nation in a season of deep distress3. May the con- templation of them be attended with similar effects to our souls, while we consider,
I. What is that repentance which God requires —
We find in the Scriptures a great variety of marks whereby true repentance may be known : but we shall confine our attention to those which are set forth in the text. It is there required,
1. That we should acknowledge our guilt —
[Our fathers' sins, as well as our own, are just grounds of national humiliation : in the repentance that is purely personal, our own sins, of course, are the chief, if not the exclusive, sources of sorrow and contrition. But our sins should be viewed in their true light, not as mere violations of our duty to man, but as acts of hostility against God. Sin is " a walking contrary to God," or, in other words, a wilful, persevering, habitual opposition to his holy will : nor do we ever appreciate our own character aright, till we see our whole lives to have
been one constant scene of rebellion against God Even
adultery and murder, though so directly militating against the welfare of society, were considered by David as deriving their chief aggravations from this source; " Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned V]
2. That we should justify God in whatever judg- ments he may inflict —
[Though we think ourselves at liberty to " walk contrary to God," we do not consider him as at liberty to " walk con- trary to us," but murmur and repine if at any time he punish us for our iniquities. But whatever judgments he may have inflicted on us, we must say, " Thou hast punished us less than
our iniquities deserved0" We should even view his
denunciations of wrath in the future world as no more than the just desert of sin; and be ready to acknowledge the justness of the sentence, if we ourselves be consigned over to everlasting
misery on account of our sins I know that, when we
consult only our proud reasonings on the subject, it is hard to feel entirely reconciled to the declarations of God respecting it : but a sight of sin in its various aggravations will silence us in a moment, and compel us to cry out, " Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments'1!"
3. That we should be thankful for any dispensation that has been the means of " humbling our uncir- cumcised hearts" —
» Neh. i. 5 -9. >' Ps. li. 4. c Ezra ix. 13. d Rev. xvi. 7.