Psalm 19:13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright… Some sins are greater than others. Every sin has in it the very venom of rebellion, but there be some which have in them a greater development of its essential mischief, and which wear upon their faces, as do presumptuous sins, more of the brazen pride which defies the Most High. Though under the Jewish law an atonement was provided for every kind of sin, there was none for this. "The soul that sinneth presumptuously shall have no atonement; it shall be cut off." Very terrible, then, are these sins. I. WHAT ARE THEY? 1. Those that are committed wilfully against manifest light and knowledge. Conscience furnishes often such light; it is the voice of God in the heart. If conscience warn you, and yet you sin, that is presumption. 2. Deliberation is another characteristic of these sins. There are some who can think upon a sin for weeks, and dote upon the thought of it and plan for it, and then when opportunity comes, go and commit it. 3. Long continuance in it. 4. Design. See the punishment of the Sabbath breaker told of in the Book of Numbers. He was punished, not merely because he gathered the sticks on the Sabbath, but because the law had just been proclaimed, "In it (the Sabbath) thou shalt do no manner of work." 5. The hardihood born of fancied strength of mind. "It won't hurt me," say many. But they find that they are hurt. It would be presumption for any man to climb to the top of the spire of a church and stand upon his head. "Well, but he might come down safe if he were skilled in it." Yes, but it is presumptuous. You have heard how Dionysius the tyrant punished one who had displeased him. He invited him to a noble feast. Rich were the viands that were spread upon the table, rare the wines he was invited to drink. But he was utterly miserable, he sat in his chair in agony. For over his head, immediately over it, there hung a sword, bright and sharp, suspended by a single hair, and he had to sit all the tinge with this sword above him. He could not escape, he must sit where he was. Conceive the poor man's misery. But you, who will procrastinate, are willingly placing yourself in a position as full of peril, and yet you make mirth. II. THE SINFULNESS OF THESE SINS. It is because they are against light and knowledge, are deliberate and wilfully done. III. THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THIS PRAYER. It was the prayer of a saint. "Hold me in, Lord, I am prone to these sins." See how Paul warns saints against the most loathsome sins. There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of men to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell. But how much more have we need to pray this prayer. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. |
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