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I. INQUIRE WHEREIN SIN CONSISTS, ACCORDING TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPHET.

1. Every sinner has forsaken God.

(1) He does not desire Him as his portion, but other things in preference.

(2) He is not mindful of His favour, but esteems the friendship of a fellow creature more than His.

2. As God is not loved, so neither is He feared, at least, not in such a way as to depart from evil.

3. From these two sources proceed all the evils that are in the world.

(1) Forsaking God has been the cause of every abomination: hence all the wars, oppression, and injustice, between nations and individuals.

(2) From the same source also arises a rejection of Christ and the Gospel; a contempt of religion and of religious people.

(3) Hence, also, that hardness and indifference to the Gospel in many who attend upon it.

(4) Hence the most solemn warnings and tender expostulations are without effect, and all the mercy of the Saviour is neglected.

II. CONSIDER THE EVIL AND BITTER NATURE OF SIN.

1. We may "know and see how evil and bitter a thing sin is," by the precepts of God's holy law, which forbid it; and we must measure it by this rule to see what evil there is in it.

2. We may "know and see" by the awful threatenings of God's Word, by which it stands condemned (Deuteronomy 28:15).

3. We may know and see by the bitter sorrows of true penitents (Psalm 38:1-6; Psalm 51:1-4; Zechariah 12:10).

4. Know by the bitter fruits it has already produced.

5. By the still more bitter fruits it would have produced if God had not restrained it.

6. By the bitter pains of eternal death.

7. Know it also by the bitter sufferings of the Son of God.

III. ENFORCE THE EXHORTATION: "Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing."

1. Unless we know and see this, we can neither know nor see the salvation of God.

2. Without a knowledge of the evil of sin, we shall neither repent of it nor depart from it to any good purpose.

3. If we know and see it not truly in this world, we shall be made to know and see it to our cost in the world to come.

4. If we are brought to know and see it aright, we shall come to Christ; and herein will be the proof of our knowledge being in some measure what it ought to be (John 6:45).

(Theological Sketchbook.)

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KJV: Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

WEB: "Your own wickedness shall correct you, and your backsliding shall reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that you have forsaken Yahweh your God, and that my fear is not in you," says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.