their sins pardoned, they look upon them as great sins. “_Pardon mine
iniquity, for it is great._” The original word as well signifies _many_
as _great_—“My sins are great and many,” many great sins lie upon me,
pardon, oh! pardon them, O Lord, &c.... In the opening of this point, I
would show _why_ such as come in a right way for pardon do look upon
their sins as _great_ sins. 1. Sinners that come to God for pardon and
find it, do look upon their sins as _great sins_, _because_ against a
_great God_, great in power, great in justice, great in holiness. I am
_a worm_, and yet sin, and that boldly against a God so _great_; for a
worm to lift up himself against a great and infinite God; oh! this makes
every little sin _great_, and calls for _great_ vengeance from so
_great_ a God. 2. Because _they have sinned against great patience_,
despising the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God, which is
called, “treasuring up wrath.” Rom. ii. 4, 5.... 3. Sins do appear
_great_ because _against great mercies_. Oh! against how many mercies
and kindnesses do sinners sin, and turn all the mercies of God into
sin!... 4. That which _greatens_ sin in the eyes of poor sinners that
cry for pardon, is, that _they have sinned against great light_—light in
the conscience; this heightens sin exceedingly, especially to such as
are under gospel means; and is indeed the sin of all in this nation;
there’s nothing more abaseth a soul than this, nothing makes it more
difficult to believe pardon, when humbled for it.... 5. _Continuance in
sin_ much _greatens_ sin to a poor soul that is after pardon; especially
such as are not very early converted. Psalm lxviii. 21. Oh! I added sin
unto sin, saith a poor soul, spending the choice time of my youth in
sin, when I might have been getting the knowledge of Jesus Christ and
honouring of God. This lay close upon David’s spirit, as appears from
the seventh verse: “Oh! remember not the sins of my youth.” Yet we do
not find that David’s youth was notoriously sinful; but inasmuch as he
spent not his youth to get knowledge, and to serve the Lord fully, ’twas
his burden and complaint before the Lord; much more such whose youth was
spent in nothing but vanity, profaneness, lying, swearing, profaning of
the Sabbath, sports, pastimes, excess of riot, and the like, when God
lays it in upon their consciences, must be grievous and abominable to
their souls.... 6. _Multitudes of sins_ do make sin appear great; this
made David cry out for “multitude of mercies.” Psalm li., and xl. 12....
7. Another thing that _greatens_ sin is, that it was _against purposes
and resolutions of forsaking such and such sins_; and yet all broken,
sometimes against solemn vows, against prayers.... 8. Sin appears
_great_ when seen by a poor soul, because it was _reigning_ sin. Rom. v.
6. “Sin reigned unto death,” etc. Oh! saith a poor humbled sinner, I did
not only _commit_ sin, but I was the _servant_ and _slave_ of sin.... 9.
Sin _in the fountain makes it great_. As it may be said, there is more
water in the fountain than in the pools and streams it makes.... So in
the nature, in the heart, is there, as in the fountain, and therefore
’tis more there than in the breakings forth of it in the outward man....
10. A sinner drawing nigh to God for pardon sees his sin as _great_,
because thereby he was _led captive by the devil_ at his will.... 11.
Sin appears _great_, because _great is the wrath of God against sin_.
Rom. ii. 12. The way of any sinner’s deliverance from such wrath shows
sin to be exceeding great _in the price and ransom that is paid for the
salvation of him from his sins_—the price of the blood of the eternal
Son of God.... 13. Lastly, this consideration also _greatens_ sin,
inasmuch as a poor creature _hath drawn and tempted others_ to sin with
him, especially such as have lived more vainly and loosely, and it lies
hard upon many a poor soul after thorough conviction.—_Anthony Palmer
(——1678), in “The Gospel New-creature.”_
_Verse 11._—I plead not, Lord, my merits, who am less than the least of
thy mercies and as I look not upon my merit, so nor do thou look upon my
demerit; as I do not view my worthiness, so nor do thou view my
unworthiness; but thou who art called _the God of mercy_, be unto me
what thou art called; make good the glory of thine own name in being
merciful unto my sin, of which I cannot say as Lot of Zoar, “Is it not a
little one?” No, it is _great_, for that it is against thee so great a
God and so good to me: _great_, for that my place, my calling, my
office, is great. The sun, the higher it is, the less it seems; but my
sins, the higher I am the greater they are, even in thine and others’
eyes.—_Robert Mossom._
_Verse 11._—Plead we the greatness of our sins not to keep us from
mercy, but to prevail for it: “_Pardon mine iniquity_;” why so? “_for it
is great_.” “Heal my soul for I have sinned against thee.” Psalm xli. 4.
“Do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have
sinned against thee.” Jer. xiv. 7. This is a strong plea, when sincerely
urged by an humble and contrite spirit. It glorifleth God as one that is
abundant in goodness, rich in mercy, and one with whom are forgivenesses
and plenteous redemption; and it honoureth Christ as infinite in mercy.
Hence also the Lord himself, when he would stir up himself to choice
acts of mercy to his poor people, he first aggravateth their sin against
him to the highest, and then he expresseth his royal act of grace to
them. So Isaiah xliii. 22-25. “Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob,
but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel; thou hast not honoured me with
thy sacrifices, but thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even
I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and
will not remember thy sins.”—_Thomas Cobbet, 1608-1686._
_Verse 11._—“Oh,” says Pharaoh, “take away these filthy frogs, this
dreadful thunder!” But what says holy David? “Lord, take away the
iniquity of thy servant!” The one would be freed from punishment, the
effect of sin; the other from sin, the cause of punishment. And it is
most true that a true Christian man is more troubled at sin than at
frogs and thunder; he sees more filthiness in sin than in frogs and
toads, more horror than in thunder and lightning.—_Jeremiah Dyke’s
“Worthy Communicant,” 1645._
_Verse 11._—Pharaoh more lamented the hard strokes that were upon him,
than the hard heart which was within him. Esau mourned not because he
sold the birthright, which was his sin, but because he lost the
blessing, which was his punishment. This is like weeping with an onion;
the eye sheds tears because it smarts. A mariner casts overboard that
cargo in a tempest, which he courts the return of when the winds are
silenced. Many complain more of the sorrows to which they are born, than
of the sins with which they were born: they tremble more at the
vengeance of sin, than at the venom of sin; one delights them, the other
affrights them.—_William Secker._
_Verse 12.—“What man is he that feareth the Lord?”_ Blessed shall he
be—1. In the sacred knowledge of Christ’s will; “_Him shall he teach in
the way that he shall choose_.” 2. Blessed shall he be in the quiet
peace of a good conscience; “_His soul shall dwell at ease_.” 3. Blessed
he shall be in the present comfort of a hopeful progeny; “_His seed
shall inherit the earth_.”—_Robert Mossom._
_Verse 12.—“What man is he that feareth the Lord?”_ There is nothing so
effectual to obtain grace, to retain grace, as always to be found before
God not over wise, but _to fear_: happy art thou, if thy heart be
replenished with three fears; a fear for received grace, a greater fear
for lost grace, a greatest fear to recover grace.—_Bernard._
_Verse 12.—“He that feareth the Lord.”_ Present fear begetteth eternal
security: fear God, which is above all, and no need to fear man at
all.—_Augustine._
_Verse 12.—“Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose,”_
_i.e._, that the good man shall pitch upon. God will direct him in all
dealings to make a good choice, and will give good success. This is not
in a man’s own power to do. Jer. x. 23.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 13.—“His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the
earth.”_ The holy fear of God shall destroy all sinful fears of men,
even as Moses’ serpent devoured all those serpents of the magicians. The
fear of God hath this good effect that it makes other things not to be
feared; so that the soul of him who feareth the Lord doth dwell, as _in
rest_, so in goodness; as _in peace_, so in patience, till this moment
of time be swallowed up in the fulness of eternity, and he change his
earthly dwelling for an heavenly mansion, and his spiritual peace for an
everlasting blessedness.—_Robert Mossom._
_Verse 13.—“His soul shall dwell at ease.”_ _Shall tarry in good
things_, as it is in the Vulgate. Unlike the soul of Adam, who, being
put into possession of the delights of paradise, tarried there but a few
days or hours.—_Gerhohus, quoted by J. M. Neale._
_Verse 13.—“His soul shall dwell at ease.”_ He expresses with great
sweetness spiritual delectation, when he says, “_His soul shall tarry in
good things_.” For whatever is carnally sweet yields without doubt a
delectation for the time to such as enjoy it, but cannot tarry long with
them; because, while by its taste it provokes appetite, by its transit
it cheats desire. But spiritual delights, which neither pass away as
they are tasted, nor decrease while they refresh, nor cloy while they
satiate, can tarry for ever with their possessors.—_Hugo Victorinus
(1130), quoted by J. M. Neale._
_Verse 13 (first clause)._—In the reception of the gifts of God, they do
not devour them without feeling a sense of their sweetness, but really
relish them, so that the smallest competency is of more avail to satisfy
them that the greatest abundance is to satisfy the ungodly. Thus,
according as every man is contented with his condition, and cheerfully
cherishes a spirit of patience and tranquility, his soul is said _to
dwell in good_.—_John Calvin._
_Verse 13.—“The earth,”_ or _the land_, to wit, Canaan; which was
promised and given, as an earnest of the whole covenant of grace, and
all its promises, and therefore it is synecdochically put for all of
them. The sense is, his seed shall be blessed.—_Matthew Pool._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,”_ etc. It
is the righteous that is God’s friend, it is to him that God is joined
in a loving familiarity, it is to him that God revealeth his secret,
telling him what misery and torments he hath reserved for them who by
wickedness flourish in this world. And indeed the Lord doth not more
hate the wicked than he loves the godly: if he keeps far from the
froward, as being an abomination unto him, his very secret shall be with
the righteous, as with his dearest friend. It is an honour to him to
whom a secret is committed by another, a greater honour to him to whom
the king shall commit his own secret; but how is he honoured to whom God
committeth his secret? for where the secret of God is, there is his
heart and there is himself. Thus was his secret with St. John, of whom
St. Bernard saith, by occasion of the beginning of his gospel, “Doth he
not seem unto thee to have dived into the bowels of the divine Word, and
from the secrets of his breast, to have drawn a sacred pith of concealed
wisdom?” Thus was his secret with St. Paul, who saith, “We speak the
wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which none of the
princes of this world knew.” 1 Cor. ii. 7, 8. St. Gregory reads, for the
secret of God, as the Vulgar Latin doth _sermocinatio Dei_, the
communication of God is with the righteous; but then addeth, _Dei
sermocinari est per illustrationem suæ præsentiæ humanis mentibus arcana
revelare_, God’s communication is, by the illustration of his presence,
to reveal secrets to the minds of men. But to consider the words
somewhat more generally. There is no less a secret of godliness, than
there is of any other trade or profession. Many profess an art or a
trade, but thrive not by it, because they have not the secret and
mystery of it; and many profess godliness, but are little the better for
it, because they have not the true secret of it: he hath that, with whom
God is in secret in his heart; and he that is righteous in secret, where
no man sees him, he is the righteous man with whom the secret of the
Lord is.—_Michael Jermin, D.D., 1591-1659._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord, is with them that fear him,”_ etc.
There is a vital sense in which “the natural man discerneth not the
things of the Spirit of God;” and in which all the realities of
Christian experience are utterly hid from his perceptions. To speak to
him of communion with God, of the sense of pardon, of the lively
expectation of heaven, of the witness of the Holy Ghost, of the
struggles of the spiritual life, would be like reasoning with a blind
man about colours, or with one deaf about musical harmony.—_John
Morison._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,”_ etc.
Albeit the Lord’s covenant with the visible church be open, and plain in
itself to all men in all the articles thereof, yet it is a mystery to
know the inward sweet fellowship which a soul may have with God by
virtue of this covenant; and a man fearing God shall know this mystery,
when such as are covenanters only in the letter do remain ignorant
thereof; for to _the fearers of God_ only is this promise made—that to
_them_ the Lord _will show his covenant_.—_David Dickson._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.”_ The
gospel, though published to all the world, yet it is entitled a mystery,
and a mystery hid, for none know it but the saints, who are taught of
God, and are his scholars. John vi. 45. That place shows that there must
be a secret teaching by God, and a secret learning. “If they have heard,
and been taught of God.” Now God teacheth none but saints, for all that
are so taught come unto him: “Every one who hath heard, and learned of
the Father, cometh unto me.” Ay, but you will say, Do not many carnal
men know the gospel, and discourse of things in it, through strength of
learning, etc.? I answer out of the text (Col. i. 26, 27), that though
they may know the things which the gospel reveals, yet not the riches
and glory of them, that same rich knowledge spoken of in the word, they
want, and therefore know them not; as a child and a jeweller looking
upon a pearl, both look upon it, and call it by the same name; but the
child yet knows it not as a pearl in the worth and riches of it as the
Jeweller doth, and therefore cannot be said to know it. Now in Matt.
xiii. 45, a Christian only is likened to a merchantman, that finds a
pearl of great price, that is, discovered to be so, and sells all he
hath for it, for he knows the worth of it. But you will say, Do not
carnal men know the worth of the things in the gospel, and can they not
discourse of the rich grace of Christ, and of his worth? I answer, yes,
as a man who hath gotten an inventory by heart, and the prices also, and
so may know it; yet never was he led into the exchequer and treasury, to
see all the jewels themselves, the wardrobe of grace, and Christ’s
righteousness, to see the glory of them; for these are all “spiritually
discerned,” as the apostle says expressly, 1 Cor. ii. 14.—_Thomas
Goodwin._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.”_ The
truth and sincerity of God to his people appears in the openness and
plainness of his heart to them. A friend that is close and reserved,
deservedly comes under a cloud in the thoughts of his friend; but he who
carries, as it were, a window of crystal in his breast, through which
his friend may read what thoughts are writ in his very heart, delivers
himself from the least suspicion of unfaithfulness. Truly, thus
open-hearted is God to his saints: “_The secret of the Lord is with them
that fear him._” He gives us his key, that will let us into his very
heart, and acquaint us what his thoughts are, yea, were, towards us,
before a stone was laid in the world’s foundation; and this is no other
than his Spirit (1 Cor. ii. 10, 11), “One who knows the deep things of
God;” for he was at the council-table in heaven, where all was
transacted. This, his Spirit, he employed to put forth and publish in
the Scriptures, indited by him, the substance of those counsels of love
which had passed between the Trinity of Persons for our salvation; and
that nothing may be wanting for our satisfaction, he hath appointed the
same Holy Spirit to abide in his saints, that as Christ in heaven
presents our desires to him, so he may interpret his mind out of his
word to us; which word answers the heart of God, as face answers face in
the glass.—_William Gurnall._
_Verse 14.—“The secret of the Lord.”_ This “_secret_” is called a
_secret_ three ways. 1. _Secret_ to the eye of sole nature, and thus it
is not meant; for so the grace of Christ is a _secret_ only to heathens
and such as are blind as they, for common Christians know it—the rind of
it. 2. _Secret_ to the eye of taught nature, nor thus is it meant; for
so the grace of Christ is a _secret_ only to the ignorant sort of
Christians; many carnal gospellers that sit under a good ministry know
it and the bark of it. 3. _Secret_ to the eye of enlightened nature, and
thus it is meant; for so the grace of Christ is a _secret_ to all
unsanctified professors, whether learned or unlearned, namely, the pith
of it; for though great doctors and profound clerks, and deep studied
divines unconverted, know the doctrine of grace, and the truth of grace;
though they can dispute of grace and talk of the glory of grace, yea,
and taste a little the good word of grace, yea, and understand it
generally, it may be as well as St. Paul and St. Peter, as Judas did,
yet the special and the spiritual knowledge thereof, for all their
dogmatical illumination, is a _secret_ unto them.—_William Fenner._
_Verse 14.—“The secret.”_ Arminius and his company ransack all God’s
_secrets_, divulge and communicate them to the seed of the woman, and of
the serpent all alike; they make God’s eternal love of election no
_secret_, but a vulgar idea; they make the mystery of Christ, and him
crucified, no _secret_, but like an apothecary’s drug, catholical; they
make the especial grace of God no _secret_, but a common quality; faith
no _secret_, but a general virtue; repentance and the new creature no
_secret_, but an universal gift; no _secret_ favour to St. Peter, but
make God a party _unto_, not to love St. Peter more than Judas; no
_secret_ intent to any one person more than another; but that Christ
might have died for all him, and never a man saved; no _secret_ working
of the Lord in any more than other; but for anything that either God the
Father hath done by creating, God the Son by redeeming, or God the Holy
Ghost by sanctifying, all the world were left to their scrambling—take
it if you will, if you will not, refuse. They say God would have men to
be saved, but that he will not work it for his own part, rather for this
man or that man determinatively that he be saved.—_William Fenner._
_Verse 14.—“He will shew them his covenant,”_ or, _and he will make them
to know_ (for the infinitive is here thought to be put for the future
tense of the indicative, as it is Eccles. iii. 14, 15, 18; Hos. ix. 13;
xii. 3), _his covenant_, _i.e._, he will make them clearly to understand
it, both its duties or conditions, and its blessings or privileges;
neither of which ungodly men rightly understand. Or, he will make them
to know it by experience, or by God’s making it good to them; as, on the
contrary, God threatens to make ungodly men to _know his breach of
promise_. Numb. xiv. 34. Or, as it is in the margins of our Bibles, _and
his covenant_ (is, _i.e._, he hath engaged himself by his promise or
covenant) _to make them know_ it, to wit his secret, _i.e._, that he
will manifest either his word or his favour to them.—_Matthew Pool._
_Verse 14._—It is neither learning nor labour that can give insight into
God’s secrets, those _Arcana imperii_, “The mysteries of the kingdom of
heaven.” Matt. xiii. 11. “The mind of Christ.” 1 Cor. ii. 16. These
things come by revelation rather than by discourse of reason, and must
therefore be obtained by prayer. Those that diligently seek him shall be
of his _Cabinet Council_, shall know his soul secrets, and be admitted
into a gracious familiarity and friendship. “Henceforth I call you not
servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have
called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you.” John xv. 15.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 14._—Walking with God is the best way to know the mind of God;
friends who walk together impart their secrets one to another: “_The
secret of the Lord is with them that fear him._” Noah walked with God,
and the Lord revealed a great secret to him, of destroying the old
world, and having him in the ark. Abraham walked with God, and God made
him one of his privy council: “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing
which I do?” Gen. xxiv. 40, and xviii. 17. God doth sometimes sweetly
unbosom himself to the soul in prayer, and in the holy supper, as Christ
made himself known to the disciples in the breaking of bread. Luke xxiv.
35.—_Thomas Watson._
_Verse 15.—“Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord.”_ Though we cannot see
him by reasons of our present distance and darkness, yet we must look
towards him, towards the place where his honour dwells, as those that
desire the knowledge of him and his will, and direct all to his honour
as the mark we aim at, labouring in this, that “whether present or
absent, we may be accepted of him.”—_Matthew Henry._
_Verse 15.—“Mine eyes.”_ As the sense of sight is very quick, and
exercises an entire influence over the whole frame, it is no uncommon
thing to find all the affections denoted by the term “_eyes_.”—_John
Calvin._
_Verse 15.—“He shall pluck my feet out of the net.”_ An unfortunate
dove, whose feet are taken in the snare of the fowler, is a fine emblem
of the soul, entangled in the cares or pleasures of the world; from
which she desires, through the power of grace, to fly away, and to be at
rest, with her glorified Redeemer.—_George Horne._
_Verse 17.—“The troubles of my heart are enlarged.”_ Let no good man be
surprised that his affliction is great, and to him of an unaccountable
character. It has always been so with God’s people. The road to heaven
is soaked with the tears and blood of the saints.—_William S. Plumer._
_Verse 17.—“O bring thou me out of my distresses.”_ We may not complain
of God, but we may complain to God. With submission to his holy will we
may earnestly cry for help and deliverance.—_William S. Plumer._
_Verse 18.—“Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my
sins.”_ We may observe here, that _sickness and weakness of the body
come from sin, and is a fruit of sin_. Some are weak, and some are sick,
“for this cause.” I shall not need to be long in the proof of that,
which you have whole chapters for, as Deut. xxviii. 27, _seq._; and many
Psalms, cvii., and others. It is for the sickness of the soul that God
visits with the sickness of the body. He aims at the cure of the soul in
the touch of the body. And therefore in this case, when God visits with
sickness, we should think our work is more in heaven with God than with
men or physic. Begin first with the soul. So David (Psa. xxxii. 5), till
he dealt roundly with God, without all kind of guile and confessed his
sins, he roared; his moisture was turned into the thought of summer. But
when he dealt directly and plainly with God, and confessed his sins,
then God forgave him them, and healed his body too. And therefore the
best method, when God visits us in this kind, is to think that we are to
deal with God. Begin the cure there with the soul. When he visits the
body, it is for the soul’s sake: “Many are weak and sickly among
you.”—_Richard Sibbes._
_Verse 18.—“Look upon mine affliction and my pain.”_ In sickness of body
trust to Jesus, he is as powerful and as willing to help us now as he
was to help others in the days of his flesh. All things are possible to
us if we believe. It is but a word for him to rebuke all storms and
tempests whatsoever. Let us not do like Asa, trust only in the
physician, or in subordinate means, but know that all physic is but dead
means without him. 2 Chron. xvi. 12. Therefore, with the means, run to
Christ, that he may work with them, and know that virtue and strength
comes from him to bless or curse all sort of means.—_Richard Sibbes._