by David Brenneman
"Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, In burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar." Psalms 51:1-19.
Peace of mind doesn't come to the guilty. Oh many try to drown out that still small voice that's reminding them of what needs to be addressed.
Yesterday was something of that with me. I was so sure of where something was damaged at work that I became proud of finding it. Told several people of what my conclusion was. Turns out the real culprit probably had been me when others looked into it. I can't be absolutely sure but they have a case for being right and I do not.
I admitted to them that as it looks then it probably is on me. That somehow my actions caused the issue. I can't understand how but the only other person possible is me.
But that wasn't enough for God. Because He wanted to talk about it before I went to bed last night. My heart n mind wasn't finding peace at all.
Then this passage comes up this morning in my daily reading. A reminder that regardless of my ways of justification God knows everything.
I probably need to mention it to a few other people this morning that I am no longer sure of what happened because it does look like somehow I had a hand in the damaged parts. It's owning up to things as they really are.
It's something that I need to do. Forgiveness isn't just between two or more people. Reading what David wrote we all see just how much more it really is between us and God.
"Nobody's perfect" has been used way too many times to justify dismissing the guilt of sin. Not that that was on my mind but you can easily see the sentiment was there.
Sin is why Jesus came, lead a sinless life, was horrifically beaten and crucified. Was separated from the Father for a time with all the sins of humanity blotting out Jesus from His Father. Then coming back from the dead 3 days later overcoming sin, death and the grave.
Sin, as we read in David's confession, is what we are born in. It's why we need a perfect sacrifice, acceptable to God, to remove it.
I had no peace last night before talking to Jesus. I knew that sleep was going to elude me until we talked. Until we settled it.
Read that one verse over and over. "it is against you and you alone have I sinned".
Do we sin against others in our lives? Yes. But first and foremost our sin is found out before our Holy God.
People wonder why they think God's not listening to their prayers. Read again this passage. Read in the Bible of the truth that our unconfessed sins put a barrier between us and God.
We may be desperately praying about something really important but the first thing that comes to mind is what He wants to address first is our unconfessed sins.
He didn't let King David off the hook nor anyone else...why should we expect any special considerations?
Sin is sin is sin in the eyes of God. There appears to be grades of sin based on the Gospel accounts regarding Judas and others in their hand in turning Jesus over to be crucified.
But it is a part of us until we die.
For those saved in Christ Jesus, after we die sin is forever separated from us. For those who don't their sins are forever condemning them and their punishment endures forever.
While a few seem to believe that I write about them in some of these posts not a single person has been named...the circumstances surrounding my interactions with people has been a part of posts only when I know that God wants it written. Life happens and life that happens is hardly unique to anyone. God uses all kinds of things and ways to reach people. Including people like me. Paul considered himself foremost of all sinners because he once persecuted the Church of God.
Forgiveness lifts an indescribable weight off of the human heart.
We can in countless ways offend people by our actions and words...but it's our sinning against God that hurts us the most...does the most damage to our lives.
We lose sleep, lose focus, impact our health. Precious time is wasted. King David tried to cover up murdering someone and from a worldly standpoint he completely succeeded. Think about that and take it to heart. King David got away with murder in the eyes of the world. It was his relationship with Jesus that was broken and he was called out by Nathan the prophet.
Then what he already knew was true had to be dealt with. The consequences were severe in David's case. When he died he met that son of his that God took from him. He probably first asked him to forgive him.
Sin is a burden to great for anyone to bear. Sin is what separates people as well as people from God.
For those who are saved, when we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's His promise to all who are Believer's. The sins of all who reject Jesus Christ remain forever.
So if indeed you are breathing, maybe it's time for you to do a self-check and ask Him if there is any unconfessed sins that you need to address.
I know that had I not admitted and confessed last night, you wouldn't be reading anything this morning.
David's sin concerning Bathsheba stopped the Kingdom of David in its tracks. A nation was hurt by his actions. The ramifications were extensive. People died because of what David had done in secret.
There's an old hymn that says "I'm gonna have a little talk with Jesus. Gonna tell Him all about my troubles. He will hear my faintest cry, He will answer by and by". He will...but first confess what needs confessed.
A way to think about prayer is ACTS.
Adoration - Worship God for who He is. He is holy, we are not.
Confession - This comes before asking for anything. Remove the barriers.
Thanksgiving - Be thankful! In everything we are to give thanks. Including dealing with our sin.
Supplication - now ask what's on your heart.
Jesus, and our Father in Heaven, wants a right relationship between us and them through the Spirit of God within us. When we ask for forgiveness, Jesus casts our sins as far away as the east is from the west, remembering them no more.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment