Preached at Brampton Ash, 8th Sunday after Trinity, August 10, 1862.
“But lo! Thou requirest truth in the inward parts, and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.”—Psalm li. 6.
I have read the Psalm from which these words are taken to-day. It was written many thousands of years ago; it was written in a land thousands of miles away; it was written most likely by a king. Yet you and I have joined in singing it; we have taken it as ours. And that is not all; the man—or the king, if he was a king—who wrote it, had committed a great crime; there was the guilt of blood on his soul; he had broken the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill;” to all appearance, also, the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
Now what brings us and this man who lived in other days and so far away, together? How can a king speak for us humble people? How can a man who had done such horrible acts confess for us who cannot charge ourselves with them?
My friends, here is the reason. This king found he had something upon the heart within him which he could not get rid of; which all his friends and kinsfolk and subjects could not help him to get rid of. He tried to forget it; he tried what pleasure would do; he tried what business would do; he tried what making prayers could do; but it was no use. There the burden was still. He felt as if a hand was heavily laid upon him. The moisture seemed to be dried up in him like the fields in a drought. What was this? The man that he had killed could not speak and accuse him, his lips were silent for ever; the woman he had tempted did not accuse him, he had made her a queen. But some one accused him; who was it? He tried to escape from the thought, but at last it came full and clear upon him. God is accusing thee! God knew what thou wast doing, if no one else knew it. God has found thee out. The Judge of all the earth has taken account of thy deeds. It is He whose hand is upon thee. It is He who is making the time that has been, and that is, and that is coming, all very terrible to thee.
Now at first this discovery must have added very much to his pain and horror. ‘What, God Himself is fighting with me! He who is just and pure has seen that I am not just and pure. How can I escape from Him? If I go up to heaven He will be there. If I go down to hell He will be there. And wherever I am He will feel to me as He feels to me now. He will not change. He will not be less just and pure a thousand years hence. And I, what shall I be?’
Then this thought came to him, ‘Is he so just and pure? Why, then, He would have me just and pure. What He would have me be, He can cause me to be. He can take this foulness out of my heart; He can turn me into a right man again. Yes! that is the thing I want; the only thing I want! I have done wrong, and I must suffer for the wrong. But God can give me a right heart and a clean conscience. He can purify me; He can restore me. Therefore, instead of seeking to escape from Him, I will arise and go to Him. I will tell Him how the case stands with me; I will tell Him how this sin is corrupting me, and tormenting me, and destroying all the life in me. I will ask Him thoroughly to purge my heart and soul of it. I believe He can do that. I believe He will do it.’ Well, that is what this Psalm is about from beginning to end. If you read it over to yourselves again, you will see that it is the cry of a man who knows that he has been wrong, utterly wrong; he knows that his wrong has been discovered, not by some mortal, but by the God that never slumbers nor sleeps. The man knows that he may ask Him, the God of all right, to deliver him from his wrong and set him right.
And, therefore, my friends, this Psalm is for all people whatsoever, in all countries, in all times, for kings and for beggars; for those who have committed great sins, and for those who have committed little sins; for those who feel a burden upon them too heavy to bear; for him who only hears some slight whisper in his heart, saying, ‘All is not with thee as it should be. Thou oughtest to be a better man than thou art.’ Each of us may take this Psalm to himself; each of us may pray it for himself. And I say boldly, we who are here to-day can understand it better, and turn it to better account, and join in it more thoroughly than those could who lived in king David’s days, or than all the people could for whom the book of Psalms was chiefly written; for we can call Him to whom David prayed, our Father. We can use that word, because Jesus Christ, His Son, who took our nature on Him, and died for our sins, and rose again for our justification, has said, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” We can do it, because He has sent forth His Spirit into our hearts, that we may call Him “Abba Father,” and may arise and go to Him, and may confess all our evil to Him, and may receive a right heart and a new spirit from Him. Therefore, let us try to get the Psalm well into our hearts. I think we shall do so best, if we consider that one verse which I read to you as my text. If we take that in thoroughly all the rest will come home to us, and will be clear to us.
There are two parts you see in the text. The first is this, “Thou requirest truth in the inward parts;” the second is this, “Thou shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.” I will speak to you a little of each.
“Thou requirest truth in the inward parts.” That is to say, ‘Thou, Oh, God! who knowest me altogether, who knowest my downsitting and my uprising, who art about my bed and about my path, Thou wantest me to be a true man; Thou wantest me to be true in my dealings, true in my speech, true to those that are above me and below me and my equals; and that I may be so, Thou requirest me to be true in my own self, true in all that I plan and purpose. Thou requirest that I should not deceive myself or persuade myself that I am better than I am, or that I know what I do not know. Thou requirest that I should be true when I come to kneel before Thee, that I should not mock Thee with idle vain words.’ ‘What,’ you say, ‘does God require all that of me, me a poor ignorant creature who have so little strength?’ Yes, verily, God requires this of thee and of me, because we are His children, and because He is true, and because He would have us like Him. God requires this of thee, because He would not have thee be miserable and a cause of misery to other people; for all misery comes out of falsehood; there would be no misery in the world if there was nothing but truth in the world. Nevertheless this does sound like a very great thing to ask of creatures who have so much falsehood in them as we have; who have done so many untrue acts; who catch ourselves continually in untruths of word and deed. It does sound like a great thing to ask in a world where so many cheats are going on, and where they grow into customs before we are aware of it.
And, therefore, hear the sentence. “Thou shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.” That is to say, ‘As I go about in the world and mix with other men, I am very likely to get into false ways. They may flatter me, and that may tempt me to be vain and conceited. They may treat me hardly, and that may tempt me to be cunning and treacherous. And I cannot keep myself from yielding to these temptations. I cannot hinder a number of false and evil thoughts coming to me when I am alone. But Thou, O God, who requirest me to be true in the inward parts, Thou canst give me the wisdom which I want. Yes! for I can tell Thee of all my folly and weakness. I can ask Thee to clear away my folly, and support my weakness; I can lay bare all that I have done and all that I am before Thee; I can ask Thee to reform me, because I cannot reform myself.’
Oh! my friends, in how many thousand circumstances may we turn these words to our use and blessing. Only let us remember these three things: 1st. What God is; that He is the all just and true. 2nd. What we are without Him, all unjust and untrue. 3rd. What He would have us be, and can enable us to be, just and true, after the likeness of His dear Son. For our Lord Jesus Christ showed us what God’s truth is. He came from the God of Truth that He might deliver us from our lies, and might enable us to walk in His truth. And the Spirit who shows us our sins, and awakens us to repentance is the Spirit of Truth of whom Christ has said, “He will guide us into all truth.” So, every time you say, ‘Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep,’ you confess that God requires truth in your inward parts, and that you have not been true. And every time the minister says, ‘He pardoneth and absolveth,’ he means, God would set you free from your falsehood. God would make you know wisdom secretly. And when you say the Lord’s Prayer, you ask that God’s name, which is truth, may be ‘hallowed,’ and that God’s kingdom of truth may come, and that God’s will, which is the will of truth, may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Only be sure that what God requires is just what you require to make you blessed, and then you will ask for that, and He will give you more than you can ask or think.