Ps. li. 7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall he clean : wash me, and I shall he whiter than snow.
EVERY part of God's word is profitable for our instruction in righteousness ; but, in the Psalms, religion is exemplified, and, as it were, embodied. The workings of genuine repentance are admirably delineated in that before us. David traces his ini- quities to their proper source, his original corruption. He acknowledges the necessity of a thorough reno- vation of soul : and, in legal terms, but of evangelical import, he implores forgiveness.
The expressions in the text intimate to us,
I. The nature of sin —
The generality of the world imagine sin to be a light and venial evil. Some indeed have learned to dread it as destructive of their eternal happiness ; but very few have any idea of it as dejiling and debasing the soul.
It is in this view, however, that we are now called to consider it —
[Sin has defiled every member of our body, and every faculty of our soul : hence St. Paul speaks of it as " filthiness both of the flesh and spirit^." What uncircumcised ears'', what venomous tongues'^, what adulterous eyes*^, have the greater part of mankind*^! How are aU their members used as instruments of unrighteousness^! What pride, and envy, what wrath, and malice, are liarboured in the bosom ! How gladly would we cast off all allegiance to God, and be a god unto our- selves s ! Thus, in fleshly lusts, we degrade ourselves almost to a level with the beasts** ; and, in spiritual filthinesss, we too much resemble the fallen angels'. How different is this state from that in which we were first created ^ ! Yet is the change effected solely by the agency of sin ^]
In this view, more especially, is sin represented in the text —
a 2 Cor. vii. 1. ^ Acts vii. 51. <= Jam. ill. 6.
d 2 Pet. ii. 14. ^ See Rom. iii. 10—19. f Rom. vi. 13.
g Ps. xii. 4. h 2 Pet. ii. 22. • John viii. 44,
^ Gen. i. 27. ' Rom. v. 12.