2. That to such expressions of penitence all the promises of God are made —
[It is not to the fluent tongue, but to the contrite heart, that pardon and peace are promised. " To this man will I look," says God, " even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,'* " to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones'"." He will fulfil not the requests only, but the desire also, of them that fear him," and " of them that hope in his mercy." If only we look unto him we shall be lightened," yea, we shall " be saved with an everlasting salvation'." The publican who dared not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote on his breast, and cried, God be merciful to me a sinner ! went down to his house justified, when the self-applaud- ing Pharisee was dismissed under the guilt of all his sins.
Now this is an unspeakable consolation to the weary and heavy- laden sinner. Had lie to look for grounds of worthiness, or even for any considerable attainments, in himself, he would be discou- raged ; but finding that the invitations of God are made to him as wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked, and
that
f Rom. viii. 26. ^ ib. ver. 27. ** Isai. Ivii. 15. & Ixvi. 2.
' Ps. cii. 17, 19, '20. Isai. .\lv. 17, 22. VOL. iV. K
that the promises are suited to him in that state, he comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, and finds rest and peace unto his soul.]
From this view of the Psahnist's experience we see,
1. What an evil and bitter thing sin is —
\_" Fools will make a mock at sin," and represent it as a light and venial thing : but let any one look at David in the midst of all the sp'endor of a court, and say, what sin is, which could so rob him of all earthly pleasure, and bring such torment upon his soul. Was that a light matter? If v.'e will not be con- vinced by such a sight as this, we shall learn it by sad ex- perience in the eternal world, where the worm that will prey upon our consciences shall never die, and the fire that shall torment our bodies shall never be quenched. O that we might be instructed, ere it be too late !]
2. What an enviable character is the true Chris- tian, even when viewed under the greatest disadvan- tages—
[We cannot conceive a Christian in circumstances less enviable than those of David in the passage before us : yet compare him with an ungodly or impenitent man under the most favourable circumstances that can be imagined, and ask, Whose views are most just? whose feelings most ra- tional ? whose prospects most happy ? With the
one " God is angry every day ;" on the other he looks with complacency and delight : the joys of the one will soon termi- nate in inconceivable and everlasting misery ; and the sorrows of the o.ther in endless and unspeakable felicity''. The siimer in the midst of all his revellings has an inward witness of the truth of our Lord's assertion ; " Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."]
3. Of what importance it is to attain just views of the character of God —
[If God be viewed as a God of all mercy, we shall never repent us of our sins : and if he be viewed as an inexorable Judge, we shall be equally kept from penitence by despair. But let him be seen as he is in Christ Jesus, a " God reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them," let him be acknowledged as " a just God and yet a J^aviour," and instantly will a holy fear spring up in the place of presunjption, and hope dispel the baneful influence of despondency- Know then, Beloved, that this is the very character of God as he is revealed in his Gospel : he is "just, and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus :" he is to the impenitent indeed "a consuming