Judges 20:3

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Tell us how was this wickedness? " Judges 20:3 .

We should not shrink from scrutinising evil, and asking it piercing questions as to its origin and cause. We cannot deal with wickedness until we have got at its roots. Evil is not an accident which is found upon the surface, varying with the climate and the light; it is a disease of the heart, and only a heart-cure can utterly extirpate the evil and restore health to the whole man. Men who cannot conduct a great philosophical inquiry as to the origin of evil may conduct a very searching scrutiny into their own questionable or wicked actions. "How was this wickedness?" Was it because of a desire to fulfil a selfish ambition? Was it done in order to quench a fiery appetite? Was it done suddenly, in a moment of madness, or after long consideration and ample preparation? Was it one of the sudden blasts which seize the soul without notice? Or did we roll the iniquity under our tongue as a sweet morsel and enjoy the wickedness long in advance? Sometimes it will do the soul good to tell the tale of its wickedness to friendly inquirers. There is a sense in which confession even by man to man may do the soul great good. The confession must not be made in any sacerdotal sense, as if man had power to forgive sin, but it must be told to force the soul itself into contrition, shame, self-renunciation, and to constitute a kind of judgment outside itself which it may continually fear. It is possible by this kind of confession to create a species of criticism on the part of others which may hold us in restraint in days to come. The great thought is that we are not to cover up wickedness, or lessen it, or decorate it, or excuse it; we are to tell the plain and shameful tale straight out from end to end, that we may know how the disease is to be treated. "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." The Gospel tells us that there is a Man who receiveth sinners. His name is Jesus Christ. No man ever came to him with broken-hearted desire to repent of his sin and abandon it who was turned away with one word or look of discouragement.