Psalm 9:17

“The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God!”

The most eminent saints are represented in Scripture as weeping over the ungodly world. Nor would this exercise of compassion be so rare, if we duly considered how great occasion there is for it. The words before us are a plain and unequivocal declaration from God himself respecting the doom which awaits every impenitent sinner. May God impress our minds with a solemn awe as we consider them.

I. Who does God regard as being wicked?

If we consult the opinions of men, we shall find that they differ widely from each other in their ideas of moral guilt, and that they include more or less in their definition of wickedness, according to their own peculiar habits of life; every one being careful so to draw the line that he himself may not be comprehended within it. But God does not consult our wishes, or accommodate his Word to our partial regards; he denominates all them wicked, who “forget” him. Doubtless there are degrees of guilt, but:

1. God regards all those as wicked in his sight, who are heedless of his Word.

God’s Word ought to be written on our hearts, and to be the invariable rule of our conduct. It should be our constant inquiry, What is my duty? What does God command me in his Word? But if this is no part of our concern, if our inquiry is continually: “What will please myself? What will advance my interests? What will suit the taste of those around me”—then are we not wicked? Do we not in all such instances rebel against God, and become, as it were, a god unto ourselves? Yet who among us has not been guilty in these respects?

2. God regards all those as wicked in his sight, who are forgetful of his benefits.

Every day and hour of our lives we have been laden with mercies by a kind and bountiful Benefactor. And should not God’s mercies to us, have excited correspondent emotions of gratitude in our hearts? Yes, should they not have filled our mouths with praises and thanksgivings? But what shall we say to that greatest of all mercies—the gift of God’s dear Son to die for us? Has not that deserved our devoutest acknowledgments? What then if we have passed days and years without any affectionate remembrance of God? What if we have even abused the bounties of his providence, and poured contempt upon the riches of his grace? What if we have “trodden under foot the Son of God, and done despite to the Spirit of grace?” Are we not then wicked? Do we account such ingratitude a trivial offence, when exercised by a dependent towards ourselves?

3. God regards all those as wicked in his sight, who are unmindful of his presence.

God is everywhere present, and every object around us has this inscription upon it, “You see me O God!” Now it is our duty and privilege to walk with God as his friends, and to set him before us all the day long. But, suppose we have been unmindful of his presence, and have indulged without remorse those thoughts, which we could not have endured to carry into practice in the presence of a fellow-creature; suppose we have been careless and unconcerned even when we were assembled in God’s house of prayer; suppose that, instead of having him in all our thoughts, we have lived “without him in the world”—then are we not wicked? Is it necessary to have added murder or adultery to such crimes as these in order to constitute us wicked? Does God judge thus, when he declares that those who are thus without God, are at the same time “without hope? Ephesians 2:12.”

While we rectify our notions respecting the people that are wicked, let us inquire,

II. What will be the final doom of the wicked?

The word “Hell” sometimes imports no more than the grave; but here it must mean something far more awful; because the righteous go into the grave as well as the most vile.

Hell is a place of inconceivable misery.

Men in general do not wish to hear this place so much as mentioned, much less described, as the portion of the wicked. But it is better far to hear of it, than to dwell in it! And it is by hearing of it that we must be persuaded to avoid it! 2 Corinthians 5:11. Our Lord represents it as a place originally formed for the reception of the fallen angels; and very frequently labors to deter men from sin by the consideration of its terrors, Luke 12:5. Mark 9:43-48. And who that reflects upon that “lake of fire and brimstone,” where the wicked “dwell with everlasting burnings,” and “weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth,” without so much as the smallest hope of deliverance from it, and where “the smoke of their torment ascends up forever and ever;” who that considers what it must be to have the devils for our companions, and to have the vials of God’s wrath poured out upon us, without intermission and without end—who that considers these things, must not tremble at the thought of taking up his eternal abode in that place?

Yet Hell must be the portion of all who forget God.

Now scoffers make light of eternal torments, and sneer at the denunciations of God’s wrath. But before long they will call out “to the mountains and the rocks: Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!” However reluctant they are to obey the divine mandate, “Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!” they must be “turned into Hell” with irresistible force, and with fiery indignation!

Their numbers will not at all secure them against the threatened vengeance; though there are whole “nations,” they will not be able to withstand the omnipotent arm of God; nor will they excite commiseration in his heart; neither will their misery be the less because of the multitudes who partake of it. For instead of alleviating one another’s sorrows with tender sympathy, they will accuse one another with the bitterest invectives.

The power and veracity of God are pledged to execute this judgment; and sooner shall Heaven and earth be annihilated, than one jot or tittle of his Word shall fail!

INFERENCES.

1. How awful is the insensibility in which the wicked are living!

Men seem as careless and indifferent about their eternal interests as if they had nothing to fear; or as if God had promised that the wicked would be received into Heaven! But can they set aside the declaration that is now before us? Or do they suppose it is intended merely to alarm us; and that it shall never be executed upon us? “Is God then a man that he should lie, or a son of man that he should repent?” O that they would awake from their delusive dream, and flee from the wrath to come!

2. How just will be the condemnation of the wicked in the last day!

Many think it a harsh thing that so heavy a judgment should be denounced merely for forgetting God. But is this so small an offence as they imagine? Is it not rather exceedingly heinous? Does it not imply the basest ingratitude, the most daring rebellion, yes, a great degree even of atheism itself? And shall not God visit the wicked for these things, and be avenged on such transgressors as these? Shall they be at liberty to abuse God’s mercies—and God not be at liberty to suspend the communication of his blessings? Shall they despise and trample on God’s laws—and God not be at liberty to assert their authority? Shall they say to God, “Depart from us, we do not desire the knowledge of your ways!” And shall God be accused of injustice if he says to them, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels! Matthew 25:41.” But if they will dare to open their mouths against him now, the time is shortly coming, when they will stand self-convicted, and sell-condemned.

3. How marvelous are the patience and the mercy of God!

God has seen the whole race of man departing from him, and blotting out, as much as they could, the remembrance of him from the earth. His authority, his love, his mercy—are, as it were, by common consent banished from the conversation and from the very thoughts of men. Yet, instead of burning with indignation against us, and “turning us all quickly into Hell,” he bears with us, he invites us to mercy, he says, “Deliver them from going down into the pit; for I have found a ransom! Job 33:24.”

O that we might be duly sensible of his mercy! O that we might flee for refuge to the hope set before us! If once we are cast into Hell, we shall never obtain “one drop of water to cool our tongues!” But “this is the accepted time;” the Lord grant that we may find it also, “the day of salvation!”

Charles Simeon