David was deeply sensible of his just deservings, and filled with holy fear; because, though God had promised to remit the guilt of his sin, yet he declared he would not let him go unpunished, 2 Sam. xii. 13, 14: however, he doth not run away from God, but rather makes a more earnest application to him, that he will please to pass by his offences and to spare him, which is here metaphorically expressed; 1. By hiding his face from his sins, that is, not considering them, (as the phrase signifies,) not looking on them so steadfastly as to observe them, or so narrowly as to examine them; for if his pure eyes behold evil, his righteous hand must punish it. 2. By blotting them out, alluding to that booki wherein God is said to note those sins which he hath not forgiven: now David prays that this debt-book may be crossed, and the score blotted out, so as never more to appear against him. Let us then in our fears make the same request, and let it be our first and chiefest care to get our sin pardoned, removed out of God's sight, and blotted out; for when the guilt is once taken away, the punishment shall either be averted wholly, or sanctified and made tolerable unto us; wherefore let us also say, Paraphrase. O most righteous Judge of all the world, which canst not but hate all the wickedness which thou beholdest; HIDE, I pray thee, THY FACE FROM a strict and narrow observance of MY SINS in this life, lest they provoke thee to punish me here; AND because all thy debtors must be called to account at the great judgment, do thou, for Jesus Christ's sake, BLOT OUT of thy book of remembrance, the debts I have run into by ALL MY INIQUITIES, that I may not be condemned to an eternal prison for them hereafter. h Prov. xxviii. 17. Avertenti oculos a paupere. Syriaca versio. i Dan. vii. 10; Job xiv. 17. Signatum est in libro memoriarum rebellio mea. Targum in loc. Psalm exliii. 2. ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT WITH THY SERVANT, &c.] The same holy man, observing God had a controversy with him, takes our Saviour's advice, Matt. v. 25, to agree with his adversary; and resolving not to stand upon his own defence, he goes in, submits, and makes his peace, not staying till a judgment was dispatched to summon him, or witnesses produced to convince him, but rather choosing to supplicate his Judge, Job ix. 15, by making application to his infinite mercy; for there is no need of prosecuting, where the party doth let fall his cause and plead guilty. David thought this the safest course, and we may well do so too, 1 Pet. iv. 18. The best in the world, if examined strictly, will be found faulty in many particulars; so that there is no ground for us to contend, who are the vilest and worst of all. Therefore, if we fear God will chastise us, we must not pretend we are innocent, and thereupon presume we shall be spared, but rather confess our evil deservings without a judgment to force us, and let our hope of sparing be founded on his mercy, not our purity. We are sinners, but we may be spared for all that; for if all sinners must suffer, the whole world must be condemned, Rom. iii. 19. It is sure God spares many, and though many that are spared are better than we, yet none are altogether innocent, none but must be judged with favour and mercy, and if he please to judge us so, we may escape also; however, it is the best way, if we fear God's anger, to pray the suit may be stopped, saying in this manner: Paraphrase. Lord, thou chargest me with many sins, and it is likely intendest to punish me for them; I come not to assert myself clear, but before thou summonest, (knowing my guilt,) I pray thee ENTER NOT INTO JUDGMENT, neither reckon strictly in justice WITH THY SERVANT, who confess I have deserved pu- 4 nishment, but hope thou wilt spare me, who rely only on thy mercy, and that is my best plea, FOR IN THY SIGHT, who seest so exactly, and hatest sin so perfectly, by defending his innocence SHALL NO MAN, no not the holiest person LIVING in this sinful world, be acquitted, nor can any BE JUSTIFIED before thee, without a favourable allowance, which I beseech thee also shew to me. Jerem. x. 24. CORRECT ME, O LORD, BUT WITH JUDGMENT, &c.] We are to consider, that the very corrections of God are mixed with so much mercy, allayed by such a supply of inward comforts, and made so tolerable by his gracious purposes in sending them, that we ought not altogether to decline them; for if we feel no smart for our sin, we may more easily run into it again, Psalm cxix. 67, Ezra ix. 13, 14, and consequently go on in it till we pull upon ourselves eternal misery: and the poor humbled soul, who sees the punishment of sin to be the being forsaken of God, deprived of grace and glory, delivered up to be a slave to the basest lusts here, and a companion of the vilest persons and horridest devils hereafter; this man will account a temporal chastisement (which delivers him from all those) a benefit and a favour, and with St. Augustinek will pray to be scorched and scarified, lanced and bound here, that he may be spared hereafter. From whence we ought to learn, instead of fearing and flying afflictions, to desire (as the prophet Jeremy here) to have some gentle correction with God's smallest rod', with which he strikes his own children; for he is so merciful, that we ought not to be afraid to fall into his gracious hands, only to pray (as the prophet doth) that he will deal gently with us; especially if we apprehend some affliction just ready to fall upon us, then we must not k Domine, hic ure, seca, liga, ut parcas in æternum. 12 Sam. vii. 14; Hebr. awa ON Virga hominum infir morum. absolutely desire God to lay by his rod, but to use it with judgment", that is, gently and in measure, with consideration to our weakness; or in a sober and judicial way; in judgment", not as a furious angry person falls on a man, who values not how nor where he strikes, nor cares if he take away our life. Let us pray therefore, that it may please God in his discipline to proceed as a sober and compassionate Judge, to punish us so that we may be amended and survive the strokes, yea, and be warned by the pain against future rebellions, not so as that we should faint under his hand, and fall into a condition worse than annihilation. Paraphrase. My God, since thy justice obligeth thee to punish sinners, and I have deserved so justly to suffer, and am so apt to go on in sin till I smart for it; I do beseech thee, CORRECT ME here with temporal afflictions, O LORD, that thou mayest spare me hereafter; but let not this correction be proportionable to my deserts, nor to thy displeasure, but let it be inflicted moderately WITH JUDGMENT, and consideration of my infirmities; punish me NOT IN THINE ANGER, as thou dost thy enemies, LEST THOU BRING ME TO NOTHING, so that I fall under thy hand, and survive not to be amended by it. A Meditation upon Psalm li. 9, and exliii. 2, and Jer. x. 24, preparatory to Prayer in the fears of God's anger. O my soul, what fearful tremblings are these have seized on thee, so that the thoughts of God, that have been, and ought to be, thy greatest comfort, are now become thy terror and amazement? Whence is this miserable alteration, that thou canst behold nothing but judgment in the Father of mercies, and anger in the Fountain of love? What hath provoked him that delights to spare, to be resolved to punish? Surely my sins are very many, for it is not a few can incense him; and they have more than ordinary aggravations, for he is m Cum judicio] modice: Junius. Heb. in modo. n LXX. év кpíσel. V. et Vatab. in judicio. not so highly displeased at small offences; and certainly I have often committed them, and long continued in them, for he begins not to frown upon the first misdemeanour. Alas, the case is too apparent! My sins are both very many and exceeding great, frequently repeated and of long continuance. I have despised mercy, and now I am likely to feel judgment. Miserable wretch that I am! I have tired out the patience of a longsuffering Father, and run from the embraces of a loving Saviour, rejected the offers of a most indulgent Holy Spirit; so that now I fear I have stopped up the fountain of his 5 mercy, Isai. lix. 2, and unsealed the treasures of his vengeance, Deut. xxxii. 34. And I ought rather to wonder how God could spare me so long, than why he should strike me now, since many have been cut off for fewer and lesser sins: I see I have most justly deserved to suffer the worst of evils, and therefore shall esteem it an incomparable favour to be only corrected with a temporal affliction, if I might be so excused ; but it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. x. 31. Therefore, O Lord, my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments, Psal. cxix. 120, yet I know no way to escape them. To deny my sins were impudence, to excuse them will be apparent hypocrisy. To be concealed is impossible, to be found intolerable; I am miserably confounded. But was never any in this case before, that I might receive some advice and comfort from them? Yes, surely, the church hath presented me with a king and a prophet, both dear to God, whose fears were greater though their sins were less, and their danger not so great as mine; yet these (in the midst of their fears) considered their sins as the only cause of these evils, and accordingly they freely confessed them, bitterly lamented, and exceedingly humbled themselves for them; not striving so much to avoid the punishment, as to obtain the pardon of their sins, knowing that the guilt once removed, thou wouldst either totally spare them, or gently chastise them for their good; wherefore they rendered themselves up into thy hands, rather aggravating than extenuating their offences, and yet humbly begging their correction might be in mercy, and they found the benefit of it. Go to then, my soul, and do thou likewise; thou hast first occasioned God's wrath |