Lectures Upon Psalm 51, Part 4 · Lecture 44
Lecture XLIIII. On Psalme 51.4. Decemb. 26. 1626.
ReasonIT Followeth now that wee proceed unto the grounds and reasons of the Doctrine, & so unto the uses that are to be made of it. Now the grounds, and reasons of the Doctrine are principally two. The one taken frō the consideration of the nature of sin, the other from the consideration of the nature & attributes of the Lord himselfe. And in the nature of sin two things are to be cōsidred. 1. that every sin is a transgressiō of the law of God, 2. that every sin is a contēpt done unto God
For the first. What is it that maketh any thought or word or action to be a sin? Not the offending or hurting of our selves, or any other man by it, but the offending of God, and breaking of his Law. As no good duty I performe to any man, is a good worke unlesse in doing it, I respect the Lord, and do it in obedience to him. As Paul saith to Christian servants, Colos. 3.23, 24. Whatsoever ye doe, doe it as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. So no wrong I can do to any man, is a sin, but in respect of the disobedience, & contempt I shew unto God and his Law, by doing of it. This is plain, Lev. 6.2. If a soule sin, & commit a trespasse against the Lord, & lie unto his neighbour in that that was delivered him to keepe, or in fellowship, or in taking away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor. No sin can be more directly committed against our neighbour, then cosenage, & theft, and robbery are, and yet ye see, that that maketh a man a sinner in these things is this, that in doing of them, he hath cōmitted a trespasse against the Lord. Thus the Apostle when he had said every one that hath a true hope to be saved, & to go to heaven, doth purifie himselfe from all sin & corruption, & so maketh himselfe fit to go thither, giveth this for the reason of it, 1 Ioh. 3.4. because sin is a most hainous & dangerous thing, and why so? Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. That that maketh sin so dangerous a thing, that that maketh Gods people so fearfull to sin, so careful to purifie, & cleanse themselves from their corruptions, is this, that by sinning, they transgresse the law of God. So the Apostle Paul teacheth us, 1 Cor. 15.56. The sting of death is sin, & the strength of sin is the law. What is it that maketh death so painfull & terrible as it is unto men? Surely nothing but sin, that giveth the sting unto it, and what is it that maketh sin so strong to condemne them and cast them into hell, to sting and torment the conscience as it doth? Surely nothing but the law that giveth the strength to sin, that the law of God hath bin transgressed by it. This is the plain meaning of that which the same Apostle saith, Rom. 4.15. The law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression. What is it that brings Gods wrath upon man in this life, or in the life to come, that stingeth the conscience with the sense of it? Why sin (you will say) and in saying so, you say truly, for so saith the holy Ghost. Ephes. 5.6. Because of these things commeth the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Yea, but what is the cause that sin bringeth the wrath of God upon man? Surely nothing but this, because by it, Gods law is transgressed, the law worketh wrath, saith the Apostle.
Secondly, this is also to be considered in the nature of sin, that by every sin that we cōmit, we do not only transgresse Gods law, but we also despise him & do an injury and contempt unto him. For as it is among men, when ye invite a man of worship and worth unto a feast, if you give him not his due in placing of him, though his cheere be never so good, though the place he sits in be otherwise never so convenient, though in words, & entertainment you neglect no cōplement towards him, yet if you place him not according to his degree, if you set one that is known to be his inferior above him, in stead of a kindnes that you have pretended, he wil esteeme that you have done a great disgrace, & indignity unto him. So is it much more in this case, If we set not the Lord in the highest roome of our hearts, if we prefer our owne will before his (as in every sin we do) if we sleight any commandement of his, & thinke it is no great matter to transgresse it, this is a plain contempt done unto God, & a despising of him. So the Lord doth not only esteeme of grosse sinners, that they cast him behind their backs, as he tells Ieroboam, 1 kin. 14.9. But even of his own people, whē they sin against his law. So he telleth David twice, that in cōmitting these sins of adultry, & murder, 2 Sā. 12.9, 10. he had despised his cōmandement, he had despised him. So he telleth Ely that in neglecting to shew that severity to his lewd sons, that he ought to have done, he despised him, 1 Sam. 2.30. And he telleth Moses, & Aaron, that they had rebelled against him. Nū. 20.24. And so much for the first reason & ground of the doctrine.
The second reason is taken from the consideration of the nature and attributes of God,Reason. 2 the person, whose law is transgressed by our sins. Foure attributes there be in the Lord, which if we consider well, we shall easily beleeve that we are to hate our sins, and mourne for them out of this respect chiefly, that we have offended God by them.
The first is his omnipresence, & omniscience, he is present with us whersoever we are, his eye is upō us, he beholdeth us, whatsoever we are doing. Can any hide himselfe in secret places, that I should not see him saith the Lord? (Ier. 23.24.) do not I fill heaven & earth saith the Lord? Attribute 1& Pro. 15.3. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evill & the good. This was a main thing Nathan laid to Davids charge, & whereby he aggravated his sin, 2 Sam. 12.9. Wherfore hast thou despised the commandement of the Lord to do evill in his sight? And this was it that at this time lay so heavy upon Davids conscience, O Lord I have done this evill in thy sight. As if he had said, all my care was to be secret, to hide my sin from the eyes of men (thou didst it secretly saith the Lord to him. 2 Sam. 12.12) but all this while, thine eye was upon me; when for the committing of my filthines I had shut all out of my chamber, I could not shut out thee, when I did it in the darke, the darknes hid me not from thee (as he speaketh, Ps. 139.12.) but the night shineth as the day, the darknes, and the light are both alike with thee. This is that that did even fil his heart with shame, & sorrow, when he considered that he had done so lewdly, the Lord being by, the Lord looking upon him. And surely so will this work upon every one of us also, when God shall be pleased to awaken, & touch our hearts as he did his. It is a matter of extreame shame, and trouble of mind, even to most wicked men, to know that any man hath seene them, and bin privy to that which they have done. If one know them (saith Iob 24.17) they are in the terrors of the shadow of death. How much more must it trouble the heart of Gods child, when he considereth the Lord saw, & was an eye-witnes of all the foulest sins, that ever he committed. All men by nature would be much restrained from many sins, if they knew of any body, though it were but a child that were by them, to see what they did. And thus the murderer, and adulterer, are brought in by Iob 24 5. emboldening themselves, No eye shall see me. As if he had said, If they knew there were any eye to see them, they durst not do it. And they are noted for men grown to an extraordinary height in sin, that feare not at all, nor are restrained from sinning by the eye of man, that are so impudent, as they care not who see, or know, what lewdnes they do, Esa. 3.9. Such as declare their sin as Sodom, that hide it not. Such as are like Absalom, who spread his tent upon the top of the house, and went in to his fathers concubines, in the sight of all Israel, 2. Sam. 16.22. And will not this appeare to the child of God, when God shall open his eyes, a far greater impudency, & height of sin, that he in sinning, regarded not, nor feared the Lords eye, that he durst do such, & such things, when the Lord looked upon him? Surely to David it did here. O Lord I have done this evill in thy sight. And so it will do to every one of us, when God shall be pleased to give us such hearts as he did unto David. For thus doth the Lord oft aggravate the sins of men. Esa. 65.12. Therfore wil I number you to the sword, & you shal al bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, ye did not answer, when I spake ye did not heare, but did evill before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
The second attribute of God, the consideration wherof, setteth forth the hainousnes of sin is his infinite holines, and the dislike he beareth unto sin. This is a chiefe attribute of his, & that wherein his glory doth principally consist. This is plain,Attribute 2 by that song of the blessed Angels, Esa. 6.3. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. And in the first petitiō of the Lords praier, where when our Saviour would have us to pray, that Gods name may be glorified, he teacheth us to expresse it in these termes. Hallowed be thy name, let holines be ascribed unto thee. Now the Lord being thus infinitely holy, 1. He hateth and disliketh sin, there is nothing so contrary, and opposite to his nature, as sin is. No man doth hate any thing in the world, no mans heart doth so much loath or rise against any thing, as the Lords doth against sin. Hab. 1.13. Thou art of purer eyes then to behold evill, & canst not looke on iniquity. He cannot abide to looke upon it, Ier. 44.4. I sent unto you all my servants, the Prophets rising early. & sending them, saying, do not this abominable thing that I hate. The Lord in the ministery of all us his servants, doth in the most patheticall manner he can, perswade and entreat you to be afraid to sin, to repent of your sin, even for the Lords sake, even for this cause, because his soule doth so much hate and loath sin, Oh do not this abominable thing which I hate, 2. Because the Lord is infinitly holy, he must needs be grieved with sin. Nothing grieveth the Lord so much as sin doth. It is a great griefe to any ingenuous mind, and a thing that of all others we can worst brooke, to see our selves despised, and contemned by any. David complaineth oft of it, and prayeth against it. Ps. 119.22. Remove from me reproach & contempt. But never was man so much grieved to see himselfe despised, as the Lord is to see men despise and sleight him, as I told you we all do, when we sin against him. Grieve not the holy spirit of God, by your corrupt communication saith the Apostle. Eph. 4.30. As if he had said, Because he is holy, sin must needs grieve him. 3. Because the Lord is infinitly holy, sin must needs anger, disquiet, and vexe his spirit. Nothing in the world can so much provoke a man unto anger, nothing can so cut him to the heart, so vexe & disquiet his mind, as the Lord is provoked, cut to the heart, & vexed with our sins, Esa. 63.10. They rebelled, and vexed his holy spirit. & Eze. 16.43. Thou hast fretted me in all these things. Now when Gods child doth consider well of this, his sin must needs trouble him more in this respect, that he hath done that, that God so loatheth, & hateth, that he hath grieved and vexed him so much by it, then in respect of any evill, or punishment he hath brought upon himselfe by it. So did it David here, Against thee, thee only have I sinned. And so wil it the senslessest heart here, when God shal touch him as he did David here. O that we could consider how God may complaine of us as Ps. 95.10. Forty yeeres long was I grieved with this generation. How long have we grieved the Lord, some of us by living in one sin, & some in another. O that we could say to our own hearts, as the Prophet doth to Ahaz, Esa. 7.13. ô my soule is it a small thing for thee to grieve men by thy sins, that thou wilt also grieve my God?
The third attribute of God that setteth forth the hainousnes of our sins,Attribute 3 is the infinite greatnes & majesty of the Lord Great is the Lord (saith David Ps. 145.3) & greatly to be praised, his greatnes is incomprehensible. And indeede this is the beginning and foundation of all religion, and piety to esteme the Lord to be higher then the highest. Eccl. 5.8, and to acknowledge in our hearts this infinite greatnes and majesty of the Lord, Ascribe ye greatnes to our God, saith Moses, Deut. 32.3. And thus did the blessed Virgin, Lu. 1.46. My soule doth magnifie the Lord. Every transgression even among men, is more or lesse hainous, according as the person is, against whom it is cōmitted. He that doth smite his father or his mother, or but curse & revile them, shall surely be put to death, saith the Lord in his Law. Exo. 21.15, 17. Whereas the reviling, yea, or wounding, or maiming of another man, was not so great a sin, nor to be punished in so severe a manner, as you may see in the same chapter, Exod. 21.18.22, & this is that, that maketh all sin so hainous as it is, and worthy of infinite, & eternall punishment, because it is committed against, and is a contempt done unto a person that is of infinite, and eternall majesty. That any of us poore mortall wretches, wormes rather then men, of whom the Prophet saith, Ps. 39.5. Verily, every man at his best state is altogether vanity, and who are counted to him lesse then nothing, and vanity, as the Prophet speaketh, Esa. 40.17. should be so desperatly mad, as to provoke, & despise this glorious God, to make light account of any of his commandments, in whose hand is our breath, and all our wayes, as Daniel telleth a great King. Dan 5.23. whose glorious greatnes is such, as the Angels cover their faces before him. Esa. 6.2. In whose sight no creature can stand when he is angry, Ps. 76.7. This, this is that that doth greatly aggravate our sins. Wo unto him that striveth with his maker, let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth, saith the Lord. Esa. 45.9. Do we provoke the Lord unto wrath? (saith the Apostle, 1 Cor. 10.22.) are we stronger then he? And yet thus have we done every one of us, & the consideration of this ought to lye heavy upon our hearts, as it did upon Davids, when he cryed, against thee, thee only have I sinned.