Forty-Five Sermons Upon Psalm 130, Sermon 4
SERMON IV.
Pſalm 130.
Verſ. 2. Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my ſupplications.
3. If thou, LORD, ſhouldeſt mark iniquities: O LORD, who ſhall ſtand?
4. But there is forgivenneſs with thee: that thou mayeſt be feared.
FROM the firſt Branch of the Pſalmiſt's wreſtling and exerciſe, I have ſpoken to theſe theſe three, 1. To the deeps, wherewith he was put to wreſtle. 2. To his cryes whereby he wreſtles with theſe deeps. 3. To his reflecting upon this his practice, and avowing it before God, as that which afforded him a teſtimony, that out of the deeps he had cryed unto God.
Now there remains the proſecution of this wreſtling, and his pleading for audience, in a new and doubled ſuit, verſ. 2. Lord, hear my voice, &c. While he pleads for the hearing of his voice; the meaning is not, that the voice is all that ſhould be given to God; I confeſs we ſhould give him the voice when we can give him no more, and lament that we have no more to give him but the voice; but the voice that the Pſalmiſt would have heard here, is the voice of his crying out of the deeps, the voice of his moſt fervent and earneſt ſupplication, ye ſee the expreſſions here are doubled (as frequently in the Book of Pſalms) to evidence, how earneſt he was in this ſuit, that he is not complementing with God, when he is ſeeking acceſs and audience to his Prayers. The expreſſions alſo are Metaphorical, and borrowed from the carriage of a Parent to a Child, and upon the matter his ſuit is this, Lord, notice me when I pray, as the Parent will notice the diſtreſſed Childs cry when he is like to ruine, and let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my ſupplications, that goes a little further; that as a Parent knowing a Child to be in hazard, he will liſten and hearken attentively if he can hear him cry and notice and ponder that cry, and what he cryes for; ſo he pleads with God, that he would be waiting on and attentive, to ſee and hear if a cry ſhould come from him, and that he would affectionatly ponder and notice it when he hears it: For this hearing of Prayer, it hath ſo frequently occurred before, that I ſhall paſs it, and the whole Verſe in three words, that I may come to other things in the Pſalm, which I mainly deſigned to ſpeak unto, when I broke in upon it.
The firſt thing that ye ſhall mark here is, that Sanctified affliction not only puts the Saints to Prayer, but alſo that they cannot reſt upon the work wrought of Prayer, but they muſt have an anſwer to their Prayer; I have cryed out of the deeps unto thee, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice; he muſt be heard. The ſenſible man, when God bleſſes the diſtreſs he is in, to put him to Prayer, he doth not reſt there, but preſſes for a hearing, for an anſwer to his Prayer; and two things evidence the truth of this, one is, a ſenſible man in trouble will find it hard to be out of ſpeaking terms with God, hard to have any thing of Saul's caſe in his lot, that when he ſought God in his diſtreſs, he would not anſwer him, neither by dreams, nor by Ʋrim, nor by Prophets, 1 Sam. 28.6. When folk come into trouble, if they have any ſenſe or feeling of their condition, they will know of what worth an intercourſe with Heaven is, and what it is to have a door open to them from thence, when all doors are ſhut upon them from earth, and therefore they cannot reſt on Prayer, but will preſs for audience. Another is, That as it will be hard with ſenſible Saints to be denyed audience, ſo they need and prize the thing they ſeek: It's not for a faſhion, or for a complement, or for a trifle, that they cry out of the deeps; but their life (if I may ſo word it) is lying in pledge of what they would be at; there is nothing betwixt them and ruine, but the anſwer of their Prayers, and therefore they cannot reſt without it.
For Ʋſe, It leaves a ſad conviction on them, who if they come the length to worſhip God, and pray to him, their task is done, they have prayed, and that's enough; I confeſs, by Prayer and Supplications, folks may caſt many events over upon God, but yet they would bide at Prayer, till they get an account of that which they are ſeeking, Pſal. 5.3. My voice ſhalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord, (ſaith David) in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. It's an evidence that folks have little preſſed upon their hearts the neceſſity of that they are ſeeking, when they look not up for an anſwer. And hence alſo they have evidence, that (as it is 2 Tim. 2.19.) Though they name the name of Chriſt, it is not their care to depart from their iniquity, that they may not bring a reproach upon Prayer, nor obſtruct the ſucceſs of their Prayer with God; this is the great fault of formal Profeſſors, they will keep up a form or faſhion of Prayer, but they little know, or labour to know what it is to Trafficque with Heaven by their Prayer.
But a ſecond word ſhall be this, that Supplicants in diſtreſs may be exerciſed with delaying of the anſwers of their Prayers; I have cryed out of the deeps unto thee, O Lord, but he dare not ſay, that God hath heard him. Therefore he is put to pray over again, Lord, hear my voice, The ſenſe of non-acceptation may haunt a Supplicant, and he may find the thing that he is ſeeking is not granted; yea, Supplicants may not only be exerciſed with delays, and ſeeming denyals, as Job was, Chap. 30.20. I cry unto thee, and thou doſt not hear me, I ſtand up, and thou regardeſt me not. And Lam. 3.44. The Church complains, Thou hast covered thy ſelf with a cloud, that our prayers ſhould not paſs thorow. Not only I ſay, may Supplicants be exerciſed with delays and ſeeming denyals, but with very ſad diſpenſations on the back of their Prayers, Pſal. 80.4. O Lord God of Hoſts, how long wilt thou be angry? or wilt thou ſmoak againſt the Prayers of thy people? They may have ſmoaking wrath meeting their prayers, and that for a long time, in ſtead of a comfortable anſwer, which is ſad at all times, but eſpecially in trouble. For clearing what folk ſhould make of this, I ſhall only name ſome things that I ſpoke more largely to at another occaſion. 1. Though the Pſalmiſt hath a teſtimony that he is crying indeed to God, when yet he is not heard, we ſhould look when we are not heard, that there be nothing wrong in the ſupplication, Mat. 20.22. Chriſt ſaith to ſome, Ye know not what ye ask: And Mat. 17. when Peter roved upon the Mount, it was ſo with him. There may be a defect in the matter, manner, or end of the ſupplication. James (4.3.) ſays, Ye ask, and receive not, becauſe ye ask amiſs, to conſume it upon your luſts. 2. When our ſupplications are not anſwered, we would look that there be not ſomething wrong in the Supplicant; folks may be praying when there is ſtanding unrepented of guilt, that meets them in a ſtrait, (as I may hint on the following Verſe) there may be ſome controverſie, that God hath with the perſon, which till it be done away, he will not hear needy and preſſing ſuits; and though the controverſie may be done away, as to ſtanding guilt, there may be an habitual ill frame, which the Lord would rectifie by keeping the Supplicant at his Bar. They may in ordinary be formal and carnal, and have an edge in trouble, and he will not let them ſtick there, and therefore will keep them at the back of the door, till they learn to walk with God in ordinary. And 3ly. when the Supplication is right, and Supplicants in a right frame, there would be the exerciſe of Faith, that God will not deny every ſuit that he doth not anſwer, or delays to anſwer. The exerciſe of Faith, that he is but trying us, if we will go to another door, when he delays to anſwer; yea, this is the exerciſe of Faith, to believe that many ſuits are not unanſwered, which we think are not anſwered: God anſwers the ſuits of Supplicants, when he accepts and approves of them, Pſal. 10.17. Though he grant not the thing they ſeek, he anſwers, when He ſtrengthens the Supplicant with ſtrength in his ſoul, Pſal. 138.3. And there are anſwers of Faith, which ſhould be read from the Word, and made uſe of. I have the more briefly paſſed from this, that this purpoſe occurred before on another Text, and from it take two brief words, and I ſhall leave it. One is, That Supplicants crying to God in diſtreſs, and not coming ſpeed, they would be invited to the reflection that I ſpoke to in the forenoon, to ſee how all is, that there be nothing wrong in the Supplication, nor in the Supplicant, that there be no action of guilt, no controverſie that muſt be removed, before a comfortable anſwer come; that ſhould be a ſearching Lot, when the Bill of the needy Supplicant is lying at the Footſtool, without an anſwer. And another is, if even Supplicants may be humbled and exerciſed with delays, ere they get an anſwer to their Prayers, what will become of them that pray none at all? If this be done in the green tree, what will become of the dry? (as Chriſt ſays, ſpeaking of his ſufferings, compared with the calamity that was to come upon the Jews.)
But I proceed to a third word, and that is to clear what it is that God requires of needy and honeſt Supplicants, when they are put to cry, and cry again in Prayer, for an anſwer, and it is not given. Beſide what I ſpoke before of reflection, I ſhall ſhortly from the Text point at three things to be done, or that God calls for. And 1. In this caſe, the Lord is calling folk to pray on, I have called to thee, O Lord, there is Prayer, Lord, hear my voice, there is a new Prayer; Let thine ears be attentive to my ſupplications, there is a third ſuit: Although thy belly ſhould cleave to the earth while thou lyes in the duſt, thou muſt continue in ſupplication, although thine eyes ſhould fail in waiting for God, and his ſalvation, yet pray on, there is nothing formidable in a Supplicants condition, ſo long as he is not driven from Gods Footſtool, but he prays on. 2. Another direction is, that repulſes or delays ſhould promove humility in Supplications, and Supplicants. It's here ſupplications that he puts up, when he pleads for audience: Now the poor uſes ſupplications, ſupplications are the Beggers, are the Dyvours Language; many Supplicants when they have cryed long, and are not heard, may be in peril to fret, to quarrel, to repine, to bark; but that's a wrong method to come ſpeed with God in Prayer, thou ought to be the more humble, the longer thou art delayed, thou ought to creep the nearer the duſt, and come in among the poor that ſpeak ſupplications. And a third direction ſhall be from the Phraſe and Metaphor in the Text, as I explained it in the entry, that is, that there be a believing, that the Lord hath an affectionat ear to liſten unto, and hear the cry of humble Supplicants. This is imported in the very terms of the Prayer put up to God, as an affectionat Parent, ready to notice the cry of his Child, when he is in hazard, and crys for help; and this is a needful direction, when the Supplicant is held at the door, that beſide diligence and humility, he entertain Faith, that bods well of God; Faith, that when God was ſeeming to deſtroy Job, made him ſay, Theſe things haſt thou hid in thine heart, I know that this is with thee, Job 10.13. I know thou haſt a kindneſs for Job, though thou appear terrible to me; ſo muſt Faith reckon, when anſwers to Prayer are delayed. I know he will do me good, though I ſeem not to be noticed.
Now I come to the third and fourth Verſes, wherein we have the ſecond Branch of the Pſalmiſt's wreſtling, and that is a wreſtling with guilt, that might hinder audience, and to give you a general view of theſe two Verſes, ye ſhall take this Branch of his wreſtling in theſe three: 1. Ye have a very ſenſible and humble acknowledgment of the deſert of ſin, in the moſt godly, verſ. 3. If thou, Lord, ſhould mark iniquity, O Lord, who ſhould ſtand? That is, iniquities are ſo hainous a thing, that if thou wilt mark them as a ſevere Judge, and according to the Covenant of Works proceed with men, none would be juſtified.
2. Ye have the Pſalmiſt's relief being thus humbled, in Gods pardoning mercy, on which he lays hold, in the beginning of the 4. verſ. But there is forgivenneſs with thee,—
3. This pardoning mercy in God, is amplified from the end he hath before him in letting it forth, That thou mayeſt be feared, that is, not only in general, becauſe thou art a merciful and pardoning God in Chriſt, men have acceſs to worſhip and ſerve thee, who otherwiſe art a conſuming fire; but in particular, thy pardoning mercy will excite men to fear and worſhip, ſo good a God that freely pardons iniquity, under the weight and burden of which they could not ſtand.
For the firſt of theſe, his ſenſible and humble acknowledgment of the deſert of ſin in the moſt godly, I may touch it the more curſorily now, becauſe it will fall in, when afterward I come to ſpeak of the right way of applying pardoning mercy, where I ſhall take a view of this Verſe, as it points out the right method of obtaining pardon, and the qualification of the pardoned ſinner, calling upon God in trouble; what I would ſay now upon it, ye ſhall take up in theſe three.
1. Ye have the ſenſe of ſin and guilt, joyned with the ſenſe of trouble.
2. Ye have the ſenſe of guilt meeting a godly man in the teeth, when he is ſent to God by Prayer in trouble.
3. Ye have guilt meeting him with a terrible Aſpect, that if God marked it, he nor none is able to ſtand.
For the firſt, I ſhall give it to you in this brief Obſervation, That in right exerciſe, the ſenſe of ſin and guilt ſhould go along with the ſenſe of diſtreſs and trouble; the Pſalmiſt reſts not on his being ſenſible, that he was in the deeps, but he is alſo lying under the ſenſe of ſin and guilt; a man that hath the meer ſenſe of trouble without the ſenſe of ſin, he is no more than a beaſt that will feel a ſmart, and ſo it is a bruitiſh thing to be houling under the ſenſe of trouble, without the ſenſe of ſin, Hoſ. 7.14. They have not cryed unto me with their heart, when they houled upon their beds. They houled for their trouble, but they called not ſincerely unto me. And verſ. 16. They return, but not to the moſt high, they are like a deceitful bowe: And hence Micah (6.9.) The Lords voice calls unto the City, hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it: There muſt be a hearing of the Appointer of the Rod, as well as the Rod it ſelf. To evince the truth of this point, I ſhall ſhortly hint at ſome conſequences that readily follows the ſenſe of trouble, without the ſenſe of ſin: Not to ſtand upon this that readily they choiſe a new ſin to an outgate, Job 26.1. This haſt thou choſen rather than affliction. I ſhall name theſe three: 1. Where the ſenſe of trouble is without the ſenſe of ſin, folks expects to win ſoon out of it; There are readily a world of conceity folk, that think they will win ſoon and eaſily out of their trouble; Judah found the weight of trouble, but not the weight of ſin, and when they were going to captivity, they were filled with dreams of outgate, Jer. 12.4. They ſaid, he ſhall not ſee our laſt end. And Jer. 2.25. They ſaid, becauſe I am innocent, ſurely his anger ſhall turn from me. And when they were brought very low, that deluſion did not leave them, Ezek. 11.15. They ſay, Get ye far from the Lord, unto us is the land given in poſſeſſion. And Ezek. 33.24. Theſe of them that did inhabite the waſtes, ſaid, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many, the land is given us for inheritance. Whence it is clear, that deluded confidence, is one of the wofull fruits of the ſenſe of trouble, without ſenſe of ſin.
A 2d is, woful bitterneſs, and carnal diſtempers of Spirit, if not when the trouble comes on, becauſe they truſt to be ſoon delivered from it, yet when it continues long, How find ye that people? Jer. 5.19. and the parallel places, who are brought in, ſaying, Wherefore hath the Lord our God done all theſe things unto us? What's our iniquity? And what's our ſin? And Iſa. 51, 20. Ye may take up the temper of ſuch a people, Thy ſons have fainted, they ly at the head of all the ſtreets, as a wild bull in a net; they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God. Ye will not tame a wild Beaſt, by putting him in a Net, but mad him the more; and ſo are they who continue long under the ſenſe of trouble, without the ſenſe of ſin.
And a 3d Conſequence is, a woful iſſue, when ever delivery out of trouble comes to folk in ſuch a poſture; and I find in this iſſue theſe two to concur, one is, their hungry ſtarved luſts, meeting with mercies, do ſurfeit upon them; as the peilled Jews, when they came from the Captivity, and had not quit their covetouſneſs, they no ſooner came back, but they eat up one another: And another is, when ſuch folk are delivered out of the ſtrait wherein they were, their delivery ordinarily hath the plague of God with it, Pſal. 78.29, &c. When that people cryed for fleſh, He rained fleſh upon them as duſt, and feathered fowl as the ſand of the ſea; they were filled, he gave them their deſire; but while the meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and ſlew the fatteſt of them, and ſmote down the choſen men of Iſrael. This in ſhort would put folk to it in ſhoring times, to ſee what they are moſt affected with, whether with trouble, or with ſin? If ye be going with your hands on your loyns, what ails you? What affects you moſt? Sin or trouble? Provocation, or trouble, the fruit of your provocation? Mark it, there is much exerciſe in ſad times, when it is not about ſin, and the fruit of that exerciſe will be found wind, Iſa. 26.18. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind. Senſe of ſin over-weighing ſenſe of trouble, were a bleſt mean to cure our trouble, Iſa. 27.9. By this therefore ſhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his ſin; when he makes all the ſtones of the Altar as Chalk ſtones, that are beaten aſunder, the Groves and Images ſhall not ſtand up.
But the 2d Note I propoſed to be ſpoken to was, That ſenſe of guilt meets him in the teeth, when he comes to God; The Obſervation is, that guilt will readily meet the people of God, in their approaches to him under trouble: when he is crying to God out of the deeps, and is earneſt for audience, God's marking of iniquity ſtares him in the face, to put ſome ſtop and demurr to his acceſs and audience, and the iſſue he would have been at.
If time would ſuffer, I would deduce this point in theſe four. 1. A tender ſoul is known by many heart-ſmitings for ſin, which David was well acquaint with in the Wilderneſs, when he cut off the lap of Sauls garment, 1 Sam. 24.5. A very innocent thing to vindicat his own integrity, yet his heart ſmote him; a heart-ſmiting for ſin was no dainty to him then; I confeſs, when men are at eaſe, and are not in a tender frame, they may give way to groſs ſins, and their heart not ſmite them. What a temper is David in, when he is at eaſe and ſecure? What a wide throat hath he to ſwallow down Adultery, and Murder, and to betray a part of his Army? 2 Sam. 11. The ſword devours one as well as another, (ſaith he,) it's the fortune (as we call it) and the chance of War, let it not trouble thee. That was not like David when he was tender; but however the general holds true, that heart-ſmiting from ſenſe of ſin is a moſt infallible ſign and evidence of tenderneſs and nearneſs to God. O but the skin of a Conſcience near God is thin! A little thing will draw blood of it: And as upon the one hand, ye would try your nearneſs to God by this, ſo upon the other hand, ye would look upon it as poor gallantry to digeſt ſin, without a heart ſmiting you for it. There is a generation of men, who are called ſtrong ſpirits, gallant men, and wherein doth their ſtrength of ſpirit, and gallantry ly? In contemning the Law of God, in treading upon his Authority, in defying God, they can commit all wickedneſs, and ſleep in a ſound skin, and never be troubled with it; theſe are our Gallants, but the day will come, when that will be found poor gallantry, and that he is the brave ſpirit, that knows what heart-ſmiting for ſin is, and hath tenderneſs in his walk.
There is in the 2d place this in particular, that when Saints go to God, then their guilt readily meets them, although they have little ſenſe of guilt in ordinary, yet when they approach to God in earneſt, their ſin will muſter up before them.
3. Although in ordinary Addreſſes, they may be little ſenſible of ſin, yet when a ſtrait comes, and they are ſent to God, then their ſin will find them out, though they can walk in ordinary, and be little troubled with guilt, yet in a diſtreſs it croſs-necks them.
And 4ly, Although wicked men do not readily meet with guilt, becauſe they are plagued with ſtupidity, yet their guilt will meet with them, and they ſhall find it marked by God, as if when they came to God in ordinary, they came to proclaim their iniquity.
Theſe are the Branches of the Point, which now I cannot inſiſt on, to deduce at large, only if ye have to do with God, and be in earneſt, beware of unrepented guilt, the longer it be in meeting with you, it will be the ſadder when you and it meet, and the longer it be that ye lay it not to heart to repent of it, and turn from it, it will be the more ſad. God bleſs what ye have heard.