[2.] The happiness of being actually pardoned is exceeding great. This is notably set forth by the psalmist : Ps. xxxii, 1, ' Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered ; blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.' The privilege of the pardoned sinner is here set forth by three expressions : forgiving iniquity, covering sin, and not imputing transgression ; and the manner of delivery is vehement and full of vigour — oh, the blessedness of the man ! And it is repeated over and over again. Let us a little view the phrase ; the Hebrew is, wlio is eased of his transgression. Junius ; qui levatur a defectione. It compareth sin to a burden too heavy for us to bear. The same meta- phor is used. Mat. xi. 28, ' Come to me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden.' The second expression relateth to the covering of filth, or the removing ':hat which is offensive out of sight ; as the Israelites were to march wil,h a paddle tied to their arms, that when they went to ease themselves, they might dig and cover that that came from them. Dent, xxiii. 14, you have the law, and the reason of it : ' For the Lord thy God walketh in the midst of the camp, therefore shall thy camp be holy, that he see no unclean thing in thee.' The third expression is, * To whom the Lord imputeth not sin,' that is, doth not put sin to their account ; where sin is compared to a debt, as it is also : Mat. vi. 12, ' Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.' So that sin is a burden, of which we should seek to be eased ; filthiness, which we should get to be covered ; debts, which we should get to be discharged. Oh, blessed we when it is so, when God lifts off from our shoulders the burden of the guilt of sin, covereth this noisome filthi- ness which maketh us so loathsome to him, and quits the debt and plea which he had in law against us. This forgiving or lifting of the burden is with respect to Christ's merit, on whom God laid the iniquities of us all, Isa. liii. 6 ; this covering is with respect to the adjudication of Christ's righteousness to us, which is a covering which is not too short ; this not imputing is with respect to Christ's media- tion or intercession, which in effect speaketh thus, What they owe, I have paid. Oh, the blessedness of the man ! You will apprehend it to be so. What a burden sin is when it is not pardoned ! Carnal men feel it not for the present, but they shall hereafter feel it. Now two sorts of conscience feel the burden of sin, a tender conscience, and a wounded conscience. It is grievous to a tender heart, that valueth
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the love of God, to lie under the guilt of sin : Ps. xxxviii. 4, ' Mine iniquities are gone over my head, as a burden too heavy for me.' Broken bones are sensible of the least weight : so Ps. xl. 12, ' Innum- erable evils have compassed me about ; mine iniquities have taken hold of me.' What kind of hearts have they who can sin freely and without remorse ? Is it nothing to have grieved the Spirit of God, and violated his law, and rendered ourselves obnoxious to his wrath ? A wounded conscience feeleth it also. There is a domestic tribunal which we carry about with us wherever we go, as the devils carry their own hell about with them, though not now in the place of torments : Prov. xviii. 14, ' The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded spirit who can bear ? ' Natural courage will bear up under common distresses which lie more without us, but when the spirit itself is wounded, what support under so great a burden ? Ask Cain and Judas what it is to feel the burden of sin. All sinners are subject to this, and this bondage may be easily revived in them ; a close touch of the word will do it, a sad thought, a pressing misery, a scandalous sin, a grievous sickness, a disappointment in the world. There needs not much ado to put a sinner in the stocks of conscience ; as Belshazzar, that saw but a few words written on the wall, and ' his countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other.' Again, it is filthiness which rendereth you odious in the sight of God ; we ourselves cannot endure ourselves, when serious, John iii. 20 ; it maketh us shy of God's presence. Once more, it is a debt which bindeth us over to everlasting punishment ; and if we be not piardoned, the judge will give order to the jailer, and the jailer will cast us into the prison, 'till we have paid the utmost farthing,' Luke xii., last verse ; and that will never be. How doleful is their case who are bound hand and foot and cast into hell, there to remain for ever and ever ! Now put all together : certainly if you had ever been in bondage, and felt the sting of death, the curse of the law, or been acquainted with the fiery darts of Satan, or scorched with the wrath of God, or known the terrors of those, of whom God hath exacted this debt in hell, surely you would say, Blessed is the man ! happy are those whose sins are pardoned ! Those that mind their work, that know what it is to look God in the face with comfort, that have this chain broken, the judge turned into a father, the tribunal of justice into a throne of grace, and punishment into a pardon, will say, Blessed is the man !