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SINS AND SOREOWS
SPREAD BEFORE GOD.
CSERM.-
V1.
á
field,
that
I
may
cómport
with
the
design
of
my
text.
Though a
good man, in
devout
prayer, often spreads
his
hopes and
his
joys
before the
Lord,
as
well
as his sor-
rows, fears,
and
distresses
;
yet
I
shall
at
present endea-
vour
to set
forth
only the
mournful and complaining re-
presentations of
his
cirtinastances that
he makes
before
the
throne of God.
.
.
,
1.
If
I
could
but
come near
the mercy-seat,
I
would
confess
how
great
my sins
are, and
I
would pray for
par
-
doning
grace.
I
would
say,
"
How
vile
I
am
by
na-
ture;
".
I
would
count
my
original descent from Adam
the
great
transgressor,_
and
humble myself
at
the
foot
of
a holy God, because I
am the
descendant
of
such
a sin-
ner,
I
would tell
hirn
how
much viler
I
-have made
myself
by
practice
;
"
I
have been an enemy
in
my
mind
by
nature, and
guilty
of
many wicked works, whereby
I
have
farther
estranged
myself from
him."
I
would tell
my
God
how
multiplied.
my
transgressions
have been be-
fore
I.
knew
him,
and
how
aggravated they have been
since
I
have been
acquainted
with
hirn.
I
would
acquaint
him
with
the frequency'
of
my
returning
guilt,
how
I
have sinned
against
mercies,
against reproofs, against
warnings received often
from
his word,
and
often from
his providence.
I
may
appeal
to
the souls of
many present, whether
they have
not
had
the
greatest
freedom
of
confession
of
their
sins,
when they have been
nearest
to
God,
even
though
lie
be a
god
of
holiness.
At
other
times, they
have
not
only been
averse to
confess
to
any friend, but
even unwilling
to talk over
to themselves the
aggrava-
tion
of
their
iniquities,
or
to mention them
in,
prayer:
but
when
they
are brought
thus near the
throne
of
God,
they unbosom themselves before
him,
they
pour out
their
sins
and their
tears
together,
with
a
sweet and mourn-
ful satisfaction.
"
I behold,"
says
the saint, " the
great
atonement,
the
blood.
of
Jesus, and therefore
I
may
venture
to
con-
fess,
my
great
iniquities, for the satisfaction
is
equal
to
them all.
When
I
behold God upon
his seat,
I
behold
the
Lamb
in
the
midst
of
the throne
as
it
had
been
slain,
and
he
is
my
peace-maker.
I
see his
all-
sufficient sacri-
fice,
his
atoning
blood,
his
perfect,
his
justifying right-
eousness."
The
soul then
answers
the
call
of
God
with