For Thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
A prayer for pardon and its plea
The context shows that this is the prayer of a man who had long loved and served God. Yet side by side with this consciousness of devotion and service there lie the profound sense of sin, and of the need of pardon. This consciousness of transgression and cry for pardon are inseparable and permanent accompaniments of a devout life all along its course, but they are the roots and beginnings of all godliness. As a rule, the first step which a man takes to knit himself consciously to God is through the gate of recognised and repeated and confessed sin, and imploring the Divine mercy.
I. The cry for pardon. There are two elements in forgiveness. There is the forgiveness known to law and practised by the lawgiver. And there is the forgiveness known to love, and practised by the friend, or parent, or lover. The one consists in the remission of external penalties. But there is a forgiveness deeper than legal pardon. We must carry both of these ideas into our thoughts of God’s pardon, in order to get the whole fulness of it. Scripture recognises as equally real and valid, in our relations to God, the judicial and the fatherly side of the relationship.
II. The plea for pardon. “For Thy name’s sake.”
1. The mercy of God flows from the infinite depths of His own character. He is His own motive. He forgives because He is God.
2. The past of God is a plea with God for present forgiveness. “Thy name” in Scripture means the whole revelation of the Divine character.
3. The Divine forgiveness is in order that men may know Him better. Nothing reveals the sweetness of the Divine name like the assurance of His pardon.
III. The reason for this earnest cry. “For it is great.” That may be a reason for the pardon; more probably it is a reason for the prayer. The fact is true in regard to us all. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A prayer and a plea
Consider this prayer.
I. It is an unreserved confession of sin.
1. As his own.
2. As great. In both respects men fail in such confession. They acknowledge sin in general, but not as their own; or they extenuate and excuse it.
II. A humble application for mercy. The unregenerate man will not thus humble himself, but will trust to his good works and his fancied good deservings.
III. The plea urged. “For Thy name’s sake.” It is drawn from God, not from himself. It looks to the Saviour, who is the manifestation of God’s name. Let this be our only plea.
IV. The strong faith of this prayer. David believed that God would forgive though his sin were great. Most people see God as all mercy or all wrath. Not so David. Have we such holy faith? (T. Cooper.)
A plea for pardon
I. A confession of sin. We shall be induced to make such a confession, if we consider that--
1. Our sins are great in number. How often do we offend! How many have been the follies of our childhood, the crimes of our youth, and the backslidings of our riper age!
2. Our sins are great in their turpitude. This appears from the Being against whom sin is committed; from the dignity and circumstances of its subjects, from the degrading character which it sustains, and from the awful effects which it produces.
3. Our sins are great in their demerit. The punishment due to sin must be in proportion to the majesty and glory of God, whose dignity it daringly insults, and whose law it impiously violates.
II. An APPROPRIATE request for pardon.
1. The language of genuine repentance.
2. The language of devout solicitude.
3. The language of humble confidence.
III. AN argument urged to obtain success. It suggests--
1. The pardon of sin displays the glory of the Divine perfections. God’s name signifies His nature.
2. The pardon of sin demonstrates the efficacy of Christ’s atonement.
3. The pardon of sin exemplifies the truth of the sacred Scriptures. In conclusion, warn the careless, encourage the penitent, and congratulate the saints, who have received the “knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins.” (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Confession and absolution
I. Confession is to be made distinctly and directly, and only to the Lord. There were priests and prophets in those days, but David unfolds the story of his sin to God Himself. He realises that all sin is directly aimed at God. Observe in David’s confession the utter absence of excuses. In this confession there is no mention of punishment. David does not ask to be let off. He asks for pardon solely and simply. And David had a true conception of the heinousness of sin.
II. A pleading prayer. Two pleas, The first he finds in God. “For Thy name’s sake.” He was God’s own child, and he pleads his sonship. The second he finds in his own sinfulness. Many mistake by asking pardon because the iniquity is small. The strongest plea is to say to God, “Have mercy upon me, for I am a great sinner. I have sinned in a thousand ways, and even ten thousand times.” True confession brings the true absolution. (Thomas Spurgeon.)
The prayer for pardon
I. The prayer for pardon. The Psalm is an appeal for Divine guidance amidst the perplexity of life. But the author is driven to think of his unworthiness to receive it because of past perverseness. Are we not all thus placed? The reason why many are lost in the mazes of doubt is because they have not humbled themselves to penitence.
II. The grounds of the prayer for pardon.
1. God’s faithfulness. The “name” God is used constantly as synonymous with His character. Forgiveness is a Divine disposition as well as an act. God is acting in accordance with His own nature in listening to this prayer. The words not only suggest God’s character, but His word. “For Thy name’s sake” means for Thy honour, who hast pledged Thy word.
2. The suppliant’s need. “For it is great.” This is an argument that needs no mastering. For who cannot expatiate on his needs! Rejoice in the knowledge that the very thing which dismays thee, O sinner,--the greatness of thy offence,--may be used as a reason why God should forgive thee. At the door of our good and bountiful Lord the plea of utter destitution will ensure relief. The wretchedness of thy crushed condition beneath a mountain load of guilt will stir the Divine compassion. (Walter Hawkins.)
A true mark of a penitent
A true mark of a penitent sinner, to aggravate his sin. Some use to extenuate their sins by comparing them with the sins of others, which they think far greater than theirs are; others excuse them, as Adam did when he said, The woman which Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat; she again excused herself, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. But let the children of God search and find out the greatness of their sins, and aggravate them, that God may extenuate and so forget them. Are ye laden with sin? remember it, and God will forget it, and ease you; if ye have it before your eyes He shall cast it behind His back; but if you think nothing of sin, God will bind it on your back, so that it shall press you down as a millstone. (A. Symson.)
A strange plea
We should not expect a criminal before an earthly judge to advance such a plea as this. Yet before the highest Judge of all this is the argument, the wise argument, of the awakened soul. We should not value God’s pardon when obtained if we thought lightly of our sin. When our eyes are opened to see the extent of our ruin we can turn this appalling discovery into the argument of the text. These words represent a real personal conviction of sin.. We are ready enough to accept such a statement about our sins, without the slightest degree of humility or penitential sorrow. Consider what it is that makes sin great.
I. It is great according to the position it occupies in the moral scale. There is a subjective as well as an objective measure of sin. Each sin may be judged in the abstract according to its heinousness; but when it is committed we have to consider the conditions under which it was committed. Its guilt must depend on a variety of considerations. Two offenders may commit precisely the same offence, and yet one may be morally much guiltier than the other.
II. Sin is great, in proportion to the advantages and privileges of the sinner. Many will not admit this. Respectable church-going people plume themselves on their privileges, as though the possession of these might be accepted as a proof that their own spiritual condition could not be otherwise than satisfactory.
III. Sin is great, in consideration of the character of those against whom it is committed. The exceeding sinfulness of sin lies in its being an offence against infinite love revealed.
IV. Sin is great, in proportion to its frequency. If a man is proved to be a confirmed criminal, then you may be sure that the heaviest sentence the law allows will be meted out to him. How often have we sinned against God!
V. Sin is great in proportion to the amount of deliberate intention with which it is committed. Some of our sins are the result of a momentary temptation, and may be attributed to a passing weakness. This may extenuate our guilt. But we cannot speak thus of the determined, deliberate, and resolute resistance that we have offered to the pleadings of the Holy Ghost in our souls. The text contains another plea, “For Thy name’s sake.” Our hope lies there. It is the glory of God to undertake our case when it is desperate, and He shows His almighty power most chiefly by showing mercy and pity. The moral glory of God shines out more, so far as we can judge, in pardoning a sinner than in making a world. And we honour His name most when we trust Him to do this. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
Contrition
God’s principal aim is to bring us all to feel that our iniquity is great.
I. David declared that his was great. What is it that makes our sin great?
1. Against whom it has been committed.
2. That it is offence against most just and equitable law.
3. That we who owe so much to God should sin against Him.
Think of the number of your sins and the lack of all provocation. We have sinned for sinning’s sake. And we have gone on in sin after we have known and felt the evil of it.
II. There is a plea in the very greatness of our sins. The pith of the whole text lies in the words which we forget to quote--“For Thy name’s sake.” The confession is an argument now. There is a valid plea here. If salvation were by merit, then the least offender would get off best. But it is all by grace; and hence the greater the pardon, the greater the glory of that grace in bestowing it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The cry for pardon
I. The confession. “Mine iniquity, for it is great.” The confession of a regenerate man: the spirit teaches and prompts. The natural man excuses, palliates, minimises his sin; uses false weights and measures. Our view depends on distance, position, light, and medium. God views according to unerring standard, and in clearest light; so more and more does the spirit-taught soul. Sense of sin grows as we come nearer to God. This confession is not vague, unmeaning, mere form. Take one sin--anyone--and look at it in the light; weigh it in the scales; it is great. Consider the magnitude and multitude of your sins.
II. The prayer. “Pardon.” Appeal from law to grace; of these there can be no mixture. Great sins do not bar this appeal. Great sin means great need. No extenuating circumstances can be urged; none are needed. Pardon is free, immediate, complete, and continual.
III. The plea. For Thy names sake. All selfment is disowned. God delights to pardon. God has promised to pardon. God’s name, character, word, promise, covenant are all involved in hearing prayer--this prayer. Christ is the embodiment of the Divine name for sinners, and the sinner’s plea with God. (James Smith, M. A.)