i. 18. _Come now, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord; Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall
be as wool._
The outflow of holy displeasure contained in the earlier portions of
this chapter would prepare us to expect an everlasting reprobacy of
the rebellious and unfaithful Church, but it is strangely followed by
the most yearning and melting entreaty ever addressed by the Most
High to the creatures of His footstool.
I. The text represents God as saying to the transgressors of His law,
"Come and let us reason together." The first lesson to be learned,
consequently, is +the duty of examining our moral character and
conduct along with God.+ When a responsible being has made a wrong
use of his powers, nothing is more reasonable than that he should
call himself to account for this abuse. Nothing, certainly, is more
necessary. There can be no amendment for the future until the past
has been cared for. But that this examination may be both thorough
and profitable, it must be made in company with the Searcher of
hearts. For there are always two beings who are concerned with sin:
the being who commits it, and the Being against whom it is committed.
Whenever, therefore, an examination is made into the nature of moral
evil as it exists in the individual heart, both parties concerned
should share in the examination. Such a joint examination as this
produces a very keen and clear sense of the evil and guilt of sin.
Conscience, indeed, makes cowards of us all, but when the eye of God
is felt to be upon us, it smites us to the ground. 1. When the soul
is shut up along with the Holy One of Israel, there are great
searchings of heart. Man is honest and anxious at such a time. His
usual thoughtlessness and torpidity upon the subject of religion
leave him, and he becomes a serious and deeply-interested creature.
2. Another effect of this "reasoning together" with God respecting
our character and conduct is to render our views discriminating. The
action of the mind is not only intense, it is also intelligent. The
sinner knows that he is wrong, and his Maker is right--that he is
wicked, and that God is holy. He perceives these two fundamental
facts with a simplicity and a certainty that admit of no debate. The
confusion and obscurity of his mind, and particularly the queryings
whether these things are so, begin to disappear like a fog when
disparted and scattered by sunrise. Objects are seen in their true
proportions and meanings; right and wrong, the carnal mind and the
spiritual mind, heaven and hell--all the great contraries that
pertain to the subject of religion--are distinctly understood, and
thus the first step is taken towards a better state of things in the
soul.[1]
II. The second lesson taught in the text is, that +there is
forgiveness with God.+ If mercy were not a manifested attribute of
God, all self-examination, and especially all this conjoint Divine
scrutiny, would be a pure torment and a pure gratuity. We have the
amplest assurance in the whole written revelation of God, but no
where else, that "there is forgiveness with Him, that He may be
feared." The text is an exceedingly explicit assertion of this great
truth. The very same Being who invites us to reason with Him and
canvass the subject of our criminality, in the very same breath, if
we may so speak, assures us that He will forgive all that is found in
this examination. And upon such terms cannot the criminal well afford
to examine into his crime? The Divine pity outruns and exceeds the
crime. Paradoxical as it may appear, self-examination, when joined
with a distinct recognition of the Divine character, and a conscious
sense of God's scrutiny, is the surest means of producing in a guilty
mind a firm conviction that God is merciful, and is the swiftest way
of finding Him to be so. Abhorrent as iniquity is to the pure mind of
God, it is nevertheless a fact that that sinner who goes directly
into this Dread Presence with all his sins upon his head, in order to
know them, to be condemned and crushed by them, and to confess them,
is the one who soonest returns with peace and hope in his soul. For
he discovers that God is as cordial and sincere in His offer to
forgive as He is in His threat to punish; and having, to his sorrow,
felt the reality and power of the Divine anger, he now, to his joy,
feels the equal reality and power of the Divine love. And this is the
one great lesson which every man must learn, or perish for ever.
From these two lessons of our text we deduce the following practical
directions--1. _In all states of religious anxiety we should betake
ourselves instantly and directly to God;_ there is no other refuge
for the human soul but God in Christ. Are we sinners, and fear for
the final result of our life? Though it may seem like running into
fire, we must, nevertheless, betake ourselves first and immediately
to that Being who hates and punishes sin (1 Chron. xxi. 13). 2. _In
all our religious anxiety we should make a full and plain statement
of everything to God._ Even when the story is one of shame and
remorse, we find it to be mental relief, patiently, and without any
reservation or palliation, to expose the whole, not only to our own
eye, but to that of our Judge. For to this very thing have we been
invited. This is precisely the "reasoning together" which God
proposes to us. God has not offered clemency to a sinful world with
the expectation or desire that there be, on the part of those to whom
it is offered, such a stinted and meagre confession, such a glossing
over and diminution of sin, as to make that clemency appear a very
small matter. He well knows the depth and the immensity of the sin
which He proposes to pardon, and has made provision accordingly. In
the phrase of Luther, it is no painted sinner who is to be forgiven,
and it is no painted Saviour who is offered. The transgression is
deep and real, and the atonement is deep and real. The crime cannot
be exaggerated, neither can the expiation. He, therefore, who makes
the plainest and most childlike statement of himself to God, acts
most in accordance with the mind and will and gospel of God. If man
can only be hearty, full, and unreserved in confession, he will find
God to be hearty, full, and unreserved in absolution.--_W. G. T.
Shedd, D.D., The American Pulpit of the Day,_ vol. i. pp. 829-842.