abominable * : yea, to their dying hour do they retain this humihatuig' sense of their own corruptions, notwithstanding they have a hope that God is pacified towards them ; and even the more on account of that very mercy which they have experienced at his hands ^.
Shall it be thought that such a sense of sin can become those only who have been guilty of some flagrant enoi'mities ? I answer. It befits the most moral person upon- earth, no less than the most abandoned sinner. I say not that the moral and the immoral are upon a perfect level, either in the sight of God or man ; for, beyond all doubt, all are hateful in pro- portion to the greatness and multitude of their iniquities : but there is no person so virtuous, but that he needs to be humbled before God in dust and ashes. Let any man, however virtuous, look back upon his past life, and see how far he has been from God, and how entirely he has lived to himself. Let him con- sider how little sense he has had of his obligations to God,
especially for all the wonders of redeeming love and
how often he has " done despite to the Holy Spirit," in resist- ing his sacred motions, and in deferring that great work which he knew to be necessary for the salvation of his soul. We quite mistake, if we think that guilt attaches only to flagrant immoralities : the living without God in the world is the sum- mit and consummation of all guilt: and where is the man who must not plead guilty to that charge ? I suppose that no one will be found to arrogate to himself a higher character than that of Job, who, according to the testimony of God himself, was " a perfect and upright man :" yet did even Job, when led into just views of himself, exclaim, " Behold, I am vile !" " I repent therefore, and abhor myself in dust and ashes^."]
This is the spirit which God approves —
[This, how unamiable soever it may appear in the eyes of men, is most pleasing in the sight of God. And weU it may be so: for it ho7iours God's Laio. The man who is not thus abased before God, declares, in effect, that there is no great evil in disregarding God's Law, and that there is no occasion for those who have transgressed it to be ashamed. But the truly contrite person who lothes himself for his iniquities, acknowledges that " the Law is holy, and just, and good," and that every trans- gression of it is a just ground for the deepest humiliation.
Moreover, the contrition here spoken oi justifies God's denun- ciations against sin. The unhumbled sinner says, in effect, God will not execute judgment: nor have I any cause to tremble for his displeasure : and if he were to consign me over to per- dition on account of my sins, he would be unmerciful and unjust.
^ Ezek. xxxvi. 31. ^ Ezek. xvi. 63.
e Job xl. 4. and xlii. 6.