fre;" but that those contrite and trembling ones are the people of grace, whose wounds it is the will of "the good shepherd who layeth down his life for the sheep," to bind up and heal. Such, therefore, ought not to follow those cogitations of their own hearts, which persuade them, that, on account of their sins, they ought not to pray and to hope for grace; but let them, like David, cry out with a trusting heart, "Have mercy upon me, O God;" because, in such as they are, God “taketh pleasure."

This part of the theology contained in this Psalm is unknown to the schools of the Papists. For, behold David breaking out into these words with a freely open mouth," Have mercy upon me, O God;" and thus, uniting things in their nature the most contrary to each other-God and a sinner, the unjust and the just. He rises above that mighty mountain of Divine wrath which separates God and David, with a confident trust in mercy, and unites himself to God. And this is the experience which our theology teaches, in addition to that of the law. For, to call upon God and say, "Have mercy," is no great labour; but to add the particle ME, this is that which is inculcated by the whole preaching of the Gospel, and yet, we find by our own experience, how difficult it is to be performed by us. For this word ME, is a hinderance to nearly all our prayers; when it ought, on the contrary, to be the great and only cause and reason why we should pray.

Wherefore, we must, first of all, consider the example here given, that we may rightly comprehend the pronoun ME, and may be persuaded that it signifies the sinner; as David afterward clearly explains it, when he says, "I was conceived in sin;" for he there confesses, that this ME signifies the greatest of sinners. Wherefore, let us also learn this-that that multitude of thoughts which would keep us back, should drive us to cry the more: as we read of the blind man in the Gospel, who, the more he was rebuked, cried out so much the more. For we feel this multitude as it were of cogitations within us, to rebuke us.-Why dost thou think of pray

ing? Dost thou not know what thou art, and what God is? This multitude of thoughts is very damping to the spirit, and hinders many; but it is to be despised; and we are, on that very account which seems to be a reason why we should not pray, to pray the more; that we may, by a certain force, press through that multitude unto Christ and cry for mercy.

Those who do this pray aright. But truly a great struggle of spirit is required. For I have found in my own experience, that prayer, under these cogitations, was often beaten away from me. Yet, by the grace of God, I came to this thought-not to yield to Satan thus attacking me, but, plucking up a force of spirit, to turn the weapons of my enemy against himself; and say, Thou therefore frightenest me away from prayer, because I am a sinner; but I see, that for this very reason, because I am so great a sinner and have need of mercy, I must pray the more.

The same course must be taken in the very heat of temptations, when minds are tempted with thoughts of lust and revenge. In this case, if any one exhort to prayer, the mind immediately objects its impurity: as though there were, under these filthy scenes of thought, no place for prayer. Here, on the contrary, urge, that no end of this temptation is to be waited for; that is, until these thoughts of lust, or of any other sin, shall have left the mind; but do thou at that very moment when thou feelest the temptation to be the strongest, and thou art the least prepared for prayer, go into a place by thyself and pray the Lord's Prayer, or utter whatever thou canst say against Satan and his temptation: thou wilt then find, that the temptation will abate and Satan will walk off.

But if any one begin to think, that prayer should be put off until the mind become pure from unclean thoughts; such an one does nothing but assist Satan with all his wisdom and strength, who is already more than a match for him. This is, indeed, the religion of the Gentiles and of sophists; nay, it is the doctrine of Satan Against which practice, the doctrine of this Psalm is to

be maintained; in which we see that David, under the very sight of all his impurity, and under a particular sin of the flesh, did not flee from God and say, as Peter foolishly said in the ship, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord;" but, with a reliance on mercy, he breaks out into prayer and says, Lord, if I am a sinner, as indeed I am, have mercy upon me.-For we ought, when our hearts truly feel sin, to go the more on that account unto God in prayer. We should have fled away, we should have dreaded God before, when there was a danger of falling into sin: but after a fall, we should hope for pardon and ask for it, and not stand still in thoughts of wrath and dread. Whereas, at these times, the aim of Satan is to pervert this order of things -that, in the commission of sins we should be secure and without the fear of God, and after they are committed, remain in dread without the hope of, or reliance on, mercy.

But, as I said, look at David wisely fleeing unto mercy and saying, "Have mercy upon me, O God." As though he had said, I know that I am a bad man and a sinner, and that thou art just. Therefore, my taking courage and daring to pray, is all done in a reliance upon thy Word and promises: because I know that thou art not the God of proud hypocrites, nor of those who boast in their righteousness, wisdom, and strength, &c.; but the God of our fathers, who hast promised that thou wilt redeem sinners; not however mere sinners, but sensible sinners, who know and feel that they are sinners, and therefore it is that I dare to say "Have mercy upon me, O God:" for I am a sinner, tempted by the flesh, by murder, by anger, and by hatred: but my hope is in thy mercy and goodness, which thou hast promised unto those that thirst after righteousness, &c.

These things, however, cannot be fully described as they really are, but must be learnt by our own experience that will teach us, how great a conflict it is to overcome this mountain as it were of our own unworthiness and sins, which stands between us and God. But although the weakness of our faith is here so greatly

felt, yet, this consolation also should be held fast by us -that it is not we only who say, "Have mercy upon me, O God," but that the spirit says and prays the same in our hearts with "groanings that cannot be uttered." And although we can neither see these groans nor fully understand them, yet God, who also is a spirit, sees them most clearly and understands them most fully. Relying therefore on this Intercessor, we ought to resist Satan in the midst of our conflicts and temptations, and say,-If I am a sinner what then! God is merciful! If I am not a fit object for prayer on account of sin, it is well I would not become more fit: for, to my grief, I am too fit an object for prayer already, because I am so great a sinner.

This is the doctrine contained in this part-that sensible sinners (so to term them for the sake of instruction) should take courage; that, as a just God, and man the sinner, are to be reconciled, we should not so fear in the midst of sins as to be hindered from crying out "Have mercy upon me!" and that the pronoun ME, or the name LORD, should not prevent us from putting in between them the word MERCY, through which, God, and man the sinner, are to be reconcicled. If this be not done, we shall never be able to sing this Psalm aright, nor even to pray the Lord's Prayer aright. Because, it will never be in this life, that we shall be free at any time from all sins together. For although there may be no actual sins, (as they are termed,) which is very rarely the case, yet, there will always be original sin. And as we are always in sin, therefore, we ought always to be in prayer; thus, in truth, the hearts of Christians are in prayer every moment; for they see every moment their unworthiness, and desire God to pardon it. These perpetual breathings of the Christian heart, are disturbed and hidden by various cogitations, and sometimes also, by business, so that we cannot always see them. And here, spiritual strength is, to overcome sin in this way by prayer, and when we feel our infirmity, to flee to this cry, "Have mercy upon me, O God."

And now we have shewn how a just God, and man

the sinner, are to be reconciled, this instruction is alsʊ to be given-how we are to understand the words "have mercy. For if we consider this carefully, we must of necessity conclude, that our whole life consists in, and is placed in the bosom of, the mercy of God. For since we are all MES, that is, sinners, it manifestly follows, as a necessary consequence, that whatever we are in ourselves or in life is all of mere grace, and not because of any righteousness or merit of our own. What! thou wilt say, are not then the Ten Commandments to be kept? And if they be kept, is not that righteousness? I answer -we would have the Ten Commandments to be kept and observed, but, it must be according to the extensive, that is, the evangelical dispensation or distinction. Because, we have received the "first-fruits of the Spirit" only, and the groans of the Spirit still remain in our hearts. Moreover, our flesh, with its lusts and motions of concupiscence, that is, the whole tree together with its fruits, still remains. On this account it is, that the law can never be completely fulfilled. Were it otherwise, and the whole law could be fulfilled, what need would there be for that righteousness which David seeks by the Word "Have mercy?" that is, what need would there be of imputation? But now, when even in the saints the remnants of sin still remain, not being yet wholly mortified, it is so, that we experince both these things :-we both resist sin and obey the law by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, and yet, when impelled into sin by the flesh and by Satan, we hope for the remission of sins.

Thus, the obedience under the law was sacrificing; and yet, the prophet saith in the latter part of this Psalm, sacrifice and burnt-offering thou didst not desire.' For though the sacrifices were thus, yet mercy was not left out. In the same manner, we fulfil the law by the Holy Spirit; and yet, the word "Have mercy" still remains; that is, we still remain sinners, and need the free remission of sins by the merits of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the whole of our life even unto death, is mercy; and yet, Christians yield an obedience to the law; but an imperfect one on account of sin dwelling in