Man must come to see himself as God sees him. Man only looks at what is visible to him. When he does not commit many external sins, he thinks that his sinful nature is not as cursed as that of the open sinner. David was almost trapped in this error. However, when he sinned, he realized that he had the seeds of all ungodliness in his heart. and it was grace alone that preserved him from developing these evil seeds. If we truly believe this, then those who have been kept from ungodly ways by a Christian upbringing should present themselves in all sincerity alongside the greatest sinners. They should feel that they are on the same footing as sinners in God's sight. For this reason, the confession of natural corruption is necessary to the true confession of sin. The only solution, divine grace. If I have only committed individual sins, then I can try to compensate for them. However, if I am inwardly corrupt, then every attempt to pay for them is useless and vain. Every good effort becomes stained with sin, and I need free divine forgiveness. Then I realize that I need not only forgiveness of sins, but also renewal of my heart. David united these two blessings in this psalm. As the confession of this inward and outward corruption becomes deeper, the surrender to Jesus and His grace is more complete and abundantly glorified. It is not just the longing and reception of grace that depends upon this confession. Greater insight into the plan of divine grace comes from our confession. When I see that my misery has its roots in my kinship to the first Adam, then I see how my new union with the second Adam, Jesus, redeems me completely from it. When I understand how the fall of Adam destroyed me because I am born of him and receive his life, I learn to understand how the obedience of the second Adam restores me because I become one with him. I am born of him and I obtain a part in his life. The all-sufficiency of the divine plan of redemption is made clear to me. I know how to seek my salvation in daily fellowship with that love which flows from God. From every point of view it is clear that the sincere repentant person must confess the entire corruption of his nature from birth. Have you realized and acknowledged this corruption of your nature? Have you learned to see yourself as one who is entirely impure? Do you regard yourself as loathsome in the eyes of God? Do you see yourself so impure inside that you are good for nothing except to be thrown out? Are you ashamed of your origin? Does it surprise you that God still loves such an impure creature? Have you turned away from every attempt to improve yourself or make yourself acceptable to God? Do you believe that only God's power is able to renew you? If you feel that you still lack a thorough knowledge of your sin, ask God for it. He can give it to you by His Holy Spirit. Chapter 10 Be Honest With God Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts. Psalm 51 6a The confession of his sin taught David how to expose its origin. From his birth, his heart has been impure. This leads him to think of God as the searcher of the heart. Before God's eyes, this inward corruption makes him worthy of rejection, even when he does not openly commit any sinful deeds. He feels that in his confession of sin, he must not leave this out. The God he deals with is a God who desires truth in the inward parts. In our prayer for mercy, it is also important for us not to overlook this word. It will teach us lessons of the greatest importance. Be honest with yourself. God desires truth in the inward parts. This thought calls us to earnest godly fear in our awareness of sin. By our nature, we dwell more on the outward manifestation of sin than on its hidden source. Whenever the outward life is religious and unblameable because of Christian upbringing or favorable circumstances, many people flatter themselves with the thought that their heart is also right. They feel that although they still have many sins, the heart is not quite as bad as has been said. They do not regard themselves as ungodly enemies of God. When God's word uses such expressions, they feel it could not possibly mean they are like that. If they only knew how the Lord proves and searches the heart, they would think otherwise. The Holy One sees the indwelling corruption of the heart. There is no man that does good, no, not one. The holy God requires truth in the inward part. The service he receives must be completely true and in full agreement with his holy law. Love for God must fill the whole heart. If anything is lacking, then we stand guilty and condemned before God. He cannot be content with less than perfect holiness. This is a terrible thought. for the convicted soul. God desires truth in the inward parts. However, many people experience a superficial conversion and allow themselves to be deceived. For example, there is some anxiety about sin and questions about grace whenever someone is sick, but they are soon comforted. These feelings of conviction can be easily awakened and also very likely laid to sleep again. They desire the help of God without being prepared to abandon everything in actual life. The heart is deceitful above all things. Through the pious appearance of religion, people many times deceive themselves if they would only realize that God searches the deepest recesses of the soul. Then this word of David's would be a word of heartbreaking power and at the same time a word of healing and quickening. God desires honesty. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. This thought gives hope and comfort to those along the road to forgiveness. God will have nothing less from the convicted soul. The grace of God will require nothing more from the repentant person. I learn to see myself as guilty and worthy of condemnation. In me there dwells no good thing. How then can I arrive at truth in the inward part? How can this thought give me comfort? It comes in these ways. The person who knows himself as lost by nature must present himself to God as he really is. He who comes to God with the acknowledgement of his sin comes in truth. This is the sincerity of which the Word of God speaks. There are many who imagine that sincerity before God means perfection and sincere dedication of themselves to the service of God. However, the anxious sinner should present himself to God and confess himself to be just what he is. The person who confesses his sin certainly receives mercy. God desires truth in the inward parts. The person who desires forgiveness and is honest with God can rejoice in receiving salvation. When you appear before God, do not try to present yourself as one who is holy. Do not appear before Him with an attitude of piety. Instead, confess what you think, feel, and do. Hide nothing from the Lord. Do not try to cover up your sin. Acknowledge the whole truth about your sinful condition. God desires truth and will not withhold His grace from you. honesty results in truth. After we have received mercy, we must continue to be honest with God. God desires truth in the inward parts. The person who has been given grace is aware of the deceit and unfaithfulness of his heart. In faith, love, prayer, and dedication to God's service, he discovers that he is still not capable of serving the Lord with the whole heart and in perfect truth like he desires. Many times the believer is afraid that his soul will bend under pressure. Then he finds in God's word this glorious promise. I will direct their work in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Isaiah 61 8. He begins to see that this is also a part of God's plan and promise to confirm and bring to perfection the work of grace he has begun. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts. This gives us grounds to plead with God to work out that process in which he delights. This word of David becomes the source of the most glorious expectations. Beloved, in your use of this psalm and in your fellowship with God, let this verse be the fundamental element of your prayer. Always meet with God as a God who desires truth in the inward part. In your confession of sin, in your belief, in your whole existence, let truth in the inward part be your desire as it is God's desire. If you find that there is nothing good in you, that the more you strive after the truth, the less you find it, be assured that the acknowledgement of your struggle is already the truth which God desires. If you long for this truth from Him who desires it and who takes delight in giving it, it will be given to you. Chapter 11. the source of spiritual wisdom. And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Psalm 51 6b. And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. This appears to be a transition from the confession of sin to the prayer of redemption. God desires truth in the inward parts. David is led to this thought by the confession of his inborn sin. It was not only his transgression, but also his very nature that made him worthy of rejection before God. He cannot by nature stand before the holy searcher of hearts, who desires truth in the very depths of the heart. But this thought leads him back again to God, who alone has the power to bestow truth in the inward parts. God alone gives wisdom. The very fact that has brought David low, that God cannot be content with less than truth, also lifts him up again. If the grace of God receives him, then it will give him nothing less. In the hidden part, God makes him to know wisdom. Here in the midst of his prayer is an expression of the hope that God will make known to him. the way to be redeemed from sin. As deep and penetrating as the power of sin was, so will be his knowledge of grace. He trusts that spiritual insight into the way of redemption will be communicated to him by God. In this psalm, we have already seen the explanation of the washings and sprinkling of the blood of the temple service and the spiritual significance of the Old Testament sacrifices. The connection between the forgiveness of sins and the renewing of the heart is presented in his prayer as clearly as anywhere else in the Old Testament. His hope was not in vain. In the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. This verse teaches us that the true knowledge of the way of grace must be sought from God himself. He alone can make you know hidden wisdom. Human knowledge of grace, which we obtain by the use of our understanding, is not sufficient. We did not say that this knowledge is not necessary, but this knowledge is not enough. There is a great lack of this knowledge, even the intelligent understanding of grace. Knowledge is not enough. Many people have an imperfect idea of what grace is and how it redeems the sinner. They do not understand what the blotting out of transgressions, the washing away of unrighteousness, and the cleansing of sin is. Many are unclear about man's sinful nature. It is of supreme importance that clear beliefs be acquired concerning these points. For without clear knowledge, faith cannot be clear, powerful, and joyful. Do you understand what you read? was the first question asked by the preacher of the gospel. Do you believe with all your heart? is the second. Such an intelligent understanding of grace is of great value. However, this is not enough. It is possible that one can have an almost perfect knowledge of God's word and yet be lost. When we have clear insight into the way of the truth of God, we still run the risk of becoming content with knowledge. When one who is indifferent begins to be earnest and then obtains an insight into God's wonderful redemption, such knowledge sometimes brings him great joy. When he begins to obtain a correct idea of the plan of redemption in Christ, his atonement, God's righteousness, and a new birth, he is filled with admiration and gladness. Then he runs the great risk of resting in his feelings. He recognizes this difference in himself compared to the time when he was ignorant. A great change has taken place in him. Yet it may be that he has not yet experienced an inward spiritual knowledge of redemption. When seeking to understand the way of grace in this psalm, it is very important that we deeply depend upon God. With every verse we must pray, lead me in thy truth and teach me. For thou art the God of my salvation. Psalm 25 5. He should continually use, for example, the prayers of Psalm 25 and Psalm 119 in order to obtain divine instruction of the Spirit in this hidden wisdom. Depend solely upon God. It is amazing to think that a person can be occupied with divine truths and yet still be lost. Such an idea could make us completely discouraged. It would if we were not able to say in this prayer, in the hidden parts, thou shalt make me to know wisdom. God gives the wisdom. This is our only security and is the only answer we can give to the question How do we know if we have spiritual knowledge of grace? The Lord can and will reassure you of this. Conversion, like faith, is not a work that you must do. It is not something you can look back on and say, that is well done. No, the innermost part of conversion and faith consists of coming to God and surrender to God. It consists of receiving from God, the living God. Grace to be worked out by Him. It consists of being washed and purified from sin by Him. It is at this point in Christianity that many are so deficient. They do not know that in grace the principal element is coming into contact with the living God. We must experience the power of the Almighty. True Christianity is a divine and spiritual thing. The whole work from beginning to end is a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the soul. The first desire for grace and spiritual wisdom, the growing sense of sin and faith in the blood of Jesus are worked into the soul by God. If you are seeking to walk in David's footsteps in this psalm, go to God with every verse. In every confusing experience, throw yourself on God. Ask of him step by step and word by word to fulfill this promise in you. In the hidden parts, Thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Chapter 12, Claiming Your Cleansing. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Psalm 51, 7a. David has confessed his sins. Now the prayer for redemption and cleansing follows. Ceremonial cleansing. In order to understand this verse, we must look at Numbers 19. where we find this word purify as many as seven times as the ceremony of cleansing is described in detail. Whenever anyone touched a dead body, he was considered unclean. Death was the punishment and the curse of sin. Because of this, every Israelite who touched a dead body must be considered unclean. He was not permitted to come to the tabernacle. In this way, he showed how fellowship with sin and death separate us from God. Only after he had been purified and washed could he be clean again. This is described to us in that chapter. A red heifer had to be burned and its ashes kept in reserve. If any one became unclean, then the ashes were put in water, a bunch of hyssop was dipped in it, and the unclean person sprinkled with it. After he washed himself with water, he was clean again. Then he was purified with hyssop. In the book of Hebrews, this ceremony is definitely mentioned as a type of purification by the blood of Jesus. We read in Hebrews 9, 13 and 14, For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? David already knew that a spiritual purification was represented in this ceremony. He prayed that God might fulfill it in him. He felt that his sin had brought him under the power of death. David was unprepared to serve the living God until he was first cleansed by God himself. The light of the New Testament, and especially this word from Hebrews, shows us that this purification can only take place by the blood of Christ. Let us look at what David's prayer, illumined by the word of God, can teach us. Cleansing is essential. First of all, it teaches us how essential this cleansing is. It is written in Numbers 19.20, but the man that shall be unclean and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. God is a holy God. Nothing stained with sin can stand before him. Even a person who merely touched a dead body could not enter into his temple. The impossibility of any fellowship between God and sin is represented under the Old Covenant by this external strictness. The one who remains in impurity is condemned to death. If he wants to please God and draw near to God, he must allow himself to be purged with hyssop. God had, in a wonderful way, prepared a sacrifice and water for cleansing. There was no alternative but to be purified with hyssop or cast out from the congregation of the Lord. In the New Testament, it is no different. God is the Holy One. Sin cannot have fellowship with Him. God is the Living God. Death cannot approach Him. Our sins are great and we cannot blot them out. Even our good works are dead works. They bear in themselves the token of sin and the death of the corrupt nature from which they come. The person who is not purified in the way appointed by God, through the sacrifice commanded by God, will be cut off from the congregation. Nothing you can do, nor any change you make, can restore your access to God. Only one thing is necessary. You must be cleansed by God himself. Otherwise, you will not enter his heaven. Let this prayer of David become your own. Purge me with his and I shall be clean. Cleansing is available. David's prayer teaches us that this purifying is available to us. The Spirit of God taught David to pray in harmony with what the temple services taught. The New Testament says to us How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9, 14. Yes, it is the blood of Christ that can cleanse us. The red heifer was killed and burned. Its blood was sprinkled on the tabernacle. The water of purifying made from the ashes of this sacrifice could not cleanse anyone. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. He died for our sins. He has overcome the power of sin and of death and made it impotent. He has entered with his blood into the holy place. You can also be purified and cleansed. Draw near to God with the humble prayer that he will purge you, sprinkle you with his blood, and cause you to experience the power of it. He will do it The blood of Jesus will cleanse you from all sin. If by faith you seek to appropriate his blood, the spirit of God will give you the assurance that God has taken away all your sin. Go to the fountain of Jesus' blood. Present yourself to God, praying, watching, trusting. By faith you will know that you are clean. You will know that you are pure. Your heart will not be so holy that you cannot commit sin anymore, but it will be so purified by the blood that sin is no longer accounted to you. You are no longer burdened with it. You are so purified by the spirit which is imparted with the blood that you have a clean heart on which the law of God is written and lives. Jesus said to his disciples, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean. John 13, 10. Let David's prayer become your own. Purge me and I shall be clean. The more earnestly you express that first word with your eyes on Jesus, purge me, the more powerfully the Spirit of God will also apply that second word to you. I shall be clean. Chapter 13. Perfectly purified. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51, 7b. The prayer to be washed, which is also in verse two, is repeated once more. This time an explanation of great importance is added to it. David says to the Lord what he believes. The wonderful power of that washing will be, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. The prayer for grace and forgiveness is prayed by many people, but they do not know the answer they ought to expect. They do not believe that the prayer will be gloriously heard. They do not believe that we will be able to draw near to God with the absolute certainty of being whiter than snow. In order to understand this prayer thoroughly, we must look at this phrase, whiter than snow. It does not refer to the inward renewal and purifying of the heart. David does not say that when he is washed, he will be perfect and will never commit sin. The person who has been washed clean may always fall again into the mire and become soiled. Grace gives an inward purity. It does not come at once in perfect form, but gradually, step by step. David speaks about this later when he prays for a clean heart. What he speaks about here is that freedom from guilt which everyone receives with the forgiveness of sins. When God forgives sins, He forgives at once and perfectly. At the moment when God forgives sins, the soul, in His eyes and according to His holy law, is without a spot and entirely clean. As Jesus said to Peter, He that is washed is clean every whit. John 13, 10. Or He is whiter than snow. Purified for heaven. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Every one of us should make this prayer his own. There are some strong arguments that will urge you to take this step. Nothing less than this can keep you pure. You will not be satisfied with less. We have said before that the law of God stands at the gate of heaven and guards the entrance to it. It does not let anyone in who is not quieter than snow. This is the holiness of God and the perfection of the angels. Anything that is less clean and less holy is not permitted in heaven. If there is one single stain in you, the law will reject you. All heaven will throw you out. On Judgment Day, when God's justice flashes out to consume everything stained with sin in fire, nothing that is not whiter than snow will stand before a holy God, purified perfectly. Furthermore, nothing less than perfect purifying is offered to you. If you had to do the purifying of yourselves, you would soon lose hope. God says, for though you wash thee with niter and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, Jeremiah 2.22. Instead of this, God has prepared all that is necessary for your salvation. When God forgives, he forgives perfectly. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us, Psalm 103, 12. The washing of the soul is God's work, an act of God's holy and all-prevailing grace. He is in a position to make it whiter than snow. It is the blood of Jesus in which we are washed. The power of divine holiness found in that precious atoning blood has the power to make whiter than snow. In other words, the atonement of Jesus Christ is perfect. His righteousness is perfect. His merit is infinite. If His righteousness is attributed to me, I obtain it perfect and entire. If I have part in the Lord Jesus, my surety, then I have Him completely. Christ is not divided. I am in him. I have his full righteousness or I am not in him and have no part in it. When Jesus bore the curse upon us, it was not attributed to him and laid upon him according to the measure of his merit and worthiness. It was according to ours. Before God, we are endowed with grace along with Jesus. His righteousness is bestowed on us, not according to our merit, but according to that of Jesus. It was an act of divine righteousness that Jesus came as a man to take on himself our full curse. In like manner, it is an act of God's righteousness that we can come to him in Jesus to take for ourselves the complete righteousness of Jesus. Jesus is identified with us as one upon whom the curse must rest. He who believes in Him is one with Jesus and is treated as such. He is accepted in Him and is whiter than snow. God sees us in Christ. Our sins are entirely and completely forgiven. We are altogether acceptable to Him. He fulfills to us the Word Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1, 18. Therefore, let everyone pray, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. God has offered us nothing less than this. The blessings of being purified. Nothing less than this purifying can bring you full peace. There are many who are seeking peace with God in their own activity, endeavors, and experiences, but they cannot find stable, full peace, the peace which Jesus gives and passes all understanding. Only when we can speak that word by faith, I shall be clean. I shall be whiter than snow. Do we know what it means to say, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Psalm 32, 1. Only then do we know what is meant by singing, Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Psalm 103, 2 and 3. Then our conscience can obtain full peace in view of God and sin, law and curse, and death and judgment. This happens because the blood of Jesus makes whiter than snow. The soul rejoices with a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. Nothing less than this must be your desire. Lay aside your own prayers and thoughts about what God is to do for you. Learn to pray as the Holy Spirit taught David. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Keep these words in your heart. Seek them continually before God in prayer. Make them your continual desire. You will obtain a richer blessing than your prayers have brought you for years. Receive this blessing by faith. This grace is offered to you in Christ. Believe that through Him this purifying is prepared for you. Believe in Him and you will not only ask with confidence, But you will firmly believe God is doing it. He washes me and I am whiter than snow. Draw near to him and take the blessing out of his hand. Chapter 14. The Joy of Being Broken. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Psalm 51.8. David does not simply want forgiveness, he desires more. He also wants joy, gladness and rejoicing. To him this is a portion of the grace which he asks for and expects will fill his heart with gladness. There are many people who think they are too unworthy to expect such a blessing of joy from God. They are content to be miserable and depressed all their life. if they can hang on to the hope of one day getting to heaven. To ask for joy and gladness on earth as well is a thing they feel too unworthy to expect. They think this is humility. No, they always want to measure grace according to their own merit and that is not real grace. The joy of forgiveness. David gives us the example of how we are to know God better and how to cherish the riches of His grace. He knows that when God forgives, He forgives completely. When He receives anyone again, He receives him with His whole heart. The Lord does not want any cloud separating Him and the believing soul. He wants that soul to know that He is completely restored to His favor. He is restored as completely as if he had never committed sin and can now rejoice with confidence in the forgiving love of God. David knew this. Although he had fallen amazingly low, he is not afraid to ask for entire restoration to the love of God when he asked for grace. Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Everyone who studies this psalm should understand that he is entitled to ask for nothing less than joy and gladness. God desires this on the part of his people. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Philippians 4, 4. Jesus also desires it. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you. and that your joy might be full." John 15, 11. The glory of the reward, the love and goodness of God entitle us to expect that forgiveness will transmit joy. This joy and gladness came when David received what he prayed for, the cleansing of his sins. Yes, it was from the forgiveness of his sins that he expected such gladness. It was always the sense of sin that had grieved and pained him terribly. As long as he had no certainty concerning this blessing, he could have no peace. But when David knew that God was reconciled to him and his sins were blotted out of God's book, he was glad. When he knew that he was washed whiter than snow, and restored to God's favor. No wonder he expected his heart to be filled with joy and gladness. Because of this, David prayed that the word of forgiveness spoken to his soul would cause him to hear joy and gladness. How different this attitude is from those who pray for a short time and then seek their joy in the world because they know nothing of the joy of God. How different it is from those who pray for forgiveness and do not believe that this blessing can fill them with joy. How different it is from those who seek for the fountain of joy only in themselves or in some wonderful change of heart or holiness in their life. Learn from David that at the very moment you come to the blood of Jesus to receive forgiveness, you can be filled with the joy of God. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Psalm 32, 1. To the sinner, Jesus says, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Matthew 9, 2. Brokenness brings joy. But why is it that so many never receive this gladness? This verse of Psalms points out the true reason when David says that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. He reminds us how terrible his conviction of sin was. God had bruised him. He felt that God was his enemy, that God's wrath was upon him, and that he could not resist God or even stand before him. The curse of God's law struck him down and he lay bruised in the dust. The reality of sin and the astonishing nature of God's wrath bruised him to such an extent that there was no healing. Now nothing can possibly comfort him unless he receives complete forgiveness and restoration. If there was the least doubt at this point, he could no longer rest. Was God's forgiveness a reality for him? He wanted to be assured of this by hearing God's voice of joy and gladness. This is the reason why so many never come to the joy of God and never earnestly long for it. They have never truly felt the weight of their sins. They cannot speak to God of the bones which thou hast broken. They know that they are sinners, but the conviction is simply a thing of the understanding. The fear of the Lord is never upon them. They have never been moved by the sense of God's wrath. They do not feel that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The Spirit has not convinced them of sin. They have never learned to cry out, woe is me, I am undone. Therefore they feel little need for joy and the certainty of God's forgiving love. Lord, pour out your Holy Spirit so that many will know their sins and feel real anxiety in their soul. Let the law bruise them and the curse terrify them. Let the cross break them down so that they can find no rest until they find forgiveness and the joy of God in the blood of the cross. This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog, containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes and videos at great discounts is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at SWRB at SWRB.com by phone at 780-450-3730 by fax at 780-468-1096 or by mail at 4710-37A Avenue Edmonton that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N Alberta abbreviated capital A capital B Canada T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart, from his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions. since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important. When he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay what he never knew.