And blot out all mine iniquities

‘And blot out all mine iniquities.’ — Yee. 95.

THIS prayer is heard here for the second time. It -* was the first word that David made use of after he had begun to pray for mercy, in order to say what he desired from this mercy. He has already expressed his desires by other different expressions, such as, ‘Wash me,’ 4 Cleanse me ’ (ver. 2); 6 Purge me, Wash me ’ (ver. 7); 6 Cause me to hear joy and gladness ’ (ver. 8); ‘Hide Thy face from my sin ’ (ver. 9); he now once more gathers all together in the deeply significant word:” Blot out all mine iniquities.’

For the explanation of this word, we have to refer to that which has already been said in ver. 1. It is of great importance for us to make use of this word for reflecting upon the preceding portion of the Psalm, and for testing ourselves as to whether we have any real knowledge of it. It is of the more interest to us because this is the last time that this point is referred to in the Psalm. In the three following verses David asks for inward renewing of his heart ‘by the Spirit of God, and from ver. 13 to the end of the Psalm he speaks of the fruits of the thanksgiving which God’s redemption is to bring forth. But before he proceeds to this, he repeats once again the prayer: 4 Blot out all mine iniquities.’ In this way he shows us that he was in dead earnest about this matter. He knows that it is the root and the beginning of all the rest; that if there is no clear understanding betwixt God and the sinner with respect to the forgiveness of sins, there can be do further question about a new life. And therefore I also will deal with you, my beloved friend, on this matter with all earnestness, with all definiteness, and with all sincerity. I desire to put to you some questions concerning this all-important matter.

Do you thoroughly understand what the forgiveness of sins — the Hotting out of iniquities — is? Pray, do not imagine that this question is needless. I know many earnest Christians who do not thoroughly understand this point. It will do us no harm once again to meditate upon this — the foundation of our redemption. Do you understand that the blotting out of all his iniquities is the first Messing which God desires to bestow upon the sinner who longs to be saved? Do you understand that God is prepared to bestow it at once, without further delay or waiting, on every one who receives it trustfully? He causes it to be offered to us continually. Do you understand that he who simply from the heart appropriates the offered Saviour with His blood, receives it for himself as a thing which comes to him in virtue of God’s gift and offer, and that along with Jesus he actually receives, iy faith, the Hotting out of his sins? And do you know, further, that by this faith wherewith he receives Jesus on God’s word he can certainly know that his sins are really blotted out of God’s Book; because the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of Faith, bears witness to him of this forgiveness? And do you understand that this blotting out is perfect and complete, or that by reason of it the soul appears before God ’ whiter than snow? and can look up to God as a God who is no longer angry with it? Do you understand all this, or is it still to you all half uncertain? And do you feel, when we speak of these things, as one who is still groping in the dark I beseech vous see that you come to a clear understanding of these points; for, my friend, your eternal salvation is concerned with it.

And then I desire to ask further: Are you really seeTcing for forgiveness and the Hotting out of your iniquities f I do not ask if you know that yon need to be saved, if you are sometimes disquieted, if you sometimes pray, or if you perhaps pray every day: ‘Forgive us our sins.’ No, my friend, I ask you something more than this. I ask if in the presence of God, the Searcher of hearts, you can say that you are known to Him (for He has a book for the names of all true seekers after Him) as one who really seeks

HAVE MERCY UP(OT ME.

for forgiveness. Can God testify concerning you that you are hungering and thirsting for it? Can you say that day by day you are seeking and striving for this grace as a thing that is indispensable? Have you, to obtain this forgiveness, abandoned sin, willingly given up the world? And are you now with earnest entreaties, even at unusual times (for true seeking will hardly limit itself to some fixed hours), casting yourself before God in order to entreat it from Him, as the one blessing which He has to bestow upon you? Yes: are you really seeking it in the house of prayer, in God’s word, in the prayer of your own closet, as the one thing for which you are willing to count everything but loss? It is worthy of being thus sought for. God desires that it should be thus sought for; and only he who thus seeks for it shall obtain it.

Are you really seeking for it in this fashion?

I have still another question. If you have not hitherto been seeking for this blotting out of your iniquities, or have only begun desiring to seek for it, then this question does not concern you. But if you can say that you have been seeking for it, then I ask you: Have you indeed found it? Are your sins forgiven? Do you know that, as surely and really as the guilt of your sin was upon you, so you are now really clean in God’s sight, because He has blotted out all your iniquities. I know that many a one shrinks from these questions, but it is just on that account that I put them. “When David had prayed for mercy, he was not content with indefinite ideas about the goodness of God. No: he knew what this goodness desired to do for him. He expected that it would do something real for him. He prays for the blotting out of his iniquities with the expectation of obtaining an answer to that prayer, and in the hope that thereafter the joy and the power of a new life would be fulfilled in him; as he has so often sung of it in later Psalms, for example, in Ps. ciii.: 6 Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities.5 Therefore I ask you, my worthy reader, are your iniquities all blotted out? Oh, if this is not yet the case, then you are not yet where you ought to be. You do not yet have any part in God’s salvation, and thus I cry to you: 6 Haste thee to God.’ Do not longer remain standing afar off. Pray, believe. This blessing is really to be found. This blessing is also for me: sin can be put away. Let your whole soul become fixed upon this one aim — the blotting out of sin. Without this blessing there is no salvation. God alone can give it. God desires to give it. God will give it. Yes: He will perform this divine deed for you. He will take away all your sins. Only let this prayer be heard from the depths of your heart: ‘Blot out all mine iniquities.’ Only let faith look upon Christ. The Son of God can save sinners. He that believes in Him shall not be ashamed.