Psalms 51:4

DISCOURSE: 586
SIN AN OFFENCE AGAINST GOD

Psalms 51:4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

THE occasion of this psalm is well known: it refers to one of the most melancholy transactions that ever took place in the world. In point of enormity, the deed is almost without a parallel; because it was performed by a man who till that time had made the highest professions of religion, and had been characterized even by God himself as “the man after God’s own heart [Note: If this were the subject of a Magdalen Sermon, it would be proper in a delicate manner to enlarge somewhat on the crime itself.].” But it is not the crime which David committed, but only the repentance which followed it, that is the subject of our present consideration. For a long time his heart was hardened: but after that Nathan had come from God to accuse and condemn him, he yielded to the conviction, and humbled himself before God in dust and ashes. In this psalm is recorded the prayer which David offered unto God on that occasion: and it was given by David to the Church, that it might be a pattern, and an encouragement, to penitents in all future ages. The particular declaration in our text is introduced as an aggravation of his guilt. We are not however to interpret it so strictly, as if the crime which David had committed were really no offence against man; for in that view it was as heinous as can possibly be conceived: it was a sin against Bathsheba, whom he had defiled: against Uriah, whom he had murdered; against Joab, whom he had made an instrument to effect the murder; against all the soldiers, who were murdered at the same time; against the friends and relatives of all who were slain; against his own army, who were hereby weakened and discouraged; against the whole nation, whose interests were hereby endangered; against the Church of God, who were hereby scandalized; and the ungodly world, who were hereby hardened in their iniquities. It was “a sin also against his whole body [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:18.].” We must therefore understand the expression rather as comparative; as if it had been said, “Against thee, thee chiefly, have I sinned.” Nevertheless, as an offence against God, the enormity of the crime is so great, as almost to swallow up and annihilate every other consideration of it, as the meridian sun reduces to non-existence, as it were, the twinkling of a star. It is from this consideration of it that every sin derives its chief enormity. Dropping therefore any further reference to David’s crime, we shall endeavour to shew in general,

I. The malignity of sin as an offence against God—

Men in general think little of sin, except as it affects the welfare of society: as an offence against God, it is scarcely ever deemed worthy of notice. But every sin, of whatever kind, necessarily strikes at God himself: it implies,

1. A forgetfulness of his presence—

[He is omnipresent; nor is any thing hid from his all-seeing eye — — — But, when we commit sin, we lose all recollection that God’s eye is upon us: we say in our hearts, “The Lord shall not see; neither shall the God of Jacob regard it [Note: Psalms 94:7.]:” “How shall God know? Is there knowledge with the Most High [Note: Psalms 73:11.]?” “Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he cannot see [Note: Job 22:13.].” This is no deduction of ours, but the declaration of God himself: and the truth of it is evident: for, if even the presence of a fellow-creature is sufficient to overawe men, so that they cannot perpetrate crimes to which they are most strongly tempted; so much more would the presence of Almighty God restrain us, if we were conscious that he was inspecting and witnessing all the secrets of our hearts.]

2. A contempt Of his authority—

[God, as the great Lawgiver, requires obedience to his laws, every one of which bears the impress of divine authority upon it But in violating his commands, we trample on his authority, and say in effect, “I am at my own disposal: who is Lord over me [Note: Psalms 12:4.]?” “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord: neither will I obey his voice [Note: Exodus 5:2.]:” “I will not have this man to reign over me [Note: Luke 19:14.].” We have a striking exemplification of this in the conduct of the Jews, who, contrary to God’s command, would go down into Egypt: “As for the word that thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, (said they to Jeremiah,) we will not hearken unto thee; but we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth [Note: Jeremiah 44:16.].” Thus, as God himself says, “We not only forget him, but cast him behind our back [Note: Ezekiel 23:35.].”

3. A disbelief of his truth—

[God has spoken frequently respecting his determination to punish sin: he has said, that “he will by no means clear the guilty;” and that, “though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not pass unpunished.” Now, if we truly believed his word, we could not rush into sin: the apprehension of such tremendous consequences would deter us from it. But we are hardened by unbelief. Unbelief was the source of all the Israelites’ rebellions in the wilderness [Note: Psalms 106:24.Hebrews 3:19.]; and it is the fruitful spring of all our disobedience: “Ye shall not surely die,” is at the root of every evil we commit [Note: Genesis 3:4.]. But “God is not a man, that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good [Note: Numbers 23:19.]?” Let us bear this in mind, that in the commission of sin, and the expectation of impunity, we “make God himself a liar [Note: 1 John 5:10.].”]

4. A denial of his justice—

[God has represented himself as “a God of judgment, by whom actions are weighed [Note: 1 Samuel 2:3.];” and has declared his purpose to “call every work into judgment,” and to “judge every man according to his works.” But, in violating his laws, “we say, in fact, God will not require it [Note: Psalms 10:13.]:” “The Lord is altogether such an one as ourselves [Note: Psalms 50:21.];” “he will not do good, neither will he do evil [Note: Zephaniah 1:12.].” What an indignity is this to offer to the Governor of the Universe, the Judge of quick and dead! He has spoken of the last day as “the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God:” but, if the issue of it were such as we expect, and heaven were awarded to wilful and impenitent transgressors, it would rather be a day wherein God’swant of justice and of holiness shall be displayed before the whole assembled universe.]

5. A defiance of his power—

[Men who commit iniquity are represented as “stretching out their hands against God, and strengthening themselves against the Almighty; yea, as running upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his buckler [Note: Job 15:25.]:” and to what a fearful extent this is done, we may see by the testimony of God himself: “They, the workers of iniquity, say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it [Note: Isaiah 5:19.].” Does this appear an exaggerated account of men’s impiety? See then how they are described by the Psalmist: “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above, out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them [Note: Psalms 10:4.].” What an astonishing height of impiety is this; to puff at God’s threatenings, as if we defied him to his face! Yet do we see that this is the very conduct of men, whenever we warn them to flee from the wrath to come: we seem to menace them with judgments which they have no cause to fear, and to set in array against them an enemy whom they are at liberty to despise.]

When once we view sin as an offence against God, we shall be prepared to acknowledge,

II.

The equity of his judgments which he has denounced against it—

That God has denounced the heaviest judgments against it, is certain—
[Against sin in general he has denounced eternal misery: “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God [Note: Psalms 9:17; Romans 1:18.]” — — — Against every individual that commits it, he has also denounced his judgments: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die [Note: Ezekiel 18:20. 1 Peter 1:17.]” — — — Against every particular sin, whatever be men’s excuses for retaining it, the same awful sentence is proclaimed [Note: Mark 9:42.] — — — Death, everlasting death, is the wages due to sin [Note: Romans 6:23.], and the wages that shall be paid to every sinner at the last day [Note: Matthew 25:46.] — — —]

In executing these he will be completely justified—
[We are ready to account such denunciations of wrath severe, and to question the equity of them — — — But thepenal evil of damnation will not appear in the least to exceed the moral evil of sin, if we duly consider against whom sin is committed.

Consider his greatness. “Great is the Lord,” says the Psalmist, “yea, his greatness is unsearchable.” If we could conceive the meanest reptile, or the smallest insect, endued with such a measure of intelligence as to be able in some degree to appreciate the dignity of a mighty monarch; and then to exalt itself against him, and to pour all manner of contempt upon him; the atrocity of such presumption would justly excite our keenest indignation. But the whole universe together is not as the smallest insect in comparison of God; and yet we, we atom insects of an atom world, dare to set ourselves against his divine majesty, yea, to defy him to his face. Will God then be unjust if he execute his judgments on such impious worms? Are we at liberty to insult him; and is he not at liberty to avenge himself on us? — — —]

But consider also his goodness. O how unbounded has this been! How has he borne with us in all our rebellion! How has he sent his only-begotten Son, to expiate our sin, and to open a way for our reconciliation with him! How has he sought to glorify in our salvation those very perfections, which we have so impiously despised, and which he might well glorify in our everlasting condemnation! How has he sent his Holy Spirit, to instruct, renew, and comfort us! How has he sent his word and ministers, to invite, entreat, expostulate, yea, and, as it were, to “compel us” to accept of mercy! This he has done from our youth up: this he is doing yet daily and hourly: and, as if all his own happiness were bound up in ours, he says, “How shall I give thee up?” “Wilt thou not be made clean? Oh! when shall it once be?” This is the God against whom we are sinning. This is the God whom we wish extinct [Note: Psalms 14:1. Omitting the words in Italics.]; and respecting whom we say, “Make the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” This is he, “whose blessed Son we trample under foot, and to whose eternal Spirit we do despite [Note: Hebrews 10:29.]:” yea, that very “goodness and long-suffering and forbearance which should lead us to repentance,” are made by us an occasion of multiplying our offences against him. Say now whether he will “be unrighteous in taking vengeance?” Were a fellow-creature to make such returns to us, and to render nothing but evil to us for all the good we did him, should we think that he had any claim on us? Should we account ourselves unjust, if we did not acknowledge him as one of our dearest friends, and place him on a footing with our own beloved children, and make him an heir of all that we possessed? Should we not feel ourselves amply justified in rejecting such an absurd and groundless claim as this? Know then, that we have no claim on God; and, when he shall exclude us from the inheritance or his saints, “he will be justified” in the judgment that he shall denounce against us. Indeed, in assigning us this portion, he will only give effect to our own wishes, and answer us in the desire of our own hearts: we said to him, “Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thee [Note: Job 21:14.];” and he will say to us, “Depart from me; depart accursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels [Note: Matthew 25:41.].”]

The whole creation will unite in vindicating these judgments as just and good—
[Doubtless, if it were possible, sinners would urge at the bar of judgment the objections which here they presume to bring against the justice of their God. But sin will then appear in all its deformity: it will then be seen what a God we sinned against, and what mercies we despised. Even in this world, when once persons are brought to view themselves aright, they justify God in all that he sees fit to inflict upon them [Note: It is worthy of observation, that God’s goodness to David is mentioned as the greatest aggravation of his offence. 2 Samuel 12:7.]. Aaron [Note: Leviticus 10:3.], Eli [Note: 1 Samuel 3:18.], Hezekiah [Note: Isaiah 39:8.], David [Note: Psalms 39:9.], all confessed, that God had a right to deal with them in the way that he had done. Much more in the day of judgment, when every thing will be seen in its true light, will the whole universe approve the sentence which God shall pass on the world of the ungodly: they will make the very punishment of the wicked a subject of their songs; “saying, Allelujah! salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judgments [Note: Revelation 15:3; Revelation 19:1.].” Indeed the miserable objects themselves, though they cannot join in the song, will be unable to condemn the sentence. The man who was excluded from the marriage-feast for not having on a wedding garment, might have urged, that he was brought in before he had time to procure one: but his plea would have been false and unavailing; and therefore “he was speechless [Note: Matthew 22:12.];” a striking monument of conscious guilt, and an awful specimen of a condemned soul [Note: Romans 3:19.]

In this acknowledgment then of David we may see,

1. The grand constituents of repentance—

[Many may be sorry that they, have subjected themselves to punishment, just as a criminal may that he has forfeited his life to the laws of his country: but no man can truly repent, till he sees, that his whole life has been one continued state of rebellion against God; and that “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” is his just desert. Till a man has that view of himself, he will never be thoroughly broken and contrite; he will never lothe and abhor himself for his iniquities; he will never have that “repentance which is unto life, that repentance which is not to be repented of.” We entreat you all then to judge of your repentance by these marks. Do not be satisfied with being humbled on account of sin; but inquire particularly, whether you are more humbled from a view of it as against man, or a view of it as against God. These ought to bear no proportion in your estimate of your own character. Your own nothingness and vileness can only be estimated aright when viewed in contrast with the majesty you have offended, and the mercy you have despised: and till you see that everlasting misery in hell is your deserved portion, you can never lie so low as you ought to lie.]

2. The true preparative for pardon—

[Something we must bring with us to the Saviour: but what is that which we ought to bring? Must we get a certain portion of good works wherewith to purchase his salvation? No: this is a price which he will utterly despise. That which we are to bring is precisely what a patient brings to a physician, a sense of his extreme need of the physician’s aid. Christ came to save sinners: we then must feel ourselves sinners. He came to seek and save that which was lost: we then must feel ourselves lost. A just sense of our guilt and misery is all that he requires: if we come wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, he will give us that gold that has been tried in the fire, the raiment that shall cover our nakedness, and the eye-salve that shall restore our eyes to sight. If we come to him full, we shall be sent empty away: but if we come hungry and empty, we shall “be filled out of his inexhaustible fulness,” we shall “be filled with all the fulness of our God.”]

3. The best preservative from sin—

[When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, he answered her, “How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God [Note: Genesis 39:9.]?” Thus we would recommend all, when tempted to commit iniquity, to consider, first, what God will think of it; and next, what they themselves will think of it in the last day? Now it may appear light and venial, especially if it be not such a heinous sin as adultery or murder: but when it comes to be seen in its true light, as against an infinitely good and gracious God; and when the judgments which he has denounced against it come to be felt; what shall we think of it then? Oh! ask yourselves, ‘What will be my view of this matter in the last day?’ Then even the sins that now seem of no account, will appear most heinous, and the price paid for a momentary indulgence, most prodigal. The selling of a birthright for a mess of pottage is but a very faint emblem of the folly of those, who for the whole world are induced to barter the salvation of their souls. View things in any measure now, as you will view them at the last day; and you will rather die a thousand deaths than sin against your God.]