by Robert Candlish
in ePub. .mobi & .pdf formats
Being an Exposition of the Fifty First Psalm
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. - PSALM 51:1–6
THE psalm opens with an abrupt and impulsive appeal. It is the psalmist's ordinary way; to begin with an outburst of feeling; and then go on to explain more leisurely the experience which led up to it. So is it here. His cry is for mercy;—"God be merciful to me a sinner." And it is a cry altogether self-abandoning and self-despairing. It is a simple casting of himself, sinner as he is, upon God. It is upon God, "according to his loving kindness, according to the multitude of his tender mercies," that he casts himself. The rich, and large, and bountiful grace of God is his only stay. He appeals to it in terms expressive of the most emphatic fulness of contrite conviction and believing confidence:—"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions."
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Table of Contents
I. THE PRAYER OF A BROKEN HEART—CONFESSION OF SIN
II. THE PRAYER OF A BROKEN HEART—SUPPLICATION FOR FULL CLEANSING
III. THE PRAYER OF A BROKEN HEART—ITS PURPOSE OF REPARATION
IV. THE PRAYER OF A BROKEN HEART—ITS PRESENT SACRIFICE AND FINAL PROSPECT