The literal rendering of the publican's prayer is: "God be merciful to me, the sinner." (Luke 18:13,RV,margin)
That presents the most marked contrast to the prayer of the Pharisee, who saw everybody's sins except his own.
The publican saw himself as the only sinner. That is the characteristic of true conviction of sin. He who has learned of the Lord, will see himself to be so great a sinner that he cannot imagine anyone else as bad as himself. So Paul said: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1:15)
The closer we get to the Lord, the keener becomes our consciousness of imperfection, and therefore the farther we are from criticizing our neighbors.--Present Truth, August 16, 1894.