A plea for mercy in spite of grout.
I. WE CAN ONLY PLEAD FOR GOD'S MERCY AFTER A FRANK ADMISSION OF OUR OWN GUILT. The common habit of people is to take the opposite course—to excuse themselves, extenuate their faults, or ignore, or even deny them. But this is vain before God, and while persisted in it shuts the door against forgiveness. God can only forgive sin that is confessed, can only have mercy on the humble and penitent. This confession must be frank and full. Such a confession is contained in the prayer of Jeremiah.
1. Personal guilt is admitted—"our iniquities."
2. The shame of increasing guilt is admitted—"our backslidings." If we feel we are better than we once were, we excuse our present imperfection on the ground that it is at least an improvement on the past. It requires a genuine penitence to admit that we have been growing worse.
3. Sin is seen to be an offence against God—"We have sinned against thee." It is not a mere fault in ourselves; it is a direct act of warfare with Heaven. David said this (Psalms 51:4); so did the prodigal son (Luke 15:18).
4. Sin is recognized as abundant—" Our backslidings are many." It is vain to confess some sins whilst denying others, or to attempt to represent them as leas numerous than they really are. This keeping back of part of the confession mars the whole of it.
5. Guilt is acknowledged to be open before God—" Our sins testify."
6. It is seen to be a bar to our claim of simple right—they testify "against us." Condemnation, therefore, may justly follow the plain evidence of guilt. Our own sins are witnesses to oppose any plea we may found on our personal deserts.
II. OUR OWN GUILT, WHEN FRANKLY ADMITTED, IS NO HINDRANCE TO THE MERCY OF GOD. The only hindrance is impenitence. The ground of God's mercy is not our desert, but Iris goodness. If there is anything in us which predisposes him to be gracious, this is not our worth, but our want. The more wretched the condition to which our sin has brought us, the more urgent the call to his pity. The one plea is" for his Name's sake."
1. For the sake of God's character. His Name expresses what he is. His highest name is "Love." By this name we plead for mercy. Because of what he is, because of his inherent goodness, love, and pity, we implore his help.
2. For the sake of God's honor. He has promised to have mercy on the penitent (e.g. Deuteronomy 30:1-10). Thus he has pledged his Name, bound himself by his own certain faithfulness.
3. For the sake of God's glory. His highest glory is his goodness. When he delivers his children his own Name is glorified. Redemption honors God more than creation. The song of the redeemed at the end of the world will be more sweet and more noble than the song of the sons of the morning at the dawn of creation. As Christians we see these truths more clearly revealed in Christ. He is the "Word" incarnate, the "Name," the highest manifestation of the character of God, the fulfillment of his greatest promises, the expression of his brightest glory. For us to pray "for Christ's sake" is the same as praying "for God's Name's sake."
The Hope of Israel a stranger in the land.
I. GOD IS THE HOPE AND SAVIOR OF HIS PEOPLE.
1. God is the Hope.
He is the Hope of Israel, truly the Hope of the spiritual Israel.
2. God is the Savior in trouble. He is remembered in trouble if he is forgotten in prosperity. In our greatest need he is found nearest to us. Though he does not always prevent us from falling into trouble, he is always ready to help us when we are in. There is to us no more important character of God than that of the Savior, since, as "man is born to trouble," we all need a Savior, and he alone can deliver from the great sorrows and sins of life.
II. GOD MAY BE WITH US AS A STRANGER.
1. He may be with us and unknown—like the stranger who passes through a country unrecognized. He was received by Abraham as a stranger (Genesis 18:2). Hagar and Jacob failed at first to discern his presence. Christ was treated as an unknown stranger by the two disciples journeying to Emmaus.
2. He may be with us but for a season—like the traveler who sojourns for a night and is gone the next morning. We may receive temporary visitations of God without enjoying his abiding presence, casual glimpses of the Divine instead of a constant walking with God, the light of Heaven falling now and again on our path while earthly clouds fling long stretches of dreary shadow over the most of it.
3. He may be with us without having communion with us—as a stranger, not as a companion—as the traveler who pitches his tent in our land, not as the guest whom we welcome to our hearth. Thus God may be near to us without our receiving him into our hearts as our great Friend.
4. He may be with us without acting for our good—like a mighty man slumbering. So he may see our need and yet we may not be saved.
III. IT IS MOST SAD THAT GOD SHOULD BE WITH US AS A STRANGER.
1. It is sad because the blessings of his presence are then not received.
2. It is sad because it is a violation of our natural relations with God. God is our Father. Shall our Father be but as a stranger passing through our midst? He is changeless in his eternal love to us. We are bound to him by close and perpetual obligations, and we are in great and constant need of him. How, then, do we ever find ourselves in this unnatural condition? The cause is in us (Jeremiah 14:10). Great sin cherished in impenitence severs us from God, and makes it necessary that he should depart from us. God is a stranger when with us,