing near to God with our lips in a way belied by our hearts, Matthew 15:7-8.”

2. God requires truth in our purposes.

We profess, as people redeemed by the blood of our incarnate God, to give up ourselves to him, and to live unto Him who died for us; and, if we are sincere in this, then our determination is fixed, that, with God’s help, nothing shall ever keep us from executing this intention. We have deliberately counted the cost. We are aware, that “if we will live godly in Christ Jesus, we must suffer persecution;” but we are prepared to meet it, from whatever quarter it may come, yes, though “our greatest foes should be those of our own household.” We are ready to sacrifice our reputation, our interests, and our very lives also, rather than in any respect deny our God, or allow ourselves to be diverted from the path of duty. We are determined, through grace, to put away everything that may retard our progress heavenward, and to aspire after the highest possible attainments in righteousness and true holiness.

Now God requires, that we should be acting up to this profession, “setting our face as a flint against the whole world,” and standing in the posture of Daniel or the Hebrew youths, willing to have our bodies consigned to a den of lions, or a fiery furnace—rather than violate our duty by any sinful compliance. If we are halting or hesitating, we have not truth in our inward parts.

3. God requires truth in our endeavors.

Purposes must be judged of by the exertions that are put forth in order to carry them into effect. A diligent attendance therefore on all the means of grace must of necessity be required of us. In the public ordinances, and in our private chambers, whether we are hearing, or reading, or meditating, or praying, we must be like men in earnest, even like the man-slayer fleeing from the pursuer of blood, who scarcely stopped to look behind him, until he should reach the appointed sanctuary, the city of refuge.

Remissness in such a cause argues a lack of real integrity; if truth is indeed in our inward parts, we shall run as in a race, which leaves us no time to loiter; and wrestle with all our might, lest we be foiled in the contest. We mus fight as those who know that there is no alternative but to overcome or perish. In all the interior workings of our minds we shall resemble the Corinthians, who were “clear in this matter, 2 Corinthians 7:11.”

That we may not be discouraged by the strictness of God’s requirements, let us consider:

II. The benefits which God will confer.

There is a wisdom that is to be gained only by experience; what has its seat in the head, may be learned by the head; what dwells in the heart, must be learned by the heart; and of the heart there is but one teacher, even God; according as it is said, “Who teaches like God! Job 36:22.”

Among the treasures of wisdom which God will impart to the truly upright, and the hidden things which he will cause them to know, are:

1. The deceits of the heart.

These are very deep, and absolutely unsearchable, Jeremiah 17:9; yet in a measure will God reveal them to those who have truth in their inward parts. The world at large know nothing of them, “they are calling evil good, and good evil; they put darkness for light, and light for darkness; and bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter, Isaiah 5:20;” “they feed also on ashes; a deceived heart has turned them aside, so that they cannot deliver their souls, or say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? Isaiah 44:20.” They contrive to satisfy their minds that all is well with them, or at least to lull their consciences asleep with the hope that all will be well with them before they die. They have a thousand pleas and excuses which they urge in their own defense, and which they vainly hope will be accepted by their Judge. If we attempt to open their eyes, they reply, with indignation, “Are we blind also? John 9:40.” Thus are they both blinded and “hardened” through the deceitfulness of sin.

But those who are really “Israelites indeed, and without deceit,” have their eyes opened to see what delusions they have cherished; and being thus “brought out of darkness into marvelous light.” “Their eye being made single, their whole body is full of light.”

2. The devices of Satan.

The men of this world, though “taken in his snares, and led captive by him at his will,” have no idea of his agency. But he is a subtle adversary; and his “wiles” are innumerable. He can even “transform himself into an angel of light, 2 Corinthians 11:13-14;” and, when aiming a deadly blow at our souls, assume the garb of “a minister of righteousness.”

His first device is to persuade men that they are in no danger of the judgments they fear.

If he fails in that, he will instill into their minds the notion that they have gone too far, and that there is no hope for them.

If that snare does not succeed, he will draw them aside, after some points of less importance, or “matters of doubtful disputation.”

He has multitudes of false teachers at his command, who will gladly aid him in this accursed work, 2 Corinthians 11:13, and concur with him in his endeavors to “corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:3.” But, if we are following the Lord fully, he will not leave us “ignorant of Satan’s devices, or allow him to get his wished-for advantage over us, 2 Corinthians 2:11.” He will arm us against that adversary, and enable us to withstand him, Ephesians 6:11. He will give us “the shield of faith, whereby we shall ward off and quench all his fiery darts, Ephesians 6:16,” and be able so to “resist him, that he shall flee from us, James 4:7.”

3. The mysteries of grace.

“Great is the mystery of godliness,” and great is the mystery of grace, whether we consider the work wrought for us by Jesus Christ, or the work wrought in us by his Holy Spirit. These constitute that “wisdom, which is foolishness with man,” and which “the natural man cannot receive, because it is spiritually discerned, 1 Corinthians 2:7-9; 1 Corinthians 2:14.” To know this, we must be taught of God, “We must receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, before we can know the things that are freely given to us by God, 1 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Corinthians 2:12.” And O! how wonderful a work does this appear, when “God shines into our hearts to reveal it to us, 2 Corinthians 4:6.”

How worthy of God!

How suitable to man!

How surpassing comprehension, whether of men or angels!

Truly, the man whose eyes are thus opened, seems to be brought into a new world! “Old things are passed away, and all things are become new.” The ignorant world are amazed at the new line of conduct he pursues, just as Elisha’s servant was at his master’s confidence in the midst of danger. But, if their eyes were opened to see, as the believer does, the invisible God, 2 Kings 6:15-17. Hebrews 11:27, above him and within him, they would wonder rather, that there were any bounds to his transports, or any limit to his exertions.

4. The beauties of holiness.

All who are warped by their prejudices, or blinded by their lusts, are incapable of estimating aright the beauty and blessedness of true piety; it appears to them little short of madness. And even those who make a profession of godliness, but possess not truth in their inward parts, have very erroneous conceptions of true holiness.

Some place true holiness in a confident espousal of certain principles, or a zealous attachment to a particular party.

Others, inclining more to practical religion, make all duty to center in some one point—such as the mortification of the flesh, or almsgiving, or penances of man’s invention. Even those who are more enlightened, are apt to regard only one particular set of graces that are more congenial with their own feelings, and to neglect those which are of an opposite aspect; one despising everything in comparison with zeal and confidence; another leaning altogether to the side of prudence and timidity.

But the man into whose hidden part God has put true wisdom—views holiness, not with prismatic partiality, separating one grace from another, but all embodied, as light in the sun; every grace tempering its opposite, and all combining to the production of perfect beauty. He discards neither the vivid nor the darker ray; but, having all in united exercise, sorrow with joy, and fear with confidence, “the beauty of the Lord his God is upon him, Psalm 90:17,” and he shines in the Divine image in righteousness and true holiness! 2 Corinthians 3:18.

From this subject we may learn,

1. Why is it that men get so little insight into the Gospel.

Many hear the Gospel during their whole lives, and never attain any just knowledge of it. How shall we account for this? We suppose the Gospel to be preached with all possible fidelity, and yet it seems never to convey any light to their minds. The reason is, that they never take any pains to apply it to their own souls, or to get any one truth realized in their own experience. They assent to everything they hear; but they are content with being hearers, without ever once attempting to become doers of the Word they hear. They “see perhaps their face, as in a looking-glass, for the moment; but they go away, and forget what manner of men they are, James 1:22-25.” But our blessed Lord has told us, that we must aim at doing his will, in order to get any just insight into what he has revealed, John 7:17; and, as this desire is altogether lacking in the people we are speaking of, they never derive any solid benefit from the Gospel.

O brethren! you must “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own souls!” You must apply the Word to your own hearts; when you hear your sins pointed out, you must endeavor to humble yourselves for them in dust and ashes; when you hear of Christ as the one and only Savior of a ruined world, you must endeavor to flee to him for refuge; when the Holy Spirit is set forth as the one great source of all spiritual life and motion, you must cry to God the Father for his dear Son’s sake to send the Holy Spirit into your hearts, that the whole work of grace may be wrought within you. It is your neglect of thus harrowing the gospel seed into your hearts by meditation, and of watering it with tears, that has given Satan an opportunity of taking it out of your hearts as soon as ever it has been sown there! Matthew 13:4; Matthew 13:19.

Get the “honest and the good heart,” which truly desires to make a just improvement of the word, and God will yet cause the seed to spring up in your hearts, and to bring forth fruit to the salvation of your souls.

2. Why is it that so many who profess the Gospel, live so unworthy of it.

It is a melancholy fact, that many who profess godliness walk very unworthy of their high calling. Like Ezekiel’s hearers, they are gratified with the preaching of the Gospel, as people are with “one who plays well upon an instrument; but their heart still goes after their covetousness, Ezekiel 33:31-32,” or some other besetting sin. But this is owing to their not having “truth in their inward parts;” if they had, they would not be satisfied with merely professing the Gospel and talking about it, and looking with pity (or perhaps with contempt) on those who do not understand it. No!

They would look to their heart, that it should be meek and humble;
they would look to their conduct also, that it should be blameless and without deceit;
they would “give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”

Ah, brethren! think what God requires of all, and of those who make a profession of religion more especially; and beg of God to endue your souls with truth and wisdom, “that you may be sincere and without offence until the day of Christ.”

You may imagine that you “know all the depths of Satan, Revelation 2:24;” but if your professed “hope in Christ does not purify your souls as Christ is pure, 1 John 3:3,” then you are yet blinded by him, and utterly deceiving your own souls, James 1:26.

3. How to get the Word of God wrought in our souls.

Come to the Gospel with hearts tender and contrite, that they may be to it as wax to the seal. Then you shall have in your own souls “the witness” of all its most important truths, 1 John 5:10; and shall be able to answer from your own experience that question which God puts so triumphantly to all the world, “Does not my Word do good to him who walks uprightly?” You are not straitened in God; be not straitened in your own souls. Desire much; ask much; expect much—and God will supply your every need “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus!”

Charles Simeon

Psalm 51:5

“Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me!”

One of the most essential marks of real penitence is a disposition to see our sins as God sees them; not mitigating their guilt by vain and frivolous excuses, but marking every circumstance that tends to aggravate their enormity.

During their impenitence, our first parents cast the blame of their transgression upon others; the man cast the blame on his wife; and the woman cast the blame on the serpent that had beguiled her. But when true repentance was given them, they no doubt beheld their conduct in a very different view, and took to themselves all the shame which it so justly merited!

The sin of David in the matter of Uriah was great, beyond all the powers of language to express. Yet there were points of view in which none but a real penitent would notice it, and in which its enormity was aggravated a hundred-fold.

This is the light in which the Royal Penitent speaks of it, in the Psalm before us. Having spoken of it as an offence, not merely against man, but primarily, and almost solely, against Jehovah himself—he proceeds to notice it, not as an insulated act or course of action, but as the proper fruit of his inherent, his natural, corruption. We are not to suppose, that he intended by this to cast any reflection on his mother, of whom he elsewhere speaks in most respectful terms; nor are we to imagine, that he adduces the nature which he had derived from her, as an excuse for the wickedness he had committed. His intention is to humble himself before God and man as a creature altogether corrupt, and to represent his wickedness as no other than a sample of that iniquity or which his heart was full, an evil stream issuing from the overflowing fountain of his corrupt heart. This, we doubt not, is the genuine import of the words which we have now proposed to consider, “Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin has my mother conceived me.”

In prosecuting this important subject, we shall endeavor to establish,

I. The truth asserted.

The doctrine of Original Sin is here distinctly affirmed. It is indeed by many denied under the idea that it would be inconsistent with the goodness and mercy of God, to send immortal beings into the world in any other state than one of perfect purity. But it is in vain for us to teach God what he ought to do; the question for us to consider is, What has God done? and what account has he himself given us of our state? And here, if the Scriptures are true, there is no room for doubt: We are all the corrupt off-spring of degenerate parents; from whom we derive a polluted nature, which alone, since their fall, they could possibly transmit.

1. We see the original sinfulness of every person, from concurring Scriptural testimonies.

Moses, in his account of the first man that was born into the world, expressly notices, that Adam begat him not in the likeness of God, in which he himself had been originally created, but “in his own likeness,” as a fallen and corrupt creature! Genesis 5:3. How different the one from the other, may be conjectured from the conduct of this first-born, who imbrued his hands in his brother’s blood. In his account too, as well of the post-diluvian, as of the ante-diluvian world, he tells us, that “every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually! Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21.”

Job, not only affirms the same awful truth, but shows us that it is impossible in the nature of things to be otherwise; since from a thing that is radically and essentially impure—nothing but what is impure can proceed! Job 14:4; Job 15:14-16; Job 25:4.

The testimony of Isaiah and Jeremiah is altogether to the same effect, Isaiah 6:5. Jeremiah 17:9; as is that also of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 9:3.

And in the New Testament, our Lord himself teaches us to regard the heart as the proper womb where every species of iniquity is generated, and from whence it proceeds! Mark 7:21.

And Paul declares of himself, as well as all the rest of the human race, that they “are by nature children of wrath! Ephesians 2:3.”

But how can we be in such a state by nature, if we are not corrupt? Can God regard as objects of his wrath creatures that possess his perfect image? No; it is as fallen in Adam that he views us, and as inheriting a depraved nature that he abhors us!

The subject does not lead us to notice Adam as a federal head; and therefore we confine ourselves to what lies immediately before us.

2. We see the original sinfulness of every person from collateral evidence.

Whence was it that God appointed the painful and bloody rite of circumcision to be administered to infants of eight days old, but to show that they brought into the world with them a corrupt nature, which it was the bounden duty of all who were in covenant with him to mortify and subdue? While, on the one hand, it sealed to them the blessings of the covenant; it intimated to them, on the other hand, that they needed to have “their hearts circumcised, to love the Lord their God.”

Why is it that every child, from the first moment that he begins to act at all, manifests corrupt tempers and dispositions? If only some, and those the children of wicked men, evinced such depravity, we might be led to account for it in some other way; but when, with the exception of one or two who were sanctified from the womb, this has been the state of every child that has been born into the world, we are constrained to acknowledge, that our very nature is corrupt, and that, as David tells us, “we are estranged from the womb, and go astray as soon as we are born Psalm 58:3.”

Further, how can we account for the sufferings and death of infants, but on the supposition that they are partakers of Adam’s guilt and corruption? Sufferings and death are the penalty of sin; and we cannot conceive that God would inflict that penalty on millions of infants, if they were not in some way or other liable to his wrath. Paul notices this, as a compelling proof that all of Adam’s posterity fell in him, and through him are partakers of guilt and misery! Romans 5:12.

Once more, Why is it that all need a Savior? If children are not, in the eye of God, transgressors of his law, they cannot need to be redeemed from its curse. But Christ is as much the Savior of infants as of adults. We find no intimation in the Scriptures that any are saved without Christ; on the contrary, it is said, that, “as in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive.” In the temple shown to Ezekiel, there was one door for the prince; it was the door by which the Lord God had entered; and was to be forever closed to all except the prince, Ezekiel 44:2-3.

So Christ alone enters into Heaven by his own merits; to all besides him that door is closed. Just so, Christ alone is the door by which we must all enter in Heaven; he is the only way to the Father; nor, as long as the world shall stand, shall any come unto the Father but by him! John 10:9; John 14:6.

These things then, especially, as taken in connection with the many express declarations before quoted, are decisive proofs, that David’s account of himself was true, and that it is equally true of all the human race.

This truth being established, we proceed to mark,

II. The importance of adverting to original sin in estimating our state before God.

Unless we bear in mind the total corruption of our nature, we can never estimate aright:

1. Our individual actions.

Even in common courts of judicature, the great object of inquiry is, not so much the act that has been done, as the mind of the agent; and, according as that appears to have been depraved or blameless, the sentence of condemnation or acquittal is passed upon him.

Precisely thus must we judge ourselves in our conduct towards God. To elucidate this part of our subject, we will suppose two people to have been guilty of the same act of treason towards an earthly sovereign, but to have differed widely from each other in respect of the mind with which they acted.

One entered upon it unwittingly, and without any consciousness that he was doing wrong; the other knowingly, and aware that he was rebelling against his lawful sovereign.

One did it reluctantly, through the influence of one whom he could not easily withstand; but the did it other willingly, as a volunteer in the service, and as following the impulse of his own mind.

One went without premeditation, being taken hastily and off his guard; the other with a fixed purpose, after much plotting and deliberation.

In one it was a solitary act, altogether contrary to the whole of his former life; in the other it was frequent, as often as the temptation arose, or the occasion offered.

The one proceeded with moderation, not having his heart at all engaged in it; the other with a fiery zeal, abhorring in his soul the authority he opposed.

The one had his mind open to conviction, and might easily be prevailed upon to renounce his error; the other was filled with self-approbation and self-applause, thinking nothing of his risks and dangers, if he might but help forward the utter subversion of the government.

Take these two people, and say whether, notwithstanding their acts were in appearance the same, there would not be an immense difference between the measure of their criminality in the estimation of an upright judge? There can be no doubt on this subject.

Take then any other sin whatever, (for all sin is treason against the King of kings;) and examine how far it has been voluntary, deliberate, habitual; how far it has been against light and knowledge; and how far it has proceeded from a heart radically averse to God and holiness.

Let sins of omission be examined in this way, as well as sins of commission; and then the things which now are accounted light and trivial, will appear hateful in the extreme, not merely as blighted “grapes of a degenerate vine,” but as “grapes of Sodom, and clusters of Gomorrah;” their enormity will be felt, in proportion to the strength and fixedness of the principle from which they spring.

2. Our general character.

If our actions have not been openly sinful, we are ready to bless ourselves as having but little ground for shame and remorse. But if we consider “the enmity of the carnal mind against God,” and view our utter lack of all holy affections, and exceeding proneness to some besetting sins—we shall see but little reason to glory over the vilest of mankind.

We shall see abundant cause indeed for thankfulness to God, who by his preventing grace has restrained us from many evils into which others have run; but we shall take no credit to ourselves as better than others.

If we behold heinous sins in others, we must realize that there is the root of all sin in ourselves.

If we see in others the streams of wickedness, we shall bear in mind, that the fountain-head of it all is in ourselves also.

Thus, however free we may be from any flagrant enormity, we shall be ready to acknowledge with Paul, that “in us, that is, in our flesh, dwells no good thing!” And with Job to say, “Behold, I am vile! I repent, and abhor myself in dust and ashes.”

So far from indulging self-delight and self-esteem, we shall find no names more suited to us than those by which Paul designated his own character, “Less than the least of all saints!” and “The very chief of sinners! Ephesians 3:8. 1 Timothy 1:15.”

From this view of our natural corruption, we may learn,

1. How greatly we need the renewing influence of God’s Spirit.

Outward amendment might suffice for outward sins; but where the heart itself is so corrupt, we must have “a new heart given to us,” and “be renewed in the spirit of our minds.” With such corrupt hearts as ours, it would be impossible for us to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, or to enjoy it even if we were there; we could not bear the sight of so holy a God; nor endure to spend our lives in such holy employments! Know then, that “old things must pass away; and all things must become new.” “That which is born of the flesh, is flesh;” the stream can rise no higher than the fountain-head. If you would enjoy the things of the Spirit, you must be “born of the Spirit,” who alone can impart the faculties necessary for that end. Let your prayer then be like that of David, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me! verse 10.”

2. How carefully we should watch against temptation.

If we carried with us a load of gun-powder which a single spark would cause to explode—then we would be extremely careful to avoid whatever might subject us to danger. Should we not then, with hearts so corrupt, and with temptations so thick around us—look well to our ways, and pray unto our God to keep us from the evils of an ensnaring world? Well did our blessed Lord say, “Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation;” “The spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Who that reflects on David’s state previous to his fall, does not fear for himself, and cry mightily unto God, “Hold me up, and I shall be safe!” “Uphold me with your free Spirit, and take not your Holy Spirit from me!” To all then we say, “Do not be high-minded, but fear;” “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall!”

Charles Simeon