He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.
Ver. 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.] Sin is a traitor and must not be hid; for if so, now it sucks a man's breast, shortly it will suck his blood. Sin is a sore and must be opened, a sickness, and must be declared to the physician; the concealing of one circumstance may endanger all. Sin is a deformity that must be uncovered, or God will never cover it: see it we must to confession, or see it we shall to our confusion. If Job had covered his transgression as Adam - or "after the manner of men" - he had undone himself. Job 31:33 It is the manner of men - and they have it from Adam - to palliate their sins and plead for them, to elevate and extenuate them, to mince and excuse them. Sin and shifting came into the world together. Sin and Satan are alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own colour. Some deal with their souls as others do with their bodies; when their beauty is decayed they desire to hide it from themselves by false glasses, and from others by painting; so their sins from themselves by false glosses, and from others by excuses. These must not look for Gaius's prosperity 3Jn 1:2 The sunshine also of their outward prosperity ripens their sin apace, and so fits them for destruction. Never was Ephraim's case so desperate as when God said "Ephraim is joined with idols, let him alone"; Hos 4:17 nor Jerusalem so near destruction as when God said, "My fury shall depart from thee; I will be quiet, and no more angry." Eze 16:42 To prosper in sin is the greatest unhappiness that can befall a man out of hell.
But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, &c.] Confession of sin must be joined with confusion of sin, or all is lost. Papists use confession as drunkards use vomiting, that they may "add drunkenness to thirst." Profane people use it as Louis XI of France did his crucifix; he would swear an oath and then kiss it, and swear again and then kiss it again; so they sin and confess they do not well, nor will they strive to do better. As they sorrow not to a transmentation with those Corinthians, so they confess not to an utter abandoning of their wicked courses. They confess, as those Israelites did, Num 14:40 "We have sinned, we will go up." They might as well have said, ‘We have sinned, we will sin,' for God had flatly forbidden them to go up at that time. They confess, as Saul did, "I have sinned," viz., in humouring the people, "yet honour me," said he, "before the people." As the Philistines confessed God's hand, yet sent away the ark, so do these. They that confess and forsake not are only dog sick; when they have disgorged their stomachs they will return to their vomit.
Shall have mercy.] Confess the debt, and God will cross the book; he will draw the red lines of Christ's blood over the black lines of our sins, and cancel the handwriting that was against us. No sooner could David cry Peccavi, I have sinned, but Nathan said, Transtulit peccatum tuum Dominus, God hath taken away my sin; yea, transtulit, he hath translated it, he hath caused thy sin to pass over from thee to Christ. Isaiah 53:6 Rom 4:8 Confession is the soul's vomit, and those that use it shall not only have ease of conscience, but God's best comforts and cordials to restore them again. Cum homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit, saith Augustine. It is not here, Confess and be hanged, but Confess and be saved. In the courts of men it is safest to say Non feci, quoth Quintilian; I did it not; to plead not guilty. Not so here; Ego feci is the best plea, I did it, I have done very foolishly. "Have mercy upon me, O Lord," &c. a Judah, that is, confession, got the kingdom from Reuben; it is the way to the kingdom. No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness; many are for their supposed goodness.
a Per Miscrere mei, tollitur ira Dei.