A53721:543
A practical exposition on the 130th Psalm
A practical exposition on the 130th Psalm wherein the nature of the forgiveness of sin is declared, the truth and reality of it asserted, and the case of a soul distressed with the guilt of sin and relieved by a discovery of forgiveness with God is at large discoursed / by John Owen.
London: printed by Robert White for Nathaniel Ponder, 1669
AN EXPOSITION UPON PSALM CXXX. › General Scope of the whole Psalm. › Verse 4 › Section
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
First, The greatness of it. God would not do so great a thing as that mentioned, but for a great, the greatest end. Had it not been a matter of the greatest importance unto the glory of God, and the good of the souls of men, God would not for the sake of it, have laid aside one Covenant, and made another. We may evidently see how the heart of God was set upon it, how his Nature and Will were engaged in it. All this was done that we might be pardoned. The old glorious fabric of Obedience and Rewards shall be taken down to the ground, that a new one may be erected for the honour and glory of forgiveness. God forbid that we should have slight thoughts of that which was so strangely and wonderfully brought forth, wherein God had as it were embarked his great Glory. Shall all this be done for our sakes, and ⟨p. 192⟩shall we undervalue it, or disesteem it? God forbid. God could, if I may so say, more easily have made a new world of Innocent Creatures, and have governed them by the Old Covenant, than have established this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then where had been the glory of forgiveness? It could never have been known, that there was forgiveness with him. The Old Covenant could not have been preserved, and sinners pardoned. Wherefore God chose rather to leave the Covenant, than sinners unrelieved, than Grace unexalted, and Pardon unexercised. Prize it, as you prize your souls, and give glory unto God for it, as all those that believe will do unto Eternity.
First, The greatness of it. God would not do so great a thing as that mentioned, but for a great, the greatest end. Had it not been a matter of the greatest importance unto the glory of God, and the good of the souls of men, God would not for the sake of it, have laid aside one Covenant, and made another. We may evidently see how the heart of God was set upon it, how his Nature and Will were engaged in it. All this was done that we might be pardoned. The old glorious fabrick of Obedience and Rewards shall be taken down to the ground, that a new one may be erected for the honour and glory of forgiveness. God forbid that we should have slight thoughts of that which was so strangely and wonderfully brought forth, wherein God had as it were embarked his great Glory. Shall all this be done for our sakes, and ⟨p. 192⟩shall we undervalue it, or disesteem it? God forbid. God could, if I may so say, more easily have made a new world of Innocent Creatures, and have governed them by the Old Covenant, than have established this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then where had been the glory of forgiveness? It could never have been known, that there was forgiveness with him. The Old Covenant could not have been preserved, and sinners pardoned. Wherefore God chose rather to leave the Covenant, than sinners unrelieved, than Grace unexalted, and Pardon unexercised. Prize it, as you prize your souls, and give glory unto God for it, as all those that believe will do unto Eternity.