The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 238

Ver. 8.-God's guidance. Lee,rn- J. THE PLACE -')F auu ANOE. Unless we are able to see God's eye, we ce,nnot be guided. What binders? Our sins. "Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up" (Ps. x.l. 12). The great thing, therefore, is to confess our sins, that they m11y be put 11w11,y, and then, "accepted in tho Beloved," we can "loo!, up" with childlike trust, and cry," Abba, Father I" II. THE MANNER OF GUIDANCE, 1. Authoritative. As master and servant (Ps. cxxiii. 2). 2. Kindly. Loving as a father, gentle as a mother (Jer. xxiv. G; Prov. 2H THE DOOK OF PSALMS. [re. XXXII. 1-11, - - - - - - - - - - ------------------------- iv. 3). 3. Sui-e. Moses knew the desert well, but he might err. He was glad, there- fore, or the help of Hobab, "'l'hou ruayest be to us instead of eyes" (Numb, x. 31). II ow much more surely may we depend upon God in our wilderness journey I "Except the eye of the Lord be put out, we cannot be put out of his sight and care" (Donne). III. 'l'HE nArrY RESULTS OF GUIDANCE, 1. Peace. We cannot guide ourselves; nor can we trust to others, even the wisest and the best, to guide us; but when we put ourselrns under the care and direction of God, we feel that all is well (Jer. x, 23; Ps. cxix. 165). 2. Freedom. God does not take pleasure in "the bit and bridle." He would have us be guided through our reason and heart rather than by restraint and force. I:e works in us both "to will and to do." He makes us free by the truth, that our service may be not from fear, but love. 3. Courageousness. (2 Chron. :XL 12.) God's eye upon us is an inspiration. Gideon felt a new man when the Lord looked upon him (Judg. vi. 14). Paul had a heart for any fate when Christ stood by him in the storm (Acts :xxvii. 23). Stephen went to a cruel death with love and joy under the eye of his Master (Acts vii. 56-60). 4. Hope. In humble, trustful self- surrender and love we can go forward with confidence. God's eye upon us, and our eye upon God, we are safe for time and for eternity.-W. F. Vers. 1-5.-From great misery to greater blessedness. There can be little doubt that David composed this psalm after Nathan came to him. Ps. li. was the confession of his great sin, and the prayer for forgiveness. This is the record of the confession made and the forgiveness obtained, and the blessedness of his position as a son restored to his Father's house. L THE GREATEST MISERY. 1. The knowledge that we have sinned. That we have been guilty of one great sin leading on to another, as David had been; and not of some isolated sin of infirmity, or of some transient temper that spends itself at the moment. None but a good man would feel the awful misery here described, Bad, burdened men sin and feel no burden of shame or guilt. 2. The attempt to reason away our guilt. "In whose spirit there is no guile," or aelf--deception. David was an Eastern monarch, whose temptation would be to think he might do as he pleased, and thus to reduce his sin to the minimum point. We extenuate our eviLdeeds by pleading circumstances, temptation, temperament, and we deceive ourselves. 3. The attempt to suppress the consciousness of guilt. We "keep silence," and try to hide from ourselves our sin, and relapse into only a dull consciousness of it, But there was a smouldering fire beneath that dried np the vital moisture of his being and consumed his very bones. Afraid to confess his sin either to God or to himself, he could not escape the burden which the Divine hand laid upon his conscience; and hence his misery, He "roared" all the day long under it. This is God's mercy and anger towards our sin-to drive us to seek release and forgiveness. II. THE GREATEST BLl!ISSEDNESS. 1. We must begin by the fullest acknowledgment ef our sin to ourselves. This must be done before we can sincerely make confession to God. We must be angry with ourselves before we can feel God's anger or his mercy towards us. 2. The fullest, most penitent confession to God. (Ver. 5.) "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." Most sins have a threefold aspect-as done against another, against OU,rselves, and against God, the Fatherly Lawgiver. 3. The conscious- ness of forgiveness. This includes two things-the free remission and the inner cleansing, (1) The transgression is taken away; (2) covered by God, not by the sinner; and (3) not imputed, because taken away. It is throughout a real transaction, not a fictitious one. Then is a man blessed with the peace of God.-S. Vers. 6-11.-The attitude of the penitent. Because of the grace thue vouchsafed to every penitent, David would encourage all the godly to seek him who deals eo graciously with sinners. Out of his past and preeent experience he will now counsel others, and especially those who are still impenitent, and the tenor of his counsel is that they should not, like brutes, refuse submission till they are forced into it, 'l'he passage may be divided into two parts: (1) tho attitude of the forgiven penitent towards God; (2) bis attitude as a teacher of tho impenitent. I. 'l'IIE ATTITUDE OJI' TUE FORGIVEN PENITENT TOWARDS Goo. (Vere. 6, 7.) 1. Confulenc~ in God for others. (Ver. 6.), What God bas done for him, he will do I'S. XXXIII. 1-22.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 2-15