(1.) When he was conscious that his soul was cleaving to the dust, he was not content to leave it there. He did not say that it could not be helped, and so make it an excuse for sin. He did not do as some people do with reference to their temper,—say they have the misfortune of a bad temper, and therefore consider themselves not to be blamed when they break out in a passion, or settle down in a sulky fit. He resolutely, determinately, and prayerfully grappled with the difficulty. He was conscious of sin, but he could not endure the thought of it. He could say from the bottom of his heart, ‘I hate and abhor lying; but Thy law do I love and it was because he loved the law, and hated the sin, that he came before God with the cry, ‘Lord, I am Thine: save me!’ So we may be perfectly sure that if a person be really born of God, the knowledge of indwelling sin will never lead him to settle down in the apathy of hopelessness; but will arouse him, by the sense of danger, to watch, to pray, to trust, to strive, to conquer, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the power of the Holy Ghost. (2.) But while David was thus energetic in his struggle, and allowed no compromise with sin, he was evidently brought to the acknowledgment of his own helplessness. With reference to the past he could say, ‘I have sought Thy precepts;’ and with reference to the present, ‘I love Thy commandments above gold: yea, than much fine gold.’ But notwithstanding all his painstaking, he found he could not raise his own heart above the dust, and was still obliged to acknowledge the truth of the words, ‘No man hath quickened his own soul.’ Thus the words, ‘Lord, save me!’ implied that he had given up all hope of saving himself; and when we offer the same prayer, there is the same act of self-renunciation as well as faith. I do not say that we shall give up the most diligent and devout endeavours after holiness, for we shall ‘press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;’ but that in the midst of it all we shall both know and acknowledge our own utter helplessness; and thank God for that passage in Rom. v. 6, in which we are taught that ‘when we were _yet_ without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.’ I commend that ‘yet’ to the careful consideration of all those who are painfully conscious of their own inability to rise.