Ps. cxliii. 2. Enter not into judgment ivith thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
TRIALS and persecutions are sometimes permitted by God, for the purpose of honouring his people, and advancing his work in their souls ; and may justly be regarded by them as a gift from God, bestowed on
them for Christ's sake for their eternal gooda. But under some circumstances, trials may be viewed rather as judgments from God on account of some iniquity which they have committed. In this light must we consider all the troubles which arose to David in his own family, after his transgression in the matter of Uriah. The evil was unmerited as far as related to the persons who inflicted it ; but it was received from God as a chastisement, under which it became him to humble himself in dust and ashes. We are not indeed certain at what time David wrote this psalm, whether when he was suffering under Saul, or when his own son Absalom had driven him from his throne. We are rather inclined to think it was at the latter period, because that affliction was so decidedly a punishment for his former sins, having been predicted by Nathan in that view. But, whatever were the circumstances under which the psalm was written, David viewed them as judgments from God which he deprecated ; whilst, as to the immediate occasion, he appealed to God that he did not merit such treatment at the hands of man. In his appeal to God, he had called upon him " in faithfulness and in righteousness to hear and answer him;" but it was only in reference to the evils imputed to him by man that he dared thus to speak : before God he knew he deserved all that could be inflicted on him ; and therefore he implored mercy at his hands, as one self-convicted and self-condemned : " Enter not, &c."
These words we shall consider in a two-fold point of view ;
I. As containing principles for our instruction —
It is obvious that in this address of David to Jehovah the following truths are declared ; 1. That all men are sinners before God —
[David speaks of " every living man." And this is the universal testimony of Scripture, that " there is none righteous, no, not one:" that " in many things we all offend;" that " every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God." The man who denies this, is said to be
a Phil. i. 29.