_presumptuous sins_ is not to be denied; it is expressly in the Holy
Scripture. Papists say that the man who doth a mortal sin is not in the
state of grace; but for venials, a man may commit (in their divinity)
who can tell how many of them, and yet be in Christ for all that! I hope
there is no such meaning in any of our divines as to tie up men’s
consciences, to hang on such a distinction of sins; since it is beyond
the wit of man to set down a distinct point between mortal and venial
sins. Now when it is an impossible matter punctually to set down to the
understanding of man which is, and which is not a venial sin, they must
pardon me for giving the least way to such divinity as must needs leave
the conscience of a man in a maze and labyrinth. I find that the nature
of infirmities doth so depend upon circumstances, that that is an
infirmity in one man which is a gross sin in another; and some men plead
for themselves that the things they do are but infirmities. He that
_will_ sin, and when he hath done will say—not to comfort his soul
against Satan, but—to flatter himself in his sin, that it is but an
infirmity; for aught I know, he may go to hell for his infirmities.
Besides, if that be good divinity, that a man who is in the state of
grace may do infirmities, but not commit gross sins, then I would I
could see a man that would undertake to find us out some rule out of the
word, by which a sinner may find by his sin, when he is in Christ and
when out of Christ; at what degrees of sinning—where lies the
mathematical point and stop—that a man may say, “Thus far may I go and
yet be in grace; but if I step a step farther, then I am none of
Christ’s.” We all know that sins have their latitude; and for a man to
hang his conscience on such a distinction as hath no rule to define
where the difference lies, is not safe divinity. The conscience on the
rack will not be laid and said with forms and quiddities. The best and
nearest way to quiet the heart of man is to say, that be the sin a sin
of _infirmity_ when we strive and strive but yield at last; or, of
_precipitancy_, when we be taken in haste, as he was who said in his
haste, “All men are liars;” or, a mere _gross_ sin in the matter: ay,
say it be a _presumptuous_ sin, yet if we allow it not, it hinders not
but we are in Christ, though we do with reluctancy act and commit it.
And I say that we do resist it if we do not allow it. For let us not go
about to deny that a godly man during his being a godly man may possibly
commit _gross_ and _presumptuous sins_; and for infirmities, if we allow
them and like them that we know to be sins, then we do not resist them;
and such a man who allows himself in one is guilty of all, and is none
of Christ’s as yet. Be the sin what it will, James makes no distinction;
and, where the law distinguisheth not, we must not distinguish. I speak
not of _doing_ a sin, but _allowing_; for a man may do it, and yet allow
it not; as in Paul (Rom. vii. 15, 16), “That which I would not, that I
do;” and he that allows not sin doth resist it. Therefore, a man may
resist it, hate it, and yet do it. All the difference that I know is
this: 1. That a man may live after his conversion all his days, and yet
never fall into a gross sin. By gross here I mean _presumptuous_ sins
also. So David saith not “_cleanse_,” but “KEEP BACK _thy servant from
presumptuous sins_.” We may, then, be _kept_ from them. I speak not that
all are, but some be; and, therefore, in itself all might be. 2. For
lesser sins, “_secret faults_,” we cannot live without them—they are of
daily and almost hourly incursions; but yet we must be _cleansed_ from
them, as David speaks. Daily get your pardon; there is a pardon, of
course, for them; they do not usually distract and plague the
conscience, but yet we must not see them and allow them; if we do our
case is to be pitied, we are none of Christ’s as yet. 3. Great staring
sins a man cannot usually and commonly practise them, but he shall allow
them. So Psalm xix. 13, “_Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me_,” implying that except we be kept
back from them they will _have dominion over us_. It follows, “_then
shall I be upright_;” so that the man in whom _gross or presumptuous sin
or sins_ have no _dominion_, he is an _upright man_.—_Richard Capel._
_Verses 12, 13._—The Psalmist was sensible of sin’s force and power; he
was weary of sin’s dominion; he cries unto God to deliver him from the
reign of all the sins he knew; and those sins which were secret and
concealed from his view, he begs that he might be convinced of them, and
throughly cleansed from them. The Lord can turn the heart perfectly to
hate the sin that was most of all beloved; and the strength of sin is
gone when once ’tis hated; and as the hatred grows stronger and
stronger, sin becomes weaker and weaker daily.—_Nathaniel Vincent,
1695._
_Verse 13.—“Keep back thy servant also from all presumptuous sins.”_ He
doth desire absolutely to be kept from “_presumptuous sins_;” but then,
he adds by way of supposition and reserve, that if he could not by
reason of his naughty heart be kept from them, yet that they might not
have full power and dominion over him.—_Thomas Manton._
_Verse 13.—“Keep back thy servant.”_ It is an evil man’s cross to be
restrained, and a good man’s joy to be _kept back_ from sin. When sin
puts forth itself, the evil man is putting forth his hand to the sin;
but when sin puts forth itself, the good man is putting forth his hand
to heaven; if he finds his heart yielding, out he cries, _O keep back
thy servant_. An evil man is _kept back_ from sin, as a friend from a
friend, as a lover from his lover, with knit affections and projects of
meeting; but a good man is _kept back_ from sin, as a man from his
deadly enemy, whose presence he hates, and with desires of his ruin and
destruction. It is the good man’s misery that he hath yet a heart to be
more tamed and mastered; it is an evil man’s vexation and discontent,
that still, or at any time, he is held in by cord or bridle. And thus
you see what David aims at in desiring to be _kept back from
presumptuous sins_, namely, not a mere suspension, but a mortification,
not a not acting only, but a subduing of the inclination; not for a
time, but for ever.—_Obadiah Sedgwick._
_Verse 13.—“Keep back thy servant,”_ etc. Even all the people of God,
were they not kept by God’s grace and power, they would every moment be
undone both in soul and body. It is not our grace, our prayer, our
watchfulness keeps us, but it is the power of God, his right arm,
supports us; we may see David praying to God that he would “_keep_” him
in both these respects from temporal dangers (Psalm xvii. 8, 9; “_keep
me_,”) etc.; where he doth not only pray to be kept, but he doth
insinuate how carefully God keeps his people, and in what precious
account their safety is, even as “the apple of the eye,” and for
spiritual preservation he often begs it. Though David be God’s
“_servant_” yet he will, like a wild horse, run violently, and that into
“_presumptuous sins_,” if God “_keep_” him not “_back_,” yea, he prayeth
that God would “_keep_” the particular parts of his body that they sin
not: “keep the door of my lips” (Psalm cxli. 3); he entreateth God to
“_keep_” his lips and to set a watch about his mouth, as if he were not
able to set guard sure enough: thus much more are we to pray that God
would “_keep_” our hearts, our minds, our wills, our affections, for
they are more masterful.—_Anthony Burgess._
_Verse 13.—“Keep back thy servant.”_ God _keeps back_ his servants from
sin: 1. _By preventing grace_, which is, by infusing such a nature as is
like a bias into a bowl, drawing it aside another way; 2. _By assisting
grace_, which is a further strength superadded to that first-implanted
nature of holiness; like a hand upon a child holding him in; 3. _By
quickening grace_, which is, when God doth enliven our graces to
manifest themselves in actual opposition; so that the soul shall not
yield, but keep off from entertaining the sin; 4. _By directing grace_,
which is, when God confers that effectual wisdom to the mind, tenderness
to the conscience, watchfulness to the heart, that his servants become
greatly solicitous of his honour, scrupulously jealous of their own
strength, and justly regardful of the honour of their holy profession;
5. _By doing grace_, which is, when God effectually inclines the hearts
of his servants to the places and ways of their refuge, safeties, and
preservation from sin, by enlarging the spirit of supplication, and
framing the heart to the reverent and affectionate use of his
ordinances.—_Condensed from Obadiah Sedgwick._
_Verse 13.—“Thy servant:”_ as if he had said, “O God, thou art my Lord,
I have chosen thee, to whom I will give obedience; thou art he whom I
will follow; I bestow all that I am on thee. Now a Lord will help his
servant against an enemy, who for the Lord’s service is the servant’s
enemy. O my Lord, help me! I am not able by my own strength to uphold
myself, but thou art All-sufficiency”—“_Keep back thy servant from
presumptuous sins._”... Beloved, it is a great thing to stand in near
relations to God; and then it is a good thing to plead by them with God,
forsomuch as nearer relations have strongest force with all. The servant
can do more than a stranger, and the child than a servant, and the wife
than a child.... There be many reasons against sinning.... Now this also
may come in, namely, the speciality of our relation to God, that we are
his children, and he is our Father; we are his servants, and he is our
Lord: though the common obligations are many and sufficient, yet the
special relations are also a further tie: the more near a person come to
God, the more careful he should be not to sin against God.—_Obadiah
Sedgwick._
_Verse 13.—“Presumptuous sins.”_ The Rabbins distinguish all sins
unto those committed בְּשׁוֹגֵג _ignorantly_, and מֵזִיד
_presumptuously_.—_Benjamin Kennicott, D.D., 1718-1783._
_Verse 13.—“Presumptuous sins.”_ When sin grows up from act to delight,
from delight to new acts, from repetition of sinful acts to vicious
indulgence, to habit and custom and a second nature, so that anything
that toucheth upon it is grievous and strikes to the man’s heart; when
it is got into God’s place, and requires to be loved with the whole
strength, makes grace strike sail, and other vices do it homage, demands
all his concerns to be sacrificed to it and to be served with his
reputation, his fortunes, his parts, his body and soul, to the
irreparable loss of his time and eternity both—this is the height of its
_dominion_—then sin becomes “exceeding sinful,” and must needs make
strange and sad alterations in the state of saints themselves, and be
great hindrances to them in their way to Heaven, having brought them so
near to Hell.—_Adam Littleton._
_Verse 13.—“Presumptuous sins.”_ The distribution of sins into sins of
_ignorance_, of _infirmity_, and of _presumption_, is very usual and
very useful, and complete enough without the addition (which some make)
of a fourth sort, to wit, sins of _negligence_ or _inadvertency_, all
such sins being easily reducible to some of the former three. The ground
of the distinction is laid in the soul of man, where there are three
distinct prime faculties, from which all our actions flow—the
understanding, the will, and the sensual appetite or affections.... The
enquiry must be, when a sin is done, where the fault lay most; and
thence it must have the right denomination. 1. If the _understanding_ be
most in fault, not apprehending that good it should, or not aright, the
sin is so done, though possibly it may have in it somewhat both of
infirmity and presumption withal, is yet properly a sin of _ignorance_.
2. If the main fault be in the _affections_, through some sudden passion
or perturbation of mind, blinding, or corrupting, or but outrunning the
judgment—as of fear, anger, desire, joy, or any of the rest—the sin
thence arising, though perhaps joined with some ignorance or presumption
withal, is yet properly a sin of _infirmity_. But if the understanding
be competently informed with knowledge, and not much blinded or
transported with the incursion of any sudden, or violence of any
vehement perturbation, so as the greatest blame must remain upon the
untowardness of the _will_, resolvedly bent upon the evil, the sin
arising from such _wilfulness_, though probably not free from all
mixture of ignorance and infirmity withal, is yet properly _a wilful
presumption_, such a _presumptuous sin_ as we are now in treaty of.
Rules are soonest learned and best remembered when illustrated with fit
examples; and of such the rich storehouse of the Scripture affordeth us
in each kind variety and choice enough, whence it shall suffice us to
propose but one eminent of each sort. _The men_, all of them for their
holiness, of singular and worthy renown: David, St. Peter, and St. Paul.
_The sins_, all of them for their matter, of the greatest magnitude:
murdering of the innocent, abnegation of Christ, persecution of the
church: Paul’s persecution a grievous sin, yet a sin of _ignorance_;
Peter’s denial a grievous sin, yet a sin of _infirmity_; David’s murder,
a far more grievous sin than either of both, because a sin of
_presumption_. St. Paul, before his conversion, whilst he was Saul,
persecuted and wasted the church of God to the utmost of his power,
making havoc of the professors of Christ, entering into their very
houses, and haling thence to prison, both men and women; and posting
abroad with letters into remote quarters, to do all the mischief he
could, everywhere with great fury, as if he had been mad, breathing out,
wherever he came, nothing but threatenings and slaughter against the
disciples of the Lord. His _affections_ were not set against them
through any personal provocations, but merely out of zeal to the law;
and surely his zeal had been good had it not been blind. Nor did his
_will_ run cross to his judgment, but was led by it, for he “verily
thought in himself that he ought to do many things contrary to the name
of Jesus;” and verily his will had been good had it not been misled. But
the error was in his _understanding_, his judgment being not yet
actually convinced of the truth of the Christian religion. He was yet
fully persuaded that Jesus was an impostor, and Christianity a pestilent
sect, raised by Satan, to the disgrace and prejudice of Moses and the
law. If these things had indeed been so, as he apprehended them, his
_affections_ and _will_, in seeking to root out such a sect, had been
not only blameless, but commendable. It was his erroneous judgment that
poisoned all, and made that which otherwise had been zeal, to become
persecution. But, however, the first discernible obliquity therein being
in the _understanding_, that persecution of his was therefore _a sin of
ignorance_, so called, and under that name condemned by himself. 1 Tim.
i. 13. But such was not Peter’s denial of his Master. He _knew_ well
enough who he was, having conversed so long with him, and having, long
before, so amply confessed him. And he _knew_ also that he ought not,
for anything in the world, to have denied him. That made him so
confident before that he _would not_ do it, because he was abundantly
satisfied that he _should not_ do it. Evident it is, then, that Peter
wanted no _knowledge_, either of the Master’s person, or of his own
duty; and so no plea left him of _ignorance_, either _facti_ or _juris_.
Nor was the fault so much in his _will_ as to make it a sin properly of
_presumption_. For albeit _de facto_ he did deny him when he was put to
it, and that with fearful oaths and imprecations, yet was it not done
with any prepensed apostasy, or out of design, yea, he came rather with
a _contrary resolution_, and he still honoured his Master _in his
heart_, even then when he denied him with his tongue; and as soon as
ever the watchword was given him by the second cock, to prefer to his
consideration what he had done, it grieved him sore that he had so done,
and he wept bitterly for it. We find no circumstance, in the whole
relation, that argueth any deep obstinacy in his _will_. But in his
_affections_, then! Alas! there was the fail! A sudden qualm of fear
surprising his soul when he saw his Master so despitefully used before
his face (which made him apprehensive of what hard usage himself might
fall under if he should there and then have owned him) took from him for
that time the benefit and use of his reason, and so drew all his
thoughts to this one point—how to decline the present danger—that he had
never a thought at so much liberty as to consult his judgment, whether
it were a sin or no. And this, proceeding from such a sudden distemper
of passion, Peter’s denial was a sin properly of _infirmity_. But
David’s sin, in contriving the death of Uriah, was of a yet higher
pitch, and of a deeper dye than either of these. He was no such stranger
in the law of God as not to know that the wilful murder of an innocent
party, such as he also knew Uriah to be, was a most loud crying sin; and
therefore nothing surer than that it was not merely a sin of
_ignorance_. Neither yet was it a sin properly of _infirmity_, and so
capable of that extenuating circumstance of being done in the heat of
anger, as his uncleanness with Bathsheba was in the heat of lust,
although that extenuation will not be allowed to pass there, unless _in
tanto_ only, and as it standeth in comparison with this fouler crime.
But having time and leisure enough to bethink himself what he was about,
he doth it _in cool blood_, and with much advised _deliberation_,
plotting and contriving this way and that way to perfect his design. He
was _resolved_, whatsoever should become of it, to have it done; in
regard of which _settled resolution of his will_, this sin of David was
therefore a high _presumptuous sin_.—_Robert Sanderson (Bishop of
Lincoln), 1587-1662-3._
_Verse 13.—“Presumptuous sins.”_ David prays that God would keep him
back from “_presumptuous sins_,” from known and evident sins, such as
proceed from the choice of the perverse will against the enlightened
mind, which are committed with deliberation, with design, resolution,
and eagerness, against the checks of conscience, and the motions of
God’s spirit: such sins are direct rebellion against God, a despising of
his command, and they provoke his pure eyes.—_Alexander Cruden._
_Verse 13.—“Then shall I be innocent from the great transgression.”_ It
is in the motions of a tempted soul to sin, as in the motions of a stone
falling from the brow of a hill; it is easily stopped at first, but when
once it is set a-going, who shall stay it? And therefore it is the
greatest wisdom in the world to observe the first motions of the heart,
to check and stop it there.—_G. H. Salter._
_Verse 13.—“The great transgression.”_ Watch very diligently against all
sin; but above all, take special heed of those sins that come near to
the sin against the Holy Ghost; and these are, hypocrisy, taking only
the outward profession of religion, and so dissembling and mocking of
God; sinning wilfully against conviction of conscience, and against
great light and knowledge, sinning presumptuously, with a high hand.
These sins, though none of them are the direct sin against the Holy
Ghost, yet they will come very near to it: therefore take special heed
of them, lest they, in time, should bring you to the committing of that
unpardonable sin.—_Robert Russel, 1705._
_Verse 13.—“Let them not have dominion over me.”_ Any small sin may get
the upper-hand of the sinner and bring him under in time, and after that
is once habituated by long custom so as he cannot easily shake off the
yoke, neither redeem himself from under the tyranny thereof. We see the
experiment of it but too often and too evidently in our common swearers
and drunkards. Yet do such kind of sins, for the most part, grow on by
little and little, steal into the throne insensibly, and do not
_exercise dominion_ over the enslaved soul till they have got strength
_by many and multiplied acts_. But a _presumptuous sin_ worketh a great
alteration in the state of the soul _at once_, and by one single act
advanceth marvellously, weakening the spirit, and giving a mighty
advantage to the flesh, even to the hazard of _a complete
conquest_.—_Robert Sanderson._
_Verse 13._—To sin presumptuously is the highest step. So in David’s
account; for first he prays, “_Lord keep me from secret sins_,” which he
maketh sins of ignorance, and then next he prays against “_presumptuous
sins_,” which, as the opposition shows, are sins against knowledge; for
says he, “if they get dominion over me, I shall not be free from that
great offence,” that is, that unpardonable sin which shall never be
forgiven: so as these are nearest it of any other, yet not so as that
every one that falls into such a sin commits it, but he is nigh to it,
at the next step to it. For to commit that sin, but two things are
required—light in the mind, and malice in the heart; not malice alone,
unless there be light, for then that apostle had sinned it, so as
knowledge is the parent of it, it is “after receiving the knowledge of
the truth.” Heb. x. 27, 28.—_Thomas Goodwin._
_Verse 13._—Happy souls, who, under a sense of peace through the blood
of Jesus, are daily praying to be kept by the grace of the Spirit. Such
truly know themselves, see their danger of falling, will not, dare not
palliate or lessen the odious nature, and hateful deformity of their
sin. They will not give a softer name to sin than it deserves, lest they
depreciate the infinite value of that precious blood which Jesus shed to
atone its guilt. Far will they be from flattering themselves into a
deceitful notion that they are perfect, and have no sin in them. The
spirit of truth delivers them from such errors; he teacheth them as poor
sinners to look to the Saviour, and to beseech him to “_keep back_” the
headstrong passions, the unruly lusts, and evil concupiscences which
dwell in their sinful natures. Alas! the most exalted saint, the most
established believer, if left to himself, how soon might the blackest
crimes, the most “_presumptuous sins_,” get the “_dominion_” over him!
David had woeful experience of this for a season. He prays from a
heartfelt sense of past misery, and the dread of future danger, and he
found the blessing of that covenant-promise: “Sin shall not have
dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Rom.
vi. 14.—_William Mason, 1719-1791, in “A Spiritual Treasury for the
Children of God.”_
_Verse 14.—“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart,
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,”_ was David’s prayer. David could
not bear it, that a word or a thought of his should miss acceptation
with God. It did not satisfy him that his actions were well witnessed
unto men on earth, unless his very thoughts were witnessed to by the
Lord in heaven.—_Joseph Caryl._
_Verse 14.—“Let the words of my mouth,”_ etc. The best of men have their
failing, and an honest Christian may be a weak one; but weak as he may
be, the goodness and sincerity of his heart will entitle him to put the
petition of this verse, which no hypocrite or cunning deceiver can ever
make use of.—_Thomas Sherlock (Bishop), 1676-1761._