^ The most persistent symbol of Conscience in this first stage is the " burden " — a simple but picturesque emblem of a sense of * T. T. Hunger, Horace Bushnell, 218.
74 THE BEATITUDE OF FORGIVENESS
guilt. It is on him, though behind him ; it is oppressive, though it leaves his limbs all free for action or advance ; it is rather felt than seen. Somewhat characteristic it is of Bunyan's Christian that this burden of his is " great." ^
^ In 1881, when he was nearing his end, Dante Gabriel Eossetti, though an agnostic, became very anxious for confession and absolution. It was suggested to him that absolution was contrary to his pronounced views. But he said, "I don't care about that. I can make nothing of Christianity, but I only want a confessor to give me absolution of my sins," adding, " I believe in a future life — what I want now is absolution for my sins, that's all," 2
(2) Again, sin is pictured as inward pollution and filthiness, which must be covered before there can be true blessedness. But not every kind of " covering " will suffice. Many ways of covering sins bring no blessing, but a curse. Some people spend much time and trouble, and exercise great ingenuity; in covering up their sins. They dig deep graves in which they seek to bury them, but every sin they bury is going to have a resurrection. Such coverings never bring any blessedness. " He that covereth his sins shall not prosper." The Psalmist tried for a year to bury his sin. Did he succeed ? Was it a happy year ? Note what he says about that time : " When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer." When he is brought to a right frame of mind he no longer tries to cover up his sin, but says, " My sin is ever before me." " I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid."
^ Bees in their hives, when there is anything corrupt and too large for them to remove, fling a covering of wax over it, and hermetically seal it, and no foul odour comes from it. And so a man's sin is covered over and ceases to be in etidence, as it were, before the Divine Eye tliat sees all things. He Himself casts a merciful veil over it and hides it from Himself.^
(3) The third picture of sin is perhaps the most striking of all. It means : " I am a debtor, over head and ears in debt, but
' J. A. Kerr Bain, The Peojtle of the Pilgrimage, i. 51. * A. C. Benson, Life oj D. O. PusseUi, 71. ' A. Maclaren.
PSALM XXXII. I, 2 75
the debt is not charged or reckoned against me at all," Still more, it means : " I am guilty, yet the righteous Judge justly pronounces me not guilty." How can that be possible ? Let the Apostle Paul explain. He says that "David describes the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works," and he quotes the text to prove this. David did not say one word about " righteousness without works." "What does St, Paul mean by saying he did ? The simple fact is that St. Paul supplements David ; he gives the positive side, in addi- tion to David's negative side of the double transaction. St. Paul has his eye on Christ. If sin is not reckoned or charged against, or put to the account of, the believing sinner, it is because it has been imputed, reckoned, charged against, or put to the account of Christ, And if "righteousness without works" is imputed, reckoned to, or put to the account of, the believing sinner, it is because of what Christ had done. "Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf ; that we [who knew no righteous- ness] might become the righteousness of God in him."
^ A very common idea of the object of the gospel is, that it is to show how 7nen may obtain pardon ; whereas, in truth, its object is to show how pardon for men has been obtained, or rather to show how God has taken occasion, by the entrance of sin into the world, to manifest the unsearchable riches of holy compassion. I have observed that even the phrase free offer of pardon is so interpreted that the very existence of the pardon is made to depend on the acceptaiice of the oiler. The benefit of the pardon does most assuredly depend on its being accepted, but the pardon itself is laid up in Christ Jesus, and depends on nothing but the unchangeable character of God.^
3. The condition of forgiveness. — The last clause of the text, " In whose spirit there is no guile," seems to refer to the frank sincerity of a confession. He is not like the self-righteous sinner who tries to tell lies to God, and, attempting to deceive Him, really deceives only himself. Whoever opens his heart to God, makes a clean breast of it, and without equivocation or self- deception or the palliations which self-love teaches, says, "I have played the fool and erred exceedingly " — to that man, the Psalmist thinks, pardon is sure to come.