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.

Unimpeachable justice

Our subject will be, that both in the condemnation and in the punishment of every sinner God will be justified. Now, concerning such condemned ones, we will speak--

I. Of the Christian whose conscience condemns him. He will make the words of our text his own, and will say, “Thou art justified when Thou speakest, and,” etc. For--

1. He makes a confession. He owns God’s sentence just. And his confession is sincere; abundantly sufficient, without any attempt at extenuation, or promise that he will, of himself, do better. And not only does his confession justify God in condemning him, hub--

2. There is the fact that God Himself witnessed his crime; “In Thy sight,” he owns that it was done. And the witness of his conscience he owns to be true and abundant.

3. The Christian has no doubt about the justice of the punishment, however severe. For he remembers not only what he himself has done, but how he has made others sin.

II. The condemnation of the ungodly. This is far more terrible. But in it God will be clear.

1. Because of the sinner’s own confession.

2. The witnesses that will be against him.

3. And in the sinner’s heart there will be no doubt at last as to the righteousness of his punishment. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Actual sin

When speaking of Original sin we had to prove its existence; but there is no need of that here. No one denies actual sin. But the readiness of this admission is our great difficulty in dealing with this subject. Its familiarity has bred indifference. But in spite of this, let us come to its consideration, and we speak--

I. Of its guilt. Take the very smallest sin and see its guilt in the fact that it has been committed against God. Thus David viewed his sin. “Against Thee, Thee only,” etc. This swallows up all other considerations. We are ever saying that we have net been a great sinner, never injured any man. As if the guilt was great only when man was wronged: the wrong to God being of little moment. But that a sin is against God--is that in which consists the greatness of its guilt; for, even among men, we measure the guilt of crimes not by the actual injury resulting from them, but by their injurious tendencies. The traitor who has attempted the life of his sovereign--the rebel who has tried to overthrow his authority--are rightly held as guilty when they fail as if they had succeeded. They are punished, not for the harm that their rebellion or their treason has done, but for the harm which rebellion and treason must do if not repressed. Now, what is a sinner but a rebel? He who sins has defied the sovereign authority of his God--he has set the will of the creature against the will of the Creator. But in this, your one small sin against God, you are guilty not only of rebellion, but of ingratitude. You have sinned against a Father who has made you, and preserved you, and blessed you with blessings innumerable. But more than this, there is in your sin against God not only rebellion and ingratitude, but insult. He who sins against God has been guilty of first making to himself an idol god whom he may offend with impunity, one who has eyes that see not, ears that hear not, and hands that smite not him that goeth on still in his wicked way. But you will say you never thought there could have been any harm in such a trifle. But has it ever occurred to you that this very thing that you allege in your excuse is an aggravation of your guilt? For ignorance, such as you plead, is an excuse for sin only where there is no law; where there is a law, there ignorance of that law is a sin, and a great one; it is the sin of refusing to hear God when He speaks. And if it were not so, if sins of ignorance were always guiltless, then there would be a direct bounty upon ignorance; this would be to give a revelation, and, at the same time, to give men the strongest inducement not to read it. But you will plead the force of habit, that you did it unconsciously. But this shows you have gone on in sin, and the plea is rather an aggravation of your guilt.

II. Their number--how incalculable. There are three kinds of sin,--sins, namely, of thought, word and deed; and each of these may be committed in two ways--by omission or by commission; and, further, that every sin of commission involves one of omission--that we can never do what we ought not to have done without having left undone what we ought to have done. And now, remembering the searching and comprehensive character of that law of which every transgression is a sin, try and form some remote idea of the number of your offences. And we ask you to compare sin as it appears in God’s sight, with sin as it appears in the sight, and as it is pictured in the language of men. How do men generally speak and think of sin? There are some who boast of it. But these are the exceptions, these are open profligates, whom moral and respectable society excommunicates. How, then, do morality and respectability think and speak of sin? Why--provided it offends not against the decencies and the proprieties of life--gently, indulgently, almost respectfully; there is no lack of polite phrases by which society can cloak sins, which, in their native and undisguised grossness it professes to repudiate. Adultery is gallantry; and profligacy is wildness; and profanity is a light way of speaking; infidelity is unsettled ideas about religion; and revenge is high spirit; and drunkenness is conviviality; and heartless and frivolous dissipation is innocent gaiety. And then morality and respectability have favourite vices which they will introduce to you as virtues--avarice is carefulness; and selfishness is prudence; and deceit is politeness; and wasteful luxury is hospitality; and pride is becoming self-respect--until, if you would believe them, you would be persuaded that sin was almost banished from good society, and that certainly there was no such thing to be found there as a “miserable sinner.” (Archbishop Magee.)

Repentance

There are two kinds of this--the sorrow of the world, and that of God. This latter regards sin as against God. It is the object of sin rather than its consequences that affect Him. For all sin is against God, more than it is against any other being. However it may despise human authority, it involves a greater contempt of His. It is a great error to say of a man that he is nobody’s enemy but his own. For “the carnal mind is enmity against God.” And this is sin’s greatest aggravation, for see how glorious, how holy, how gracious God is. Failure to see this aggravation in our sin is the cause why conviction of sin is often so slight. True repentance equally regards all sin, for every sin is against God. And the reformation that follows such repentance is thorough. No sin can be a trifle, since it is against God. (W. Nevins, D. D.)

David’s accusating of himself and acquittal of God

I. The censure or accusation which he passes upon himself.

1. The simple acknowledgment or confession. “Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned.”

(1) His sin in the direct notion of it. The sins which are committed against our brethren and neighbours are committed against God Himself--

(a) As Lawgiver.

(b) As Creator.

(c) As Redeemer.

(2) The reduplication. “Thee, Thee only.” “Only” is here to be taken for chiefly; and that not only in regard of the sin itself, but likewise in regard of his affection and apprehension about it. This is that which should principally affect us in all our miscarriages, that they are trespasses upon God Himself.

(a) Thee, an only God; a God of pure eyes, and that cannot endure to behold iniquity.

(b) Thee, a just God, who wilt punish sin wheresoever Thou findest it.

(c) Thee, an Almighty God, a God of power and strength.

2. The additional ingemination of it. “And done this evil in Thy sight.”

(1) He acknowledges that his sin was not unknown to God, who saw and discerned all the windings and turnings of it.

(a) The thought and intention.

(b) The execution of it.

(c) All the excuses and pretences made for it.

This may serve to awaken and affright men in this respect; and especially as to secret miscarriages. There are abundance of people in the world who carry it fairly as to outward appearance, who yet have their private excursions into ways of wickedness, and their secret haunts of sin; and these please themselves oftentimes in the thought of their concealment from the world. Yea, but there is an all-seeing eye that beholds them in their greatest retiredness, an eye that neither slumbers nor sleeps.

(2) The enlargement and aggravation.

(a) His non-attendaney. He did not consider that God beheld him.

(b) He did not regard the presence of God.

For a thief to steal in the very sight of the judge is the highest piece of impudence that may be; and thus it is for any man to offend in the sight of God and not to be moved with it. Therefore, let us look to this, and consider what influence it has had upon us; the observing eye of God, and what it has not; what a shame is it for any to tremble at the presence of frail man, yea, it may be some little child, and beholding them in the commission of sin, and not regard the presence of the holy and pure God.

II. The acquitting of God.

1. A gracious heart gives testimony to the Word of God; it acknowledges the truth of God in that which comes from Him (John 3:33). This may be drawn forth according to all the words which are spoken by God. In His word of threatening, it justifies Him here by fearing and trembling at His word; as good Josiah, when he rent his clothes, and his heart was melted, etc. In his word of reproof, it justifies him here by acknowledging of the fall; “Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken,” says Hezekiah, when he was told of his sin. In His word of promise, it justifies Him here by believing it, and expecting its accomplishment, as (Psalms 119:49). In His word of command, it justifies Him hero by yielding obedience to it, and putting it into practice.

2. A submitting to the judgment of God. This is another temper and disposition of a gracious soul to clear God in His judiciary proceedings (Psalms 119:75; Jeremiah 12:1; Micah 7:9; Romans 3:2; Romans 3:19). And this is another thing which we should therefore in a sweet manner bring ourselves to; to submit with meekness and patience to God’s correction, acknowledging the justice of them, and that our punishment is still less than our iniquities have deserved. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

David’s acknowledgment, of God’s justice

David is in thorough earnest with every confession. Here he presents the reasons why he thus avows his sin. He desires to approve the sentence of God, and to acknowledge that His verdict concerning Him could not be other than the righteous judgment which he had deserved. He could adduce nothing on which he could plead for any other sentence. If he were still to be received, it must only be upon the footing of free, undeserved grace. O, what a different experience is this from the superficial confession of sin with which most men rest content. They confess, indeed, that they are sinners; but the sin is a weakness, an infirmity, a misfortune. They have to sympathize with the sinner, but of the honour of God they think but little. The poor sinner must be comforted; but whether the honour of God’s law is maintained concerns them not. O my fellow-man, that is not repentance as the Spirit of God works it in the heart. No; he that is truly convinced of sin by the Spirit of God does not merely think of himself and what concerns him; but his great sorrow is that he has dared to commit transgression against such a God, with such a perfect law; and his great concern is how he can possibly restore that which he has destroyed; and since he can do nothing else, he lays himself down at the feet of God to yield to Him the only honour that he now can give, namely, to acknowledge that He is righteous in His judgment. (Andrew Murray.)