1. Joy in the retrospect of the past, for salvation is a past blessing. It is something that has taken place already.

2. The joy of present possession, for salvation is a present blessing — the deliverance from pollution a present continuous thing. Perfection is not reached at one stride.

3. The joy of future prospect — for salvation is a future blessing, a something we expect, long for. Views from the sunny heights of Pisgah.

II. THE JOY OF SALVATION LOST.

1. Through the practice of sin. David, Peter. Many have grievously fallen. Their history are beacon lights to warn us.

2. Through presumption and carelessness. How we watch our outward actions which men see, and neglect to watch our inmost desires which God sees.

3. Through indolence. The laziest man is the most miserable and the most easily tempted. Work is healthy. The most faithful Christians are the most joyful. Work imparts joy, and joy gives strength for work. "The joy of the Lord is your strength."

III. THE JOY OF SALVATION RESTORED. This implies —

1. Entire dependence upon God. He alone can rekindle the flame.

2. Deep and sincere penitence. Our sins the clouds between us and God

3. Belief in the power of prayer. God will hear. In heaven the joy will be uninterrupted and eternal.

(E. Owen, M. A.)

II. THIS JOY MAY BE LOST.

1. It is not every degree of sin remaining in a believer that will have this effect. The joy of God's salvation is compatible, in some good measure, with those remaining sins which still cleave to the flesh, though these do unquestionably impair it, and that they who walk, on the whole, humbly with God, and in reliance on His grace, ought not to shut themselves out from the comfort of the Gospel; for it is just to such humbled, convinced, believing souls who mourn for sin, and conflict with it, that all the promises of pardon, perseverance and eternal life are made.

2. We may lose the joy of God's salvation without sinning so deeply as David did. It would be extremely dangerous in one to calculate how far he may go in sin without forfeiting his peace. The truth is, he cannot go far. The peace of the Gospel is easily lost, but not easily regained; and even when not entirely lost, it may be more or less diminished, and, in fact, will ever be in proportion to one's spirituality of mind. It may be diminishing even when the person is not aware of it. For the most part, the first deviations from holiness may be so gradual as to be scarcely perceptible, and the peace of mind, consequently, little disturbed; yet these inroads on his spirituality and comfort may, and will proceed, unless checked by Divine grace, till they utterly strip him of both.

III. THE JOY OF GOD'S SALVATION MAY BE RESTORED. God has an end in view in removing it. It is to punish His people, and when they are punished in such measure as is necessary for bringing them to a just sense and acknowledgment of their sin, it will be restored. He, therefore, in furtherance of His gracious designs toward His people, by a new communication of reviving grace, brings them to a sense of their sin — for sin deadens the soul, so that the first motions of repentance must be from God. Their affections, after this temporary estrangement, return with greater force to Him, whose lovingkindness they have, in their bitter experience, found to be better than life; and He, who knows the heart, and who has Himself wrought all this in them, satisfied with the depth of their repentance, forgets and forgives their ingratitude, and restores unto them the joy of His salvation. With a compassion truly astonishing and generous, He observes, He cherishes the first motion of the heart towards Himself. He sees His once prodigal but now returning child a "great way off," and has compassion, and runs and embraces him.

(A. L. R. Foote, D. D.)

1. That David had lost the joy of salvation — no uncommon experience. May be caused by —

(1)Open sin.

(2)Worldliness.

(3)Neglect of duty.

2. The desire to have the joy of salvation restored.

3. The desire to maintain a Worthy character. David prayed that he might be kept in a state of mind in which he would willingly, spontaneously, promptly obey God.

II. DAVID'S PROMISE.

1. To teach others. Saved sinners are best fitted to tell of the Saviour of sinners.

2. He promises to teach even the worst men — "transgressors," those who are rebels against God and apostates from truth. "The worst men need the best teachers," the worst diseases the most experienced physicians.

3. David promises to teach the worst people the best truths — "Thy ways." This is a marvellous subject, it includes all history and experience. It includes all time and space, all science and art, all truth wherever found. Wonderful theme! It may well fill the mouth of preachers the world over. It will be our song and glory in eternity. "When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." Tell of the ways of God.

III. DAVID'S PERSUASION.

1. He was persuaded that his teaching would reach sinners. They would see the evil of transgression; they would be convinced that mercy could be found. The Gospel is mighty; an uplifted Christ is the mightiest magnet the world has ever known. Believe this truth; preach it.

2. He was persuaded that they would be moved to action. This is not a passive verb, "shall be converted." It is an active verb. They shall turn or return. This is its meaning. This is the end to be sought. Men have wandered from God; they must return,

3. David was persuaded that their return would be complete. They would return "unto Thee." Not converted to certain church rites, but to Jesus Christ. Christ first; other things will follow.

(R. S. MacArthur, D. D.)

II. A SALVATION IMPARTING JOY.

III. A SAD EXPERIENCE. He had lost this salvation; and felt like Tamar — "And I, whither shall I hide my shame?" It was a manifold loss — the salvation of his God and the serenity of his soul, the fealty of his heart and the favour of his God — contamination entered, communion fled, sin tasted, joy gone. It was the result of his settled, yet stupid, choice; the perfect liberty he coveted he finds galling vassalage.

IV. THE WAY TO REGAIN IT.

V. THE WAY TO RETAIN IT. Cry to God for strength. "Uphold me with Thy free Spirit." The Spirit must not only attest our acceptance, but keep us by guiding our feet into the way of peace, by a complete transformation of the faculties of the soul, so that they can only delight in spiritual objects; by giving it such refined tastes that all sinful food will nauseate.

VI. THE WAY TO REJOICE IN IT. "Then Will I trust," etc. The best way to strengthen our graces is to exercise and utilize them. VII. THE TIME. "Then," and not till then. Conversion is one of those things we must experience before we are qualified to speak about it. VIII. THE EFFECT. "Sinners shall be converted unto Thee." "Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit."

(W. Hassall.)

1. In so changing our relations as to put us in harmony with God.

(1)Once rebels, now obedient subjects.

(2)Once lost and condemned, now saved and pardoned.

(3)Once strangers, now children.

2. In enlarging our field of usefulness. No man is prepared to live till he is born again.

II. THESE JOYS MAY BE LOST. This accords with the sad experience of God's most faithful servants.

1. One cause of the joyless life of many professed Christians is the want of salvation. How can they expect an effect without a cause?

2. Another source is the neglect of known duties.

(1)Prayer.

(2)Reading the Bible.

(3)Assembling themselves together.

3. Retaining sin in the heart.

4. Being wise above what is revealed.

5. Giving more time and care to our secular interests than to the service of God and the cultivation of the heart.

III. THESE LOST JOYS MAY BE RESTORED. How indulgent, patient and kind is the backslider's God!

1. They will be restored.

(1)Entirely.

(2)Willingly.

(3)Immediately.

2. The Christian's happiness and usefulness are complete when he is in the full enjoyment of salvation.

(E. A. Taylor.)

II. WHEREVER THERE IS DEPARTURE FROM GOD, IN DIRECT PROPORTION AS IT PREVAILS, THERE IS A TENDENCY TO LESSEN THE BELIEVER'S JOY. The Word is not what. it once was to you; sermons are not what they once were to you; intercourse with the people of God is not what it once was to you. You have secret prayer, but it is not what it once was to you. There is a want of sweetness, there is a want of substance, there is a want of fruitfulness, there is a want of realization in your religion. Look well to it, for there must be a cause — some sin, some neglected duty, some worldly conformity.

III. POWER TO RESTORE IS HERE ATTRIBUTED TO GOD HIMSELF.

(J. H. Evans, M. A.)

1. By lack of cultivation. You may sow a seed or plant a tree, but unless these are watered and cultivated they will die. Christian joy must be cultivated by prayer, praise, and growth in grace.

2. By indulgence in sin. He will withdraw from the sinner, and then the" sunshine ceases.

3. By want of faith. We often blame circumstances, etc., as we fall into the slough, when it is our own doubts that are shutting out the light. No one can rejoice who does not trust. Confidence is the root of peace and doubt the handmaid of torment.

II. THAT WHICH IS SOUGHT — a restoration of that which has been lost. Not anything new. And this desire is natural. For —

1. The soul has experienced its preciousness.

2. The soul recognized that its loss involves the displeasure of God. Hence the petition so earnestly urged. It is the Divine anger that takes away the joy. This is a greater sorrow to the Christian than his own loss. No wonder that he seeks for restoration.

(Homilist.)

II. SALVATION HAS A JOY WITH WHICH IT MAY, AND SHOULD, BE CONNECTED.

1. Joy is the natural fruit of salvation possessed and experienced.

2. All the proper exercises of religion are in themselves joyous — love, faith, hope.

3. The command of God is, "Rejoice evermore."

4. The fruit of the Spirit is — "joy."

5. The language of the Psalms is, to a great extent, the language of joy.

III. THE JOY OF SALVATION, AFTER BEING OBTAINED, IS OFTEN LOST.

1. This was exemplified in the case of David — strikingly in that of Job.

2. Joy depends on a conscience void of offence.

3. Joy depends on having a heart right with God.

4. Joy depends on seeing the evidences of our discipleship to Christ.

5. Joy depends on the measure of our faith.

6. Joy depends on realizing the presence, and seeing the excellency of God.

7. Joy depends on God, in His sovereignty.

IV. SPIRITUAL JOY IS SOMETHING TO RE GREATLY DESIRED.

1. David felt it to be so — he longed for it.

2. Each believer feels it to be so — if he cannot; rejoice in God, he can rejoice in nothing.

3. It is a foretaste of heaven (1 Peter 1:8).

4. It is the spirit of praise (Isaiah 35:10).

5. It is a support under affliction (Habakkuk 3:17, 18).

6. It fits for duty. "Then will I teach," etc. He who has not a sense of God's favour and presence is a coward.

7. It is obedience to God's requirements.

V. JOY IS TO BE SOUGHT ONLY AS THE FRUIT OF SALVATION.

1. David sought only for this kind of joy — he had earthly pleasures in abundance.

2. The joys of salvation are the purest, and greatest, and most enduring.

3. Without these, the others are not accessible to the believer.

4. The great effort of man is to be happy independently of these joys.

(1)He fails in time.

(2)In eternity.

(3)God the source of joy, and of pain.

5. You can reach these joys only through salvation.

VI. A RESTORATION TO SPIRITUAL JOY IS TO BE SOUGHT FOR IN PRAYER.

1. God is its source.

2. God is its Author. "Thy salvation."

3. By prayer for it —

(1)His sovereignty must be acknowledged.

(2)His commands must be obeyed.

(3)The law by which He dispenses His blessings must be conformed to — "Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

(J. Stewart.)

1. I compare it first to the finding of a long-lost treasure. Something like that, though infinitely beyond it, was the joy of finding God's salvation. Some of us searched long for it.

2. I compare this joy of salvation, next, to escape from a terrible predicament, and to deliverance from a threatened danger. Such, but infinitely more delightful, is the joy of God's salvation, when the storm of a troubled conscience is hushed to rest, when the thunders and lightnings of an outraged law cease to alarm.

3. I wonder if it has ever been your lot to know the joy that comes of the removal of the displeasure of some friend who has been grieved; in a word, the joy of reconciliation. When mistakes have been explained, or faults forgiven, the joy of the handclasp, as in the days of yore, and the heart warming as in the times that are gone — such is the joy of God's reconciled countenance, and of His smile and favour.

4. Entrance into a new and blissful state is an emblem, too, of the joy of God's salvation. You have been sick, sick almost unto death, and God has raised you up again. Can you forget how the pulse beat in your veins as it revealed to you the fact that you had turned the corner and were going to pull through? But oh, when you felt that the sickness of sin was at an end, when you knew that the healing touch had been given, when you felt the virtue come out of Jesus into you, what joy it was!

5. Further, there is the joy of finding a faithful friend. When loneliness is at an end, when love finds its affinity, when the hopes, perhaps of many years, are at last fulfilled, and the joy-bells ring, maybe in the marriage peal, what delight is in the heart. Such was your joy when you discovered that Jesus was your Fellow-friend, your Brother, your Lover, your Husband.

6. It is also like the joy of coming home after long absence.

II. THIS JOY CAN BE LOST.

1. Sin grieves God, and causes Him to hide His face; it produces an eclipse of the sun.

2. Sin may well cause us to question our standing in Christ Jesus.

3. Sin blinds our eyes to the promises and to the power of God. He may well be miserable who has found out His sinfulness, for he has sinned against light and knowledge, against grace and love.

4. Moreover, it makes the conscience smart and throb. The unhappiest man beneath God's sun is surely he who, having known the joy of salvation, is now a backslider, with hardened heart and tearless eye. How can he rejoice as once he did?

III. IT MAY BE RECOVERED. "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation."

1. God only can restore it. It came from Him at first, and He must revive and quicken it; it will be through His mercy and His mercy only. Thus the psalmist pleads in forma-pauperis, praying only for God's lovingkindness and tender mercy.

2. There can be no restoration of the joy of God's salvation apart from cleansing. Think not to regain thy gladness till thou hast made a full confession, and more than that, till thou hast heard that heavenly whisper saying, "Thy sins which are many, are all forgiven."

IV. THIS JOY OF SALVATION MAY BE RETAINED. "Uphold me with Thy free Spirit." You will retain the joy if the Holy Spirit maintains His hold of you, and if you retain your hold of Him. You will not cease to be happy unless you cease to be healthy, but so long as this prayer is in your lips you will not fail to be healthy. Forget not that upholding work is the work of the Holy Ghost. The best of us, the strongest, the most experienced, will fall unless the Spirit holds us up. "Uphold me with Thy free Spirit." I like that name for the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of liberty and truth, the Spirit which, like the wind, blows where it lists, and does its work mysteriously and mightily. The R.V. renders this, "Uphold me with a free spirit"; evidently under the impression that the reference is to the spirit or disposition which the upholding God produces in the heart of the man who is thus restored. He becomes possessed of a free spirit. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty," and the man who has fallen and has been thus restored, and is thus upheld, serves God with a willing mind. He has been in a hard school, but he has learned the lesson well, and now all he does is done from very love of Him who not only saved him as a sinner, but restored him as a back. slider.

(T. Spurgeon.)

I. ONLY AN EXPERIMENTAL ACQUAINTANCE WITH RELIGION CAN QUALIFY ANY ONE TO SPEAK OF IT TO EDIFICATION.

1. A blind man has been known to lecture on colours; but a blind man could not teach the art of painting. In like manner, religion is not a mere theory, but a practice also. Its vitality and excellence consist in action. It is a life and a power. Hence the apostle speaks of the power of godliness, and distinguishes between the power and the form. Without the former, the latter is but an empty shell. It is no better than sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.

2. People have a wonderful instinct and sagacity in determining who is likely to benefit them. As the Babylonians brought their sick to the market-place, and asked such of the passers-by as had had the same disease to tell the remedy that cured them, so the conscience-stricken will turn away from the learned and profound preacher, who is deficient in a wide experience, to hang with breathless eagerness upon the lips of him who can say, "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." Men want those that have suffered and sorrowed like themselves to show the way of relief for their burdened hearts.

II. WITHOUT CONFIDENCE WE CANNOT UNDERTAKE TO GUIDE OTHERS. A guide must have the confidence of those who follow him; and, in order to command it, he must have confidence in himself. But how can a man have satisfaction in his own mind, and confidence in his own judgment, when he is disturbed by doubts and fears? Fear is the natural concomitant of a guilty conscience. Wretched, most wretched is the condition of the sinner labouring under poignant convictions. If his guilt has been detected and exposed to the world, the consciousness of that exposure, and the dread of scorn's slow-moving finger, weigh him down. And oven if he feels secure against detection, he knows that God is privy to it, and has "set all his sins before him, his secret sins in the light of His countenance." How cutting his self-upbraidings! how prompt his remorse! how bitter his loathing of himself! No position seems too humble for him to take, no penance too heavy to undergo. Can such a one, destitute of all satisfaction in his own soul; an utter stranger to the peace of God which passeth understanding; devoid of confidence in God, in himself, in the truth and efficacy of religion; can such a one invite sinners to Zion, or teach transgressors the ways of God? He may be a beacon to warn, but never a clarion to rouse to victory.

III. IN ORDER TO WIN SOULS TO GOD, IT IS DESIRABLE THAT WE HAVE A LIVELY ENJOYMENT OF RELIGION. "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit! Then," adds the psalmist, "then will I teach transgressors Thy ways, and," through my zeal and fidelity, "sinners shall he converted unto Thee." The connection between these two things, the condition and the result, could not be more plainly pointed out. Enthusiasm begets enthusiasm. He who would make others feel, must feel himself. He who would unlock the fount of tears, must be the first to weep. He that would enkindle and carry away his auditors, must have his own soul on fire.

IV. PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

1. How desirable and precious the joy of salvation! Thrice happy the soul which holds communion with Jesus, which has the freedom of the city of God, and feeds on the heavenly manna!

2. If we find torpor and inactivity benumbing us in the service of God, it is not difficult to conjecture the cause. "Sin lieth at the door."

3. The way of return is equally obvious. Retrace your steps. Begin at the beginning. Relay the foundation.

4. We may infer that ordinarily a deep experience is necessary to great usefulness. Paul was such an instance. He was arrested in the midst of his persecution and rancour, and "obtained mercy, that in him first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering," etc.

5. We see the secret under God of revivals of religion. When religion is in a lively state in the heart, it is easy to talk about it. The heart is engaged.

(R. Davidson.)

II. THE RESTORATION DAVID DESIRES IS WHOLLY RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL. His prayer is free from any admixture of selfish and worldly feeling. David does not cry, as Saul cried to Samuel, "Honour me now, I pray thee, before the people," but, "Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation." David, after his great sin, sin that had done its worst, asks for joy. Was this possible? Persons convicted of some great wrong, that brought shame and misery on others as well as on themselves, have been heard to say, humbly and penitently, "I believe God has forgiven me. I am not afraid of the future, but I can never be happy again." "A true penitent never forgives himself." It seems reasonable that David, after such crimes, should have rejected the idea of joy. Yet God gave him joy; the joy of not having become wholly vile and reprobate, the joy of not having been cut off with his guilt red upon him, the joy of God's forgiveness and salvation. Our refusal to admit the possibility of joy after our great sin and fall is a sort of solace to our wounded pride, a selfinflicted penance, a reparation, we think, for the wrong.

III. THE RESTORATION DAVID SEEKS IS TO BE A PERMANENT ONE; PERMANENT THROUGH THE ABIDING POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. Men sometimes speak as though sin were to be the remedy for sin. Satan is to cast out Satan. They have fallen once, but are never to fall again. Past sin is to prevent sin in the future. "It shall never occur again. It's a lesson to me for life." The serpent's fangs once deeply felt will, it is thought, scare the man away in future. David, so far from feeling that his sin would work its own cure, is more fearful of himself and of future falls, and cries, "Uphold me," etc. The power David implores is inward power. He asks for a Spirit, deep as his own spirit, that shall act with healing, strengthening power at the core and centre of his life. "Thy free Spirit." He must know the joy of God's salvation; he must be able freely to renounce the evil, and to choose the good. "Thy free Spirit," who shall burst all the shackles of the soul, so that the man may "walk at liberty and have respect unto all Thy commandments."

(A. Warrack, M. A.)

I. AN ACT: "Restore."

II. AN AGENT — God: "Restore Thou."

III. THE PERSON SUING — David: "Unto me."

IV. THE BLESSING SUED FOR — the joy of God's salvation: "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation." Come, Christian; look upon the tree. In the winter it is stripped of its fruit and leaves, nipped by the frost, covered with snow, so that it seems to be withered and dead, and fit only to be cast into the fire. Say, then; may not faith be where sin and the filth of the flesh hath oppressed it?

(A. Farinden, B. D.)

I. OF THE JOY OF SALVATION. It consists —

1. Of the joy of pardon. How blessed this, to know and feel that my sins are all forgiven.

2. The joy of rescue — from the power of one great enemy, and that when he seemed to have final possession of us.

3. The joy of power — to overcome the wicked one and temptation and sin. How glorious this. Would that it were more common. It is to have the world beneath your feet.

II. THE LOSS OF THIS TREASURE. Some cannot lose it because they have never possessed it. But others can, and do, by backsliding, by the power of sudden temptation, as Peter. And especially by the power of besetring sin, as Demas. And by indolence. Men are not diligent in religious duties as they should be. See Samson. What a fall was his.

III. ITS RESTORATION. The soul that has once known this joy can never be happy without it. No earthly prosperity can compensate for it. But the soul's anguish at its loss is God's call to it to return. And let none despair. This restoration is in Christ's hands.

(Luke Wiseman.)

II. THE JOY OF A PORTION WHICH SATISFIES THE HEART'S LARGEST CONCEPTIONS AND DESIRES.

III. THE JOY OF AN ANSWER TO ALL THE DIFFICULTIES AND PERPLEXITIES WHICH BESET THE SPIRIT AND THE INTELLECT IN THEIR PROGRESS. "I know whom I have believed."

IV. THE JOY OF HAVING THE KEY TO ALL THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF PROVIDENCE IN THE WORLD.

V. THE JOY OF VICTORY OVER DEATH.

VI. THE JOY OF LIVING UNION WITH GOD, WITH CHRIST, WITH ALL LIVING AND BLESSED BEINGS, ETERNALLY.

(J. B. Brown, B. A.)

(A. Symson.)

(A. Symson.)

(Thomas Spurgeon.)

     6040   sinners
     6628   conversion, God's demand

Psalm 51:1-17

     1065   God, holiness of
     6655   forgiveness, application
     6735   repentance, examples
     8707   apostasy, personal

Psalm 51:12-17

     5015   heart, and Holy Spirit

David's Cry for Purity
'... Renew a right spirit within me. 11. ... And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. 12. ... And uphold me with Thy free Spirit.' --PSALM li. 10-12. We ought to be very thankful that the Bible never conceals the faults of its noblest men. David stands high among the highest of these. His words have been for ages the chosen expression for the devotions of the holiest souls; and whoever has wished to speak longings after purity, lowly trust in God, the aspirations of love, or the raptures of devotion, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

January the Twenty-Seventh the Confession of Sin
"I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me." --PSALM li. 1-12. Sin that is unconfessed shuts out the energies of grace. Confession makes the soul receptive of the bountiful waters of life. We open the door to God as soon as we name our sin. Guilt that is penitently confessed is already in the "consuming fire" of God's love. When I "acknowledge my sin" I begin to enter into the knowledge of "pardon, joy, and peace." But if I hide my sin I also hide myself from "the unsearchable …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Unimpeachable Justice
There is now agitating the public mind something which I thought I might improve this day, and turn to very excellent purpose. There are only two things concerning which the public have any suspicion. The verdict of the jury was the verdict of the whole of England; we were unanimous as to the high probability, the well-nigh absolute certainty of his guilt; but there were two doubts in our minds--one of them but small, we grant you, but if both could have been resolved we should have felt more easy …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 2: 1856

The Wordless Book
"Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."--Psalm 51:7. I DARESAY you have most of you heard of a little book which an old divine used constantly to study, and when his friends wondered what there was in the book, he told them that he hoped they would all know and understand it, but that there was not single word in it. When they looked at it, they found that it consisted of only three leaves; the first was black, the second was red, and the third was pure white. The old minister used to gaze upon …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 57: 1911

Praying Saints of the Old Testaments (Continued)
Bishop Lambeth and Wainwright had a great M. E. Mission in Osaka, Japan. One day the order came from high up that no more meetings would be allowed in the city by Protestants. Lambeth and Wainwright did all they could but the high officials were obstinate and unrelenting. They then retired to the room of prayer. Supper time came and the Japanese girl came to summon them to their meal, but she fell under the power of prayer. Mrs. Lambeth came to find what the matter was and fell under the same power. …
Edward M. Bounds—Prayer and Praying Men

Period iv. The Age of the Consolidation of the Church: 200 to 324 A. D.
In the fourth period of the Church under the heathen Empire, or the period of the consolidation of the Church, the number of Christians increased so rapidly that the relation of the Roman State to the Church became a matter of the gravest importance (ch. 1). During a period of comparative peace and prosperity the Church developed its doctrinal system and its constitution (ch. 2). Although the school of Asia Minor became isolated and temporarily ceased to affect the bulk of the Church elsewhere, the …
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

Some Helps to Mourning
Having removed the obstructions, let me in the last place propound some helps to holy mourning. 1 Set David's prospect continually before you. My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). David, that he might be a mourner, kept his eye full upon sin. See what sin is, and then tell me if there be not enough in it to draw forth tears. I know not what name to give it bad enough. One calls it the devil's excrement. Sin is a complication of all evils. It is the spirits of mischief distilled. Sin dishonours …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Songs of the Fugitive.
The psalms which probably belong to the period of Absalom's rebellion correspond well with the impression of his spirit gathered from the historical books. Confidence in God, submission to His will, are strongly expressed in them, and we may almost discern a progress in the former respect as the rebellion grows. They flame brighter and brighter in the deepening darkness. From the lowest abyss the stars are seen most clearly. He is far more buoyant when he is an exile once more in the wilderness, …
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Transcriber's Note.
There are significant differences in the numerous reprints of Isaac Watts' "Psalms." The first generation of this Project Gutenberg file was from an 1818 printing by C. Corrall of 38 Charing Cross, London. The Index and the Table of First Lines have been omitted for the following reasons: 1. They refer to page numbers that are here expunged; and 2. In this electronic version key words, etc., can be easily located via searches. Separate numbers have been added to Psalms that have more than one part …
Isaac Watts—The Psalms of David

How God Answered Donald's Prayer
God often uses children to win grown folks for Christ. Little children not only have a deep faith but a childlike trust in believing that God answers their prayers. "All that ye ask in my name, believing, that ye shall receive." As a young girl, I went to Sunday School and learned about Jesus. Although I knew about my Savior and what He had done to save me, yet I never accepted Him as my own Redeemer and Friend. As years went by, I went into sin and shared in the common sins of worldly people. …
S. B. Shaw—Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer

David and Nathan
'And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin.'--2 SAMUEL xii. 13. We ought to be very thankful that Scripture never conceals the faults of its noblest men. High among the highest of them stands the poet- king. Whoever, for nearly three thousand years, has wished to express the emotions of trust in God, longing after purity, aspiration, and rapture of devotion, has found that his words have been before him. And this man …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Out of the Deep of Sin.
Innumerable troubles are come about me. My sins have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look up; yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me.--Ps. xl. 15. I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me. Against Thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight.--Ps. li. 3. I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord; and so Thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.--Ps. xxxii. 6. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Cleansing.
As there are conditions requiring to be complied with in order to the obtaining of salvation, before one can be justified, e. g., conviction of sin, repentance, faith; so there are conditions for full salvation, for being "filled with the Holy Ghost." Conviction of our need is one, conviction of the existence of the blessing is another; but these have been already dealt with. "Cleansing" is another; before one can be filled with the Holy Ghost, one's heart must be "cleansed." "Giving them the Holy …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

All are Sinners.
Some time ago we overheard from a person who should have known better, remarks something like these: "I wonder how sinners are saved in the Lutheran Church?" "I do not hear of any being converted in the Lutheran Church," and such like. These words called to mind similar sentiments that we heard expressed long ago. More than once was the remark made in our hearing that in certain churches sinners were saved, because converted and sanctified, while it was at least doubtful whether any one could find …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

God the Holy Spirit the Love which Dwells in the Heart.
"It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard; that went down to the skirts of his garments." --Psalm cxxxiii. 2. The fact that love can radiate within man does not insure him the possession of true and real Love, unless, according to His eternal counsel, God is pleased to enter into personal fellowship with him. So long as man knows Him only from afar and not near, God is a stranger to him. He may admire His Love, have a faint sense of it, be pleasantly …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Original Sin
Q-16: DID ALL MANKIND FALL IN ADAM'S FIRST TRANSGRESSION? A: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him, by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression. 'By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,' &c. Rom 5:12. Adam being a representative person, while he stood, we stood; when he fell, we fell, We sinned in Adam; so it is in the text, In whom all have sinned.' Adam was the head …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

St. Malachy Becomes Bishop of Connor; He Builds the Monastery of iveragh.
16. (10). At that time an episcopal see was vacant,[321] and had long been vacant, because Malachy would not assent: for they had elected him to it.[322] But they persisted, and at length he yielded when their entreaties were enforced by the command of his teacher,[323] together with that of the metropolitan.[324] It was when he was just entering the thirtieth year of his age,[325] that he was consecrated bishop and brought to Connor; for that was the name of the city through ignorance of Irish ecclesiastical …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

In Fine, Supplication for Pardon, with Humble and Ingenuous Confession of Guilt...
In fine, supplication for pardon, with humble and ingenuous confession of guilt, forms both the preparation and commencement of right prayer. For the holiest of men cannot hope to obtain anything from God until he has been freely reconciled to him. God cannot be propitious to any but those whom he pardons. Hence it is not strange that this is the key by which believers open the door of prayer, as we learn from several passages in The Psalms. David, when presenting a request on a different subject, …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith

But Regard the Troops of virgins, Holy Boys and Girls...
37. But regard the troops of virgins, holy boys and girls: this kind hath been trained up in Thy Church: there for Thee it hath been budding from its mother's breasts; for Thy Name it hath loosed its tongue to speak, Thy Name, as through the milk of its infancy, it hath had poured in and hath sucked, no one of this number can say, "I, who before was a blasphemer, and persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy, in that I did in being ignorant, in unbelief." [2130] Yea more, that, which Thou commandedst …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.

Moral Depravity.
VIII. Let us consider the proper method of accounting for the universal and total moral depravity of the unregenerate moral agents of our race. In the discussion of this subject, I will-- 1. Endeavor to show how it is not to be accounted for. In examining this part of the subject, it is necessary to have distinctly in view that which constitutes moral depravity. All the error that has existed upon this subject, has been founded in false assumptions in regard to the nature or essence of moral depravity. …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Sinfulness of Original Sin.
MATTHEW xix. 20.--"The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" In the preceding discourse from these words, we discussed that form and aspect of sin which consists in "coming short" of the Divine Law; or, as the Westminster Creed states it, in a "want of conformity" unto it. The deep and fundamental sin of the young ruler, we found, lay in what he lacked. When our Lord tested him, he proved to be utterly destitute of love to God. His soul was a …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

That a Man Ought not to Reckon Himself Worthy of Consolation, but More Worthy of Chastisement
O Lord, I am not worthy of Thy consolation, nor of any spiritual visitation; and therefore Thou dealest justly with me, when Thou leavest me poor and desolate. For if I were able to pour forth tears like the sea, still should I not be worthy of Thy consolation. Therefore am I nothing worthy save to be scourged and punished, because I have grievously and many a time offended Thee, and in many things have greatly sinned. Therefore, true account being taken, I am not worthy even of the least of Thy …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ