The Sinner’s Plea—Our Plea
By Editor
The Jesus of Nazareth of eighteen centuries ago is of no help to us now if he is no more than that. What he wants to be to every soul is a precious living Saviour, now present with us. “They shall call his name Emanuel, . . . God with us.” It was for this that Jesus Christ took upon himself the form of man. It was for this he died. In his human nature he comes down to the lowest state of sinful man; in his divine nature he is one with the Father of glory. He comes down to us that he may lift us up to God. The real question with us is, Will we let him do it? The Australian Age seems to believe in the sacredness of “Good Friday,” but not in its enforced observance. In speaking of this it says:— We need hardly say that the sacredness of Good Friday in the eyes of the Roman Catholic or member of the Church of England will not be and ought not to be in any way abated because the State declines to enforce its observance. The churchman will be bound by his conscience in this as in other religious observances, and probably all the more strongly because of the operation of the law of liberty. And this is the proper spirit. But where can we find a religious paper which would take such reasonable ground? The world is more tolerant than the church. Is there not danger that it be said to the professed people of God in these days as was said to the Jews of old, “The publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you”? The Sinner’s Plea—Our Plea.
The eighty-sixth psalm is an inspired prayer of the needy. The first verse expresses the sense of humility,—“Bow down thine ear, O Lord,”—and also the sense of need which should be realized by everyone who seeks God—“for I am poor and needy.” Our need is the necessity of our plea, and it includes all things, for has not the Lord told us that we are poor and naked and blind and wretched, sick from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, stricken through and through with the leprosy of sin? This is the condition of the race, our condition, as diagnosed by the great Physician. May we sense our need. The sinner needs mercy. The transgressor needs pardon. “All have sinned” against God; he only can pardon, and he has invited all to “come boldly,” that we “may obtain mercy,” that we may secure pardon. He has not bidden us to come that we may not find. He has not bidden us hope that he may disappoint. He does not mock his children. He has left the prayer on record, that the humble may pray it, and be glad; that the poor and needy may know that God will listen and hear, that he will be merciful, and will “rejoice the soul.” God’s goodness is his glory. The poet has truly said:—
“Heaven and earth are witnesses
That thy glory goodness is.” And God has declared this very thing. Moses in the longing of his heart thus pleads with God in an hour of sore anguish: “I beseech thee, show me thy glory.” And the Lord replies: “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord [that which expresses his character] before thee.” This promise the Lord fulfilled: “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abounding in goodness and truth; keeping mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgressions, and sin, and acquitting even him who is not innocent.”—Boothroyd’s translation. This is God’s character; this is what his Name means; this is the infinite sum of his goodness, of all goodness. God’s goodness is the basis of the sinner’s hope. God is good, and only good; there is no evil in him; and “no good thing will be withheld from them” that walk uprightly. “The Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are over all his works.” What he desires is that men shall know his “good and perfect will.” He invites all, “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.” Why will not men partake of God’s goodness? Man’s “goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.” God’s goodness is eternal, and it may be obtained by believing God. Truly says the Psalmist, “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Taste now; “eat ye that which is good.” His goodness is our hope, our life, our all. God is ready to forgive, because he is good. How many will believe in the disposition of good men and women to forgive wrongs and trespasses, but are afraid to trust God! But all of the mercy which men possess comes from God. God is merciful; this is the meaning of his name. He will not only forgive, but he longs to forgive. He pleads with the worst sinner, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” As expressed in our psalm under consideration, “God is ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy.” However great our sin, there is plenty of mercy in God to cover it all. God keeps mercy for that purpose. He not only keeps mercy, but he “delighteth in mercy.” It is free to all, and God is pleased with all who hope in his mercy. Oh, come, taste of God’s goodness, trust his mercy! He waits to be gracious to everyone.