He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Parallel Translations
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He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
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He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
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He that covereth his transgressions shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Proverbs 28:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
- Psalms 32:3-5 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
- Job 31:33 if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
- Luke 15:18-24 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.” ’ “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s eat, and celebrate; for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ Then they began to celebrate.
- Jeremiah 3:12-13 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful,’ says Yahweh. ‘I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your God, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,’ says Yahweh.”
- Psalms 51:1-5 Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me. Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight, so you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge. Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.
- Daniel 9:20-23 While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God; yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering. He instructed me and talked with me, and said, Daniel, “I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.
- Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
- Exodus 10:16-17 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste, and he said, “I have sinned against Yahweh your God, and against you. Now therefore please forgive my sin again, and pray to Yahweh your God, that he may also take away from me this death.”
- Job 33:27 He sings before men, and says, ‘I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it didn’t profit me.
- Matthew 23:25-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
- Acts 26:20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
- Genesis 3:12-13 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
- Genesis 4:9 Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- 1 Kings 8:47-49 yet if they repent in the land where they are carried captive, and turn again, and make supplication to you in the land of those who carried them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done perversely; we have dealt wickedly;’ if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have chosen, and the house which I have built for your name; then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;
- Jeremiah 2:22-23 For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh. “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled. I have not gone after the Baals’? See your way in the valley. Know what you have done. You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways,
- Matthew 3:6-10 They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore produce fruit worthy of repentance! Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. “Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.
- Leviticus 26:40-42 “ ‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me; and also that because they walked contrary to me, I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land.
- 1 Samuel 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
- 1 Samuel 15:30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
- Proverbs 17:9 He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.
- Matthew 27:4-5 saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.” He threw down the pieces of silver in the sanctuary, and departed. He went away and hanged himself.
- 1 Samuel 15:13 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.”
- Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not…
Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh [them] shall have mercy.
Ver. 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.] Sin is a traitor and must not be hid; for if so, now it sucks a man’s breast, shortly it will suck his blood. Sin is a sore and must be opened, a sickness, and must be declared to the physician; the concealing of one circumstance may endanger all. Sin is a deformity that must be uncovered, or God will never cover it: see it we must to confession, or see it we shall to our confusion. If Job had covered his transgression as Adam - or "after the manner of men" - he had undone himself. {Job 31:33} It is the manner of men - and they have it from Adam - to palliate their sins and plead for them, to elevate and extenuate them, to mince and excuse them. Sin and shifting came into the world together. Sin and Satan are alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own colour. Some deal with their souls as others do with their bodies; when their beauty is decayed they desire to hide it from themselves by false glasses, and from others by painting; so their sins from themselves by false glosses, and from others by excuses. These must not look for Gaius’s prosperity {3Jn 1:2} The sunshine also of their outward prosperity ripens their sin apace, and so fits them for destruction. Never was Ephraim’s case so desperate as when God said "Ephraim is joined with idols, let him alone"; {Hos 4:17} nor Jerusalem so near destruction as when God said, "My fury shall depart from thee; I will be quiet, and no more angry." {Eze 16:42} To prosper in sin is the greatest unhappiness that can befall a man out of hell.
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But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, &c.] Confession of sin must be joined with confusion of sin, or all is lost. Papists use confession as drunkards use vomiting, that they may "add drunkenness to thirst." Profane people use it as Louis XI of France did his crucifix; he would swear an oath and then kiss it, and swear again and then kiss it again; so they sin and confess they do not well, nor will they strive to do better. As they sorrow not to a transmentation with those Corinthians, so they confess not to an utter abandoning of their wicked courses. They confess, as those Israelites did, {Num 14:40} "We have sinned, we will go up." They might as well have said, ‘We have sinned, we will sin,’ for God had flatly forbidden them to go up at that time. They confess, as Saul did, "I have sinned," viz., in humouring the people, "yet honour me," said he, "before the people." As the Philistines confessed God’s hand, yet sent away the ark, so do these. They that confess and forsake not are only dog sick; when they have disgorged their stomachs they will return to their vomit.
Shall have mercy.] Confess the debt, and God will cross the book; he will draw the red lines of Christ’s blood over the black lines of our sins, and cancel the handwriting that was against us. No sooner could David cry Peccavi, I have sinned, but Nathan said, Transtulit peccatum tuum Dominus, God hath taken away my sin; yea, transtulit, he hath translated it, he hath caused thy sin to pass over from thee to Christ. {Isa 53:6 Rom 4:8} Confession is the soul’s vomit, and those that use it shall not only have ease of conscience, but God’s best comforts and cordials to restore them again. Cum homo agnoscit, Deus ignoscit, saith Augustine. It is not here, Confess and be hanged, but Confess and be saved. In the courts of men it is safest to say Non feci, quoth Quintilian; I did it not; to plead not guilty. Not so here; Ego feci is the best plea, I did it, I have done very foolishly. "Have mercy upon me, O Lord," &c. {a} Judah, that is, confession, got the kingdom from Reuben; it is the way to the kingdom. No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness; many are for their supposed goodness.
{a} Per Miscrere mei, tollitur ira Dei.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That covereth his sins; that doth not confess them…
That covereth his sins; that doth not confess them (as appears by the opposite clause) to God, and to men too, when occasion requires it; that being convinced or admonished of his sins, either justifieth, or denieth, or excuseth them.
Shall not prosper; shall not succeed in his design of avoiding punishment by the concealment of his sins; shall not find mercy, as is implied from the next clause. Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, by hearty dislike and hatred of all his sins, and by a resolved cessation from a sinful course of life. This is added, to show, that although the dissembling or hiding one’s sins is sufficient for his damnation, yet mere confession without forsaking of sin is not sufficient for salvation.
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Shall have mercy, both from God, who hath promised, and from men, who are ready to grant pardon and favour to such persons.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Here is, 1. The folly of indulging sin, of…
Here is, 1. The folly of indulging sin, of palliating and excusing it, denying or extenuating it, diminishing it, dissembling it, or throwing the blame of it upon others: He that thus covers his sins shall not prosper, let him never expect it. He shall not succeed in his endeavour to cover his sin, for it will be discovered, sooner or later. There is nothing hid which shall not be revealed. A bird of the air shall carry the voice. Murder will out, and so will other sins. He shall not prosper, that is, he shall not obtain the pardon of his sin, nor can he have any true peace of conscience. David owns himself to have been in a constant agitation while he covered his sins, Psa 32:3, Psa 32:4. While the patient conceals his distemper he cannot expect a cure. 2. The benefit of parting with it, both by a penitent confession and a universal reformation: He that confesses his guilt to God, and is careful not to return to sin again, shall find mercy with God, and shall have the comfort of it in his own bosom. His conscience shall be eased and his ruin prevented. See Jo1 1:9; Jer 3:12, Jer 3:13. When we set sin before our face (as David, My sin is ever before me) God casts it behind his back.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,.... God…
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper,.... God may cover a man's sins, and it is an instance of his grace, and it is the glory of it to do it, but a man may not cover his own: it is right in one good man to cover the sins of another, reproving him secretly, and freely forgiving him; but it is wrong in a man to cover his own: not that any man is bound to accuse himself before a court of judicature, or ought to expose his sins to the public, which would be to the hurt of his credit, and to the scandal of religion; but whenever he is charged with sin, and reproved for it by his fellow Christian, be should not cover it, that is, he should own it; for not to own and acknowledge it is to cover it; he should not deny it, which is to cover it with a lie, and is adding sin to sin; nor should he justify it, as if he had done a right thing; nor extenuate or excuse it, or impute it to others that drew him into it, as Adam, which is called a covering transgression, as Adam, Job 31:33; for such a man "shall not prosper"; in soul or body, in things temporal or spiritual; he shall not have peace of mind and conscience; but, sooner or later, shall feel the stings it; he shall not succeed even in those things he has in view by covering his sins; he shall not be able to cover them long, for there is nothing covered but what shall be revealed; if not in this life, which yet often is, however at the day of judgment, when every secret thing shall be made manifest; nor shall he escape the shame and punishment he thought to avoid by covering it, as may be observed in the case of Achan, Jos 7:11; in short, he shall have no mercy shown him by God or man, as appears by the antithesis in the next clause;
but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy; who confesses them to men privately and publicly, according to the nature of the offences, from whom they find mercy; but not to a priest, in order for absolution, which no man can give; sin is only in this sense to be confessed to God, against it is committed, and who only can pardon it; and though it is known unto him, yet he requires an acknowledgment of it, which should be done from the heart, with an abhorrence of the sin, and in the faith of Christ, as a sacrifice for it; and it is not enough to confess, there must be a forsaking likewise, a parting with sin, a denying of sinful self, a leaving the former course of sin, and a quitting the company of wicked men before used to, and an abstaining from all appearance of evil; as is and will be the case, where there is a true sight and sense of sin, and the grace of God takes place: and such find "mercy", pardoning grace and mercy, or pardon in a way of mercy, and not merit; for though the sinner confesses and forsakes it, it is not that which merits pardon and mercy in God, who is rich in it, delights in showing it, and from whom it may be hoped for and expected by all such persons; see Psa 32:5. So the Targum and Syriac version, God will have mercy on him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. He that covereth his sins] Here is…
Verse 13. He that covereth his sins] Here is a general direction relative to conversion.
1. If the sinner do not acknowledge his sins; if he cover and excuse them, and refuse to come to the light of God's word and Spirit, lest his deeds should be reproved, he shall find no salvation. God will never admit a sinful, unhumbled soul, into his kingdom.
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2. But if he confess his sin, with a penitent and broken heart, and, by forsaking every evil way, give this proof that he feels his own sore, and the plague of his heart, then he shall have mercy. Here is a doctrine of vital importance to the salvation of the soul, which the weakest may understand.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 28:13. He that covereth his sins — That…
Pro 28:13. He that covereth his sins — That does not confess them (as appears by the opposite clause) to God, and to men too, when occasion requires it: who, being convinced or admonished of his sins, either justifies, or denies, or excuses them; shall not prosper — Shall not succeed in his design of avoiding punishment by the concealment of his sins; shall not find mercy, as is implied from the next clause. But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them — From a sincere hatred to them, and a fixed and hearty resolution to walk in newness of life; shall have mercy — Both from God, who hath promised it, and from men, who are ready to grant pardon and favour to such persons. Observe well, reader: although the dissembling, or hiding of his sins, is sufficient for a man’s damnation, yet mere confession, without forsaking of sin, is not sufficient for his salvation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The conditions of freedom are confession and amendment, confession…
The conditions of freedom are confession and amendment, confession to God of sins against Him, to men of sins against them. The teaching of ethical wisdom on this point is identical with that of psalmist, prophet, apostles, and our Lord Himself.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain God and man each cover sin; God, in free…
God and man each cover sin; God, in free unbounded grace (Psa 85:2 ); man, in shame and hypocrisy. The sinners here contrasted are chargeable with the same guilt. But how opposite are the remedies adopted, and their several results! The contrast is not between great sins and small, but between sins covered, and sins confessed and forsaken. Whoso covereth the smallest sin, shall not prosper. Whoso confesseth and forsaketh the greatest, shall find mercy. "Love covereth" our neighbor’s sins (Pro 10:12 ); pride our own. The proud sinner naturally wishes to be thought better than he is. His sin must have some cover.†1 He must at least give it a good name. (Isa 5:20 .) He would cover it, if possible, from himself; putting it out of mind; banishing all serious thoughts; stifling conviction; and then trying to persuade himself that he is happy. To escape evil consequences, a lie is resorted to.†2 Or if the facts are too plain to be denied; ’the worst part is unfounded. We were not in it so much as our neighbor.’ Ignorance, good, or at least not bad, intentions, custom, necessity, strong temptation, sudden surprisal, the first offense; constitutional infirmity; even the decrees of God†3 — one or more are pleaded in palliation. Or to save our honor — rather our pride — the blame must be shifted on another.†4 Even God himself is made accountable — a secret but daring charge! carrying with it its own self-contradiction. Indignantly he challenges the proof, and lays the sin at the right door. (Isa 50:1 . Jas 1:13 .) More commonly, but most wrongfully, it is laid upon Satan. The most of his power is, that he is a tempter. And no claim could he have ever established, had not we willingly sold ourselves to his service. Our father Adam — again — must bear the burden. ’Must our "teeth be set on edge" for the "sour grapes which he ate"?’ (Eze 18:2 .) Must the unborn children be held responsible for the inheritance, which their father lost?’ But it was the nature that sinned, of which we are a component part. We "were in his loins" (Heb 7:10 ) at the time, and therefore we share his responsibility. Our own personal sin has ratified the deed by our own free and repeated consent. All these attempted transfers are vain coverings. Conscience bears witness to the truth, that no man takes harm but from himself.
But even this admitted — man with ceaseless ingenuity still attempts to frame a cover for his sin. Some supposed good deeds are put forth as a compensation. (Mic 6:6-7 .) And by balancing good and evil respectively against each other, he hopes to establish some preponderance in his favor. Yet all these fig-leaf coverings (Gen 3:7 ) for his nakedness only shew his determination to hold his sin, and his pride of heart, which would rather hide it from God himself, than submit to receive free mercy as a self-condemned sinner.
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These attempts however to cover sin shall not prosper. The voice of an offended God summoned Adam from his hiding-place to receive his sentence. (Gen 3:9 .) "The voice of Abel’s blood cried from the ground," and the murderer became "a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth." (Gen 4:10-12 .) Conscience lashed Joseph’s brethren with the sin of bye-gone days. (Gen 42:21 .) Saul’s covering his sin cost him his kingdom.†5 "The leprosy of Naaman clave to Gehazi and his seed for ever."†6 The proud accusers of their fellow-sinner were "convicted by their own conscience."†7 "There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves."†8 Their darkest deed is wrought in the open face of an all-seeing God, and "set in the light of his countenance,"†9 to "be proclaimed upon the house-tops" before the assembled world.†10
This unsuccessful attempt to cover sin, while it adds to the guilt,†11 is fraught with misery.†12 The love of sin struggles with the power of conscience. The door of access to God is barred.†13 Christian confidence is clouded;†14 and, unless Sovereign mercy interpose, it must end in the sting of "the never-dying worm." The covering of the disease precludes the possibility of the cure. Only the penitent confessor can be the pardoned sinner.
Long indeed is the struggle, ere every false cover is cut off; ere the heartless general confession — ’We are all sinners’ — is exchanged for the deep-felt personal acknowledgment, "giving glory to God. Thus and thus have I done. Behold I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth."†15 But glorious is the divine victory over pride and sullenness, when the first act of repentance, this first step of return (Luk 15:17-18 ), is heartily accomplished. God needs not confession for his own information. But he demands it for our good. It brings no claim on his mercy. But it is a meetness for the reception of it. Christ has fully satisfied the claims of justice. But the claims must be acknowledged in the humble acceptance of the benefit. The mercy is ready; but the sinner must sue it out — "Only acknowledge thine iniquity." (Jer 3:13 .) Our yearning Father is "waiting" for this moment, "that he may be gracious."†16 There is no further keeping of anger. He shall have mercy, instant reconciliation.†17 Words may be few, while the heart is full. With David it was but a single sentence; but the closet workings of his heart witnessed to the enlargement and ingenuousness of his sorrow.†18 Thus man confesses the debt; God crosses it out from his book; and sweet is the penitent’s song — "Blessed is he, whose sin is covered." (Psa 32:1 .) The dying thief confesses, and the condemned malefactor is crowned with life eternal. (Luk 23:43 .)
But we must not overlook the distinctive feature of this confession. It is not that of Pharaoh, extorted on the rack;†19 or of Saul and Judas,†20 the stinging of remorse; or of the Pharisees and Sadducees,†21 mere formal profession; or of the harlot,†22 a cover for sin. Penitent faith confesses in the act of laying the hand upon the great sacrifice,†23 and hence draws strength of purpose to forsake all that has been here confessed. For while the hypocrite confesses without forsaking,†24 the hearty forsaking is here the best proof of the sincere confessing.
And this first act of the penitent is matured into the daily habit of the saint. The further we advance, the deeper will be the tone of confession.†25 The moment sin is seen to be sin, let it be laid on the Surety’s Head. Every moment of unconfessed sin adds to its burden and guilt. The thought of a nature estranged from God; a heart full of corruption; sins of youth and age; before and after conversion; against light and conviction, knowledge and love; the sins of our very confessions, their defilement, coldness, and too often self-righteous tendency; all supply abundant material for abasing acknowledgment. Plead the greatness, not the smallness of our sin.†26 Never deem any sin so trifling, as not to need the immediate application of the blood of atonement. Genuine conviction gives no rest, until by the believing apprehension of this remedy the peace of God is firmly fixed in the conscience. As Bunyan so accurately pictured — not at the wicket-gate, but at the sign of the cross, did the Christian find the grave of sin. Here it is lost, forgotten, never found. (Jer 50:20 .)
This evangelical humiliation lays the only solid ground for practical godliness. It is a sorrow full of joy, and not less full of holiness. No Achan will be reserved;†27 no Agag spared;†28 no right hand or right eye favored.†29 It will not be "the unclean spirit going out, and returning to his house with sevenfold influence;"†30 or the man, who leaves his home, but forsakes it not, all his heart and joy being still there. Here the forsaking will be without the thought of returning; yea, with the fixed determination never to return. (Job 34:32 .) It will not be the exchange of one path in the broad road for another more attractive; but the relinquishment of the whole road with all its bye-paths. The inner principles as well as the outer walk; "the unrighteous thoughts," no less than "the wicked ways" will be forsaken heartily and for ever. (Isa 55:7 .)
Footnotes:
†1 Cicero stamps confession of wickedness as disgraceful and dangerous (turpis et periculosa. Cont. Verrem, Lib. iii.) Thus does Heathen morality develop the pride of depraved nature.
†2 Cain, Gen 4:9 ; Rachel, Gen 31:34-35 ; Joseph’s brethren, Gen 37:31-35 ; David, 2Sa 11:15, 2Sa 11:25 ; the adulteress, Pro 30:20 . Compare Jer 2:23 ; Peter, Mat 26:70 ; Ananias and Sapphira, Act 5:1-8 . Is not this a sad propensity in children? The first offense may be trifling. But the fear of punishment induces a lie. Another lie is necessary to cover the first. Every step adds to sin.
†3 Jer 7:10. Compare Calvin’s Institutes b. iii. c. xxiii section 12-14.
†4 Adam and Eve, Gen 3:12-13 . Compare Job 31:33 ; Aaron, Exo 32:21-24 ; Saul, 1Sa 15:20-21 ; Pilate, Mat 27:24-26 .
†5 1Sa 15:21, 1Sa 15:23 .
†6 2Ki 5:27 .
†7 Joh 8:9.
†8 Job 34:22.
†9 Job 34:21. Psa 90:8 .
†10 Luk 12:2-3. Ecc 12:14 . 1Co 4:5 .
†11 Isa 30:1.
†12 Isa 28:20.
†13 Psa 66:18.
†14 Psa 32:3-4.
†15 Jos 7:19-20. Job 40:4 .
†16 Luk 15:20. Hos 5:15 .
†17 Psa 32:5. Compare similar examples, 2Ch 33:12-13 ; Jer 31:18-20 ; Jon 3:5-10 ; Luk 15:21-24 ; Luk 23:40-43 . See also the promises, Lev 26:40-42 ; 2Ch 7:14 ; Job 33:27-28 ; Isa 1:16-18 ; Isa 55:7 ; Eze 18:21-22 ; 1Jn 1:9 .
†18 2Sa 12:13, with Psa 51:1-19 . See also his tender dread of covering sin. Psa 139:1, Psa 139:23-24 .
†19 Exo 9:27, Exo 9:34 .
†20 1Sa 24:16-17 ; 1Sa 26:3-4 . Mat 27:4-5 .
†21 Mat 3:7.
†22 Pro 7:14.
†23 Lev 16:21.
†24 Pharaoh and Saul, ut supra.
†25 Job 40:4; Job 42:6 . Eze 16:63 .
†26 Psa 25:11, with Luk 18:11 . Compare Isa 43:24-26 .
†27 Jos 7:1.
†28 1Sa 15:20 .
†29 Mar 6:17-20; Mar 9:43-48 .
†30 Mat 12:43-44.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Mercy. This is true repentance, which enjoins, "not only…
Mercy. This is true repentance, which enjoins, "not only to bewail past sins, but also to amend." (St. Ambrose, ii. Pen. v.) --- Sacramental confession was not required of the Jews, but they confessed their sins, when they laid their hands on the victim, &c., Leviticus iv., and v. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain (Compare Psa 32:3-5). Concealment of sin delivers none from…
(Compare Psa 32:3-5). Concealment of sin delivers none from God's wrath, but He shows mercy to the humble penitent (Psa 51:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 13. Covereth… not prosper — See this proverb illustrated…
13. Covereth… not prosper — See this proverb illustrated in Psa_32:1-5; 1Jn_1:9-10.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (13) He that covereth his sins.—As Adam and Eve…
(13) He that covereth his sins.—As Adam and Eve did, when they had transgressed (Gen_3:8), as David did to his own loss (Psa_32:3.)
Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy, and be at once completely forgiven; though he must still suffer the punishment due for his offences (2Sa_12:14, sqq.), and will, for having yielded to temptation, be the less able to resist it when next assailed by it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. To…
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. To cover one"s sins is either absolutely to disown them or to make excuses; a man who does this is never free from a burden of guilt, as the psalmist says, "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me". (Psa_32:3, etc.) Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Confession alone without amendment, or what is called theologically satisfaction, does not win pardon and mercy. It is when the sinner acknowledges his transgression, and turns from it to newness of life, that God heals his backsliding, and turns away his auger and renews the tokens of his love. (Hos_14:4) Confession is made to God, against whom all sin is committed: (Jos_7:19 Job_31:33 1Jn_1:8, etc.) and to man, if one has transgressed against him, or if he be in a position to give spiritual counsel. Thus the people confessed their sins before John the Baptist (Mat_3:6) and the apostles. (Act_19:18; comp. Jam_5:16) Among the Jews, the high priest, acting as the mouthpiece of the people on the great Day of Atonement, confessed their iniquities, laying them on the scapegoat; and particular confession was also enjoined, and was part of the ritual accompanying a sacrifice for sin, by which legal purification was obtained. (Num_5:6, Num_5:7, "When a man or woman shall commit any sin... then they shall confess their sin which they have done;" so Lev_5:5) And the very offering of a trespass offering was a public recognition of guilt, which was exhibited by the offerer laying his hand on the head of the victim. (Lev_1:4) Such confession is spoken of strongly by Siracides, "Be not ashamed to confess thy sins, and force not the course of the river" (Ecc 4:26); i.e. do not attempt the impossible task of trying to hide them. The LXX has, "He who sets forth accounts exhgoumenov elegcouv i.e. blames himself) shall be loved." Lesetre quotes Sedulius, "Carm. Pasch.," 4:76"Magna est medicina fateri Quod nocet abscondi; quoniam sua vulnera nutrit Qui tegit, et plagam trepidat nudare medenti." "Mighty relief T" expose what rankles while "tis hidden still. He feeds who hides his wounds and shuns to show His heart"s plague to the good physician.
Vers. 13, 14. Confession.
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I IT IS DANGEROUS FOR A MAN fro DENY HIS SIN.
1. It is false. If a man pretends to be virtuous when he knows that he is guilty, that man"s life is a lie. He lives in a continuous falsehood. Such a condition is rotten, turning his whole course into a delusion, and leading to a confused estimate of right and wrong. The very landmarks of righteousness are lost sight of in a fog of bewildering pretences.
2. It precludes forgiveness. God will only pardon the penitent, and penitence is impossible without an admission of guilt. Therefore the Divine covering of sin which will utterly bury it and allow of no ugly resurrection in a revival of old accusations, is hindered by the sinner"s foolish, cowardly attempt to cover it in his own way by a paltry concealment. The wretched rags that he draws over the foul thing will not really hide it, but they will prevent the massive shield of Divine forgiveness from being cast over it.
3. It confirms the sin. Sin is not destroyed by being covered. It is no more killed than the seed of a poison plant is killed when it is sown in the soil, and so temporarily buried out of sight. Driven hack to the secret chambers of the soul, the evil thing grows there and spreads its deadly influence. Confession would clear out the noxious malaria of guilt; concealment only shots it up to breed in the stifling atmosphere of its own corruption. Such a condition hardens the heart in wickedness.
II IT IS HAPPY FOR A MAN TO CONFESS HIS SIN.
1. This confession must mean an earnest desire to be free from it. The man who conceals his sin keeps it while he covers it, and holds it tight even when he is denying it. But one who confesses his sin aright hates it though he admits it. Three things are here implied.
(1) He owns his guilt. Confession includes an admission both of the fact and of its evil character. He who confesses a sin must own that he did the deed, and that it is bad.
(2) He forsakes the sin. A right confession is accompanied by repentance. It is the very opposite of the brazen-faced guilt that glories in its shame, because it loathes what still it cannot but own.
(3) He first fears to sin again. He has learnt a wholesome lesson. He looks back in owning his guilt, and then forward in fear of repeating it.
2. Such confession will tie followed by God"s forgiveness and a new joy to the penitent.
(1) God will forgive the penitent. He "shall have mercy." Pride claims high desserts, but the humility of confession only seeks for mercy. It inspires the publican"s prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" Now, as God is waiting to be gracious and loves mercy, as soon as the obstruction of
impenitence is removed, his grace is tree to flow in and heal the humbled soul.
(2) The penitent will experience a new joy. He will be happy even in his fear. He will "rejoice with trembling." No longer living in the miserable fear of bring "found out," the new fear that makes him trust his soul to God will be associated with the blessedness of forgiveness and the peace of a Divine protection.
Vers. 13, 14. The inner conditions of peace and of misery.
I THE CONCEALMENT OF SIN. (Ver. 13) It is like a worm in the bud, preying upon the check and upon the heart. The deepest way of such concealment is when the sinner persuades himself that "he has no sin," apologizing to himself, giving a false colour to his wrong. The sense of a dualism in our being unreconciled will not admit of peace and rest.
II THE CONFESSION AND RENUNCIATION OF SIN. To admit the truth about ourselves, neither extenuating nor exaggerating our sin and fault; to allow the detecting and discriminating light of God"s judgment to fall clear and full on the conscience; this is what confession requires. But it must be completed by renunciation; otherwise it is mockery. To say"We"re sorry and repent, And then go on from day to day, Just as we always went in the words of the child"s hymn is mere sentimentality and weakness. But never are these conditions fulfilled without a sense of the Divine pity striking into the heart. God is faithful and just to forgive our sins; and the conscience is assured that he is too just to permit the sinner who has become a sufferer from godly sorrow to be tormented by remorse one moment longer than is necessary for his healing.
III THE TENDER CONSCIENCE. (Ver. 14) It is well with him whose heart is in the constant habit of reverential dependence upon God. His law for human conduct envelops all life from the greatest to the minutest matters. It is the atmosphere of the soul that we need to keep pure; it is the fellowship with the Spirit who is holiness that we need most jealously to guard.
IV THE HARDENING OF THE HEART. (Ver. 14) Making light of sin leads to its repetition; repetition indurates the conscience. Disregard of the delicacies of the soul leads surely to a benumbed, and presently to a lost, sensibility. It is better to feel too keenly than not to feel at all; better the weak conscience than no conscience at all. He who presumes upon the mercy of God will have to reckon with his justice. J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but…
Pro_28:13
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
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The danger of covering our sins
I. The danger.
1. In respect of God. Sin cannot be covered, cannot admit of excuse. So far as sin may be covered or excused, so far it is not sin, at least not liable to punishment. Notice the difference betwixt moral and commercial laws. Ceremonies are arbitrary; laws, as a rule of life, are real and eternal. Those sins which break moral laws receive no cover or palliation. To imagine that God will admit of excuse for the breach of such law as is eternal were to turn His justice into iniquity, and His wisdom into folly. The two attributes of God, His wisdom and His power, are the highest attributes which He hath. God is more jealous of His wisdom than of His power. He that committeth sin dallieth with His power; but he that covereth and palliateth sin playeth with His wisdom. God forgiveth the greatest sins when they are laid open and confessed, but casteth an angry look and layeth a heavy hand upon those sins which would hide and cover themselves with excuses. What a dangerous thing it is to study to cover a sin! That must needs be the greatest sin which maketh every sin greater. In denial and concealment, though we deny the fact, yet we acknowledge it to be evil.
2. In respect of ourselves. There is no sin to which our nature more strongly inclineth us than this of covering and excusing our sin. It is the very nature of sin, not only to infect the soul, but to bewitch it, that it shall either not feel it or not be willing to evaporate and expel it. Though God hath set up a tribunal in our hearts, and made every man a judge of his own actions, yet there is no tribunal on earth so much corrupted and swayed from its power and jurisdiction as this. No man is so well pleased with any cheat as that which he putteth upon himself. Our conscience checketh us, and we silence it; sin appeareth, and we cover it. This covering of sin is more natural than any sin beside. We cannot name any that agreeth with all natures and complexions as this doth. Excuse, as a servant, waiteth upon all, and is officious to offer attendance on the foulest. God hath imprinted upon man a natural shame of sin. God left this impression of shame upon us to keep us within compass, that we should not commit sin. But, too often, what was made as a means to prevent sin is made a cloak to cover it. Shame is a good buckler to oppose against sin.
II. The remedy. Penitential confession reaching even to the mercy-seat. Sin is never less deformed in the eye of God than when it is in its own shape. Sin is never more sin, hath never more in it, than when it is covered. He that confesseth his sin hath found a plaster for it. (A. Farindon, B.D.)
Covering sins
Mens sins are often well known, when they flatter themselves that they are unknown, and the attempt to conceal deceives none but themselves. Sin is in itself too odious to appear without some disguise, and most men wish to be thought better than they are; but the policy is both weak and dangerous. To attempt to hide our sins from the eye of God is atheistical and vain. The mantle of Divine love is sufficient to cover all iniquity, and the interposing blood of atonement to secure from the inflictions of eternal wrath. There is also a love among brethren which covers a multitude of sins, and forms an amiable part of the Christian character. A truly good man will be tender towards every ones failings but his own. The charity we exercise towards others is, however, very different from those excuses which we are too apt to form for ourselves.
I. Who are they who may be said to cover their sins?
1. Those who endeavour to conceal themselves under falsehood, as did the servant of Elisha.
2. Those who palliate and excuse themselves in sin, by endeavouring to shift the blame on others, belong to the same class.
3. The attempt to dissemble and disguise sin, by specious pretences, is another way of covering it.
4. There are some who even justify and plead for sin, and these certainly can need but little disguise.
5. Sin is sometimes covered by vain and ineffectual endeavour to satisfy and atone for it.
II. Consider the folly and danger of every false disguise. Shall not prosper.
1. His hopes shall be disappointed, and the end he had in view defeated. It is of no use to deny, to palliate, or in any other way to hide our sins, for God hath set them all in the light of His countenance.
2. Artifice and disguise shall not prosper, even as to our temporal interests.
3. Those who indulge in any manner of deceit shall be utter strangers to spiritual prosperity. Sin is the distemper of the soul; and covering it with false disguises only tends to increase the evil, and make it more dangerous.
4. A course of dissimulation will end in utter ruin and despair. God will neither be deceived nor mocked. Learn--
(1) How carefully we should avoid what will be attended with such tremendous consequences.
(2) As we are not to cover our own sins, so neither should we cover the sins of others, any farther than prudence directs or Christian charity allows.
(3) That we may not be tempted to use any other coverings, let us seek after those which are recommended to us in the gospel. (B. Beddome, M.A.)
Covering sin
Certain great iron castings have been ordered for a railway-bridge. The thickness has been calculated according to the extent of the span and the weight of the load. The contractor constructs his moulds according to the specification, and when all is ready, pours in the molten metal. In the process of casting, through some defect in the mould, portions of air lurk in the heart of the iron, and cavities like those of a honeycomb are formed in the interior of the beam; but all defects are hid, and flaws are effectually concealed. The artisan has covered his fault, but he will not prosper. As soon as it is subjected to a strain the beam gives way. Sin covered becomes a rotten hollow in a human soul, and when the strain comes the false gives way. (W. Arnot, D.D.)
A false covering and a safe refuge
I. The false and deceptive refuge. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.
1. This is the course which men usually adopt when they enter on a course of sin. They are conscious that they are doing wrong, and they try to cover and conceal what they are doing. They resort to a variety of expedients. Some flatly deny them. Others cover their sins by evasion, or they shift the blame off upon others. Some plead their weakness, and the circumstances in which they were placed. Many plead the practice of others. It is the custom of the trade. The vilest class attempt to cover their sins by glorying in them.
2. Note the folly of such conduct. Such a man shall not succeed in the attempt to cover his sins. And he shall not escape from the consequences of his sins, however he attempts to conceal them. Sin brings its own punishments to the man who commits it.
II. The more excellent way which is here commended.
1. The condition of forgiveness. We must confess our sins. We must forsake them.
2. These conditions are not the only ground of forgiveness. In God there is not only provision made for forgiveness, but also for our help to resist sin, and escape from it. (A.Clark.)
The consequences of covering sin
I. In reference to others. He who covers sin is a hypocrite, who always wears a mask. He conceals bad principles under an avowed zeal for good ones; bad purposes under a noisy reprobation of such purposes; and a bad system of iniquity under the mask of extraordinary purity and piety.
II. In reference to ourselves. Man possesses the astonishing, but awful power of practising deceit upon himself, and concealing his sins from his own view. This he does--
1. By decreasing their number. This is done by rejecting the Divine law as the standard, and by adopting as the standard the lax notions of worldly and irreligious men.
2. By diminishing their enormity. This is done by pleading the impetuosity of the passions; the strength of temptation; as a set-off against bad works the multitude of good ones. But he who hides his sins from others shall not eventually prosper. And he who hides his sins from himself cannot prosper.
Now, consider the nature and advantage of confessing and forsaking sin.
1. Our confession must be spiritual.
2. Our sin must be confessed as a great evil.
3. Our sin must be confessed as deserving special punishment.
From hence we learn that the prospect of those who cover their sins, either from themselves or others, is most appalling; that no sinner, however guilty, and depraved, and miserable, need despair, for he may yet be saved. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Sin covered or confessed
I. Covered sin and no prosperity.
1. What is the meaning of covering sin?
2. How do men cover sin?
(1) By palliation.
(2) By dissembling.
(3) By practising sin in secret.
(4) By self-righteousness.
3. Covered sin a failure. Shall not prosper. This does not refer to temporal, but spiritual prosperity. This is not an arbitrary arrangement. The same power by which night and day succeed each other has promulgated, and will enforce the law that says, Bad lives, unpardoned, shall be punished. Sin cannot be successfully cloaked, but will be discovered and punished.
II. Confessed and forsaken sin and mercy.
1. Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them. Prompt confession, followed by prompt forgiveness. Confession involving forsaking. Profession attended with consistent practice. The reform of the outward life, and the healing of the soul.
2. Shall have mercy. This is not a subject of doubt. It was the experience of the psalmist (Psa_32:5). The apostle believed and taught it (Rom_4:5). John has put it beyond speculation (1Jn_1:8-9). Mercy is yours if you will fulfil the conditions. (J. E. Hargreaves.)
Mans treatment of his own sins
1. All men have sins.
2. All men have something to do with their sins.
3. All men deal with their sins either foolishly or wisely.
I. The foolish treatment of our sins. He that covereth his sins.
1. By denying them. Thus Cain, Rachel, Josephs brethren, Peter, Ananias and Sapphira, endeavoured to hide their sin.
2. By extenuating them. Men plead excuses.
3. By forgetting them. They endeavour to sweep them from the memory by revelry, by sensuality, worldliness, and intemperance. Sins must reveal themselves sooner or later.
II. The wise treatment of our sins. Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
A serious contrast
I. Mans covering, and its failure. There are many ways in which men try to cover their sins. Excuse-making is the commonest trade under heaven. Some cover by secrecy and some by falsehood. Some think their sin has been hidden away by lapse of time.
II. Gods covering, and its success. By the atoning sacrifice which was presented by the Lord Jesus. Before God covers sins He unveils them. The covering is as broad as the sin; it completely covers, and for ever covers. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain "He that hideth his transgressions shall not prosper; but…
CHAPTER 29
AN ASPECT OF ATONEMENT
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"He that hideth his transgressions shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy."- Pro_28:13
"Happy is the man that feareth alway but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief."- Pro_28:14
"The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil."- Pro_19:23
"By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil."- Pro_16:6
THE Hebrew word which is used for the idea of atonement is one which originally signifies to cover. Sin is a hideous sore, a shocking deformity, which must be hidden from the eyes of men, and much more from the holy eyes of God. Thus the Old Testament speaks about a Robe of Righteousness which is to be thrown over the ulcerated and leprous body of sin. Apart from this covering, the disease is seen working out its sure and terrible results. "A man that is laden with the blood of any person shall flee unto the pit: let no man stay him," {Pro_28:17} and though blood-guiltiness appears to us the worst of sins, all sin is alike in its issue; every sinner may be seen by seeing eyes "fleeing unto the pit," and no man can stay him or deliver him. Or, to vary the image, the sinful man is exposed to the violence of justice, which beats like a storm upon all unprotected heads; he needs to be covered; he needs some shelter, some hiding place, or he must be swept away.
But the objection which immediately occurs to us is this: what is the use of covering sin if the sin itself remains? The disease is not cured because a decent garment is drawn over the suffering part; indeed, it is not hard to conceive a case in which the covering might aggravate the mischief. If the idea of covering is to be of any service, it must be cleared from all misconception; there is a kind of hiding which may be ruinous, a garment which may drive the disease inward and hasten its deadly operation, a covert from the storm which may crush and stifle the person whom it professes to protect. "He that covereth his transgressions," in that way, "shall not prosper." Every attempt to conceal from God or from man or from oneself that one is diseased with sin is ineffectual: every lame excuse which seeks to palliate the guilt; every hypocritical pretense that the thing done has not been done, or that it is not what men usually suppose it to be; every ingenious argumentation which seeks to represent sin as something other than sin, as a mere defect or taint in the blood, as a hereditary and unavoidable weakness, as an aberration of the mind for which one is not responsible, or as a merely conventional and artificial offence, -all such attempts at hiding must be failures, "covering" of that kind can be no atonement. Quite the reverse; this trifling with conscience, this deluded self-righteousness, is the worst possible aggravation of the sin. Hidden in that way, though it be, as it were, in the bowels of the earth, sin becomes a poisonous gas, more noxious for confinement, and liable to break out in awful and devastating explosions.
The covering of sin which is spoken of in Pro_16:6 is of a very different and of a quite particular kind. Combining this verse with the others at the head of the chapter, we may observe that every effectual "covering" of sin in Gods sight involves three elements, -confession, forsaking, and a changed practice.
First, there is confession. This appears on the face of it to be a paradox: the only way of covering sin is to uncover it. But it is strictly true. We must make a clean breast of it; we must acknowledge its full extent and enormity; we must spare the patient ear of God no detail of our guilt. The foul, explosive gases must be let out into the open, since every attempt to confine them increases their destructive power. The running sore must be exposed to the Physicians eye, since every rag put over it to hide it becomes steeped in its defiling tides. It is true, confession is a painful and a weary task: it is like removing a heap of dust and refuse by spadefuls, -each bit as it is disturbed fills the atmosphere with choking particles and noisome smells; worse and worse is revealed the farther we go. We came to confess a single fault, and we found that it was but a broken shard lying on the foul and pestilential heap. Confession leads to confession, discovery to discovery. It is terribly humiliating. "Am I then so bad as this?" is the horrified cry as each candid admission shows only more and worse that must be admitted. True confession can never be made into a priests ear, - to men we can only confess the wrongs which we have done to men; but true confession is the awful tale of what we have done to God, against whom only we have sinned and done evil in His sight. It is sometimes urged that confession to a priest gives the penitent relief: possibly, but it is a false relief; since the eye of the priest is not omniscient, the sinner confesses only what he chooses, brings the broken shard, and receives absolution for that in lieu of removing the whole heap of abominations that underlie. When we have gone as far as we can in laying ourselves bare to man, there remain vast untraversed tracts of our life and our mind which are reserved; "Private road" is written on all the approaches, and trespassers are invariably prosecuted. It is only to God that a real confession can be made, because we know that to Him all is necessarily evident; with Him no subterfuges avail; he traverses those untraversed tracts; there are no private roads from which He is excluded; He knoweth our thoughts afar off.
The first step in the "covering" of sin is to realize this. If our sins are to be really covered they must first be laid bare; we must frankly own that all things are open to Him with whom we have to do; we must get away from the priests and into the hands of the High Priest; we must abjure the confessional and bring God Himself into the secret places of our hearts to search us and try us and see if there be any evil way in us. The reserve, and the veilings, which every individual cannot but maintain between himself and all other individuals, must be torn away, in full and absolute confession to God Himself.
Secondly. There is a confession, especially that fostered by the habit of confessing to priests, which is unaccompanied by any forsaking of the evil, or any departing from iniquity in general. Many times have men gone to their priests to receive absolution beforehand for the sin which they intended to commit; or they have postponed their confession to their, deathbeds, when there will be, as they suppose, no further sins to turn from. Confession of that kind is devoid of all significance; it covers no sins, it really only aggravates them. No confession is of the least avail-and indeed no real confession can be made to God at all-unless the heart turns away from the evil which is confessed, and actually departs at once, so far as it knows and is able, from all iniquity.
The glib language of confession has been and is a deadly snare to multitudes. How easy it is to say, or even to musically chant, "We have done that we ought not to have done; we have left undone that which we ought to have done." There is no pain in such a confession if we once distinctly admit that it is a normal and natural state of mind for us to be in, and that as we say it today, so we shall say it tomorrow, and again the next day to the end. But real confession is so painful, and even heartrending, because it is only of value when we begin from that moment onwards "to do what we ought to do, and to leave undone what we ought not to do." It is well for us, perhaps, to confess mot so much sin in the abstract as our own particular transgressions. Sin is too shadowy a monster for us to definitely avoid and forsake; like death, its kinsman, -Death of whom Milton says:-
"What seemed his head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on."
Sin is formless, vague, impalpable. But our own individual transgressions can be fixed and defined: bringing ourselves to the test of the Law, we can say particularly, "This practice of mine is condemned, this habit of mine is sinful, this point of my character is evil, this reticence, this indolence, this reluctance, in confessing Christ and in serving His cause, is all wrong; "and then we can definitely turn our back on the practice or the habit, we can distinctly get rid of the blot in our character, we can fly this guilty silence, rouse ourselves from our selfish indolence. "We live to greatness like what we have been"; and it is this act of the will, this resolute purpose, this loathing what once you loved, and turning towards that which once you ignored, it is, in a word, the twin process of repentance and conversion, that constitutes the second act in this "covering" of sin. Not, of course, that in a moment the tyranny of old habits can be broken, or the virtue of new activities acquired; but "the forsaking" and "the departing from" are instantaneous exertions of the will. Zaccheus, directly the Lord speaks to him, stands forth, and breaks with his sins, renounces his extortions, resolving to make amends for the past and enters on a new line of conduct, promising to give the half of his goods to the poor. That is the essential seal of every true confession: "Whoso confesseth and forsaketh" his transgressions.
Thirdly. This has led us to see that the confession of sins and the conversion from them must issue in a positive practice of mercy and truth, in order to make the process of which we are speaking complete: "By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for."
It is this part of the "covering" which is so easily, so frequently, and so fatally overlooked. It is supposed that sins can be hidden without being removed, and that the covering of what is called imputed righteousness will serve instead of the covering of actual righteousness. To argue against this view theoretically is at the present day happily quite superfluous: but it is still necessary to contend against its subtle practical effects. There is no verity more wholesome and more needed than the one contained in this proverb. Sin may be summed up in two clauses: it is the Want of Mercy and it is the Want of Truth. All our ill-conduct to our fellow-men comes from the cruelty and hardness of our selfish nature. Lust and greed and ambition are the outcome of pitilessness: we injure the weak and ruin the helpless, and trample on our competitors, and stamp out the poor; our eye does not pity. Again, all our offence against God is insincerity or wilful lying. We are false to ourselves, we are false to one another, and so we become false to the unseen verities, and false to God. When a human spirit denies the spiritual world and the spiritual Cause which can alone account for it, is it not what Plato used to call "a lie in the soul"? It is the deep inward and vital contradiction of consciousness; it is equivalent to saying, "I am not I," or, "That which is, is not."
Now, when we have lived in sin, without mercy or without truth, or without both; when our life up to a certain point has been a flagrant selfishness of absolute indifference to our fellows, or a flagrant lie denying Him in whom we live and move and have our being; or when as is so often the fact, the selfishness and the falseness have gone together, an inextricable and mutually dependent pair of evils, there can be no real covering of the sin, unless selfishness gives place to mercy and falsehood to truth. No verbal confession can possibly avail, no turning from the past iniquities, however genuine for the time, can have any permanent significance, unless the change is a reality, an obvious, living, and working fact. If a man supposes that he has become religious, but remains cruel and selfish, pitiless, unmerciful to his fellow-men, depend upon it that mans religion is vain; the atonement in which he trusts is a fiction, and avails no more than the hecatombs which Carthage offered to Melcarth availed to gain a victory over Rome. If a man counts himself saved, but remains radically untrue, false in his speech, insincere in his professions, careless in his thought about God, unjust in his opinions about men and the world, he is certainly under a lamentable delusion. Though he has, as he thinks, believed, he has not believed to the saving of his soul; though he has undergone a change, he has changed from one lie to another, and is in no way better off. It is by mercy and truth that iniquity can be covered.
Now it will be generally admitted that we do not take the course which has just been described unless we have the fear of God before our eyes. Nothing but the thought of His holiness and the awe which it inspires, and in some cases even, nothing but the absolute terror of Him who can by no means clear the guilty, moves the heart of man to confession, turns him away from his sins, or inclines him to mercy and truth. When the fear of God is removed from mens eyes they not only continue in sin, but they quickly come to believe that they have no sins to confess; for indeed when God is put out of the question that is in a certain sense true. It is a mere fact of observation, confirmed not by many changing experiences of humanity, that it is "by the fear of the Lord men depart from iniquity"; and it is very significant to notice how many of those who have entirely put away the fear of the Lord from their own eyes have strongly advocated keeping it before the eyes of others as the most convenient and economical police resource. Many fervent free-thinkers are thankful that their opinions are only held by a minority, and have no wish to see the whole of society committed to the cult which they would have us believe in all that their own religious nature requires.
But supposing that any one of us is led into the position of confession and conversion and amendment which is described in these Proverbs: what follows? That person, says the text, "shall obtain mercy." The gracious Father immediately, unconditionally, and absolutely pardons. This is the burden of the Old Testament, and it is certainly not repealed by the New. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." "Repent, and be converted," said St. Peter to the crowd at Pentecost, "that your sins may be blotted out." The New Testament is indeed on this point the louder and the clearer echo of the Old. The New Testament explains that saying which sounds so strange in the mouth of a perfectly just and Holy God, "I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake." {Isa_43:25} Human theologies have imagined obstacles in the way, but God never admitted them for a moment. Clear as the truth that the soul which sins should die was the promise that the soul which turned from its sin, and did that which is righteous in the eyes of the Lord, should live. No earthly father, frankly and unconditionally forgiving his penitent, sobbing child, could be so prompt, so eager as God. While the prodigal is yet a great way off the Father runs to meet him, and hides all his broken confessions in the rush of His embrace.
But we hesitate to admit and rejoice in this grand truth because of an uneasy fear that it is ignoring what is called the Atonement of Christ. It is a very proper hesitation, so long as we settle it within ourselves that these sweet and beautiful utterances of the Old Testament cannot possibly be limited or reversed by that Gospel which came to give effect and fulfillment to them. Is not the solution of any difficulty that has occurred to us to be found here? The sacrifice and the work of Christ create in the human soul those conditions which we have been considering. He came to give repentance unto Israel. It is His patient love in bearing all our infirmities and sins, His mysterious self-offering on the Cross, that can effectually bring us to confession, conversion, and amendment. Our hearts may have been as hard as the nether millstone, but at the Cross they are broken and melted. No stern denunciation of sin has ever moved our stubbornness; but as we realize what sin did to Him, when He became sin for us, the fear of the Lord falls upon us, we tremble, and cry, What shall we do to be saved? Then again, it is His perfect holiness, the beauty of those "stainless years He passed beneath the Syrian blue," which wakes in us the hankering desire for purity and goodness, and makes us turn with a genuine disgust from the sins which must seem so loathsome in His sight. His "neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more," gives us a more burning hatred of sin than all the self-righteous censures and condemnation of the Pharisees. It is in the pages of the Gospels that we have first understood what concrete goodness is; it has risen upon our night like a clear, liquid star, and the passion of it has entered into our souls. And then, finally, it is the Risen Lord, unto whom all power is given in heaven and in earth, that can really transform our nature, flood our heart with love, and fill our mind with truth, so that, in the language of the proverb, mercy and truth may atone for iniquity.
Is it not because Christ by His coming, by His living, by His dying, by His risen power, produces in the believer repentance and confession of sins, conversion and departing from sin, regeneration and actual holiness, that we say He has covered our sins? What meaning can be attached to Atonement apart from its effects? And in what other way, we may ask, could He really give us such a covering or atonement, than by creating in us a clean heart and renewing a right spirit within us? Sometimes, by a not unnatural confusion of language, we speak of the sacrificial death of our Lord as if it, apart from the effects produced in the believing heart, were in itself the Atonement. But that is not the language of the New Testament, which employs the idea of reconciliation where the Old Testament would employ the idea of atoning; and clearly there can be no reconciliation accomplished between man and God until, not only God is reconciled to man, but man also is reconciled to God. And it is when we come to observe more accurately the language of the New Testament that this statement of the Proverbs is seen to be no contradiction, but an anticipation, of it. Only the regenerate soul, that in which the graces of the Christ-life, mercy and truth, have been implanted by Christ, is really reconciled with God, i.e., effectually atoned. And though the framer of the proverb had but a dim conception of the way m which the Son of God would come to regenerate human hearts and make them in harmony with the Father, yet he saw clearly what Christians have too often overlooked, and expressed tersely what theology has too often obscured, that every effectual Atonement must include in itself the actual, moral regeneration of the sinner. And further, whoever wrote the verse which stands at the head of our chapter understood what many preachers of the Gospel have left in perplexing obscurity, that God would necessarily, from His very nature, provide the offering and the sacrifice on the ground of which every repentant soul that turns to Him could be immediately and freely forgiven.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_28:13
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_28:13
CONFESSION AND FORGIVENESS
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I. Sin tends to produce shame. Even a child often tries to hide an act of disobedience to a good mother’s law, and this not from fear of punishment merely, but from an undefined sense of shame. And this feeling clings to all men through life who are not entirely hardened in iniquity. So long as the conscience is not entirely stifled, men try to hide their wrong actions from their fellow-men even when no human punishment would follow the discovery, and they even try to cover them from themselves by inventing excuses for them. They often endeavour to cloak their sin before their fellow-creatures by putting on the garb of special sanctity, and so add hypocrisy to their other transgressions, and they will try to palliate their guilt at the bar of their own conscience by lowering the standard of morality which God has set up within them, or by persuading themselves that He is a hard taskmaster, requiring them to render Him an unreasonable and a burdensome service. There are other motives which induce men to cover their sins beside this one of shame, and other methods by which they try to do it, but whatever impels them, and whatever means they use, the truth taught in the proverb is always verified, viz., that all such makeshifts are worse than useless.
II. The only prosperous method of dealing with sin. This method consists of two acts which God has joined together, and which man may not put asunder, because neither of the two by itself would give evidence that the sinner was fit to receive full absolution. If a man confesses his sin without forsaking it, he seems almost to aggravate his transgression, for he acknowledges that he sins knowing that it is sin, and that it is useless to pardon him to-day, because he will do the same thing to-morrow. And if he forsakes sin without confessing his guilt he shows that he does it from some other motive than abhorrence of evil. Certain sins are sometimes forsaken from expediency, or from self-righteous motives, but in such cases there is no guarantee that there will not be a return to them. Our Lord describes such when he speaks of the unclean spirit going out of a man, but returning to find an empty house—a soul with none of the newborn hopes and desires and aims which always come with true repentance—and of such He says that “the last state of that man is worse than the first.” (Luk_11:26.) But when hearty and sincere acknowledgment of sin is joined with earnest endeavour to forsake it, God sees a soul which will know how to value His pardon, and will find strength in it to fight against evil and finally to overcome it. And to such a soul it is given to know the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psa_32:1-2.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
There are various ways of endeavouring to cover sins. By denying them. A lie is a cover which men put over their sins to conceal them from others. They sin and deny the fact, they wrap up their crimes in falsehood. Thus Cain, Rachel, Joseph’s brethren, Peter, Ananias and Sapphira, endeavoured to hide their sins. By extenuating them. Men plead excuses. The influence of others, the power of circumstances, the moral weakness of the constitution. Extenuation is a common cover. By forgetting them. They endeavour to sweep them from the memory by revelry and mirth, by sensuality, worldliness, and intemperance.—Dr. David Thomas.
A child of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian will confess sin by wholesale; he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David doth, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: “I have done this evil” (Psa_51:4); he doth not say I have done evil, but this evil. He points at his blood-guiltiness.—Watson.
Confession of sin will work a holy contrition and a godly sorrow in the heart. (Psa_38:18.) Declaration doth breed compunction. Confession of sin is but the causing of sin to recoil on the conscience, which causeth blushing, and shame of face, and grief of heart.… Secret confession gives a great deal of glory to God. It gives glory to God’s justice. I do confess sin, and do confess God in justice may damn me for my sin. It gives glory to God’s mercy. I confess sin, yet mercy may save me. It gives glory to God’s omnisciency. In confessing sin I do confess that God knoweth my sin.—Christopher Love.
It is fearful for a man to bind two sins together when he is not able to bear the load of one. To act wickedness and then to cloak it, is for a man to wound himself and then go to the devil for a plaster. What man doth conceal God will not cancel. Iniquities strangled in silence will strangle the soul in heaviness. There are three degrees of felicity:—the first is, not to sin; the second, to know; the third, to acknowledge our offences. Let us, then, honour Him by confession whom we have dishonoured by presumption.… Sinfulness is a sleep, confession a sign that we are waked. Men dream in their sleeps, but tell their dreams waking. In our sleep of security we lead a dreaming life, full of vile imaginations; but if we confess and speak our sins to God’s glory, and our own shame, it is a token that God’s spirit hath wakened us.… This is true, though to some a paradox; the way to cover our sins is to uncover them.—T. Adams.
Sin is in a man at once the most familiar inmate and the greatest stranger.… Although he lives in it, because he lives in it, he is ignorant of it. Nothing is more widely diffused or more constantly near us than atmospheric air; yet few ever notice its existence and fewer consider its nature. Dust, and chaff, and feathers, that sometimes float up and down in it, attract our regard more than the air in which they float; yet these are trifles that scarcely concern us, and in this we live, and move, and have our being.… Such, in this respect, is sin. It pervades humanity, but, in proportion to its profusion, men are blind to its presence. Because it is everywhere, we do not notice it anywhere.… But the chief effort of the alienated must ever be to cover his sins from the eye of God.… All the wiles of the tempter, and all the faculties of his slave, are devoted to the work of weaving a curtain thick enough to cover an unclean conscience from the eye of God. Anything and everything may go as a thread to the web; houses and lands, business and pleasure, family and friends, virtues and vices, blessings and cursings—a hideous miscellany of good and evil—constitute the material of the curtain; and the woven web is waulked over and over again with love and hatred, joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, to thicken the wall without, and to deepen the darkness within, that the fool may be able, with some measure of comfort, to say “in his heart, No God.”—Arnot.
Sin and shifting came into this world together. Sin and Satan are alike in this, they cannot abide to appear in their own colour.… We must see our sin to confession, or we shall see it to our confusion … No man was ever kept out of heaven for his confessed badness; many are for their supposed goodness.—Trapp.
St. Gregory speaketh, “He that covereth his sin, doth not hide himself from the Lord, but hideth the Lord from himself, and that which he doth, is that himself may not see God, who seeth all things, not that he be not seen.”—Jermin.
For Homiletics on Pro_28:14 see on chaps. Pro_12:15, and Pro_14:16, pages 271 and 365
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 hides his sins
hides his sins
"covers his sins." This is the opposite of confessing and forsaking sins, and is spoken of as covering sins rather than bringing them into the open (See: Metaphor)
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will not prosper
"will not succeed" or "will not advance"
the one who confesses them and forsakes them will be shown mercy
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will show mercy to the one who confesses and forsakes them" (See: Active or Passive)
The one who always lives with reverence is blessed
This can be expressed in active form. AT: "God will bless the one who always lives with reverence" (See: Active or Passive)
lives with reverence
The abstract noun "reverence" can be expressed as an adjective. AT: "lives a reverent life" (See: Abstract Nouns)
reverence
This refers to deeply respecting Yahweh and showing that respect by obeying him.
whoever hardens his heart
"the one who hardens his heart"
hardens his heart
This is an idiom that means to be stubborn or unwilling to obey God. AT: "refuses to obey God" (See: Idiom)
will fall into trouble
This represents ending up in misery and distress. AT: "will end up in trouble" (See: Metaphor)
translationWords
sin
confess
forsake
mercy
life
revere
heart
trouble
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 28:13 The wise admit their mistakes and sins and…
28:13 The wise admit their mistakes and sins and pursue correction (see Ps 32:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.