Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight; that Thou mayest be…

‘Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight; that Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.’ — Yer. 4.

TAVLD is in thorough earnest with every confes- *J sion. Under the pressure of what he feels so deeply, he for the second time confirms it all: ‘Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned.’ On this word of his we have meditated. Now there follows yet another word: 6 And I have done that which was evil in Thy sight; that Thon mayest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.’ In these words he presents the reasons why he thus avows his sin. He desires to approve the sentence of God, and to acknowledge that His verdict concerning him could not be other than the righteous judgment which he had deserved. He has made confession of his guilt in order that God might be justified in His speaking, and be clear in His judging. He who prays sincerely for grace will endeavor to be inspired with this same feeling. Let us try to set before ourselves what it really means,

HAVE MEBCY UPON ME.

Consider the terrible nature of God’s judgment. Accursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written to do them. This is the sentence of the Lawgiver. He explains that every single transgression of His law brings His curse upon man. He does not make any inquiry about the excuse which man might make, but the sentence is inexorable: ‘The soul that sinneth shall die.’ On every transgressor in the great day this word will go forth: ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.’ And the soul that truly knows its sin admits that this sentence is not too heavy or too strict, is not more than it has deserved; and acknowledges that God is perfectly entitled thus to deal with sin and condemn it. The soul has made itself worthy of this condemnation. However intolerable the judgment of God may be, it feels that it is not too severe; it makes confession that it has sinned against such a God in order that on its own part it may confirm the truth that God is righteous. This was David’s confession. He could adduce nothing on which he could plead for any other sentence. If he were still to be received, it must only be upon the footing of free undeserved grace. He was, in truth, in dead earnest with his sense of guilt. He must have had a sight of its detestable and execrable nature different from most men, in order to be able to speak thus: for he felt that the sentence of God was something terrible. In that anguish of soul which he had for a long time endured he had had some proof of how terrible a thing it is to be abandoned by God.

Yet he acknowledges the righteousness of the sentence, and yields himself to be laid hold of by it. That is surely something more than proceeds from man by nature. Such a sense of guilt and condemnation must surely have been wrought in him by the Spirit of God.

This becomes still more clear when we reflect further on the tendency of man to excuse himself. If David had been willing to listen to this, there was enough to which he might have appealed. Had he not served God from his youth upward? Had he not for God’s name and honor borne more than any other of God’s servants? Would not the holy God Himself testify of him that he had walked with Him with a perfect heart? The Lord Himself had at a later period suffered it to be stated in His word that He had strengthened Jerusalem ’ because David had done that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from all that He had commanded him, all the days of his life, except only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite ’ (1 Kings xv. 5). And must this one sin of thoughtlessness be reckoned to him so severely? Would not an earthly prince know how to forgive a single transgression when committed by a faithful servant; and should not God the merciful and gracious One also forgive this sin of His own accord? There was no necessity for confession: God should not impute it to him. Oh it is thus that men speak and think. They do not know the terrible reality of God’s holiness, and of His judgment upon sin. They do not know that every single sin, although it be only one. is a violation of God’s law, an injury to His honor, a proof of the enmity of the heart, and that it must be avenged. He bows himself before God. not merely because this must be done sometime, and because God is too strong for him. ]S”o: that is not the reason: he had such a view of the authority of God that he approved of God’s sentence. He saw how good it was that the law of God should be maintained; how needful it was that, although the whole world should perish, the glory of God and the honor of God should be established; and, under the power of that feeling, he makes confession of his sin as committed against God alone, in order that he may give honor to God, and acknowledge that He was justified in His speaking and clear in His judging.

Once again, therefore, I say that this is surely more than proceeds from man by nature. Such a sense of guilt and condemnation must surely have been wrought in him by the Spirit of God. And the Lord has suffered it to be noted in His word, in order that we mav thereby see how it goes with a man who is on the way of genuine repentance and conversion. Oh what a different experience is this from the superficial confession of sin with which most men rest content. They confess, indeed, that they are sinners; but the sin is a weakness, an infirmity, a misfortune. They have to sympathize with the sinner, but of the honor of God they think but little. The poor sinner must be comforted; but whether the honor of God?s law is main-THE COXFESSIOjS”. tained concerns them not. O my fellow-man, that is not repentance as the Spirit of God works it in the heart. No: he that is truly convinced of sin by the Spirit of God does not merely think of himself and what concerns him; but his great sorrow is that he has dared to commit transgression against such a God,. with such a perfect law; and his great concern is how he can possibly restore that which he has destroyed; and since he can do nothing else, he lays himself down at the feet of God to yield to Him the only honor that he now can give, namely, to acknowledge that He is righteous in His judgment.

Reader, have you thus learned to know your sins? God has given His law to convince you of sin, ’ that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world be made guilty before God.’ Have you already given God this honor, although it may have been with trembling? Have you humbled yourself before Him as worthy of the judgment of God? Only he who does this, and who thus in truth shows himself to be a sinner, can receive mercy. Oh see to it that you really know and confess your sin. Without this there is no grace. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He shall exalt you.