Psalms 19:12-13 - Homiletics

The saint's prayer against sin.

"Cleanse thou me." Natural theology, revelation, spiritual experience,—these are the three successive spheres of thought through which this wondrously beautiful psalm leads us. God in nature; God in Scripture; God in the heart and conscience to which he manifests himself. And in this last sphere, reading the psalm with Christian eyes, we can see what the inspired psalmist "desired to see, but saw not"— God in Christ. First (as in Psalms 8:1-9 .), David lifts up his eyes to the sky; and as he beholds the starry host in its silent unswerving march, the moon walking in brightness, marking, as she waxes and wanes, the lapse of days and months; the sun coming forth in morning splendour, accomplishing his appointed journey, and leading the seasons in his train,—the royal singer sees in all this a perpetual revelation of the glory of God, his wisdom, power, goodness, and unchanging law. Whether men attend to it or not, the revelation is there.

"What though no real voice or sound," etc.

Then the psalmist's mind rises to contemplate a higher region, in which a nobler law than the laws of nature reveals God's glory—the region of thought, duty, spiritual life. Compared with this, all outward beauty and order are but a passing shadowy show. "The Law of the Lord," etc. ( Psalms 19:7 ). Lastly, conscience opens the windows of the psalmist's own inmost soul, and lets the light of this glorious and perfect Law shine in. "In keeping … reward" ( Psalms 19:11 ). Yes. But is that reward mine? Have I kept this glorious and perfect Law? If I have not wilfully broken and presumptuously despised it, yet has not my best obedience come immeasurably short? "Who can understand his errors?" And then the lofty and almost jubilant tone of the psalm is subdued into lowliness, and it closes with prayer, "Cleanse," etc. In these closing verses there is progress and climax.

I. SECRET SINS . Perhaps St. Paul had this passage in his mind ( Romans 2:12 , Romans 2:16 ). , There are two sorts of sin, widely different, which may be called "secret sins."

Of both kinds those solemn words are true ( Psalms 90:8 ). Not seldom, the searching light of the great day is anticipated, and a hidden course of sin brought to light, to the confusion and ruin of the sinner. Of all the sad sights that meet the eye, and well-nigh break the heart of the Christian pastor, incomparably the saddest is when one who has lived in honour and esteem among his fellow-Christians, perhaps far on in middle life, or even in old age—active and prominent as a Christian worker; alas! in some cases even in the Christian ministry—is suddenly discovered to have been secretly leading a dishonest, impure, or intemperate life ( like a tree , hollow at the heart, suddenly uprooted). Such cases not merely grieve; they astound. They give terrible point and emphasis to the question, "Who can understand errors?" (for, you observe, the word "his" is inserted). Who can unravel the deceitfulness of sin, or comprehend its folly, or picture the inward anguish of a life of "secret sin," hidden under a surface of apparent godliness and Christian activity? Evidently, however, it is the other kind of sins of which the text speaks—sins which God sees in us, though we see them not in ourselves. This is clear, firstly, because of the tone of intense sincerity pervading this psalm; secondly, because the word here rendered "cleanse" means "to absolve," or "set free from guilt." It is the same rendered "innocent" in Psalms 19:13 (Revised Version, "clear"). We must include, however, the idea of actual inward cleansing, by the Holy Spirit, of the thoughts, desires, and affections, from which such sins spring; because, wherever God bestows pardon, he gives grace to" follow after holiness." That such sins are sins, and need God's forgiveness, is plain from the fact that we blame ourselves on discovering them. "I was wrong; I did not see it: I meant to do right, but I see I was very wrong." We failed to see what a larger exercise of charity, or humility, or sympathy, or care and attention, would have enabled us to see. We judged too harshly, hastily, ignorantly. We were absorbed in some agreeable duty, and neglected a more urgent but uninteresting one. How often we bitterly blame ourselves for what at the moment we never thought wrong; perhaps even prided ourselves upon! If we ourselves often make this discovery, what a multitude of sins hidden from our forgetful memory and imperfectly enlightened conscience, must lie naked and open to him who sets "our secret sins in the light of his countenance" ( Hebrews 4:13 )! What need to pray, "Cleanse," etc.!

II. Here is, secondly, a class of sins regarding which the psalmist prays, not to be pardoned for having committed, but to be "kept back"—withheld, restrained altogether from committing them: " PRESUMPTUOUS SINS ." The best commentary here, because the one we may suppose the psalmist to have had in mind, is in the Law of Moses ( Numbers 15:1-41 ; especially Numbers 15:27-31 ). These are the sins of which St. John says that the true child of God does not commit sin ( 1 John 3:9 ). He has fully taught that real Christians do commit sin, and need forgiveness ( 1 John 1:9 , 1 John 1:10 ; 1 John 2:1 ). But not wilful sin—sin "with a high hand" ( 1 John 5:18 ). A child of God knowingly and perversely disobeying God, despising God's Law, defying Divine justice, practically denying the Lord that bought him, and doing despite to the Spirit of grace, is an impossible supposition—a practical contradiction. Yet, how significant is it, that David prays to be "kept back" from even such sins—restrained by a power not his own! He even sees peril of sinking into abject bondage: "Let them not have dominion over me!" These are the sins of which our Lord speaks ( John 8:34 ). The more willingly and wilfully a man sins, the more does he forge fetters for himself, and become "tied and bound." With profound humility and knowledge of his own heart, the psalmist feels that he has in himself no security. "Is thy servant a clog?" said Hazael ( 2 Kings 8:13 ); but he did it ( Proverbs 28:26 ; 1 Corinthians 10:12 ; Psalms 119:117 ).

III. GREAT TRANSGRESSION . What the psalmist humbly prays, he confidently hopes. That he may "absolved," "held guiltless," or (as verse 12) "cleansed." This cleansing, as it regards sins actually committed, is what St. John calls being cleansed by "the blood of Jesus Christ" ( 1 John 1:7 ); St. Paul ( Romans 5:9 ), "being. "justified by his blood;" St. Peter ( 1 Peter 1:2 ), "sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. To forgiveness, the idea of practical holiness, actual purity, is added by the word "upright;" literally (as Revised Version), "perfect;" namely, with that perfection of which Scripture so often speaks—integrity; whole-hearted sincerity. What may we understand by "great transgression," from which the psalmist hopes to be clear? It seems to correspond to the "sin unto death" of which St. John speaks ( 1 John 5:16 , 1 John 5:17 ). Hence was drawn the famous attempt to classify sins:

The fatal mistake is in trying to judge of sins apart from the person who sins. What is a sin of ignorance in one may be a presumptuous sin in another. The sin of which one repents and finds forgiveness may in another be a sin against so much light and grace that it is impossible to renew to repentance ( Hebrews 6:4 , Hebrews 6:6 )—"a sin unto death." Let us not pry into that dark abyss; but seek to keep far from its fatal brink. Only remember and be sure of this—sorrow for sin and desire for pardon and purity are a sure proof that no unpardonable sin has been committed. God "pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel"—the message of his grace and love in Christ Jesus. To every one—whatsoever his sins may be—who can truly make this prayer his own, the Saviour answers as of old, "I will: be thou clean."