1. The communications of his grace —
[He desired to be delivered, not from guilt only, hut from the power and dominion of sin also. This desire was with- out reserve : he wished not to retain " any iniquity," how- ever pleasant or prohtable, or even justifiable it might be in the eyes of an ungodly world. In this he approved himself sincere and upright : and in this, every true Christian will re- semble him — •
But in order to this, he begged to be guided altogether by the Oracles of Truth. The Word of God is the only standard of right and wrong : if we follow any other directory, we shall err : if we adhere to that, vve cannot but fulfil the will of God. This is the constant declaration of God himself''; and it accords with the experience of his people in every age^. Happy would it be for us, if we would study the Scriptures with this paiticular view. We are not disposed to undervalue speculative knowledge : but that which is practical is infinitely to be preferred. The Scrip- tures are given us as a " light to our paths" in general, and as " a lantern" in every particular case, when we know not where to place " our feet." Let us truly seek to l)e in every thing governed by them ; and then, though we be mere fools, as it were, in other things, we shall never greatly err'*.]
From this general view of the petitions, we proceed, II. To shew the instruction to be derived from them —
Though not written with a didactic view, they convey much instruction, in reference both,
1 . To Christian principles —
[The union of the two petitions may not improperly suggest to us, that a desire after pardon nmst invariably be joined with a desire of sanctification also. Were a desire of pardon all that is jrequired to form the Christian character, a Christian would differ
but * ver. g. « ver. ] ! . <• Ps, xix. 7, Isai. xxxv, 8.
427.] THE christian's chief desires. 4^9
but little from those who are gone beyond redemption. Sin must be hateful to us, even as it is to God himself, who cannot look
upon it without tiie utmost abhorrence
Nor is the order in which they stand devoid of good and useful instruction. Mercy is to be sought in ihejirsf place. To look for sanctification first, and make that a ground whereon to hope for mercy, would subvert the whole Gospel of Christ. We mean not to say, that we should build such an observation as this on the mere circumstance of the petitions occurring in that particular order; for that circumstaiivoe would by no means ju^tily anv such conclusion : but from that circumstance we may fitly take occasion to make such an observation which is sanctioned and confirmed by every part of the inspired writings. And we cannot too strongly impress it on the minds of all, that in constructing the spiritual edifice, we must ever be careful to distinguish between the foundation and the superstructure, and to assign to each its appropriate place and office ]
2. To Christian practice —
[Here the just improvement of the petitions is clear and obvious : they teach us to be humble Christians, practical Christians, consistent Christians.
We should be humble Christians. The manner in which the petition for mercy is expressed conveys an idea of deep humility. It is as if he had said, " Lord, I am unworthy that thou shouldst look upon so unworthy, so vile a creature as I am: well might my sins provoke thee to hide thy face from me for ever : but oh ! look upon me, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies." Thus it is that we should ever seek for mercy. It is impossible for us ever to lie too low before our God. To the latest hour of our lives we should preserve the spirit of the publican, who, whilst he sought for mercy, *' dared not so much as to lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner !"