Wherefore I abhor [myself]
Or all my words, as Aben Ezra; all the indecent expressions he
had uttered concerning God; he could not bear to think of them;
he loathed them, and himself on account of them: sin is
abominable in its own nature, and makes men so; it is loathsome
to God, and so it is to all good men when they see it in its
proper light; am especially when they have a view of the purity
and holiness of God, to which that is so very contrary, and also
of his grace and goodness in the forgiveness of it; see (
Isaiah 6:3
Isaiah 6:5 ) (
Ezekiel
16:63 ) ( 20:41 ) ;
and repent in dust and ashes;
which was an external ceremony used by mournful and penitent
persons; see ( Job 2:8 ) ( Jonah 3:6 ) ; and is
expressive of the truth and sincerity of repentance; and never do
any more truly mourn for sin and repent of it, are more ashamed
of it, or have a more godly sorrow for it, or more ingenuously
confess it, and heartily forsake it, than those who with an eye
of faith behold God in Christ as a sin forgiving God; or behold
their sins through the glass of pardoning grace and mercy; see (
Zechariah 12:10 ) (
Luke 7:37
Luke 7:47 ) (
1
Timothy 1:13 ) .