[If David did not despair of mercy, who else can have cause to do so ? If the blood of Christ could so purge him, why may it not ks also ? If it had such efficacy a thousand years before it was shed, surely it will not be less efficacious now it has been poured forth. But it is not the mere shedding of Christ's blood that will profit us. We must, by faith, apply it to our own souls. Let us then go to the blood of sprinkling which speaketh such good things to us^ : let us cry with earnest and repeated entreaties, "Purge me, wash me!" thus shall our polluted souls be whiter than snow itself, and ere long we shall join in that general chorus"'.]
1 Heb. xii. 24. m Rev. i. 5, 6.
Ps. li. 8. Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones ivhich thou hast broken may rejoice.
NEXT to the obtaining of pardon, a penitent will desire the manifestation of that pardon to his soul. A state of suspense on such a subject as the forgive- ness of sins, is too painful to be endured without earnest prayer to God for the removal of it. We wonder not, therefore, that the Psalmist, after im- ploring mercy at the hands of God through the blood of the great Sacrifice, should seek a restoration of peace and joy : for, in truth, a soul that has once tasted peace with God, and known the joy of his salvation, can never be satisfied, till it basks in the beams of divine love, and has the light of God's countenance lifted up upon it.
The terms in which the Psalmist implores this blessing, will lead me to shew,
I. The power of sin to wound the soul —
We may all have some idea of the anguish arising from broken bones. But that is small, in comparison of that which is brought upon the soul by sin. " The spirit of a man will sustain any bodily infirmity : but a wounded spirit, who can bear?" Deep indeed are the wounds inflicted by sin, in the case of,
1. An unconverted sinner —