is more to their taste, a good sort of man,' ‘ a well-disposed man,' and so on. It matters not in their estimation, though his heart were alienated from the life of God; though it were altogether unvisited by the illumination of the Spirit, unregenerate by his quickening power, unsanctified by his renewing grace. He might even die in the impenitence, worldliness, unbelief, self-righteousness of his natural state; and yet they would be ready to inscribe on his tomb all the unmeaning flatteries employed on such occasions. He had never injured them, and hence their charity! But suppose the man to have invaded their rights, or defamed their character, then they can instantly detect the enormity of his offences.

The true penitent forms altogether a different estimate. He is deeply sensible that sin derives its principal malignity from its relation to God, and that its chief heinousness consists in its being a violation of God's law, a contempt of his authority, and a practical denial of all his attributes. If any crimes whatever could deserve to be marked with superior infamy on other considerations, surely they would be those which David had committed. The peace and honour and life of a faithful servant and friend, were sacrificed to the cruelty of his lust. Yet not merely in the text does he confess, "I have sinned against the Lord," but in the 51st Psalm he still more pointedly passes over the criminality of his conduct in its relation to man, and notices it exclusively as an offence against God. "Against

thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." Thus the believer sets the Lord always before him, and either, when tempted, resists the suggestion with "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God," or when guilty, but contrite, acknowledges, “I have sinned against the Lord."

2. A second feature in this confession, indicative of true repentance, was that he made no attempt to extenuate his guilt. Unhumbled persons uniformly endeavour to excuse their faults. Adam cast the blame of his transgression on Eve; and Eve transferred it to the serpent. Aaron, when rebuked by his brother for acting as the high priest of Israel's idolatry, retorted, "Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief." Saul in like manner, when reproved for sparing Agag and the chief of the spoil, charged the blame upon his followers; and, as far as it still attached to him, excused himself as acting involuntarily, and as overawed by his subjects. But David's mouth was shut; he uttered not one single word in palliation of his crimes. Heavy as the prophet's charge against him was, he fell under it instantly and unreservedly. He alleges no force of temptation, no provoking circumstances; and when in the 51st Psalm he does so feelingly intimate his sense of original sin as the source of every actual transgression, it is not in the way of extenuation, but of deep humiliation. "Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." How

different this from the language and notions of those who are in the habit of attributing all their transgressions to the frailty of their nature, the necessities of their constitution, and similar pleas, as though these were really responsible for the guilt, and alone amenable for its punishment. Never so long as a man advances the slightest pretext for his sins, or dwells on the peculiar circumstances which led to them, is he to be regarded as truly penitent. Confessions of this kind- To be sure it was wrong; I know it was wrong; I see as clearly as you can tell me that it was wrong; but then I did not think there was so much harm in it;' or, 'I was taken off my guard;' or, 'I was overpersuaded;' or, I am not so culpable as my companions;' or, 'I am no scholar;' or, I am very young, or very poor, or very quick-tempered, or very sanguine in constitution,' and so on-these are, in fact, no confessions at all. In a word, it is an invariable characteristic of the true penitent, that he is more disposed to aggravate than to palliate his guilt.

3. Another token of David's sincerity was, that The manifested no displeasure against his reprover. Men in general, and great men in particular, are exceedingly apt to take offence when faithfully told of their faults. Their indignation, instead of being turned against themselves, is directed against the rash disturber of their self-complacency. Thus when Jeroboam was rebuked for his idolatries by the man of God who came out of Judah, his in

stant order to the attendants was-" Lay hold on him." The like feeling is evident in Ahab's address to Elijah" Hast thou found me, O mine enemy; and in his observations respecting Micaiah-“I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." When the prophet met the messengers whom Ahaziah had sent to inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, and told them to return to their master and warn him, in the name of the God of Israel, that he should surely die, immediately a captain of fifty is dispatched with the summons—“ Thou man of God, come down." Again, when Asa was reproved by Hanani for seeking the alliance of the Syrians, instead of relying on the Lord, it is said "Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in a prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing." Nor has this impatience of rebuke been confined in every instance to such manifestations of displeasure as these. The fate of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, and of John the Baptist, are examples which shew that they who reprove those who are possessed of absolute power, do it at the peril of their lives, and are not unlikely to pay the penalty of death for their presumption.

My brethren, I hesitate not to say that the same aversion to reproof, and dislike of the reprover, is natural to every one of us. Men will readily tolerate general rebukes, however public; they will even extol the faithfulness of the preacher who utters them, and condemn the one who shuns the

duty; but let that same preacher go to each individual in private, and warn him, however kindly, against his easily besetting sins; let him intimate that one is proud, and another covetous; or one uncharitable, and another ill-tempered; that this person is guilty of worldly conformity, and that of secret intemperance, or slander, or deceit, or vanity, or affectation, and so on—what think you, my brethren, would such a minister be universally popular and acceptable?

In the present case, however, no displeasure at all was manifested; on the contrary, we have reason to think that Nathan was more endeared to the king than ever by his fidelity, since we find David afterwards shewing confidence in him to the latest hour of his life. Here, then, was a rare but essential feature of true repentance. Even we can upon closer investigation discover that that simple confession of the text, so made, evinced the sincerity of David's contrition. The Lord, who prompted, at once acknowledged and accepted it; and gave power and commandment to his prophet to declare and pronounce to that penitent the absolution and remission of his sins. "And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." This was,

II. THE OTHER GENERAL TOPIC SUGGESTED FOR OUR CONSIDERATION. It will lead me to observe that David's acceptance with God was,

1. Immediate. The instant that he repented,