sinners to repent by his doctrine, who taught them to sin by his
example. This science is universal and pertaineth to all men, and which
necessarily we must all learn; princes, priests, people, men, women,
children, tradesmen; all, I say, must be put to this school, without
which lesson all others are unprofitable. But to the point. This is a
mark of a true penitent, when he hath been a stumbling block to others,
to be as careful to raise them up by his repentance as he was hurtful to
them by his sin; and I never think that man truly penitent who is
ashamed to teach sinners repentance, by his own particular proof. The
Samaritan woman, when she was converted, left her bucket at the well,
entered the city, and said, “Come forth, yonder is a man who hath told
me all that I have done.” And our Saviour saith to St. Peter, “When thou
art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” John iv. 29; Luke xxii. 32. St.
Paul also, after his conversion is not ashamed to call himself chiefest
of all sinners, and to teach others to repent of their sins by repenting
for his own. Happy, and thrice happy, is the man who can build so much
as he hath cast down.—_Archibald Symson._
_Whole Psalm._—It is told of Luther that one day being asked which of
all the Psalms were the best, he made answer, “_Psalmi Paulini_,” and
when his friends pressed to know which these might be, he said, “The
32nd, the 51st, the 130th, and 143rd. For they all teach that the
forgiveness of our sins comes, without the law and without works, to the
man who believes, and therefore I call them Pauline Psalms; and David
sings, ‘There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared,’
this is just what Paul says, ‘God hath concluded them all in unbelief,
that he might have mercy upon all.’ Rom. xi. 32. Thus no man may boast
of his own righteousness. That word, ‘That thou mayest be feared,’ dusts
away all merit, and teaches us to uncover our heads before God, and
confess _gratia est, non meritum: remissio, non satisfactio_; it is mere
forgiveness, not merit at all.”—_Luther’s Table Talk._
_Whole Psalm._—Some assert that this Psalm used to be sung on the day of
expiation.—_Robert Leighton._
THE PENITENTIAL PSALMS.—When Galileo was imprisoned by the Inquisition
at Rome, for asserting the Copernican System, he was enjoined, as a
penance, to repeat the Seven Penitential Psalms every week for three
years. This must have been intended as extorting a sort of confession
from him of his guilt, and acknowledgment of the justice of his
sentence; and in which there certainly was some cleverness and, indeed,
humour, however adding to the iniquity (or foolishness) of the
proceeding. Otherwise it is not easy to understand what idea of
painfulness or punishment the good fathers could attach to a devotional
exercise such as this, which, in whatever way, could only have been
agreeable and consoling to their prisoner.—_M. Montague, in “The Seven
Penitential Psalms in Verse ... with an Appendix and Notes,” 1844._
_Verse 1.—“Blessed.”_ Or, O blessed man; or, Oh, the felicities of that
man! to denote the most supreme and perfect blessedness. As the
elephant, to denote its vast bulk, is spoken of in the plural number,
_Behemoth_.—_Robert Leighton._
_Verse 1._—Notice, this is the first Psalm, except the first of all,
which begins with Blessedness. In the first Psalm we have the blessing
of innocence, or rather, of him who only was innocent: here we have the
blessing of repentance, as the next happiest state to that of
sinlessness.—_Lorinus, in Neale’s Commentary._
_Verse 1.—“Blessed is the man,”_ saith David, “_whose sins are
pardoned_,” where he maketh remission of sins to be true felicity. Now
there is no true felicity but that which is enjoyed, and felicity cannot
be enjoyed unless it be felt; and it cannot be felt unless a man know
himself to be in possession of it; and a man cannot know himself to be
in possession of it, if he doubt whether he hath it or not; and
therefore this doubting of the remission of sins is contrary to true
felicity, and is nothing else but a torment of the conscience. For a man
cannot doubt whether his sins be pardoned or not, but straightway, if
his conscience be not seared with a hot iron, the very thought of his
sin will strike a great fear into him; for the fear of eternal death,
and the horror of God’s judgment will come to his remembrance, the
consideration of which is most terrible.—_William Perkins._
_Verse 1.—“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
covered.”_ Get your sins hid. There is a covering of sin which proves _a
curse_. Prov. xxviii. 13. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper;”
there is a _covering_ it, by not confessing it, or which is worse, by
denying it—Gehazi’s covering—a covering of sin by a lie; and there is
also a covering of sin by justifying ourselves in it. I have not done
this thing; or, I did no evil in it. All these are evil coverings: he
that thus covereth his sin shall not prosper. But there is a _blessed_
covering of sin: forgiveness of sin is the hiding it out of sight, and
that is the blessedness.—_Richard Alleine._
_Verse 1.—“Whose transgression is forgiven.”_ We may lull the soul
asleep with carnal delights, but the virtue of that opium will be soon
spent. All those joys are but stolen waters, and bread eaten in secret—a
poor sorry peace that dares not come to the light and endure the trial;
a sorry peace that is soon disturbed by a few serious and sober thoughts
of God and the world to come; but when once sin is pardoned, then you
have true joy indeed. “Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.”
Matt. ix. 2.—_Thomas Manton._
_Verse 1.—“Forgiven.”_ Holy David, in the front of this Psalm shows us
wherein true happiness consists; not in beauty, honour, riches (the
world’s trinity), but in the forgiveness of sin. The Hebrew word to
_forgive_, signifies to carry out of sight; which well agrees with that
Jer. l. 20, “In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found.” This is an incomprehensible blessing, and such as
lays a foundation for all other mercies. I shall but glance at it, and
lay down these five assertions about it. 1. Forgiveness is an act of
God’s free grace. The Greek word _to forgive_, deciphers the original of
pardon; it ariseth not from anything inherent in us, but is the pure
result of free grace. Isa. xliii. 25: “I, even I, am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions for mine own sake.” When a creditor forgives a
debtor, he doeth it freely. Paul cries out, “I obtained mercy.” 1 Tim.
i. 13. The Greek signifies, “I was be-mercied;” he who is pardoned, is
all bestrewed with mercy. When the Lord pardons a sinner, he doth not
pay a debt, but give a legacy. 2. God in forgiving sin, remits the guilt
and penalty. Guilt cries for justice: no sooner had Adam eaten the
apple, but he saw the flaming sword, and heard the curse; but in
remission God doth indulge the sinner; he seems to say thus to him:
Though thou art fallen into the hands of my justice, and deservest to
die, yet I will absolve thee, and whatever is charged upon thee shall be
discharged. 3. Forgiveness of sin is through the blood of Christ. Free
grace is the impulsive cause; Christ’s blood is the meritorious.
“Without shedding of blood is no remission.” Heb. ix. 22. Justice would
be revenged either on the sinner or the surety. Every pardon is the
price of blood. 4. Before sin is forgiven it must be repented of.
Therefore repentance and remission are linked together. “That repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name.” Luke xxiv. 47.
Not that repentance doth in a Popish sense merit forgiveness; Christ’s
blood must wash our tears; but repentance is a qualification, though not
a cause. He who is humbled for sin will the more value pardoning mercy.
5. God having forgiven sin, he will call it no more into remembrance.
Jer. xxxi. 34. The Lord will make an act of indemnity, he will not
upbraid us with former unkindnesses, or sue us with a cancelled bond.
“He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” Mic. vii. 19.
Sin shall not be cast in as a cork which riseth up again, but as lead
which sinks to the bottom. How should we all labour for this covenant
blessing!—_Thomas Watson._
_Verse 1.—“Sin is covered.”_ Every man that must be happy, must have
something to hide and cover his sins from God’s eyes; and nothing in the
world can do it, but Christ and his righteousness, typified in the ark
of the covenant, whose cover was of gold, and called a propitiatory,
that as it covered the tables that were within the ark, so God covers
our sins against those tables. So the cloud covering the Israelites in
the wilderness, signified God’s covering us from the danger of our
sins.—_Thomas Taylor’s “David’s Learning: or the Way to True
Happinesse,” 1617._
_Verse 1.—“Sin covered.”_ This _covering_ hath relation to some
nakedness and filthiness which should be covered, even sin, which
defileth us and maketh us naked. Why, saith Moses to Aaron, hast thou
made the people naked? Ex. xxxii. 25. The garments of our merits are too
short and cannot cover us, we have need therefore to borrow of Christ
Jesus his merits and the mantle of his righteousness, that it may be
unto us as a garment, and as those breeches of leather which God made
unto Adam and Eve after their fall. Garments are ordained to cover our
nakedness, defend us from the injury of the weather, and to adorn us. So
the mediation of our Saviour serveth to cover our nakedness, that the
wrath of God seize not upon us—he is that “white raiment” wherewith we
should be clothed, that our filthy nakedness may not appear—to defend us
against Satan—he is “mighty to save,” etc.—and to be an ornament to
decorate us, for he is that “_wedding garment_:” “Put ye on the Lord
Jesus Christ.” Rev. iii. 18; Isa. lxiii. 1; Matt. xxii. 11; Rom. xiii.
14.—_Archibald Symson._
_Verse 1._—The object of pardon—about which it is conversant, is set
forth under divers expressions—_iniquity_, _transgression_, and _sin_.
As in law, many words of like import and signification are heaped up and
put together, to make the deed and legal instrument more comprehensive
and effectual. I observe it the rather, because when God proclaims his
name the same words are used, Exod. xxxiv. 7, “Taking away iniquity,
transgression, and sin.” Well, we have seen the meaning of the
expression. Why doth the holy man of God use such vigour and vehemency
of inculcation, “_Blessed is the man!_” and again, “_Blessed is the
man!_” Partly with respect to his own case. David knew how sweet it was
to have sin pardoned; he had felt the bitterness of sin in his own soul,
to the drying up of his blood, and therefore he doth express his sense
of pardon in the most lively terms. And then, partly, too, with respect
to those for whose use this instruction was written, that they might not
look upon it as a light and trivial thing, but be thoroughly
apprehensive of the worth of so great a privilege. Blessed, happy,
thrice happy they who have obtained pardon of their sins, and
justification by Jesus Christ.—_Thomas Manton._
_Verses 1, 2._—In these verses _four_ evils are mentioned: 1.
_Transgression_, פֶשַׁע _pesha_. 2. _Sin_, חֲטָאָה _chataah_. 3.
_Iniquity_, עָוֹן _avon_. 4. _Guile_, רְמִיָּה _remiyah_. The _first_
signifies the _passing over a boundary, doing what is prohibited_. The
_second_ signifies the _missing of a mark_, not doing what was
commanded; but it is often taken to express _sinfulness_, or sin in the
nature, producing transgression in the life. The _third_ signifies _what
is turned out of its proper course or situation_; anything _morally
distorted_ or _perverted_. _Iniquity_, what is contrary to _equity_ or
_justice_. The _fourth_ signifies _fraud_, _deceit_, _guile_, _etc._ To
remove these evils, _three_ acts are mentioned: _forgiving_, _covering_,
and not _imputing_. 1. TRANSGRESSION, פֶשַׁע _pesha_, must be
_forgiven_, נְשׂוּי _nesui_, borne away, _i.e._, by a vicarious
sacrifice; for _bearing sin_, or _bearing away sin_, always implies
this. 2. SIN, חֲטָאָה _chataah_, must be _covered_, כְּסוּי _kesui_,
hidden from the sight. It is odious and abominable, and must be put out
of sight. 3. INIQUITY, עָוֹן _avon_, what is _perverse_ or _distorted_,
must not be imputed, לֹא יַחְשֹׁב _lo yachshobh_, must _not be reckoned
to his account_. 4. GUILE, רְמִיָּה _remiyah_, must be annihilated from
the soul. _In whose spirit there is no_ GUILE. The man whose
_transgression_ is forgiven; whose _sin_ is hidden, God having cast it
as a millstone into the depths of the sea; whose iniquity and perversion
is not reckoned to his account; and whose _guile_, the deceitful and
desperately wicked heart, is annihilated, being emptied of sin, and
filled with righteousness, is necessarily a happy man.—_Adam Clarke._
_Verses 1, 2.—Transgression._ Prevarication. Some understand by it sins
of omission and commission.
_Sin._ Some understand those inward inclinations, lusts, and motions,
whereby the soul swerves from the law of God, and which are the
immediate cause of external sins.
_Iniquity._ Notes original sin, the root of all.
_Levatus_, _forgiven_, _eased_, signifies to take away, to bear, to
carry away. Two words in Scripture are chiefly used to denote remission,
to expiate, to bear or carry away: the one signifies the manner whereby
it is done, namely, atonement, the other the effect of this expiation,
carrying away; one notes the meritorious cause, the other the
consequent.
_Covered._ Alluding to the covering of the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
Menochius thinks it alludes to the manner of writing among the Hebrews,
which he thinks to be the same with that of the Romans; as writing with
a pencil upon wax spread upon tables, which when they would blot out
they made the wax plain, and drawing it over the writing, covered the
former letters. And so it is equivalent with that expression of
“blotting out sin,” as in the other allusion it is with “casting sin
into the depths of the sea.”
_Impute._ Not charging upon account. As sin is a defection from the law,
so it is forgiven; as it is offensive to God’s holiness, so it is
covered; as it is a debt involving man in a debt of punishment, so it is
not imputed; they all note the certainty, and extent, and perfection of
pardon; the three words expressing sin here, being the same that are
used by God in the declaration of his name.—_Stephen Charnock._
_Verses 1, 2, 6, 7._—Who is blessed? Not he who cloaks, conceals,
confesses not his sin. As long as David was in this state he was
miserable. There was guile in his spirit (2), misery in his heart, his
very bones waxed old, his moisture was dried up as the drought in summer
(3, 4). Who is blessed? He that is without sin, he who sins not, he who
grieves no more by his sin the bosom on which he reclines. This is
superlative blessedness, its highest element, the happiness of heaven.
To be like God, to yield implicit, ready, full, perfect obedience, the
obedience of the heart, of our entire being; this is to be blessed above
all blessedness. But among those who live in a world of sin, who are
surrounded by sin, who are themselves sinners, who is blessed? “_He
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, to whom the Lord
imputeth not iniquity_;” and especially does he feel it to be so, who
can, in some degree, enter into the previous state of David’s soul (3,
4). Ah, in what a wretched state was the Psalmist previously to this
blessedness! How must sin have darkened and deadened his spiritual
faculties, to have guile in the spirit of one who could elsewhere
exclaim, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me,” any way of pain or
grief, any way of sin which most surely leads to these. Ps. cxxxix. 23,
34. What a mournful condition of soul was his, who while he roared all
the day long, yet kept silence before God, had no heart to open his
heart unto God, was dumb before him, not in submission to his will, not
in accepting the punishment of his iniquity (Lev. xxvi. 46), not in real
confession, and honest, upright, and sincere acknowledgment of his
iniquity to him against whom he had committed it. “_I kept silence_,”
not merely I was silent, “I _kept_ silence,” resolutely, perseveringly;
I kept it notwithstanding all the remembrance of my past mercies,
notwithstanding my reproaches of conscience, and my anguish of heart. I
kept it notwithstanding “_thy hand was heavy upon me day and night_,”
notwithstanding “_my moisture_,” all that was spiritual in me, my vital
spirit, all that was indicative of spiritual life in my soul, seemed
dried up and gone. Yes, Lord, notwithstanding all this, I _kept_ it. But
Nathan came, thou didst send him. He was to me a messenger full of
reproof, full of faithfulness, but full of love. He came with thy word,
and with the word of a King there was power. I acknowledged my sin unto
him, and my iniquity did I not hide, but this was little. Against thee,
thee only, did I sin, and to thee was my confession made. I acknowledged
my sin unto thee, O Lord. I solemnly said that I would do so, and I did
it. I confessed my transgression unto the Lord, “_and thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin_.”
“_Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven._” Behold the man who is
blessed; blessed in the state of his mind, his guileless spirit, his
contrite heart, the fruit of the spirit of grace; blessed in the
forgiveness of a forgiving God; a forgiveness, perfect, entire, lacking
nothing, signified by sin “covered,” “iniquity not imputed” of the Lord;
blessed in the blessings which followed it. “_Thou art my hiding place;
thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with
songs of deliverance._” Beneath the hollow of that hand which was once
so heavy upon me, I can now repose. Thou art my hiding place, I dread
thee no more; nay, I dwell in thee as my habitation, and my high tower,
my covert, my safety, my house. Safe in thy love, whatever trouble may
be my portion, and by the mouth of Nathan thy servant thou hast declared
that trouble shall be my portion, I shall yet be preserved; yea, more,
so fully wilt thou deliver me that I believe thou wilt encompass me so
with the arms of thy mercy, as to call forth songs of grateful praise
for thy gracious interposition.
Behold the blessedness of him whom God forgives! No wonder, then, that
the Psalmist adds, “_for this shall every one that is godly pray unto
thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great
waters they shall not come nigh unto him_.” As much as if he said,
Surely after this thy gracious conduct towards _me_, all that truly love
and fear thee, “_every one that is godly_,” when he hears of thy
dealings with me, “_will pray unto thee_.” Encouraged by my example, he
will not keep silence as I foolishly and sinfully did, but will confess
and supplicate before thee, since thou art to be “_found_,” and hast so
wondrously shown that thou art, of all that truly seek thee, since there
is _the place_ of finding, as I lay my hand upon the victim, and look
through that victim to him the promised Seed; since there is _the time_
of finding, declared in thy word, and manifested by the secret drawing
of my heart to thee by thy grace: since the unwillingness is not in
thee, but in thy sinning creature to come to thee; “_for this shall
every one that is godly pray unto thee_,” then, however deep the
waterfloods may be, however fierce the torrent, and headlong the stream,
they shall not even come nigh unto him, much less shall they overwhelm
him.—_James Harrington Evans, M.A., 1785-1849._
_Verse 2.—“Unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.”_ Aben-Ezra
paraphrases it, _of whose sins God does not think_, does not regard
them, so as to bring them into judgment, reckoning them as if they were
not; οὐ μὴ λογιζεται _does not count or calculate them_; does not
require for them the debt of punishment. To us the remission is entirely
free, our Sponsor having taken upon him the whole business of paying the
ransom. His suffering is our impunity, his bond our freedom, and his
chastisement our peace; and therefore the prophet says, “The
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are
healed.”—_Robert Leighton._
_Verse 2.—“In whose spirit there is no guile.”_ In the saint’s trouble,
conscience is full of Scripture sometimes, on which it grounds its
verdict, but very ill interpreted. Oh, saith the poor soul, this place
is against me! “_Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not
iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile._” Here, saith he, is a
description of a sincere soul, to be one in whose spirit there is no
guile; but I find much guile in me, therefore I am not the sincere one.
Now this is a very weak yea, false inference. By a spirit without guile,
is not meant a person that hath not the least deceitfulness and
hypocrisy remaining in his heart. To be without sin, and to be without
guile, in this strict sense are the same—a prerogative here on earth
peculiar to the Lord Christ (1 Pet. ii. 22), “Who did no sin, neither
was guile found in his mouth.” And therefore when we meet with the same
phrase attributed to the saints, as to Levi, Mal. ii. 6: “Iniquity was
not found in his lips;” and to Nathanael, John i. 47: “Behold an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” we must sense it in an inferior
way, that may suit with their imperfect state here below, and not put
that which was only Christ’s crown on earth, and is the glorified
saint’s robe in heaven, on the weak Christian while militant here on
earth, not only with a devil without, but with a body of sin within him.
Wipe thine eyes again, poor soul, and then if thou readest such places,
wherein the Spirit of God speaks so highly and hyperbolically of his
saints’ grace, thou shalt find he doth not assert the perfection of
their grace, free from all mixture of sin, but rather to comfort poor
drooping souls, and cross their misgiving hearts, which, from the
presence of hypocrisy, are ready to overlook their sincerity as none at
all, he expresseth his high esteem of their little grace, by speaking of
it as if it were perfect, and their hypocrisy none at all.—_William
Gurnall._
_Verse 2. “In whose spirit there is no guile.”_ When once pardon is
realised the believer has courage to be truthful before God: he can
afford to have done with “_guile_” in the spirit. Who would not declare
all his debts when they are certain to be discharged by another? Who
would not declare his malady when he was sure of a cure? True faith
knows not only that “_guile_” before God is impossible, but also that it
is no longer necessary. The believer has nothing to conceal: he sees
himself as before God, stripped, and laid open, and bare; and if he has
learned to see himself as he is, so also has he learned to see God as he
reveals himself. There is no guile in the spirit of one who is justified
by faith; because in the act of justification truth has been established
in his inward parts. There is no guile in the spirit of him who sees the
truth of himself in the light of the truth of God. For the truth of God
shows him at once that in Christ he is perfectly righteous before God,
and in himself he is the chief of sinners. Such a one knows he is not
his own, for he is bought with a price, and therefore he is to glorify
God. There is no guile in the spirit of him whose real object is to
glorify Christ and not himself. But when a man is not quite true to
Christ, and has not quite ceased to magnify self, there may be guile,
for he will be more occupied with thoughts about himself than with the
honour of Christ. But if the truth, and honour, and glory of Christ be
his supreme care, he may leave himself out of the question, and, like
Christ, “commit himself to him that judgeth righteously.”—_J. W. Reeve,
M.A., in “Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm,” 1860._