the sin through ignorance (one that necessitated a special sacrifice under the law..'if any one sins through ignorance') is the same that david prays against (here)..these (secret faults) are not sins of omission, but acts committed by a person, when at the time, he did not suppose that what he did was sin. although he did the thing deliberately, yet he did not perceive the sin of it. so deceitful is sin, we may be committing that abominable thing which cast angels into an immediate and an eternal hell, and yet at the moment be totally unaware! want of knowledge of the truth and too little tenderness of conscience hide it from us. hardness of heart and a corrupt nature cause us to sin unperceived. but here again the form of the Son of Man appears! Jehovah, God of israel, institutes sacrifice for sins of ignorance and thereby discovers the same compassionate and considerate heart that appears in our High Priest, 'who can have compassion on the ignorant'! hebrews 5.2 amidst the types of this tabernacle, we recognize the presence of Jesus - it is His voice that shakes the curtains and speaks in the ear of moses, 'if a soul shall sin through ignorance!' the same yesterday, today and forever! andrew a. bonar in 'commentary on leviticus', chap.4,5.2
our corruptions have made us such combustible matter, that there is scarce a dart thrown at us in vain: when satan tempts us, it is but like the casting of fire into tinder, that presently catcheth: our hearts kindle upon the least spark that falls; as a vessel that is brimful of water, upon the least jog, runs over. were we but true to ourselves, though the devil might knock by his temptations, yet he could never burst open the everlasting doors of our hearts by force or violence: but, alas! we ourselves are not all of one heart and one mind: satan hath got a strong party within us, that, as soon as he knocks, opens to him, and entertains him. and hence it is, that many times, small temptations and very petty occasions draw forth great corruptions: as a vessel, that is full of new liquor, upon the least vent given, works over into foam and froth; so truly, our hearts, almost upon every slight and trivial temptation, make that inbred corruption that lodgeth there, swell and boil and run over into abundance of scum and filth in our lives and conversations. - ezekiel hopkins
sins are many times hid from the godly man's eye, though he commits them, because he is not diligent and accurate in making a search of himself, and in an impartial studying of his own ways. if any sin be hid, as saul was behind the stuff, or as rahab had hid the spies, unless a man be very careful to search, he shall think no sin is there where it is. hence it is that the scripture doth so often command that duty of searching and trying, of examining and communing with our hearts. now what need were there of this duty, but that it is supposed many secret and subtle lusts lie lurking in our hearts, which we take no notice of? if then the godly would find out their hidden lusts, know the sins they not yet know, they must more impartially judge themselves; they must take time to survey and examine themselves; they must not in an overly and slight manner, but really and industriously look up and down as they would search for thieves; and they must again and again look into this dark corner, and that dark corner of their hearts, as the woman sought for the lost groat. this self-scrutiny, and self-judging, this winnowing and sifting of ourselves, is the only way to see what is chaff and what is wheat, what is mere refuse and what is enduring. - anthony burgess
sin is of a growing and advancing nature. from weakness to willfulness, from ignorance to presumption, is its ordinary course and progress. the cloud that elijah's man saw, was at first no bigger than a hand's breadth, and it threatened no such thing as a general tempest; but yet, at last, it overspread the face of the whole heavens; so truly, a sin that at first ariseth in the soul but as a small mist, and is scarcely discernible; yet, if it be not scattered by the breath of prayer, it will at length overspread the whole life and become most tempestuous and raging. and therefore, david, as one experienced in the deceitfulness of sin, doth thus digest and methodise his prayer; first against secret and lesser sins; and then against the more gross and notorious; as knowing the one proceeds and issues from the other: Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults; and this will be a most effectual means to preserve and keep thy servant from presumptuous sins. -ezekiel hopkins
v12-3 - that there is a difference betwixt infirmities and presumptuous sins is not to be denied; it is expressly in the holy scripture. papists say that the man who doth a mortal sin is not in the state of grace; but for venials, a man may commit (in their divinity) who can tell how many of them, and yet be in Christ for all that!
divinity - a science of divine things; which unfolds the character of God; His laws and moral government; the duties of men and the way of salvation.
i hope there is no such meaning in any of our divines as to tie up men's consciences, to hang on such a distinction of sins; since it is beyond the wit of man to set down a distinct point between mortal and venial sins. now when it is an impossible matter punctually to set down to the understanding of man which is, and which is not a venial sin, they must pardon me fro giving the least way to such divinity as must needs leave the conscience of a man in a maze and labyrinth. i find that the nature of infirmities doth so depend upon circumstances, that that is an infirmity in one man which is a gross sin in another; and some men plead for themselves that the things they do are but infirmities. he that will sin, and when he hath done will say - not to comfort his soul against satan, but - to flatter himself in his sin, that it is but an infirmity; for aught i know, he may go to hell for his infirmities. besides, if that be good divinity, that a man who is in the state of grace may do infirmities, but not commit gross sins, then i would i could see a man that would undertake to find us out some rule out of the word, by which a sinner may find by his sin, when he is in Christ and when out of Christ; at what degrees of sinning - where lies the mathematical point and stop - that a man may say, 'thus far may i go and yet be in grace; but if i step a step farther, then i am none of Christ's'. we all know that sins have their latitude; and for a man to hang his conscience on such a distinction as hath no rule to define where the difference lies, is not safe divinity. the conscience on the rack will not be laid and said with forms and quiddities (the quality that makes a thing what it is. the essential nature of a thing). the best and nearest way to quiet the heart of man is to say, that be the sin a sin of infirmity when we strive and strive but yield at last; or of precipitancy, when we be taken in haste, as he was who said in his haste, 'all men are liars'; or, a mere gross sin in the matter: ay, say it be a presumptuous sin, yet if we allow it not, it hinders not but we are in Christ, though we do with reluctancy act and commit it. and i say that we do resist it if we do not allow it. for let us not go about to deny that a godly man during his being a godly man may possibly commit gross and presumptuous sins; and for infirmities, if we allow them and like them that we know to be sins, then we do not resist them; and such a man who allows himself in one is guilty of all, and is none of Christ's as yet. be the sin what it will, james makes no distinction; and , where the law distinguisheth not, we must not distinguish. i speak not of doing a sin, but allowing; for a man may do it and yet allow it not; as in paul, 'that which i would not, that i do;' (romans 7.15-6) and he that allows not sin doth resist it. therefore, a man may resist it, hate it and yet do it. all the difference that i know is this:
1. that a man may live after his conversion all his days, and yet never fall into a gross sin. by gross here it means presumptuous sins also. so david saith not 'cleanse', but KEEP BACK thy servant from presumptuous sins'. we may, then, be kept from them. i speak not that all are, but some be; and, therefore, in itself all might be.
2. for lesser sins, 'secret faults,' we cannot live without them - they are of daily and almost hourly incursion; but yet we must be cleansed from them..daily get your pardon; there is a pardon, of course, for them; they do not usually distract and plague the conscience, but yet we must not see them and allow them; if we do our case is to be pitied, we are none of Christ's as yet.
3. great staring sins a man cannot usually and commonly practise them, but he shall allow them. so psalm 19.13, ' keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me', implying that except we be kept back from them they will have dominion over us. it follows, 'then shall i be upright'; so that the man in whom gross or presumptuous sin or sins have no dominion, he is an upright man. - richard capel
v.12-3 - the psalmist was sensible of sin's force and power; he was weary of sin's dominion; he cries unto God to deliver him from the reign of all the sins he knew; and those sins which were secret and concealed from his view, he begs that he might be convinced of them and thoroughly cleansed from them. THE LORD CAN TURN THE HEART PERFECTLY TO HATE THE SIN THAT WAS MOST OF ALL BELOVED; AND THE STRENGTH OF SIN IS GONE WHEN ONCE 'TIS HATED (note: !:); and as the hatred grows stronger and stronger, sin becomes weaker and weaker daily. - nathaniel vincent, 1695
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