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As if this beautiful viper had no poison fang!
(Philpot, "The
Appeal and Prayer of a Waiting Soul" 1843)
"Deliver me from all my transgressions!" Psalm 39:7
Ah! how rarely it is that we see sin in its true colors
—that we feel what the apostle calls, "the exceeding
sinfulness of sin!" O how much is the dreadful evil of
sin for the most part veiled from our eyes! Our deceitful
hearts so gloss it over, so excuse, palliate, and disguise
it—that it is daily trifled, played, and dallied with,
as if
this beautiful viper had no poison fang!
It is only as the Spirit is pleased to open the eyes to
see, and awaken the conscience to feel "the exceeding
sinfulness of sin," and thus discover its dreadful character,
that we have any real sight or sense of its awful nature.
Sins of heart,
sins of lip,
sins of life,
sins of omission,
sins of commission,
sins of ingratitude,
sins of unbelief,
sins of rebellion,
sins of lust,
sins of pride,
sins of worldliness!
As all these transgressions, troop after troop, come
in view, and rise up like spectres from the grave, well
may we cry with stifled voice, "Deliver me, O deliver
me from all my transgressions! Deliver me from . . .
the guilt of sin,
the filth of sin,
the love of sin,
the power of sin, and
the practice of sin!"
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