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I. My first head is taken from the first word of the text: "But." Here is h WHISPER OF HOPE. "if Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But" — Oh, the sweet music of that little word! It seems to come in when the terrible drum of alarm is being beaten, and the dreadful clarion of judgment is sounding forth. There is a pause with this word, "But there is forgiveness." It is a soft and gentle whisper from the lips of love.

1. This comes into the soul after a full confession of sin. When thou hast knelt down before God, and acknowledged thy transgressions and thy shortcomings, and thy heart is heavy, and thy soul is ready to burst with inward anguish, then mayest thou hear this gracious word, "But there is forgiveness."

2. This whisper of hope sometimes comes to the soul by the Spirit of God as the result of observation. David, Manasseh, Saul of Tarsus, have been pardoned; why not I?

3. This whisper comes also in opposition to the voice of despair, for despair says to a soul under a sense of sin, "There is no mercy for you; you have sinned beyond all limits, your death-warrant is signed, the verdict has been given against you, there remains nothing for you but everlasting warnings." Nay, soul, God's Word against thy word any day! God's Word says, "There is forgiveness."

4. This whisper of hope is an answer even to the law of God. There is another mountain besides Sinai — Zion; there is another lawgiver besides Moses — Jesus.

II. AN ASSURANCE OF THE WORD OF GOD. "There is forgiveness."

1. Turn to the Old Testament, end you will see that it reveals sacrifice, — lambs and bullocks, and goats. What did they all mean? They meant that there was a way of pardon through the shedding of blood; they taught men this, that God would accept of certain sacrifices on their behalf. Then turn to the New Testament, and there you will see it revealed more clearly still that God has accepted a sacrifice, the sacrifice which He Himself gave, for "He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all."

2. Notice the broad indefiniteness of the text. "There is forgiveness." Where God draws no limit, do not you draw any. If God sets the door wide open, and says, "There is forgiveness," then come along, you sinners, whoever you may be, from gaols and penitentiaries, come along from your Pharisaic places of boasting and self-righteousness, come along with you, for there is forgiveness even for you. Ye rich, ye poor, ye learned, ye ignorant, ye that know nothing, know at least this, "There is forgiveness."

3. Notice, too, the immediate presentness of the text. Our version has it, "There is forgiveness," but there is not even the verb in the Hebrew. The translators put in the words, "There is," so we are to read it, "There was forgiveness"; "There is forgiveness"; "There will be forgiveness as long as life lasts." But I like it as it stands here. "There is forgiveness" to-night; "there is forgiveness" now; "there is forgiveness" where thou sittest, just as thou art, just now.

III. A DIRECTION OF WISDOM: "There is forgiveness with Thee." "With Thee."

1. Hearest thou this, dear heart? Thou art shrinking from thy God; thou art anxious to run away from Him; that is where the forgiveness is, with God. Where the offence went, from that very place the forgiveness comes.

2. God .has it in His immediate gift — waiting for thee.

3. And if it be with God, then there is a way for thee to get to it, for there is One come who stands between thee and God. There is a Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; but you do not need a mediator between Christ and yourself, you can come to Him just as you are.

IV. A DESIGN OF LOVE. "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." Do you not see how it is that men fear the Lord because He forgives their sins?

1. It must be so, because, first, if He did not forgive their sins, there would be nobody left to fear Him, for they would all die. If He were to deal with men after their sins, He must sweep the whole race of mankind off the face of the earth; but there is forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared.

2. Next, if it were certain that God did not pardon sin, everybody would despair, and so again there would be nobody to fear Him, for a despairing heart grows hard like the nether millstone. Because they have no hope, men go on to sin worse and worse; but there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. A man who has been forgiven is afraid that he should go and sin again after such love and such mercy. He is melted down by the goodness of the Lord, he does not know what to make of it. For a time he can hardly believe that it is true. Look! it is a singular way to come to fear God; but believe that you are forgiven, prize your forgiveness, know that your sins are blotted out, cling to the Cross, and so all that sweet fear of God, by which is meant the whole of piety, will abound in your soul.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

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KJV: But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

WEB: But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.