The prophet calls his countrymen to a work to which they needed to be exhorted and pressed; and well he might do so, for the work of self-examination is not at all an agreeable work. Some religious works are agreeable; for example, the meditation on God's goodness, and the benefits He has bestowed upon us. "A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful." But it is not a joyful and pleasant thing to consider closely our own way, and see how we have behaved ourselves towards our good and gracious Father who is on high.
I. The work of self-examination has this advantage, that it is a real, personal act; and in religion, as has been well-observed, what a man does for himself is of much more avail than what others do or can do for him. In self-examination each man is his own minister; and Christ, who is above, the only Priest.
II. Self-examination is a private work. What a man is in private, that he is;and it is in the personal interviews with our Maker that the critical transactions of our religious history are performed.
III. Self-examination is a rehearsing of the judgment day, for it is a having the soul up before conscience, and conscience is God's voice in the heart. There we are before the throne of God by anticipation, that throne before which the man found without the wedding-garment, when questioned why he has it not, is speechless. Without repentance we shall perish, and repentance absolutely requires and supposes a careful review of the actions of our life, and that at stated and oft-recurring periods, so that the actions may be remembered and not slip through, from the length of time through which the review extends and the difficulty of recalling its performances.
IV. The practice of self-examination will more assuredly soften and humanise the character in regard of the social intercourses of life; making him who is diligent in such practice gentle and merciful toward his fellow-creatures.
V. The self-examiner is a profitable attendant in the services of the church. Having considered his ways, he knows what he has to confess when he comes into his Maker's presence.
C. P. Eden, Oxford Lent Sermons,1859, p. 241.
Reference: Lamentations 3:40. Spurgeon, Evening by Evening,p. 90.