The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 292

tJ:)at evil is coming on the eonl as a con11eqnence of ail'I done, Sin Is transgression of law; law involves authority to vindicate itB righteousness; and, as soon as the conviotion of ein ie real, the lo1tic of conscience points to ooming judgment. Whether it be a temporal judgment, as in Old Testament references, or eternal, as in New Testament references, the experience ie virtually the BAme. V. THE OONFEBSION OF GUILT rs ABSOLUTE. The guilty king sat, In silence till the prophl•t bad delivered hie charge. The time was brief, but the power accompanying the words was Divine. Swifter than lightning the spell of hypocritical concealment was broken. The bonds in which the unholy passion had long held the soul were snapped a.sunder. The eye of conscience, turning in upon 11elf1 gave fresh life to the old suppressed loyalty to righteousness and God, and, as a consequence, the confession came, "I have einued against the Lord." 'l'he question as to whether the historian here simply gives a summary of what passed, and intended to include also the fifty-first psalm, or whether literally this is all that was said and done, does not affect our purpose. '!'I.Jere is here a ruognition prompt, unqualified, of sin, uot as It fault, a weakness, but of Bin as known by conscience and stamped with the curse of God and man. It is also a recognition of sin as against God, not as a wrong done to Uriah, Bathsheba, or Israel, or his own family. The conscience is not indifferent to the injuries done to men, but when fully arow,ed, and face to face with sin as sin, it seems to see only God. Hence the expression in Ps. Ii. 4. .Again, there is pain and shame, not because of what men may &ay or do, not because personal influence will now be weakened, but because it is sin. It is the sin which troubles and appals the truly convicted soul. Moreover, there is abstention from all claim to consideration ; no excuse, no palliation. 'l'he convicted one can only say, "I have sinned." There is obviously an inward bowing of the spirit before the holy God; an absolute surrender as undone, condemned, helpless, lost. The very brevity of the confession bespeaks the depth of penitential woe. Contrast the w0rdy confession (1 Sam. xv. 17-25; cf. Luke xv. 18, 19; xviii. 13). ' VI. FonGIVEJs'EBS IS FREE, FULL, BUT QUALIFIED. How long Nathan stood by the prostrate silent king, and whether this confession was the literal whole or not, we do not know; but he eaw enough to enable him to say in the name of God, "The Lord bath put away thy sin "-a statement clear and unreserved, intended to go home to the smitten heart. The forgiveness of sin has to do with a personal relation of God to man. It is the restoration of the personal relation of favour and fellowship which had been inter- rupted by sin. It is conditional on true repentance, the objective ground being· the sacrificial death of Christ-under the Old Testament dispensation by anticipation (Rom. iii. 25), and under the New by retrospective reference. God is the sole Judge of the reality of repentance. He looketh at the heart. He knew that David's conviction had issued in the state of mind known as true repentance, and foreseeing this before it occurred, he commissioned the prophet to "declare and pronounce " to David, " being penitent," the remillsion of his sin. "Thy sine are forgiven thee!" Blessed words! How often brought to penitents since our Lord uttered them I But the pardon left untouched the natural consequences of sin referred to in vers.19, 20, because a personal relation does not alter the course of the forces which a man sets in motion on earth by his sin. Also, the child born must die, not to its injury, but gain, yet in judgment, so that the father should not find comfort in the fruit of his sin, and in mercy, lest there should be a living memorial of his guilt and shame to which men might point and further bwpheme the Name of the Lord. The ea.me holds good of our forgiveness; it is free, full, but qualified by the continuance of some ill consequences which chastise ue all our days. The sinner never entirely gets rid of all the earthly effects of his sin while or; earth; they work in his flow of thought and feeling, and often in the checks on his influence, and possibly on the character and health of others. The full redemption comes wilh the glorified body and the new heavens and earth. GENERAL LE660~B. 1. The first thing to be sought in men in order to their salvation is a due recognition of themselves as sinners in the sight of God. A general recognition of the evil of sin as distinct from consciousne&B of personal guilt may really be a cover for unpardoned sin. 2. The tendency and drift of God's messages to men living in Rin la to bring them to a right mind in reference to their personal position in his sight, as a prelimina.ry to their seeking forgiveness. 3. Much will be found to depend, in respect to religious views and action, on the apprehension men have of what sin really is aud on. xn. 1-31.] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMU EL. 297