April 3, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." — Isaiah 53:6 · KJV

Here is a confession of sin common to all the elect people of God. They have all fallen, and so, in one chorus, they all say — from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall enter there — "All we like sheep have gone astray." Yet, unanimous as the confession is, it is also special and particular: "We have turned every one to his own way." There is a peculiar sinfulness about each individual; all are sinful, but each with some special aggravation not found in his fellow. It is the mark of genuine repentance that, while it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also takes up a position of loneliness. "We have turned every one to his own way" is a confession that each man had sinned against light peculiar to himself, or sinned with an aggravation he could not perceive in others. This confession is unreserved; there is not a word to soften its force, nor a syllable of excuse. It is a giving up of all pleas of self-righteousness; the declaration of men consciously guilty — guilty with aggravations, guilty without excuse — who stand with their weapons of rebellion broken in pieces and cry, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way." Yet we hear no mournful wailings attending this confession, for the next sentence makes it almost a song: "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange, that where misery was concentrated, mercy reigned; where sorrow reached its climax, weary souls find rest. The Savior bruised is the healing of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place to assured confidence, simply through gazing at Christ on the cross!