Psalms 51:8

For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

Acknowledgment of transgression

I. The proposition. “I acknowledge my transgressions,” etc.

1. Simply and absolutely.

(1) There’s the mental acknowledgment in the mind, so as to own it. This was one thing which David here did, as an example to all other converts; he owned that iniquity which was in him. And there’s two things more which belong to this--

(a) An acknowledgment of that to be sin which indeed is sin.

(b) An acknowledgment of his own interest in that sin. Now, the improvement which we may make of this observation to ourselves is, to meet with the miscarriage of most men in each particular. First,-there’s a great deal of wilful blindness, from whence they will not acknowledge that to be sin, which indeed is so. And secondly, there’s a great deal of pride and self-flattery, from whence they will not acknowledge themselves to be guilty of it.

(2) The second is verbal, in the mouth to confess it. Wherever there is a true owning to sin, there will be also an ingenuous confession (Psalms 32:5). This is a practice which God requires of us upon a double consideration. First, in reference to Himself, as bringing honour and glory to Him, for so it does (Joshua 7:19). By confession we give glory to God, and that in sundry particulars--in His omniscience, in His justice, in His power, and so of the rest. Now, because we do so, therefore confession is very pertinently required of us. Then secondly, also in reference to ourselves, in two particulars. First, as a disburdening of conscience. Secondly, as an engagement against sin for time to come.

2. The reduplication of it in these words: “And my sin is ever before me.” Now, this passage does express unto us the condition of a sinner at large; and it may admit of a threefold notion in which it holds good. David’s sin might be said to be before him three manner of ways.

(1) In a way of temptation; it is before me, so aa to provoke me and to allure me to evil.

(2) In a way of distraction; it is before me, so as to disturb me and hinder me in good.

(3) In a way of computation; it is before me, so as to accuse me and to condemn me for guilt.

II. The connexion. “For.”

1. Take it as an account of importunity. “For I acknowledge,” etc. The more any one sees his sin, the more will he be humbled for it, and sue to God for the forgiveness of it (2 Samuel 24:10; Psalms 25:11). Look as it is in the body, the more a man is sensible of his sickness, the more will he look after his physician; even so it is also in the soul, the more a man sees these his spiritual distempers, the more will he beg the removing of them.

(1) It shows us the cause why so few there are in the world which do really mind such petitions as these are; or such practices as these are of humiliation, and begging of pardon; why, it is because they are not indeed sensible of the condition in which they are.

(2) It shows also what is the best and readiest course whereby to make either ourselves or others affected with sin, and to be brought to humiliation for it. And that is, by working in them a true sight and apprehension of it.

2. An argument for mercy on God’s part. As if he had said, Lord, it is time now for Thee to pardon me, for I acknowledge my trespassing against Thee. And so there is this in it, that where sin is most owned, it will be there soonest pardoned (Psalms 32:5). That which God chiefly works at in us is, to bring down our stomachs, and to cause us to submit to Himself; now, when this is once done in us, then there’s an end, and He has no more to say to us, but is ready to be friends with us. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)

Confession of sins

I. The person to whom we must confess is God. The Scribes and Pharisees, though they were corrupt in many things else, yet they held this for a truth, that none could forgive sins but God only (Mark 2:7). And this doth the Lord testify of Himself (Isa 45:35; 1 John 1:9). Besides the precepts in the Word of God, there is recorded the repentance of God’s children, who have humbly acknowledged their sins before God as Manasses (2 Chronicles 33:1.); David (2 Samuel 2:11); the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1.). So true is that saying (Proverbs 28:18).

II. The manner in which we must confess our sins.

1. We must take heed that we do know our transgressions, the number of them, the greatness of them, the danger of them, how they make us most vile in the sight of God. Now, there is a twofold knowledge of our sin; first, general; second, special. General knowledge never worketh any reformation, for this is found in all men that can say they are sinners; but there is a special knowledge of sin which God will once discover unto us, either in mercy to our good and salvation, as here, to David, to Peter, to Mary Magdalen, etc., or else in wrath, as He did to Judas, Cain, Ahithophel, etc., to their final condemnation.

2. Our confession of our sins must proceed from sorrow of heart for them, with a hatred of them, so as nothing do more grieve us than our offences.

3. It must be frank and free, not wrung out by compulsion. We must be as forward and as ready to confess them to the glory of God, as we were to commit them to His dishonour (Psalms 32:5).

4. We must confess our sins with purpose to forsake them (Isaiah 55:7). (S. Smith.)

Of the duty of confession

I. The necessity of this duty of confession.

1. Confession is a considerable part and branch of prayer (Daniel 9:4; Daniel 9:20; Ezra 10:1).

2. God’s glory is much advanced by our confession. He is most exalted in our abasements, and then are His wisdom, and goodness, and holiness, and other His attributes set forth to most advantage, when we humbly acknowledge our own vileness and wretchedness, and that which is the cause of both, our wickedness.

3. Our own interest is concerned in our confession, as that by which our pardon is procured (Psalms 33:5). The readiest way for the cleansing and healing of a wound or ulcer is to lay it open, to search it to the bottom; to apply corrosives to the dead flesh, and fetch out all the putrefied matter: and so it is with a conscience galled with sin, which, by dissimulation and concealment, may palliate a cure, but not effectually work it without confession.

4. Confession is an evidence of true conversion, and without it there is no assurance of pardon.

5. It is a condition of the new covenant (1 John 1:9). When we repent of our sins, and declare our penitence by a confession of them, then, and not till then, we may challenge pardon upon Gospel-terms; then, and not else, we may appeal to God’s faithfulness and justice, as He stands engaged by promise in that covenant to justice and to sanctify us, to forgive the guilt, and to release us from the penalty of our sins; to cleanse us from the filth, and to free us from the power and dominion of them. Otherwise those attributes of His, His truth and His righteousness, will oblige Him to condemn us with our sins, and to punish us for them, and not to accept us in them, or forgive them to us without confession.

6. It is a qualification which is to virtuate the sacraments themselves, and make them effectual to us. Now, the sacraments are seals of that covenant, whereby it it confirmed to us, and the benefits and advantages of it are derived and conveyed unto us in the pardon of our sins, and God’s gracious acceptance of us.

II. After what manner it may be performed, so as best to answer and make good those ends.

1. Let thy confession of thy sins be open, and free, and plain as thou canst make it, with a declaration of all the aggravating circumstances, without any disguise or extenuation; because thou hast to do with a God who sees the secrets and innermost retirements of thy hearts.

2. Let it be sincere, and in good earnest; such as may be accompanied with a hearty sorrow for God’s displeasure, which thy sins have procured thee; with a thorough shame for the turpitude of them that they have made thee odious to God, and scandalous to good men; with a perfect heart.

3. Let it be humble, ins prostrate adoration of God in all His gracious and glorious attributes and perfections; and in a due acknowledgment of thy own vileness and sinfulness, weakness and wickedness. (Adam Littleton, D. D.)

Man’s sin

I. A man’s sins are his in a sense that cannot be affirmed of anything else he calls his own. They are--

1. Generated by himself. He is the parent, they are his offspring.

2. Like himself. A sinful act is an outward expression of the unseen mind and heart. Hence we affirm he is--

3. Himself chargeable with the conesequences.

II. A man who is guilty of sin is ever annoyed by an enemy who confronts him. This is--

1. A grim fact. Illustrated by the upbraidings of conscience; the unbidden recollections of the past; the tyranny of habit; the force of example. This may be, to say the least of it, a source of--

2. Unrest for the present. It is torture for a man to be compelled to face his sins in this way, but it maybe a decided--

3. Advantage in the future. It makes a man feels his individual responsibility, and induces him to be reconciled to God.

III. The strength of a man’s sin cannot be destroyed unless he will comply with the conditions of Divine salvation.

1. Confession.

2. Abandonment of sin.

3. Trust in Christ. His mission is “ to put away sin.” (R. Hebron.)

My sin is ever before me.--

David’s repentance

I. David knew that he had sinned. He says, “My sin is ever before me.” It is seen not with the eyes in the head, but with those of the heart. No one could look at David and see his sin, but he could see it. And it had made his heart very bad and black, and whenever he looked down into it, it made him afraid. You have read of haunted houses; he was a haunted man. The murdered Uriah haunted him. He saw his face all ghastly, and his glazed eyes seemed to stare at him. And each time that he thought of his sin, his face turned red with shame, and a new pang of grief wrung his heart. His sin was like one of those portraits which, in whatever part of the room you may be, it seems to be always looking at you. No matter where he was, how he was employed, David’s sin was ever before him. If he took up his harp to sing a sad psalm, he saw stains of blood all over his fingers, and the harp only groaned, and he laid it down again. And you remember how Adam, after he had sinned, was afraid to meet the Lord, end hid himself. So David could not find any peace. The song of the birds, the leaves of the trees--all seemed to say to him, “Thy sin, thy sin.” Oh, what a hard and had thing it is to sin!

II. But David found the forgiving love of God as great as all his sin. For all the time he prayed to the Lord for pardon. He said that his tears were his meat day and night. He was constantly praying, “Lord, wash me; cleanse me from my sin.” God keeps a book of guilt, and David asked Him to blot out all his sin, just as you would like a pen run through a debt that you owed; And the Lord did pardon him, as He only could. Pilate washed his hands, but he could not wash his heart. Jesus can. And He will for us, if we come and ask Him. (T. Armitage, D. D.)

The reality of sin

1. There is no sort of palliation, no self-deception, no endeavour to equivocate, no attempt to excuse himself to himself, or to gloss over the heinous crime of which he has been guilty. See, on the other hand, how easy men find it to slide into the comfortable assurance that their own case is not so bad after all, that it admits of palliation, that they are no worse than their neighbours, no worse than other men of their own age, position, or calling, or that an equitable judgment must be pronounced over them, which shall take account of their whole lives, balancing the fancied good against the real evil. Now, one of the most fertile sources of this terrible hallucination is the want of a real, true sense of the reality of sin. This want may take various shapes and spring from various causes. We sometimes meet philosophical speculations which go to the practical denial of all moral evil. It is argued that man is a complicated piece of mechanism, an automaton, so to speak, which, placed in given circumstances, will inevitably produce ascertained results; or again, that what we call moral evil is incidental to an imperfect creature gradually struggling onwards and upwards to perfection, the growing pains which, in fact, belong to moral progress. But such theories are not only false to Christianity, but utterly subversive of common morality. Each class, men say, and each age and rank, have their temptations; it is not difficult to argue that the errors to which those who possess them are exposed beyond other men, are not merely innocent in them, but almost necessary to their position. The poor also have their temptations; for which men are always ready to plead their poverty, not merely as a palliation, which it may be, but as an excuse, which it is not. Two of the most common causes of this delusion are to be found in habituation to sin in others, or in habituation to it on our own part. On the one hand, it is very difficult to rise above the conventional standard of the country, class, or society in which we live. On the other, familiarity with evil deadens our sensitiveness to it; the conscience, which could once start back at its approach, as from a deadly reptile, becomes indifferent to it, and even ignorant of its existence.

2. But religion requires from us a conception of wrongdoing distinct from and beyond that which satisfies mere morality. These words, “against Thee only,” contain the kernel of the whole matter. Sin is always sin against God. It is wrong-doing regarded in its relation to God. If the word be otherwise used, it is improperly used. And so, evil-doing rises into the conception of sin when we regard God as a living personal God, not a vague abstraction, or a convenient name for the universe, but a real person. But men are tempted much to doubt this, and to resolve the idea of God into one of general laws. Or they persuade themselves, when the faith of the personal God cannot be set aside, that He is too great to notice such trifles as our sins. Or even if He do, has He not made us what we are? and at the worst we have done Him no wrong, though we may have to our fellow-man. But David in this psalm allows none of these pleas.

3. David does not simply confess his sinfulness, but his sin. He does not complain merely of the evil tendencies of a corrupt nature, but refers to a particular act of sin. “Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.” And so, if our repentance is to be worth anything, it must not waste itself in generalities, it must deal with our sins in detail, it must pick out each sinful appetite, each fault of temper, each form of self-seeking (nay, so far as our memory will serve, every example of their several workings), and spread them all forth before the Lord, with an act of hearty renunciation. Yes, it must ever be not merely, “I am a sinner,” but, “I have sinned”; not only, “I am evil,” but, “I have done this evil.” (W. B. Jones, M. A.)

A penitential vision

I. It is in harmony with the Creator’s design. The fact that it is inevitable shows this--it is rendered inevitable--

1. By the proper exercise of the capacities of our own being. Conscience, memory.

2. By the true use of the Bible. A mirror, a judgment-seat,

3. By the spontaneous thought of God. For “God is love,” and what does such a thought so much as fall like the shining of a bright light upon all the dark spots of our life? And God is holy, and who can think of Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and not see the guilt of his life before him?

4. By the cross of Christ.

II. It is essential to the correction of sin.

1. Not as a Nemesis. For such there could not be stronger consolation.

2. Not to leave them hopeless. Why?

(1) As something ever to deplore. As long as there is life there ought to be a broken spirit.

(2) As a beacon ever to warn. The vision of our guilt lets us see the rocks and quicksands where we made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience.

(3) As a fact ever to humble.

(4) As a condition ever to advance. (H. J. Martyn.)

Benefits from calling sins to account

1. It is a good means to prepare to true repentance and humiliation for them (Lamentations 3:40).

2. It is a special means to make us hate them, and dislike them, seeing the danger of them, how loathsome they be in God’s sight.

3. The remembrance of our sins makes us wary, that we fall not into them again; but our former falls make us to take heed of falling in time to come.

4. The remembrance of our sins makes us pity other men, because, though they fall dangerously, yet we know we have fallen as well as they, therefore we hope God will give unto them repentance.

5. The continual remembrance of our own sins puts us in mind of God’s mercy in the pardon of them; and when men calmly suffer their old sins to pass away and slip out of their minds, they will easily fall into new, and soon forget the mercy of God, and how much they are bound unto Him. Paul gives this excellent example, who, remembering how he had persecuted the Church, said, “Notwithstanding God was merciful unto me,” so that the continual remembrance of our sins puts us in mind of God’s merciful dealing with us, and must stir us up to thankfulness. (S. Smith.)

Think less of our virtues, more of our sins

Our tendency is to do the reverse of this, to think much of our virtues, and very little of our sins. This is natural, but not, therefore, good.

I. To think much of our virtues does not accord with the teaching of Christ (Luke 17:10). Our Lord intended thus to check in His disciples their over-estimation of their own merits. He discourages any opinion of our merit even in those who had the best pretensions to entertain it (Philippians 2:12), where “fear and trembling” are enjoined on Christians; the very opposite of all self-satisfaction. And ever in the New Testament the evangelical character is “contrition.” We are ever bidden “repent.”

II. And see how Paul (Philippians 3:1.) Renounces all trust in himself. In 1 Corinthians 15:1. he says, “I am the least of the apostles, not worthy,” etc. (1 Timothy 1:16).

III. Self-esteem is opposed to all gratitude to God for our redemption. Hence we are ever being told that we are all to “grace, not of ourselves, lest,” etc. Thus would God bend down and humble all sentiments of merit. (Archdeacon Paley.)

Further reasons for thinking more of our sins and less of our virtues

I. There is no occasion whatever to meditate upon our virtues. God will not forget them (Hebrews 6:10). We shall not make them any better by thinking of them. But it is not the same with our sins. Thinking on them may lead to effectual repentance, and so the sin of our conduct may, through God’s mercy in Christ, be done away. And we may be led thereby to make reparation, so far as we can, for the wrong we have done. And would we have the comfort of religion, it will not be by thinking on our good actions, but by conquering our sins. It is sin and nothing else which spoils our religious comfort. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.”

II. The custom of viewing our virtues tends to fill us with fallacious notions of our own state and condition.

III. Has an unfavourable effect upon our disposition towards other men (Luke 18:1.), the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. Let our sins then be ever before us, as they well may be, for we all have many sins to think of. (Archdeacon Paley.)

The indebtedness of sin

“My sin is ever before me.” I desire to make this statement as general as possible, and not to confine it to the instance in which it was first uttered. In one sense no single thought or subject can be perpetually in a man’s mind. Nobody needs to be told that. The stormiest heart has moments when the tempest is hushed. The most sorrowful life has moments or hours when the weight of the great sorrow is not present, and the man whose conscience is most deeply burdened with guilt has times of calmness and peace. We all know that. Still, “My sin is ever before me,” the penitent soul may say to itself; “for I cannot throw off old memories, or be blind and deaf to inner warnings. I cannot help feeling the bitter effects of old errors and follies, of old habits and acts, which cast a dark shadow over my life, and remind me continually that it is I myself who have offended.” There are some circumstances, however, which might seem to destroy this permanent sense of evil.

1. Repentance is one of these. One might suppose that if once a man heartily regretted a wrong act or course, it would cease in any sense of the word to be his. He has disowned it. Still, it is not possible to forget our identity with our former selves; it is not possible to think of what we were and of what we did without pain.

2. Again, it may be thought that the pardon of sin would destroy that perpetual bitterness of its remembrance, and that no man who had really been forgiven could say, “My sin is ever before me.” If God has forgiven, people may say, If He has, in the language of Scripture, cast our sins into the depths of the sea, why should we fret about them, as if they could be brought to the surface again and laid to our charge? It seems a logical enough argument, but, after all, it does not come to much; for human feeling and human remorse are not governed by figures of speech, such as the casting of sins into the depths of the sea.

3. There is still another circumstance which might seem to justify our forgetting or leaving out of view our sin, and that is when it has been visited with chastening or punishment. But if neither repentance nor pardon will remove it out of our memory or conscience, neither, finally, will punishment. There is a voice within us which whispers to us, after all our sufferings from our wrong-doing, that it has not ceased to be ours. Penalty for evil-speaking, has not taken away the spirit of uncharitableness and malice. “My sin is ever before me “ is the voice of true contrition and humility. There is the deed, or crime, or course of sin “ever before me.” Repentance has not destroyed it; pardon, though it has brought consolation, has not destroyed it; nor can punishment blot out its bitter memories. (A. Watson, D. D.)

The prospect painful but salutary

Is that the prospect that is ever before our eyes and minds? Do we train ourselves to think habitually of our faults: our unworthiness; the foolish things we have often said; the hasty, silly, ill-set, conceited, false, unjust, sinful things we have often done? Or would it not be nearer the truth, in the case of many a man, if he were to say, “My eminent abilities and deservings are ever before me; and it shall not be my fault if I do not bring them conspicuously before my fellow-men”? And hence come discontent and ingratitude, envying and grieving at a neighbour’s good success; and undutiful murmuring at the appointments of God’s providence. Hence comes, too, a self-sufficient spirit far removed from humility. All this and more comes of our looking at our merits rather than at our sins. Look at the other side of the page, and see how the account stands against us as well as for us. Ah, if it were with us more, as it was with David; if we bethought ourselves, oftentimes, of our sins, our failings, our mistakes, our ill-deservings, we should be more humble, more thankful, more content, more earnestly desirous to fly to that Saviour in whom is all sufficiency, and help, and grace. To look back on our past history would effectually take us down from all high thoughts of ourselves; would keep us lowly; would lead us, in our utter helplessness, to the Redeemer’s feet! There are many things in Holy Scripture which teach us that however natural it may be, it is not a Christian disposition to be dwelling on our good doings and deservings. For example, our Lord’s command, “When ye have done all. .. say, We are unprofitable servants.” Paul’s, “to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” And his charge to us, “Work at your own salvation with fear and trembling.” And now, let us think what good we may get through doing as David did, and having our sins ever before us. There is no doubt, the view is not a pleasant one. There is hardly anything that men like less than to be reminded by another of their sins, unless, indeed, it be in very general terms, which do not really touch the conscience. Yet things which are painful are sometimes profitable; and assuredly it is so here. First, it will make us humble to think habitually of the many foolish and wrong things we have done. The habitual contemplation of our sinfulness will also tend to make us thankful to God; to make us contented with our lot; to put down anything like envy in our hearts at the greater success and eminence of others. And now, let us think of something even better and more valuable as resulting from having our sin ever before us, than these things of which we have been thinking. To feel our sinfulness; to have our sins set before us, by God’s Spirit, in such a way that it will be impossible to help seeing them, and seeing them as bad as they really are, is the thing that wilt lead us to Christ; lead us to true repentance on account of our sins; and to a simple trust in Him who “saves His people froth their sins.” It is good for us to think of our sins. There is no need to think of our good deeds--if, indeed, we have many to think of; we cannot change them now. But to think of our sins may make a great difference upon them.:For though the deed remains, yet the sin may be blotted out by true repentance and justifying faith. To think of our merits, and dwell on them, is a mere piece of selfish gratification; but to think of our sins, and dwell upon them in a right spirit, may lead to the most precious practical results. What humble-minded, kindly, charitable, thankful, contented Christian people would all men be, if, to good purpose, they kept their “sin ever before them.” Therefore may God help us so to do. (A. K. H. Boyd, D. D.)

Sin: a soul-prospect

I. A very distressing one. Man can look at nothing more terrible.

II. Inevitable. As certain as the laws of nature bring us light, the laws of convenience and memory will bring up before the eye the hideous forms of sin.

III. Very salutary.

1. It humbles the soul.

2. To reconcile to painful providences.

3. To prepare for the Gospel, whose mission is to tell of Him who “puts away sin.” (Homilist.)

Sorrow for sin habitual

Sorrow for sin is habitual to the regenerate soul. It is mingled with all the exercises of faith in the atonement, and with all his hopes of future glory, The penitent does not wish to be freed from it, if he could be; but he cannot. He has an hourly remembrancer in his own bosom, while he feels that sin yet dwelleth in him. A continual consciousness of defect in his love to God, the constantly occurring temptations of the devil, the world, and the flesh, the failure of spirituality in all his thoughts, words and actions, remind him that he is a sinner, and often bring before his eyes his past transgressions in awful review. This keeps him humble, bows down his soul into the dust before God, and makes the name of Jesus precious to him. Like the sinful woman in the Gospel, he loves much, because much has been forgiven him. (T. Biddulph, M. A.)

Upon what condition a working conscience is a blessing

It is true in the general that a working conscience is a blessing; but it is only with this caution, that if it be hearkened to. It is possible for us to turn that which in itself is a blessing into a curse. As it is a blessing to have children, yet a man may make them no blessing by the neglect of education. It is a blessing to live under a faithful ministry, yet, through it, if a man be not a good hearer, he may increase his own judgment. It is a blessing to have a friend which, upon every occasion, is apt and ready to admonish; but yet, if a man be like the deaf adder, that stoppeth his ears, he shall but heap up wrath unto himself by that occasion. Look, as God dealeth with whole societies of men in taking away from them the benefit of a powerful ministry, when the same is not hearkened unto; so dealeth He with particular persons in striking a dumbness into the conscience when the voice thereof is not regarded. Thus, then, we are all here taught to take it as a blessing when the conscience shall faithfully present us with the most exact survey of our sins, and so accordingly to use it as a blessing. Be sure never to turn thine eyes from beholding that which thy conscience offereth to thy view; whatsoever thy conscience doth herein, it doth by authority and special commission from God, and as His deputy, and it deserves regard. I do not doubt but while David lived upon earth this particular sin was ever in his sight. What warrant or colour of reason to think that there went a day over David’s head, after Nathan had awaked him, in which he thought not upon this fact? what if thou have once or twice, upon the importunity of thy conscience, humbled thyself before the Lord; shall it be any hurt unto thee to renew thy repentance every day? Nay, know it, thy repentance is not sincere, nor unfeigned, if thou once comest to think that which thou hast done by way of repenting is sufficient. Oh, how happy and profitable shall it be for thee to be summoned to a continual reckoning! How will it avail thy soul and break thy heart! How will it season thee with humility! How will it quicken thee unto thankfulness to God, which hath freed thy soul from such a trespass! (S. Hieron.)