Evening, September 14
Go To Morning Reading
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest
the iniquity of my sin.”
Psalm 32:5
David’s grief for sin was bitter. Its effects were visible upon his outward
frame: “his bones waxed old”; “his moisture was turned into the drought of summer.” No remedy could he find, until he made a full confession before the
throne of the heavenly grace. He tells us that for a time he kept
silence, and his heart became more and more filled with grief: like
a mountain tarn whose outlet is blocked up, his soul was swollen with
torrents of sorrow. He fashioned excuses; he endeavoured to divert
his thoughts, but it was all to no purpose; like a festering sore
his anguish gathered, and as he would not use the lancet of confession,
his spirit was full of torment, and knew no rest. At last it came
to this, that he must return unto his God in humble penitence, or
die outright; so he hastened to the mercy-seat, and there unrolled
the volume of his iniquities before the all-seeing One, acknowledging
all the evil of his ways in language such as you read in the fifty-first
and other penitential Psalms. Having done this, a work so simple and
yet so difficult to pride, he received at once the token of divine
forgiveness; the bones which had been broken were made to rejoice,
and he came forth from his closet to sing the blessedness of the man
whose transgression is forgiven. See the value of a grace-wrought
confession of sin! It is to be prized above all price, for in every
case where there is a genuine, gracious confession, mercy is freely
given, not because the repentance and confession deserve mercy, but for Christ's sake . Blessed be God, there is always healing for the broken heart; the
fountain is ever flowing to cleanse us from our sins. Truly, O Lord,
thou art a God “ready to pardon!” Therefore will we acknowledge our iniquities.