David's obedience, and David's faith, be also typical of thine, oh Christian! God has announced to thee this gracious truth, that the Lord Jesus is the Surety on whose head He has laid thy sins. It is thy duty to believe simply as David did, what thy Lord has plainly declared; and when any sin that thou hast sinned comes upon thy conscience, then immediately in secret prayer draw near with thy sin-offering, that is with Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, in thy hand of faith, confess over Him that iniquity, believe in thine heart that God laid it on His head as thy Surety, and return from the throne of grace persuaded that for His sake thine iniquity is forgiven thee. Compare Lev. iv. 28

and xvi. 21.

"Coming to Christ" and "believing on Him," "trusting in Christ," and "fleeing to Him for refuge," "eating Christ's flesh" and "drinking Christ's blood," with other similar forms of expression in Holy Scripture, are designed to denote that one grand act of faith by which the poor sinner, the bankrupt debtor, "receives the atonement," Rom. v. 11; that is, accepts and ratifies what his Surety has accomplished in his name. There must be an open consent and agreement on the part of the debtor, as well as on that of the Creditor and of the Surety, before the reconciliation can be completed. Reader, thou art the poor debtor for whom the Divine Surety has already paid, and the Divine Creditor has already accepted a full and matchless ranson. And now thou art called to be at one with Them, in that which They have done on thy behalf. Hear thy God Himself beseeching thee to be reconciled to Him, and assigning this as the

mighty reason, for He hath made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for thee. 2 Cor. v. 21. If thou hast confessed thy transgressions over thy Saviour's head, if thou art thus daily laying there every sin that rises on thy conscience, then by all that is true and faithful in the promises of God, be en treated to believe with an undoubting mind that they are all forgiven thee in Christ. The declaration of the Scripture is express and positive,-Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy. Prov. xxviii. 13. See also 1 John i. 7.

Enter, then, with David by faith into the joy and gratitude which he here expresses. Give God thanks for the forgiveness of thy sins in the blood of the Lamb. Say often within thyself, "I never can sufficiently praise Him for such an inestimable benefit." Hasten therefore to stir up thy soul and all that is within thee to endless and unceasing gratitude. Be perpetually praising God. Being forgiven much, love much; serve much; praise much. Bear the sanctifying knowledge of thy forgiveness about in thy heart continually. Keep it as thy companion-thought for all seasons and situations of thy life. Let it lighten thy gloom in adversity, and elevate thy soul above the seductions of prosperity. Let the remembrance of thy forgiveness be a joyous bond uniting thee to God and to thy fellows--to the One in all gratitude and obedience, and to the other in all readiness and cordiality of forgiveness. Let this blessed truth, that in Christ thou hast redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, Col. i. 14, gladden thy going out and thy coming in. Let it cheer thy rising up and

thy sitting down. Let it be the last thing in thy thoughts every night, and the first thing in thy grateful recollections every morning, to say with David from thy very heart, "Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities."

III.

The Healing of Disease.

Who healeth all thy diseases.-Verse 3.

MAN is twice diseased, and the God-man alone possesses the double cure. Could our two natures, the flesh and the spirit, speak individually for themselves, they would each testify, "There is no health in me." Medical science, with its long catalogue of diseases, bears testimony alike to the multiplied and to the multiform maladies to which our flesh is heir. The revelations of Scripture, the records of history, and the experiences of all men, attest the presence and the power of unnumbered maladies also in the human spirit. The world in which we live is a vast hospital of distempered patients; and when the Good Physician came to visit it, He put forth His power to heal alike the sick and the sinner.

The restoration of the body is a simple act of omnipotence; the restoration of the spirit implies a twofold exercise of the Divine prerogative. The soul requires pardon for the past committed sin, and purgation for the remaining inward corruption. There is no guilt in sickness, neither also is there any merit. Disease is not disobedience. On the contrary,

it is the working out of God's righteous law of chastening. In bodily disease man is passive and reluctant. In spiritual disease man is an active and a willing agent. In the former he naturally and cordially hates his sickness. In the latter he naturally and cordially loves it. A fever makes no man a destroyer of the law, but a corrupt desire entertained in the breast constitutes him a wilful transgressor of the commandment. To emancipate the sinner from the position in which a single sin has placed him, he must be both acquitted from condemnation, and rendered free from pollution. These two blessings are vested solely in the God-man. He dispenses them as He pleases. By pardon He imparts health to the conscience of the sinner, and by sanctification He infuses health into his affections. Pardon and purity are the medicines of the Gospel. They are the freely-proclaimed and the inseparably-united blessings of the Good Physician.

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The word of God comforts every penitent with the assurance of this twofold blessing. "If we confess our sins," says St. John, (first) "God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and" (second) "to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Here the apostle includes himself. He says not “If you," but "If we," classing himself with his readers, showing them that he too felt his doubly-diseased state, that he too needed forgiveness and cleansing, and that he too had recourse to confession, coming daily as a sinner to the throne of grace in the name of Jesus, to obtain pardon for the past, and grace to help for the future. Observe the high and amazing argument which the apostle uses to prove this delightful and all-important truth. He does not say, as we