A Sermon by Robert Gordon
Psalms 26:6. I will wash mine hands in innocence: so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord.
It appears from the first verse, and, indeed, from the general tenor of this Psalm, that it was composed at a time when David had reason to believe that he was lying under unfounded suspicions, if not actually exposed to injurious slanders. He begins by appealing to God, as the searcher of hearts, to bear witness to his integrity; and throughout he asserts that he was innocent of having associated with vain persons, or taking counsel with the ungodly. He does so in such a way as evidently implies that he had been suspected, or accused, of at least sanctioning the deeds of bloody and deceitful men, if not of courting their aid. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the Psalmist will recollect occasions when he might have been liable to such suspicions and unfounded aspersions.
David’s circumstances. Let us refer, for example, to the period when David, after Saul’s death, was called to the throne, and was proclaimed King in Hebron, over Judah. Immediately afterwards, there was a rival claim to the throne: Ishbosheth, one of Saul’s sons, was acknowledged as king by the other tribes of Israel, through the influence of Abner, who had been captain of the host of Saul. For about seven years this claim was asserted; there was “long war”, we are told, “between the house of Saul and the house of David”. In this conflict, “the house of David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker”. At length Abner – who was in reality the ruler of Ishbosheth, though Ishbosheth was nominally King of Israel – made proposals to David to relinquish in his favour all claims to the throne, and to bring the other tribes of Israel to acknowledge him as King.
While the negotiations were going on, Joab, the captain of David’s host, treacherously slew Abner in revenge for his brother Asahel’s death, whom Abner had slain. Immediately afterwards, two of Ishbosheth’s servants, slew their master while he lay on his bed, and carried his head to David, hoping thereby to ingratiate themselves with the King for having cut off his rival and enemy. Now it is plain that such deeds might give occasion to David’s enemies to allege that he had some share in them and that, if he did not directly instigate them, he at least approved of them, or winked at them, as
1Taken, with editing, from The Scottish Christian Herald, vol 1 (1836). The sermon was preached prior to the Lord’s Supper. Gordon (1786-1853) was at that time minister of the High Church in Edinburgh. He is best known for his four-volume series, Christ in the Old Testament, republished by Free Presbyterian Publications.
the readiest means of becoming King of all the other tribes of Israel as well as of Judah.
That such suspicions were at least entertained, if not openly expressed, seems very probable from what is recorded in 2 Samuel 3-4; never was David more anxious about anything than to clear himself of all participation in these crimes and to manifest his righteous abhorrence of them. He sought to vindicate himself and his cause, which was the cause of truth and righteousness, from the suspicions and slanders of men by publicly disavowing all participation in crimes which might seem to have been perpetrated for his advantage. He also felt it necessary that he should stand vindicated to his own conscience, for his peace of mind and so that he might have confidence to engage in the solemn worship of the sanctuary. He needed to find, after a solemn trial of himself as in the very presence of the heart-searching God, not only that he was innocent of any share in the deeds which had been committed, but that he had never entertained any idea of such deeds with a view to extending or establishing his authority.
Accordingly he appeals to God that he was innocent of the charges brought against him, and that he had walked in his integrity, trusting in the Lord, not looking to the counsel or the aid of vain men and dissemblers. He prays that the Lord would examine him and prove him, try his reins and his heart so as to disclose to himself his own most secret thoughts and motives. He had the testimony of his conscience – quickened and enlightened as it had been by a sense of God’s presence – that the loving-kindness of the Lord, not the assembly of evil-doers, had been his stay and support. And he expresses the joy and boldness with which, having washed his “hands in innocence”, he would compass the altar of the Lord, to “publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all [God’s] wondrous works”.
David acquitted. But by washing his hands in innocence, we are not to understand merely that he stood acquitted, before God and his own conscience, of certain sins which had been laid to his charge falsely. That, no doubt, would be a delightful discovery to him, and the subject of warm, unfeigned gratitude to the God of all grace, who had, he said, “delivered . . . mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling”. But the rigorous self-examination which led to this discovery must inevitably disclose to him a great deal more than he would otherwise have known or thought of, as to the state of his heart and affections, and other aspects of his life. It must also bring to light much impurity, imperfection, and sin. Whatever comfort therefore he might derive from the consciousness of having been kept from sin on some points, that comfort would have restrained his freedom in approaching God if he was not cleansed from the guilt of other transgressions.
Accordingly he does not say, “I have washed my hands in innocence”, as if all he desired was to be acquitted from the sins with which he was charged; but “I will wash my hands in innocence”. That is to say, I will seek by penitence and faith, and through the appointed medium, the pardon of all my transgressions – I will deliberately renounce everything I have discovered in my heart or life to be contrary to God’s law. And through the grace of God, I will unreservedly surrender myself to His service and disposal; and having so washed “my hands in innocence, so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works”.
How other believers can so speak. Such appears to be what the Psalmist meant, as he spoke of himself; and believers should still be prepared to adopt his language. We are not told what was the precise nature of the service that David contemplated, which is here called compassing the altar of the Lord. But it is plain that it was a very solemn act of religious worship to which he was looking forward, and for which he felt it necessary, in the way of preparation, to “wash [his] hands in innocence”.
And surely such a preparation is as necessary for those who are about to engage in the Lord’s Supper, the most solemn act of Christian worship – in which they, each one for himself, renew their baptismal engagements to be the Lord’s, renouncing the devil, the world and the flesh; where they receive what they profess to regard, not only as a sign but as a seal of their union to Christ as members of His spiritual body, and through which they expect to be “made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace”. And I would observe generally that, by washing our hands in innocence, we are to understand, looking by faith to the blood of Christ, as that alone which cleanses from all sin, and seeking to have this faith in lively exercise. Apart from Christ, there is nothing in us, as we appear in the sight of God, but guilt and pollution, for the Bible testifies that all men are “guilty before God”, that they “are all as an unclean thing”, that all their “righteousnesses are as filthy rags”, that they “all do fade as a leaf”, and their “iniquities, like the wind, have carried” them away.
As sinners therefore we are under condemnation. If “we are justified”, it is “through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”; if we are “made the righteousness of God”, or treated as righteous persons in the sight of God, it is because Christ “was made to be sin for us” though He “knew no sin”; if we are held to be clean, it is because Christ has “washed us from our sins in His own blood”. But the Bible as plainly testifies that, if we are so justified, treated as righteous, and held to be clean, it is through faith in Christ. This is not merely an opinion that what the Holy Scriptures say of Christ is true – which,
as an opinion, may lie dormant in the understanding and be altogether ineffective as to any practical effect on the heart and life. Rather it is such a faith or belief as goes forth in the exercise of trusting in Christ and cleaving to Him, for acquittal and acceptance in the sight of God – to the exclusion of every other ground of hope whatever.
It must therefore be obvious that such an exercise of faith in Christ, such a cleaving in heart and soul to Him, is absolutely essential if we would make any approach to God that can either be acceptable to Him or profitable to ourselves. To address God, the supreme Lawgiver and Judge, without having on our minds a clear apprehension of the efficacy of Christ’s blood and the necessity of His mediation, is an act of presumptuous self-righteousness; it is to challenge a scrutiny of our character by the demands of that very law which has pronounced us guilty. And just in proportion to the vividness of our apprehension of Christ’s perfected work will be the freedom with which we offer up our prayers to God – and the confidence with which we expect that, in answer to our prayers, God will grant us whatever is really for our good.
Such a believing application to the blood of Christ – such a washing in the fountain of mercy opened for sin and for uncleanness – is necessary for every approach to the throne of grace, and for rightly presenting every petition there. If that is so, surely at a more solemn season like this, when believers are about to transact with God, in declaring before the Church their cordial acceptance of Christ as their covenant head, and their acquiescence in all the terms of that covenant of which He is surety, they are specially required thus to wash their hands in innocence before they compass His holy altar.
Preparation for the Lord’s Supper. But our text implies a great deal more than this, in reference to preparation for the solemn service of the Lord’s Supper. In that service, there is a formal, deliberate and professedly-unreserved surrender to God, and it calls for a very solemn and unsparing examination of the state of our heart and the tenor of our life, lest it should be found that believers, in word and in outward profession, are giving to God what in reality they are reserving for the world – for its frivolous pursuits and sinful enjoyments. On this point the Psalmist has set us a very holy and instructive example. He was not satisfied with seeking to discover, and honestly confessing, the sins which he had outwardly committed; but he made those also of which he was conscious of being unjustly suspected or accused the subject of a very rigorous examination. Thereby he turned the calumnies of the world to good account by making them the means of detecting the inmost secrets of his soul and bringing to light those hidden impurities which, but for such a call to examine himself, might have lurked and gathered strength in his heart.
Where is the Christian who has not been called on, in the same way, to
institute an inquiry into his motives and principles of action? For where is the Christian who has not, at times, lain under the suspicion, or been exposed to the charge, of having said or done what was inconsistent with his Christian character – while his conscience bore witness that he was unjustly accused? In all ages, the Church, in her collective capacity, has been in one way or other the object of reproach. And any individual member of Christ’s body who has not considered the possibility of having to bear his share of such slander must have very imperfectly understood the many warnings and admonitions of his divine Master, and have formed very low and partial views of the wisdom and rectitude of God’s administration.
But I fear it will be found that even those who, as they thought, were prepared to expect such trials have not always made such good use of them as the Psalmist. I fear that, in many cases where Christians have been so tried, they have given way to a haughty and self-righteous spirit instead of making such seasons times of deep humiliation and serious inquiry into the state of their heart and affections. Instead of examining, with a holy jealousy of themselves, whether they had not been guilty of entertaining in idea, at least, the sinful act imputed to them, though innocent of the act itself, they were satisfied with indignantly resenting the charge as an unjust and unmerited reproach. The satisfaction which they felt in the consciousness of their innocence was more nearly allied to pride than to gratitude to Him whose grace had kept them from falling, and who had led them “in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”.
Need I remark that, in such a frame of spirit, they are in no condition to make the solemn appeal which the Psalmist made: “Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity . . . Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” They may have been unjustly suspected or accused, and may have held fast their integrity in the case where they were charged with letting it go; but they have not made good use of their trial as it was the design of God’s providence that they should. They have incurred guilt by gratifying their pride from an event which was both fitted and intended to bring them into a humble and self-diffident spirit; they have not brought themselves to the tribunal of conscience, as they ought to have done, and into the very presence of God, to have His acquittal, and to give Him the glory. And if such guilt was contracted, then so long as they have not acknowledged it and repented of it, they have not, in that instance, so “washed [their] hands in innocence” as to be prepared for compassing the altar of the Lord.
Searching heart and life. Christians are seriously called to examine themselves, even about sins which may have been laid to their charge unjustly, so that they may enjoy the pleasing consciousness of being acquitted in the
sight of God, and have an opportunity to give all the glory and praise to His restraining grace. Surely then it is all the more necessary for them to make the sins of which they have been guilty the special subjects of solemn investigation, and special application to the fountain of mercy, where alone they can wash their hands in innocence. It is not enough for them to make a general acknowledgement of guilt and look to the blood of Christ for the removal of that guilt. If they confine themselves to such a general confession, and such a general application to the blood of atonement, it will be found that there is nothing very deep or heartfelt in their sorrow, and nothing very lively in their faith. It will also be found that, all this time, much unsubdued sin may be lurking in their heart, of which they have hardly ever been conscious, and against which therefore they have never seriously contended.
If they would wash their “hands in innocence”, they must make conscience of searching out and bringing to light their particular offences. They must honestly endeavour to look at them in all their extent and aggravation, tearing away the disguise which pride and self-love are ready to wear. Having seen them as they appear when tried by God’s law, without any extenuation, they must confess them; and looking to the blood of Christ with a simple, undivided reliance on its cleansing virtue, they must plead for the special exercise of God’s forgiving mercy for every sin so discovered and acknowledged. It is obvious that all this necessarily implies that, at the moment such a confession is made and such a plea is offered up, there is an earnest desire to be kept from these sins and an honest purpose, in the strength of promised grace, steadfastly to resist them in all time coming.
Where this is absent, where there is anything like mental reservation in favour of sinful indulgence, it gives a character of insincerity to the whole transaction. Their own conscience, as well as Scripture, will testify that they cannot sincerely expect to be heard; or if they can delude themselves so far as to hope that they will be heard, it is an unfounded hope, of which they will, sooner or later, see reason to be ashamed. In such circumstances, so far from washing their “hands in innocence”, they are willingly retaining the unclean thing by which they have been defiled. To be so washed, they must not only be sprinkled with that blood which cleanses from the guilt of all sin, but also be sanctified by that Spirit who alone can remove the pollution of sin. Both these must be the subject of sincere, earnest and believing prayer.
Further application. These principles are very plainly laid down in the Bible, and comprehensively stated in the text. Let us therefore apply them to our own character and state. In the prospect of compassing the table of the Lord, are we prepared to subject ourselves to the same scrutiny as David did? And while confessing our sins in the hope of finding mercy, are we
honestly desirous also of forsaking them? Let us not be satisfied with being able to give this question a general reply: that we do hope for pardon by the blood of Christ, and we desire also to walk as Christians ought to walk. Let us examine our character, the state of our heart, and the tenor of our life, as they refer both to God and our fellow men. Let us call to remembrance those offences against both, of which our conscience did accuse us at the time, but which we may have too easily and too speedily forgotten.
When we recollect any such offence committed more immediately against God, any gratification or deed which we know to be forbidden in His Word, any rebellious feeling against His dispensations, or any neglect of the homage due to Him – giving that homage to some worldly object which for the time was supreme in our affections – let us enquire whether we are ready to acknowledge such offences, without extenuation or disguise. Let us enquire also if we are as honest in supplicating His grace to cleanse us from its past pollution, and to preserve us from its future influence, as we are in imploring the pardon of its guilt. Likewise let us ask if we are prepared to deal honestly with ourselves, in connection with the offences against our fellow men with which we may have been chargeable.
If we are faithful to ourselves, we must inevitably recollect many such sins – occasions on which our pride, or anger, or some other selfish and ungodly principle was called into activity. Or we may recall times when we said or did something to injure the moral or spiritual character of others, by weakening their reverence for divine truth or their impressions of the necessity of Christian holiness. Are we prepared then to deal with unsparing justice towards these and similar offences? Are we anxious to see, in all their deformity, our selfishness, pride, irritation, uncharitableness (which is dishonesty), and every other unholy affection, whether it has only lurked in our hearts, or been actually manifested in words or deeds which caused harm to our neighbour? Above all, would we confess the guilt, and deplore the consequences, of having in any way hurt the spiritual interests of others – not only imploring forgiveness for such offences, but sincerely seeking to be preserved from them in all time coming?
Let us see to it also that we are not living in the practice of sin or in the neglect of duty about which our conscience may never have made us uneasy, just because, from the prevailing practices of society, we may have been taking for granted that we may safely do what the Bible forbids, or leave undone what it requires. Let us not allege that these are sins of ignorance. With the Word of God in our hand, such a plea is incompetent: for what is the use of God’s Word but that, by perusing it carefully each day, we may become daily better acquainted with God’s will.
If therefore we have been living in the practice of any one sin, or in the neglect of any one duty, in consequence of inattention or indifference to the Scriptures, such sin will be charged upon us as wilful and it will assuredly prove a “root of bitterness springing up” to trouble us. David was well aware of the danger of thus permitting any secret sin to lurk undiscovered and to gather strength in his heart; we find him praying, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. Such also was obviously his sentiment when he said in the words of the text, “I will wash mine hands in innocence: so will I compass Thine altar, O Lord: that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all Thy wondrous works”.