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.”
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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