786 Outline.
THE K I NG ' S B U S I N E S S
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.’* (1 John 1:9). “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just ta| forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from, all unrighteousness.” David felt the weight of his sin. He did not plead for justice, but for mercy. Honest men will always acknowledge that they are sinners and need the mercy of God; but since Jesus died upon the cross for sinners, the truth breaks in upon the soul, God speaks through the cross and says “ Mercy is extended, and you need not cry for it, but take it.” David has confidence in his appeal to God. He has learned to know Him as a God of mercy, and so he appeals to His loving kindness and tender mercy. What beautiful, tender words for a broken-hearted man! Note the ascend ing scale, “ The multitude of thy tender mercies.” A great sinner needs a great Saviour, and many sins need a multitude of tender mercies. David apprehended what we know so well who have the revelation of God our Father in Jesus Christ our Lord. (Psa. 35:1-9; Gen. 6:8). He makes a full confession. He uses three terms to in dicate his guilt. “ Sin” which is “ mis sing the mark” ; “ iniquity” which is “ moral distortion!” “ transgression” which is “ passing a boundary” . He was born in sin, shapen in iniquity. There was no hedging with David. He found that an honest confession was good for his soul. He plead no merits of his own, although he was a king and had wrought wonderful things for God. He was not one of the up-to-date Mod ernists or Christian Scientists or Univer- salists; just a poor, degraded, debased king with an honest confession that he deserved the wrath of God. (Psa. 32:5; 1 John 1:6). “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.” (2) A PLEA FOR RESTORATION, vs. 5-12. Note the phases here: “ Wash me.” “ Cleanse me.” “ Purge me.” “ Create
(1) A Prayer -oi Repentance, vs. 1-4. (2) A Plea for Restoration, vs. 5-12. (3) A Promise of Reparation, vs. 13-17. (4) A Prayer for the People, vs. 18, 19. Introduction. Pity the people who have never known this Psalm, and who have never had the privilege and satisfaction of pouring out this message from a heart-felt exper ience. It is difficult LESSON to segregate these EXPOSITION rerses into divisions, T. C. Horton but we have sug gested an outline around which may be clustered most of the leading features. (1) A PRAYER OF REPENTANCE, vs. 1-4. David had been a great sinner. Sin is always to be measured by the light in which it was committed. Those who have the full light of God’s Word will be judged according to that light. A sin of the Twentieth Century in this land of ours is far more heinous than the same sin in David’s day. David is conscious of his sins and is under deep conviction concerning them. They weighed heavily upon his heart. After fifty years of an honorable life David had fallen into the basest of sins,— adultery and murder. We do not know the causes which led up to these sins. For a year after they were com mitted, he had kept silence. Then God sent His servant Nathan to put his fin ger upon the sin, and to say, “ Thou art the man.” What the people need today is a pro phet to come to them with a message from God. There is a call to the Church to gather for a day of fasting and prayer; for confession of sin. The na tion needs it. The Church at large needs it. Every individual church needs it. Every member of every church needs it. We need to come, using this Psalm,' to confess our sins. (Jas. .5:16). “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
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