Psalm 36:1
“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes!”
When we speak of the wickedness of mankind, that command of our Lord is frequently cast in our teeth, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” But the command in this verse refers to an uncharitable ascribing of good actions to a bad principle; which, as we cannot see the heart, we are by no means authorized to do. But, if it does not authorize us to “call good evil,” it assuredly does not require us to “call evil good.” If we see sin, then it is no uncharitableness to pronounce it to be sin. And if the sin is habitual, then it is no uncharitableness to say, that the heart from which it proceeds is wicked and depraved!
We are told by our Lord, that “the tree is to be judged of by its fruit; and that as a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, so neither can a good tree habitually bring forth evil fruit, Matthew 7:16-18.” An error, and even a fault may be committed, without detracting from a person’s general character; but a sinful course of life involves in it, of necessity, a corruption of heart; and carries with it a conviction that the person who pursues that wicked course has not within him the fear of God. This was the impression made on David’s mind, when he said, “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In confirmation of this sentiment, I will show,
I. How God interprets sin.
God views sin not merely as contained in overt acts, but as existing in the soul. He judges of sin’s malignity, not according to its aspect upon social happiness, but as it bears on himself, and affects his honor. Throughout the whole Sacred Volume, God speaks of it in this view. He represents sin as striking at the relation which exists between him and his creatures:
1. God views sin as spiritual adultery against Himself.
He is the Husband of his Church, Isaiah 54:5, and claims our entire and exclusive regards, Hosea 3:3. When these are alienated from him, and fixed on the creature, he calls it adultery, Ezekiel 16:37; and hence James, speaking of those who sought the friendship of the world, addresses them as “adulterers and adulteresses! James 4:4;” because, as the Spouse of Christ, they have placed on another the affections due to him alone.
2. God views sin as rebellion against Himself.
God, as the Governor of the universe, requires us to obey his laws. But sin is an opposition to his will, and a violation of his laws; and therefore God says respecting it, “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be, Romans 8:7.” Here, let it be observed, it is not the overt act, but the disposition only, that is so characterized; and, consequently, if the very disposition as existing in the soul is an equivocal proof of the wickedness of the heart, then much more must the outward act, and especially the constant habit of the life, be considered as a decisive evidence that the soul itself is corrupt!
3. God views sin as idolatry against Himself.
God alone is to be worshiped; and to put anything in competition with him is to make it an idol. Hence the love of money is called idolatry, Colossians 3:5; and the indulgence of a sensual appetite is to “make our belly our God, Philippians 3:19.” And hence John, having set forth “the Lord Jesus as the true God and eternal life,” guards us against any alienation of our hearts from him, in these memorable words, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols! 1 John 5:20-21.” And here let me again observe, it is the disposition, and not any outward act, which has this construction put upon it.
4. God views sin as downright atheism against Himself.
It is represented as a denial of all God’s attributes and perfections.
Sin denies God’s omnipresence and omniscience; since men, in committing it, say, “What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness? Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens! Job 22:13-14. See also Psalm 73:11; Psalm 94:7.” They think that God has no desire to attend to what is done on earth.
Sin denies God’s justice and his holiness. Men say:
“I shall have peace, though I walk after the vain imaginations of my heart! Deuteronomy 29:19.”
“God will never require at my hands what I do! Psalm 10:13.”
“He will not do good; neither will he do evil, Zephaniah 1:12.”
So far from having anything to fear from God, they say, “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?” Malachi 2:17.”
Sin denies the right of God to control us, “We are Lords; we will come no more to you! Jeremiah 2:31;” “Our lips are our own; who is Lord over us! Psalm 12:4.” “What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit is there, that we should pray unto him, Job 21:14-15.”
Sin even denies the very existence of God, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God! Psalm 14:1.” Hence Paul calls us “Atheists in the world Ephesians 2:12.” Men will not say all this with their lips; but it is the language of their lives, and therefore of their hearts.
Having seen how God interprets sin, and what construction he puts upon it, we are prepared to see:
II. What interpretation we should put upon sin.
No inference was ever more legitimately drawn from the plainest premises, than that which forced itself upon David’s mind, from a view of the ungodly world. And the same conclusion must we also arrive at, from all that we see around us, “Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts; there is no fear of God before their eyes!”
1. There is no concern about God’s presence.
A thief would not steal, if he knew that the eyes of the proprietor were fastened on him; yes, even the presence of a child would be sufficient to keep the adulterer from the perpetration of his heinous sins. But he nas no regard for the presence of Almighty God. If he is out of the sight of any fellow-creature, he says in his heart, “No eye sees me! Job 24:15;” never reflecting that “the darkness is no darkness with God, but the night is as clear as the day; the darkness and light to him are both alike! Psalm 139:11-12.”
2. There is no regard for God’s authority.
Men will stand in awe of the civil magistrate, who he knows to be “an avenger of evil, and that he does not bear the sword in vain.” To see to what an extent men stand in awe of earthly governors, conceive in what a state of confusion even this Christian land would be, if only for one single week the laws were suspended, and no restraint were imposed on men beyond that which they feel from a regard to the authority of God. We should not dare to venture out of our houses, or scarcely be safe in our houses, by reason of the flood of iniquity which would deluge the land. And though it is true that every one would not avail himself of the licence to commit all manner of abominations, it is equally true, that it is not God’s authority that would restrain them; for the same authority that says, “Do not kill, or commit adultery,” says, You shall “live not unto yourself, but unto Him who died for you and rose again.” And if we are not influenced by God’s authority in everything, then we regard it truly in nothing, James 2:10-11.
3. There is no concern for God’s approbation.
If we are lowered in the estimation of our fellow-creatures, then how mortified are we, insomuch that we can scarcely bear to abide in the place where we are so degraded. An exile to the remotest solitude would be preferable to the presence of those whose good opinion we have forfeited, But who inquires whether God is pleased or displeased? Who lays to heart the disapprobation which he has excited in God’s mind, or the record that is kept concerning him in the book of God’s remembrance? If we preserve our outward conduct correct, so as to secure the approbation of our fellow-creatures, then we are satisfied, and care little what God sees within, or what estimate he forms of our character!
4. There is no fear of God’s displeasure.
One would think it impossible that men should believe in a future state of retribution, and yet be altogether careless about the doom that shall be awarded to them. They think that God is merciful—too merciful to punish anyone, unless it be, perhaps, some extraordinarily flagrant transgressor. Hence, though they know they are sinners, they never think of repenting, or of changing that course of life which, if the Scriptures are true, must lead them to perdition.
Only see the state of the first converts, or of any who have felt their danger of God’s wrath; and then tell me whether that is the experience of the world at large? Where do we see the weeping penitents smiting on their bosom, and crying for mercy? Where do we see people flying to Christ for refuge, as the manslayer fled from the sword of the avenger, that was pursuing him? In the world at large we see nothing of this; nothing, in fact, but supineness and security; so true is the judgment of the Psalmist respecting them, that “there is no fear of God before their eyes!” The same testimony Paul also bears, Romans 3:18; and we know that his record is true.
If, then, David’s views are indeed correct, see,
1. How marvelous is the forbearance of our God!
He sees the state of every living man; he sees, not our actions only, but our very thoughts, for “he tries the heart and thoughts.” What evils, then, does he behold in every quarter of the globe! Not a country, a town, a village, a family, no, nor a single soul—is exempt from the common malady of sin! All are fallen in sin. All are “enemies in their hearts to God by wicked works!”
Take but a single city, our own metropolis for instance, and what a mass of iniquity does God behold in it, even in the short space of twenty-four hours! Is it not astonishing that God’s wrath does not break forth against us, even as against Sodom and Gomorrah, to consume us by fire; or that another deluge does not come, to sweep us away from the face of the earth! Dear brethren, “account this patience of our God to be salvation, 2 Peter 3:15,” and “let it lead every one of you to repentance, Romans 2:4.”
2. How unbounded is the love of God, who has provided a Savior for us!
Behold, instead of destroying the world by one stroke of his indignation, he has sent us his co-equal and co-eternal Son to effect a reconciliation between him and us, by the sacrifice of himself! Yes, “he has so loved the world, as to have given his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:16.” “He sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,” as we might rather have expected, “but that the world through him might be saved, John 3:17.”
What, then, my beloved brethren, “shall your transgressions say to you?” Shall they not say, “Avail yourselves of the offered mercy? Delay not an hour to seek a saving interest in that Savior, so that your sins may be blotted out, and your souls be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus!” Let this love of God constrain you to surrender up yourselves to him as his redeemed people; and so to walk before him in newness of heart and life, that “Christ may be magnified in you, whether by life or death! Philippians 1:20.”
Charles Simeon