Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_600_e.lzh/3_660.TXT

Text File | 1995-02-01 | 9KB | 170 lines

\*Ver. 5. \\I acknowledged my sin unto thee\\, &c.] The
sin of Adam, in which he was concerned; original sin,
the corruption of his nature, the sin that dwelt in him,
his private and secret sins, which none knew but God
and himself; even all his sins, which were many, with
all their aggravated circumstances; wherefore he uses
various words to express them by, in this and the following
clauses; as %sin%, %iniquity%, and %transgressions%; the
same that are used in the doctrine of pardon in the preceding
verses; his confession being of the same extent
with pardon, and all these he calls his own; as nothing
is more a man's own than his sins are; and these the
psalmist acknowledged to the Lord; or %made%, or %will
make known% {p} to him: not that any sin is unknown to
God, even the most secret ones; but they may be
said to be made known to God, when a sinner makes
a sincere and hearty acknowledgment of them before
him, and expresses his own sense of them; how that
they are with him, and ever before him, what knowledge
rather he has of them, how much he is affected
with them, and concerned for the commission of them;
and such an acknowledgment the Lord expects and
requires of his people, \\#Jer 3:12,13\\;
\*\\and mine iniquity have I not hid\\;
by retaining it as a sweet morsel
under his tongue; for he not only acknowledged it,
but forsook it; or by not confessing it, as Achan; for
non-confession of sin is hiding it; or by denying it, as
Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira; or by palliating and
extenuating it; or by casting the blame on others, as
did Adam and his wife; see \\#Job 31:33\\; or by covering
it with a guise of sanctify and religion;
\*\\I said, I
will confess my, transgressions unto the Lord\\; not unto
men, though in some cases confession of sin is to be
made to men; a confession of it in general is to be made
to the churches, and administrators of ordinances, in
order to admission into a church state, and to the ordinances
of Christ, \\#Mt 3:6 Ac 2:37,41\\; and in
case of private offences, faults are to be confessed one
to another, and forgiveness granted; and in case of
public offences, a confession should be made to a church
publicly; partly for the satisfaction of the church, and
partly for the glory of divine grace; but confession is
not to be made to a priest, or to a person in a ministerial
character, in order for absolution; but to the
Lord only, against whom sin is committed, and who
only can pardon it: and this the psalmist saith in his
heart he would do, and did do it; he not only confessed
facts, but the fault of them, with their evil circumstances,
and that he justly deserved punishment
for them; and this he did from his heart, with abhorrence
of the sins committed by him, and in faith, with
a view to the pardoning mercy of God in Christ;
\*\\and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin\\. That is,
either the guilt of his sin, which he took away from
him; or the punishment of it, which he delivered him
from: moreover, this phrase may denote the exceeding
sinfulness of sin, and so may both express the sense
which the psalmist had of it, and exalt the grace of
God in the forgiveness of it; by which must be meant
a fresh manifestation and application of pardon to his
soul: now, when confession of sin, and remission of
it, are thus put together, the sense is not that confession
of sin is the cause of pardon; it is not the moving
cause of it, that is the grace and mercy of God; nor
the procuring and meritorious cause of it, that is the
blood of Christ: it is not for the sake of a sinner's confession
of sin, but for Christ's sake, that sin is forgiven;
but this is the way in which it is enjoyed; and such as
truly repent of sin, and sincerely confess it, are the
persons to whom the Lord manifests his forgiving
love; such may expect it, \\#Pr 28:13 1Jo 1:9\\.

\*\\Selah\\; on this word, \\see Gill on "Ps 3:2"\\.

\*Ver. 6. \\ For this shall every one that is godly pray
unto thee\\, &c.] Meaning either that the success he
had met with, in acknowledging his sin, would encourage
others also to take a like step, and make their supplications
to the Lord also; or that every godly person
should pray to God for the same blessing of pardoning
grace likewise. Pardon of sin is to be prayed for; not
only Moses, David, Daniel, and other Old Testament
saints, prayed for it; but Christ has directed his disciples
and followers, under the Gospel dispensation,

to do the same, \\#Lu 11:4\\; and which must be understood
of praying for the manifestation of it to their
consciences; for God has by one eternal act forgiven
all trespasses at once, for Christ's sake; nor can any
new act of pardon arise in the mind of God, or a fresh
one pass in the court of heaven, nor the blood of Christ
be shed again for the remission of it. Moreover, godly
men will, in this sense, pray for it, as they have daily
occasion to do: a godly man is a man that is created
after the image of God, is born of him, and is possessed
of internal powerful godliness, and has all
things pertaining to it; and particularly has a godly
sorrow for sin, and the fear of God in his heart, and
before his eyes: and such a man is a praying one;
having the spirit of grace, he has the spirit of supplication,
and prays with the spirit and with the understanding;
and his praying for the pardon of sin shows
that he is not without it, but daily commits it, and so
needs fresh discoveries of forgiving love: and which he
prays for
\*\\in a time when thou mayest be found\\; which is
to be understood, not of any particular stated times of
prayer, as morning, noon, and night; for the throne of
grace is always open, and God is to be found, and grace
and mercy with him at all times; and much less does
this respect a day of grace for particular persons,
which, if improved, and the opportunity taken, they
may have pardon; but if neglected till it is over, then
there is no pardon for them; for there is no such day
of grace: the whole Gospel dispensation is a day of
grace; and that will not be over until all the elect of
God are gathered in; and until then it is, and will be;
now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation;
but it designs a time of need, of soul distress, in which,
when persons call upon God in truth, and seek him
with their whole heart, he is found by them, and they
find grace and mercy with him to relieve them in their
distress; the Targum is,
\*"in an
"acceptable time;"\*
\*\\surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh
unto\\ \\him\\; that is, unto the godly man; not but
that afflictions, which are comparable to great floods
of waters, do reach godly persons; but not so as to
overwhelm them and destroy them; they are delivered
out of them. The phrase seems to denote safety in
the greatest calamities; that though even a deluge of
vengeance and awful judgments should come upon the
world, yet the godly man is safe; his place is the munition
of rocks; he is in the hands of Christ, and is enclosed
in the arms of everlasting love, from whence he
can never be taken by men or devils: the Targum interprets
these %waters of many people%; and adds, so as
%to do any evil%, or %hurt%.

\*Ver. 7. \\Thou [art] my hiding place\\, &c.] In time of
trouble; see \\#Ps 27:5\\; so Christ is said to be, \\#Isa
32:2\\. %Thou shall preserve me from trouble%; not
from having it; for in this world the saints must have
tribulation, and through it enter the kingdom, but from
being swallowed up with it; the Lord will bring them
safe out of it, and of them it shall be said, %these are
they that came out of great tribulation%, \\#Re 7:14\\;
\*\\thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance\\;
or gird with gladness, as in \\#Ps 30:11\\; the
meaning is, that God would give him abundant reason
for praise and thankfulness; and an opportunity of attending
him with songs of praise for deliverance out of
the hands of his enemies, and from trouble; and
that both in his house below, where the saints, his loving
people and faithful subjects, would join with him, in
the midst of whom he should stand encompassed with
their songs of praise; or in heaven above, where he
should sing the song of Moses, and of the Lamb, and
be surrounded with the hallelujahs of angels and glorified
saints; Aben Ebra interprets these songs of the
voices of angels.

\*\\Selah\\; on this word, \\see Gill on "Ps 3:2"\\.

{p} \^Keydwa\^ %cognoscere feci te%, Pagninus, Montanus; so Musculus,
Vatablus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, & Gejerus, to the same
purport.