For Thy Name’s Sake - Psalm 25:11

‘For Thy Name’s Sake’                                Psalm 25:11

 Text:  “For Thy Name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.”

                                                                                                                  Psalm 25:11.

          “Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted Him (Christ Jesus), and given Him a Name which is above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

                                                                                                          Philippians 2:9-11.

Good morning, Christ-confessing Christian!  With your tongue, and mine, we seek to confess to all others that Jesus Christ is our Lord and our Saviour.  With our hearts and minds we seek to consistently proclaim that, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of the Living Lord God is, exclusively, the only way to Heaven; the only way of Christian Salvation; the only One we worship and adore.  That is what it means to be a ‘Christ-confessing Christian’.  Let us revisit this fact afresh today, and make sure of our soul’s Salvation, make doubly sure that we are in fact in, ‘… the faith once delivered unto the saints…’  Amen.  So be it unto us, dear Lord God, amen.  (Jude 3)

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my (the apostle Paul) presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own Salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh (works and continually works) in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”  (Philippians 2:12-13)

Verse 11.  “For Thy Name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity: for it is great.  Here is a blessed, never-failing plea.  Not for our sakes or our merit’s sake, but to glorify Thy mercy and to show forth the glory of Thy Divine attributes.

“Pardon mine iniquity.  It is confessed; it is abhorred; it is consuming my heart with grief.  Lord, forgive it; let Thine own lips pronounce absolution.  For it is great.  It weighs so heavily upon me that I pray Thee remove it.  Its greatness is no difficulty with Thee, for Thou art a great God, but the misery which it causes to me is my argument with Thee for speedy pardon.

“Lord, the patient is sore sick; therefore heal him.  To pardon a great sinner will bring Thee great glory; therefore for Thy Name’s sake pardon me.  Observe how this verse illustrates the logic of faith, which is clean contrary to that of a legal spirit; faith looks not for merit in the creature, but hath regard to the goodness of the Creator; and instead of being staggered by the demerits of sin, it looks to the precious Blood and pleads all the more vigorously because of the urgency of the case.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, pages 126-127)

“…For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”  (1 Samuel 16:7b)

Men, and entire communities and global societies, look upon the outer manifestations of sins committed, and seek to heap condemnation upon those who are caught out in sin’s vile commission.  However, the Lord God Almighty, Holy in all his Being, looks continually on our sinful hearts and, according to His own Sovereign will and elective grace, declares that ‘…there is no difference; for ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (I.e. the perfect Holiness and Righteousness of Christ Jesus Himself.)”  (Romans 3:22-23)

The law of man condemns those CAUGHT sinning. The Law of God condemns all BORN naturally AS sinners; yet God ’quickens’ those whom He has chosen to save, and shows us His Sovereign and  matchless grace through the Atonement Sacrifice of His dear Son, Christ Jesus.   Is it any wonder we seek to exalt His Holy Name?

“And they (the Redeemed) sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the Book (the Book of Life), and to open the seals thereof; for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.  And hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth…Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”  (Revelation 5:9-14)  Amen?

Pardon for our vile sin is made possible in the Name of Jesus Christ alone. 

“Neither is there Salvation (remission of sin) in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”  (Acts 4:12)

Thought:  “Among all Divine works, there is none which more setteth forth His glory than that of remission.  Sin, by committing it, brings God a great deal of dishonour, and yet, by forgiving it, God raiseth to Himself a great deal of honour.  Since God forgiveth sins for His Name’s sake, He will be ready to forgive many sins as well as few, great and small; indeed, the more and greater our sins are, the greater is the forgiveness, and consequently, the greater is God’s glory; and therefore David, upon this consideration of God’s Name and glory, maketh the greatness of his iniquity a motive of forgiveness.  Indeed, to run into gross sins that God may glorify Himself by forgiving them, is an odious presumption, but to hope that those gross sins that we have run into may, and will, be forgiven by God to us, being truly penitent, for His Names sake, is a well grounded expectation, and such as may support our spirits against the strongest temptations to despair.  (Nathaniel Hardy 1618-1670)