Exodus 9:27,28

I have sinned.

Pharaoh’s “I have sinned”

There are no more beautiful words ever spoken on this earth--none to which an angel listens more complacently--none which wing their way more surely to heaven--none which more surely enter into the ears of the Lord God of Sabaoth--than those three--so personal, so true, so simple, and so full, “I have sinned.” They occur nine times in the Bible; and of the nine we may except two. For where they stand--in the seventh chapter of Micah--they are the language, not of an individual, but of a Church. And the prodigal’s use of them is, of course, not matter of fact or history; but only part of a parable. There remain, therefore, seven; seven persons of whom it is written that they said, I have sinned. Ii may surprise some of you to know that, of those seven, four are utterly hollow and worthless; in God’s scales, wanting, unreal, and unprofitable. It is a humbling and teaching fact that in three only--of the seven instances in which persons are recorded in the Scriptures to have said, “I have sinned,” was the confession true, and the repentance valid.

I. At what time God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart began, it is impossible exactly to determine. But evidently from the first it was judicial. A common story. A sin indulged till the man is given over to his sin; and then the sin made its own punishment. It is not that if you repent you would not be forgiven; but it is that you reduce your heart to such a state that it places repentance out of your reach. You become like Esau. Esau, after he sold his birthright, never repented, nor wished to repent. He wished his father to repent, though he himself did not repent. Pharaoh could say, “I have sinned,” and never felt it,--because his heart was “hard.” Many of you are very young, and you have tender hearts. Take care; take care of that dew of your spiritual birth-lest it be brushed away! If you love the world, you will be “hardened.” You say, “I will repent of my worldliness.” You cannot. Your worldliness will have left you too “hard” to repent.

II. What, then, was pharaoh’s “I have sinned”? Where did it tend?

1. It Was a mere hasty impulse. There was no thought in it; no careful dealing with his own soul; no depth.

2. The moving principle was nothing but fear. He was agitated--greatly agitated--only agitated. Now, fear may be, and probably must be, a part of real repentance. I do not despise fear. Fear is a sign of penitence. Fear is a very good thing. But I doubt whether there was ever a real repentance that was promoted by fear only.

3. Pharaoh’s thoughts were directed far too much to man. It was not the “against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned.” He never went straight to God. Hence his confession was not thorough.

III. And here comes the solemn thought--for comfort or for fear--in everything that is true, there is a germ, and God sees and recognizes, at once, the germ. It may not have expanded. Perhaps the person--who has it--may not live long enough for it to be expanded in this world. But God knows that it can expand, and that it would expand. God judges by that germ. If it is not--that germ of love and holiness--the rest all goes for nothing. But if it be there--God accepts all for that germ. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The transient repentance of a wicked soul

I. That moods of transient repentance are sometimes awakened by the retributive judgments of God. The penitence of the hypocrite; not a godly sorrow. Induced by the infliction of punishment, rather than by the gentle convictions of the Divine Spirit. True repentance will have reference to God and to the violated law, rather than to self-comfort and immunity from pain.

II. That in moods of transient repentance men call for the ministers of God whom they have previously despised. Ministers must be forbearing toward their people, and embrace any opportunity of leading them to the mercy of God. But the repentance that sends for the minister under the impulse of fear, will be likely to dismiss him when the plague is removed. It is well to heed the voice of the servants of God before the hoar of retribution.

III. That in moods of transient repentance men make promises they will never perform. We should remember in joy the vows made in sorrow, in health, those made in sickness, and then painful discipline will become happy and glorious.

IV. That in moods of transient repentance men will acknowledge that prayer to God for mercy is their only method of help.

V. That in moods of transient repentance men sometimes obtain the removal of the judgments of God. Token of mercy. Discipline of love to lead to duty. Lessons:--

1. That trials are calculated to lead the soul to repentance.

2. That under trials the repentance of men may be transient.

3. That the mercy of God is rich to the proudest sinner.

4. That the servants of God should be helpful to penitent souls.

(1) By fidelity.

(2) By sympathy.

(3) By prayer. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Repentance inspired by fear

I. That repentance inspired by fear is experienced by men of the proudest moral character. This shows the all-conquering power of the truth, in that it can subdue the tyrant-heart. It also shows the mercy of God, in that the most degenerate life is blessed with the refreshing mood of repentance. No heart is utterly destitute of better feelings.

II. That repentance inspired by fear anxiously seeks the aid of the servants of God.

III. That repentance inspired by fear is just in its condemnation of self, and in its acknowledgment of sin. There are times when confession is a necessity of the soul. When sin is as a fire, which must burn through all subterfuges and manifest itself to the public eye. Hence open confession of sin is not an infallible token of repentance; it may be the outcome of necessity or of terror.

IV. That repentance inspired by fear is just in its vindication of the divine character. Repentance is not to be gauged by the utterance of the lips.

V. That repentance inspired by fear promises future obedience to the claims of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Repentings and relapsings

I. The theistic constitution of the soul.

1. It shots a primitive belief in the existence of God.

2. It shows a primitive belief in the providential government of God.

II. The unnaturalness of our spiritual existence.

III. The unreliableness of deathbed confessions. Genuine repentance for sin is not the fear of misery, but the relentings of love.

IV. The supreme interest of every man. (Homilist.)

Sense of guilt

I. Under its influence man feels humbled.

II. Under its influence man respects godliness.

III. Under its influence man vindicates the almighty. (Homilist.)

I have sinned

1. A good confession.

2. A simple confession.

3. A faithful confession.

4. A welcome confession.

5. Sometimes an unreal confession. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The Lord is righteous

1. Then admire His administration.

2. Then worship His glory.

3. Then fear His justice.

4. Then vindicate His operations.

5. Then make known His praise. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

A wicked people and a wicked monarch

1. Sad.

2. Afflicted.

3. Repentant. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Intreat the Lord

1. For He hears prayer.

2. For He has respect to the good.

3. For wicked men need Divine help.

4. For He is merciful. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The confession of Pharaoh

I. The resemblance of the confession before us to the language of true contrition, is close.

1. It was open, made not to a partizan or friend in the secrecy of retirement, but to Moses and Aaron in public; to the very man whose presence was likely to fill the sinner with the greatest shame, and to require of him the most mortifying concessions.

2. It was accompanied also with a sense of guilt, and that not confined to one transgression only, but extending to the general conduct of himself and his subjects.

3. It is remarkable too that, like David, he considered his guilt as an offence against God.

4. But this was not all. The confession of Pharaoh included in it an acknowledgment of the justice of God in inflicting these judgments. They were great and heavy, but he does not complain of their severity. He complains only of his own sins, which had so justly drawn them on his head. “The Lord,” he says, “is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.”

5. There were also some good resolutions connected with the confession of Pharaoh.

II. Pharaoh was not a penitent, though he bore so strong a resemblance to one. His confession was sincere, but it was not godly. It resembled the language of true repentance, but at the same time it differed essentially from it.

1. In attempting to trace this difference, we may observe that it was a forced confession, extorted from him by the suffering he endured, and the fear of still heavier judgments. The point to be ascertained is not what kind of men we are in affliction or in sickness, in the house of God or in the society of His servants; but what is the frame of our minds when these excitements are withdrawn? What are we in retirement? What are we in our families? What are we in daily intercourse with the world?

2. The confession of Pharaoh differed from true confession in this respect also--it was unaccompanied with humiliation before God. He repeatedly besought Moses and Aaron to entreat for him, but he disdained to bend the knee himself. He trembled at the judgments of the Lord, but though they laid waste his country and cut off his first-born, he still refused to humble himself before Him. This spirit of independence is the bane and curse of our fallen nature. The very essence of our depravity consists in it. We will not have God to reign over us. Judgments can terrify, but they cannot humble us.

3. The confession of Pharaoh was defective also in another respect--it was not succeeded by an entire renunciation of sin. The true penitent does not ask, “How far may I indulge my lusts, and yet be safe? How much love may I have for the world and yet escape condemnation?” but, “What right hand have I yet to cut off? What right eye have I yet to pluck out? What lurking sin still remains to be discovered and overcome?”

4. But even if the confession of Pharaoh had not been defective in these things, there was yet another point of difference between it and a genuine confession, and that a most important and ruinous difference--it was not habitual and lasting. The convictions from which it sprung were as temporary as the judgments which gave rise to them, so that he who feared and trembled one hour, hardened his heart the next. Repentance is not an act, it is a habit; not a duty to be performed once in a man’s life, and then to be thought of no more; it is to be our daily work, our hourly employment.

III. Such was the confession of Pharaoh. The lessons it teaches are obvious.

1. It shows us, first, the great need we have of self-examination. We may have confessed our sins from our heart; but has that heart been humbled, lowly, obedient? Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness, are we submitting ourselves to the righteousness of God? Are we praying, as well as trembling?

2. This shows us also the extreme depravity of the human heart. We need the transforming power, the effectual working, of the Holy Ghost. We must seek repentance as a gift of mercy at the throne of God.

3. We may see, further, the folly of trusting in convictions. Remorse is not penitence. Conviction is not conversion. Fear is not grace.

4. But while we are reminded of the folly of trusting in convictions, we are at the same time taught the guilt and danger of stifling them. They cannot save the soul, but they are designed to make us feel our need of salvation, and to lead us for it to the great Saviour of the lost.

5. There is yet another lesson to be learned from this subject. It seems indeed, on the first view, to speak to us only of the depravity of man and the awful justice of God, but to what subject of meditation can we turn, which does not remind us of the Divine mercy? A hardened Pharaoh, as well as a weeping Peter, declares to us, that the guilty will never seek pardon in vain. (C. Bradley, M. A.)