Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

Although we may have been preserved by Divine Grace from any gross and open sin, yet let us read this Psalm in the spirit of penitence. I always feel afraid of myself if I cannot read this Psalm from my heart. Surely some pride must have entrusted my spirit and taken away its humility and its tenderness, if I cannot join in David's penitential prayer. I think that all of us who have the Spirit of God within us will feel that these words are suited to us as well as to poor brokenhearted David.

Verse 1. Have mercy upon me, O God. ' 'I cannot do without mercy, though I am Your child and You must give me great mercy, or it will be no mercy to me, for little mercy will not serve my turn. ' Have mercy upon me, O God,'without stint and without end."

1. According to Your loving kindness. "If I must set You a measure, let Your own Nature be the measure of Your mercy. I would view You in the most tender, brightest light—according to Your kindness—yes, Your loving kindness." Surely that is one of the sweetest words in our dear mother tongue, and no other language contains a sweeter one— "according to Your loving kindness."

1. According unto the multitude of Your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.' 'You cannot blot out such multitudes of sins unless You have multitudes of mercies, but inasmuch as there is no counting of Your mercies any more than there is counting of my sins, let the bright drops of Your mercy be equal to the black drops of my transgression. When I view my sin in its blackness, then I cry for mercy according to Your loving kindness. And when I view my transgressions in their multitude, then I cry for pardon 'according unto the multitude of Your tender mercies.'" Is not this a blessed prayer? It could not have come from David if he had not felt the greatness of his sin—and it will not suit you, dear Friends, unless you, also, are taught by the Spirit of God to know what a bitter thing sin is.

2. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. What a washing that is! The penitent desires to have it done thoroughly—"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity." "Leave not a single spot, for one speck would be sufficient to shut me out of Heaven. I must be spotless to be admitted there. 'Wash me thoroughly.' Wash not only this outward stain, but this inward defilement. Wash me through and through—'thoroughly'—till there is no trace of my sin. So wash me till I am cleansed and made perfectly clean." There is none but the Lord, Himself, who can wash us after this fashion. Each of us may say with Job, "If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean; yet shall You plunge me in the ditch and my own clothes shall abhor me." If we made the sea to be our bath, we should sooner crimson every wave with our iniquities than one single stain of guilt should be washed away by the waters of old Ocean. It is a Divine work to cleanse from sin—therefore say, dear Friend, "Lord, You must wash me if I am to be washed; but do it thoroughly. 'Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.'"

3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. It is a great mercy when it is so with us, for when our sins are before our face, God will put them behind His back. When we do not see our sin, then God sees it, but when we see it aright, then God will not see it, for He will put it away forever. As for you who think yourselves innocent, by that very fact you are proved to be naked, poor, blind and miserable! But You who are, in a spiritual sense, poverty-stricken, you who confess your guilt, shall find pardon, for the plea of, "Guilty, my Lord," is that which God answers by a sentence of acquittal.

4. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight: that You might be justified when You speak, and be clear when You judge. David's great iniquity was a sin against many, but he had been brought to learn what few see—that the virus of sin lies in its being against God. Last Sabbath evening, our subject (Sermon #2509, Volume 43— "The Sinful made Sinless") was that "sin i s the transgression of the Law" and I tried to show that the very essence of its sinfulness lies in the fact that it is rebellion against the will of God. So, David here puts his finger on the great black blot and shows that he knew where the chief mischief lay— "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight: that You might be justified when You speak, and be clear when You judge." Let God do what He will with us, He cannot treat us worse than we deserve. If we were banished from His Presence into a hopeless eternity, we should not dare to complain. He is justified when He speaks! He is clear when He judges!

5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. "I am bad from the fountainhead of my being, and wrong all through. It is not only what I do that is wrong, but I, myself, am wrong. I am a double-dyed traitor, and born of a traitoress." I doubt not that David's mother was as good as any mother. Probably she was a true child of God, but, for all that, David and all of us have the old tendency to sin from the very fact of our descent from fallen parents. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one."

6. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom. Ah, Friends, that is the troublesome part of the matter! We might be able to rectify the external wrong and to reform our outward actions, but who can make his heartclean? You can prune the tree, you may cut it to almost any shape you like, but you cannot make the deadly tree bring forth healthy fruit. You cannot change the sap, or alter the nature of the tree's roots. What but a Divine Power can do this? "In the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom." But nobody else can.

7. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. I think that this is grand faith for a man, blinded by his tears, broken-hearted through his sin, to feel that God can make him clean. "Take You the hyssop, as I have seen my father do on the Passover night, when the lamb was slain, and the blood of it caught in the basin. Have I not seen him dip the hyssop in the blood and then sprinkle it on the lintel and the side posts of the door? Have I not seen the priest dip his bunch of hyssop into the sacrificial blood and then sprinkle all the people and so make them ceremonially clean? Lord, You have a better hyssop dipped in better blood! 'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.'" Possibly you know, dear Friends, that the verse may be read in the future tense—You shall purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. You shall wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." This is grand faith! I do not know that the faith of Abraham, as a saint, when he offered up his son, was greater than the faith of David, as a sinner, when he believed that God could make even him whiter than snow!

8. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may rejoice. Beloved, it is a sweet thing when we come to close dealings with God like this. David needs cleansing, but he will not have it except from God. He needs peace and comfort, but he will look only to God for them—"Make me to hear joy and gladness." If you go out into the streets when you are sad, you may hear sounds of joy and gladness which will seem like a mockery of your sorrow. "As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that sings songs to a heavy heart." But when God speaks in mercy. When He opens our ears to hear His melodious accents of pardon, then the very bones which have been broken begin to rejoice! Probably there is no more refined pleasure of a human kind than that which comes to a man who is getting convalescent, one who is gradually being restored after a very severe illness. So there is certainly nothing more sweet than that calm quiet happiness which comes of pardoned sin when the broken heart begins to be healed—"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which You have broken may rejoice."

9. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. It is not, "Let the evil be hushed up, let not my people hear about it," but, "Hide Your face from my sins." It is not, "Help me to forget that I have been a criminal." No, but, "Hide Your face from my sins." "And, Lord, when You are blotting out my iniquities, blot them all out—those that have never come to such a public head as this great sin with Bathsheba. Lord, when You begin blotting out my sins, make a clean sweep of them all. Draw Your pen right down the page of my guilt—strike out every item that ever has been recorded there! 'Blot out all my iniquities.'"

10. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Do you notice how David blends justification with sanctification? His prayer for pardon is always accompanied by a prayer for purity! He does not want to have his sin blotted out and then to continue sinful—he cries "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." "I have marred it, so come, Lord, and renew it. Your handwriting on my conscience has grown dim. Come and write upon me in bolder characters which can never be erased."

11. Cast me not away from Your Presence; and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Are you praying these prayers, dear Friends, as we are reading them? I am sure you are if you have ever enjoyed the Presence of God, if the Holy Spirit is your daily companion. And if you have lost that heavenly Company, if you have lost that comfortable Presence, I know that you are crying to get it back—and it will come back at your cry.

12. Restore unto me the joy of Your salvation; and uphold me with Your free spirit ' 'Make me happy, O Lord, but oh, make me steadfast! In delivering me from my sin, deliver me from ever going into it again! Make me like a burnt child that stays clear of the fire. O my God, come back to me!"

13. Then will I teach transgressors Your ways; and sinners shall be converted unto You. Dear Friends, there is nothing that helps us to preach so well as a sense that we are sinners and that God has had mercy upon us! Come up fresh from the washing, dripping with the blood of cleansing, and every drop will seem to plead with sinners that they, too, would come and be washed! Live near to the Cross and there is no fear about your preaching so that sinners shall be converted unto God. Sometimes we seem to get into a kind of spiritual rose water—we appear to be so very superfine, that we have to condescend to poor sinners and preach down to them from our supreme heights! And they never get a blessing that way—but when, by deep experience, we are put upon their level and feel that, as Christ has saved us, so He can save them, then do we speak with power and unction!

14. 15. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. David is going to preach and to sing, too! And he will do it all himself—just now he needs nobody to help him. He is so given up to the service of his Master that he will be preacher and praise leader, too. He will say, and he will sing, that God is a righteous God. That was an amazing theme for a blood-washed sinner—"My tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness." But, believe me, nobody understands the righteousness of God but the man who understands sin—and who also understands the wondrous mercy by which it is put away through the bleeding Sacrifice of Christ! When we have reached that point, then can we and then willwe show forth His righteousness!

16, 17. For You desire not sacrifice; else wouldIgive it: You delight notin burnt offering. The sacrifices ofGodare a broken spirit Bring these sacrifices, dearly Beloved, bring them to God now! Bring your broken spirit, bring your troubled conscience, bring your bleeding heart, bring all your trembling on account of sin! Bring it all to God's altar now.

17-19. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You wiil not despise. Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion: build You the walls of Jerusalem. Then shall You be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Your altar. There must be great sacrifices of joy when great sin is put away by a great ransom—"Then shall they offer bullocks"—not lambs, but bullocks—"upon Your altar." God help each of us henceforth to offer bullocks upon His altar, not the poor little things such as we have previously brought, but some great consecrated offering let us bring unto the God who has forgiven all our transgressions and blotted out all our iniquities!