cessful warfare, or three days of pestilence : a painful choice indeed ! but Da\dd wisely preferred the falling into the hands of God, and not into the hands of man. The election being made, the judgment was inunediately executed : and no less than seventy thousand men were slain by a destroying angel, before the expiration of the appointed time ^. What now shall we think of sin ? Is it so light a matter as the generality of men imagine? and are not they justly called "fools" who " make a mock at it?" The sins of the heart are considered as altogether venial: pride and self-confidence are scarcely numbered in the catalogue of sins : but behold in what light they are \dewed by an holy God! O that we might learn, if not from God's declarations, at least from his judgments, what an awful thing sin is, and with what tremendous punishment it will be \dsi,ted !]
Next let us view,
II. The goodness of God in pardoning sin —
David and the elders of Israel humbled themselves before God — •
[David had expressed, and that too in very energetic lan- guage, his shame and sorrow on account of his transgression : but God determined to punish his iniquity. On the execution of vengeance upon the land, the elders of Israel united with him in the deepest humiliation^: and David, when he saw the angel standing over Jerusalem with a drawn sword in his hand, pleaded most earnestly with God, that the punishment might fall on him who had been the author of the sin, and not on the people who were innocent s. This was a mark of true contrition. When the soul is not really abased before God, it will rather extenuate its guilt, or cast the blame upon others^; but when it has a just sense of its guilt, it will be willing to take shame to itself to the utmost extent of its deserts : and such a spirit will never be exercised in vain.]
Now therefore God removed the punishment, and pardoned the iniquity —
[Instantly did God command the angel to " stay his hand :" but at the same time a command was given to build an altar there, and to offer sacrifices to the offended Majesty of heaven. God from the beginning had honoured his o\\ni
^ Some have taken occasion from this expression, which they say may signify the evening, to represent the pestilence as lasting only to the evening sacrifice of the same day, that is, only nine hours in all : but there is strong internal evidence in the history that it continued the whole three days.
f 1 Chron. xxi. "^16. si Chron. xxi. 17. ^^ 1 Sam. xv. 20, 21.