The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1892-04-30
ENITENT'SPRAYE
LESSON v, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, MAY l..

DRY Verses. IO-I3--Golden Text, Ps.
Ii. Io-Commentary by the Rev. d. NJ.
Stearns.
l. Have mercy upon me. o God, &C
cording to thy lovihgkindness, according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions." This is the
third of the seven penitentiai psalms, the
others being the vi. xxxii, CHI, 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 rs taught by
our Lord Jesus, and let only those who are
not guilty throw stones.
2. 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, q,
be believes that the Lord can cleanse him,
and he wan it done thoroughly. How
such a word as l John i, ., 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 u%nrighteous-
ness" But he had virtually the same
teaching in Lev. vi, Ia.
9. "For l acknowledge my transgressor.
and my sin is ever before me- Only a C
knowledge thine %iniquity, that thou hast
trangressed against the Lord thy God"
wa Gods plea with Israel by jeremiah
der. iii, 13). David does this, not making
light of it nor seeking to hide either his
~iniquity. the root of all the trouble, or his
transgression in which he ov%erstepped the
line, or his sin in which he came short of
the mark lex. xxxiv, y.
4. Against thee. thee only, have ! sinned,
and done this evil in thy sight, that thou
highest be justified when thou speaAest.
and be clear when thou judgest." When
Nathan reproved him he said. II have
sinned against the Lord" UI Sam. xii, l3).
When Joseph was sore tempted, instead of
yielding as David did, he said. How can
| do this great wickedness Inc sin against
GodT (Gen. xxx. 81
s. "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 t~estiies by the Spirit, by nature
the children OF wrath. even IA others
(Eph. ii, 3D. by one man sin entered the
world, and death by sin, and so death
passed upon all men," 1.-THE carnal mind IL
enmity against God" (Ronl. v, IL. viii, y. .
6. Behold, thou desirest truth III the in
ward parts; and in the hidden part thou
shalt make me to know wisdom" There
is a something in US known in Scripture
as 1.-THE imagination Of the thoughts of
the heart" Il Chron. xviii, O.; xx,x. 49,
And it Is written, Il, the Lord. search the
heart, l try the reins."
Z. Purge ME with hyssop and l 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 rel heifer
story of Mum. xix. In the cleansing of
each case. the leper and the defiiement 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 sylIbolized ard typified the
blood of Jesus Christ. (See Lev. xiv, 4. I:
Mum. xix, IS, and compare lisa. i. 49,
8. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken
may rejoice" Ones very bones are fig
uratively said to suffer because of sin.
1hJ DOuCS "dACu Olu OuTOlSu uS EObEluS
all the day long" Neither is there any
rest in my bones, because of my sin" (Ps.
xxxii, 8; xxxviii, b. And of Christ, our
substitute, bearing our sins, it is written:
II 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" (Ps. xxi, l4). How fearful is sin thus
to affect the Holy One of God.
8. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out
all mine iniquities." God said concerning
Israel, mine eyes are upon all their ways;
they are not hid from my face, neither is
their iniquity hid from mine eyes" (Jer.
xvi, ~. But Hezekiah could say after his
repentance, Thou hast cast all my sins
behind thy back" lisa. ~xxxyiii, ~. and con
corning Israel when she shall turn to God
it is written, IL have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions. and a. u cloud
thy SINS" Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea" Elsa. xiii, Is:
Xiv, %; Mic. vii. l9).
10. Create in me a clean heart, o God;
and renew a 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, D. We must be
born from above John iii, 3, margin) and
receive Il nature we never had before, even
the divine nature III Pet. i, A. before we
can enter the kingdom of God. This God
is ready to do for us. but He wants us to
ask Him (Ezek. xxxvi, rs, q, 80. 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 &C with
thee, and | will give thee rest" (Ex. xxxiii,
IA, .l5). The strength and comfort Of
Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeremiah and all
the servants of God was His presence with
them Eek. iii, IL; Josh. i, 5; Judg. vi. 16;
Jer. |, 8, 1917. And to us our Lord has said.
To- am with you Away (Math xviii,
20). He has promised never to leave us,
and has told us that the Spirit will abide,
in us tJohn xiv, 10, 80 that if we will we
may rejoice in the abiding of the Father,
Son and Spirit in US (John xiv, II, 23).
u. Restore unto me the Joy Of thy sal
walton, aud uphold me with thy free spir
it." Salvation aud the JOY of salvation are
two different things: the last we j lose,
but not the first. Many have the first who
have not the last. Receiving Jesus. we have
life and are children OF God (John /, IL; i'll,
l6), but assurance and joy comes by rest
ing on the infallible word OF God, irrespec.
tive Of our feelings concerning the result Of
such acceptance Of Christ (Rom. ". IL; !
Pet. !, 81. The Spirit works through His
word and thus gives us fullnesa OF Joy
(John XIV, Il: John |, ~
IL. Then will / teach transgressors thy
ways, and sinners shall be converted unto
Thee" This Ia the end Of our salvation or