Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-04-22
a PENITENT'SPRAYER
LESSON v, SECOND QUARTER, INTER.
NATiONNt SERIES. tAY '

Text Of the Lesson. Ps. II. i-i3-Mem-
DRY Verses. 1913 Golden Text, Ps.
| II, IO-Comme ntary by the Rev u. NJ.
stearns.
l. Have mercy upon me, God ac-
cording to thy lovingk ndness according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions." This is the
third of the seven penitential psalms, the
others being the vi, xxi, eli, cxxx, cxliii
xXxviii. The title gives the circumstances
which led David to write this psalm, and
the whole story is found in II Sam. xi and
xii Let all consider the true significance
of the seventh commandment as taught by
our Lord Jesus, and let only those who are
not guilty throw stones.
3. "Wash me thoroughly from mine in
EQUITY, and cleanse me from my sin" Like
the leper who said, Lord, if Thou wilt
Thou canst make me clean" (Math. viii, ~
he believes that the Lord can cleanse him.
and he wants it done thoroughly How
such IA word rs | John i, 8, would have
comforted him, "If we confess our sins He
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteous
ness" But he had virtually the same
teaching in Lev. vi, -
3. For | acknowledge my transgressor
and my sin is ever before me-" "Only &C.
knowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast
trangressed against the Lord thy God"
was Gods plea with Israel by jeremiah
der. iii, l3) David does this, not making
light of it nor seeking to hide either his
iniquity, the root of all the trouble, or his
trlnsgression in which he overstepped the
line, or his sin in which he came short of
the mark ZEN. xxxiv, y
1. Against thee. thee only, have snned,
and done this evil in thy sight; that thou
mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and he clear when thou judgest" When
Nathan reproved him he said, II have
sinned against the Lord" QI Sam xii, 49,
When Joseph was sore tempted instead of
yielding as David did, he said, "How can
do this great wickedness and sin against
GodY Gen. xxxix, 81
o. Behold was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me-"
David recognizes sin in his nature, he did
not believe that we are by nature holy but
as Paul testifes by the Spirit, by nature
the children of wrath, even as others"
(Eph. ii, b. by one man sin entered the
world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men" "The carnal mind is
enmity against Cod (Rom v, IL, viii. y.
6. Behold, thou desirest truth in the in
ward parts: and in the hidden part thou
shalt make me to know wisdom" There
is II something in us known in Scripture
as THE imagination of the thoughts of
the heart II Chron. xviii. 0; xxx, 49,
And it is written, II, the Lord, search the
heart try the reins."
{. Purge me with hyssop and shall be
clean, wash me and shall be whittier than
snow" God made provision for the cleans
ing of the people whom He redeemed from
the bondage of Egypt, and to understand
this verse one should be familiar with the
story of the leper and the two little birds
of Lev Xiii and xiv. and also the red hefer
story of Mum. xix. In the cleansing of
each case, the leper and the deflement con
tracted by the way, the unclean one could
do nothing for himself until pronounced
clean by the priest. The hyssop was used
to sprinkle the blood, or the ashes and
water, which symbolized and typifed the
blood of Jesus Christ (Sce Lev. xiv, 1, Z |
Mum. xix, IS, and compare lisa i, 49,
$. Make me to hear joy and gadness,
that the bones which thou hast broken
may rejoice" Ones very bones are fig
uratively said to suffer because of sin
My bones walked old through my roaring
all the day long" Neither is there any |
rest in my bones, because of my sin" ops. |
xxi, 3; XXXviii, 81 And of Christ, our
substitute, bearing our sins. it is written. |
Il am poured out like water and all my !
bones are out of joint My heart is like |
wax, it is melted in the midst of my bow
els Ops. xxi, ~ How fearful is sin thus
to affect the Holy One OF God
Hide thy face from my sins and blot out
all mine iniquites. God said concerning |
Israel, Mine eyes are upon all their ways; |
hnx Ia, Il
their iniquity hid from mine eyes" der.
xvi, ~. But Hezekiah could say after his
repentance, Thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back" lisa. xxxviii, 10 and con.
corning Israel when she shall turn to God
it is written, 81 have blotted out as "A thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as II cloud
thy sins" Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea" lisa xiii, 25
xiv, %; Mic. vii, 49,
III. Create in me a clean heart, o God,
and renew right spirit within me-" This is
going to the root of the difficulty. We
sometimes hear of "A change of heart; if by
that is meant "A new one instead of the old
sinful one, all is well, for the old cannot be
improved (Rom viii, y. We must be
born from above (John iii, 3, margin) and
receive "A nature we never had before, even
the divine nature I'll Pet. i, y. before we
can enter the Kingdom OF tod This God
is ready to do for us. but He wants us to
ask Him (EZek. xXXvi, 90. p, 30 What
is worth having is surely worth asking
for.
II. Cast me not away from thy pres
ence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from
me-" Moses prayed, "If thy presence go
not with me carry us not up hence" And
the Lord said, my presence shall 90 with
thee, and will give thee rest" lex. xxxiii
IA, l5). The strength and comfort of
Moses Joshua, Gideon, jeremiah and all
the servants of God was His presence with
them (Ex iii, IL; Josh. l. ;, Judg. vi, l6
DER. i, s, l9). And to US our Lord has said,
10, am with you Away" (Math xviii,
2O) He has promised never to leave us
and has told us that the Spirit will abide
in us (John xiv, 10, so that if we will we
may rejoice in the abiding of the Father
Son and Spirit in us tJohn xiv, II, 23)
~ Restore unto me the joy of thy sal
walton, and uphold me with thy free spir
it," Salvation and the JOY of salvation are
two different things; the last we may lose