Of what character trait of the Lord's are you most thankful? With what
character trait of yours do you think the Lord would be most pleased?
I wonder today if the two answers might not be related… In speaking for
myself, I deeply appreciate the gift of the Lord's forgiveness! And I'm
certain that the Lord is very pleased when He finds me confessing my sins,
amen? Confession is the best way to cultivate a broken and contrite heart
before the Lord…
Psalm 51:1 (KJV)
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according
unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
First of all, nobody is going to sincerely cry out for forgiveness until
they've first been convicted of being a sinner. We may all be different
in personality, but sin is one thing the Bible says we all have in common!
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Do you see yourself as a sinner today, dear lady? If so, have you asked
for forgiveness for your original corruption - the sin you were born in?
Have you received God's gift of salvation through the blood of His Son
Jesus Christ? Since then, have you been asking for God's forgiveness from
daily sins, even hourly?? We all have a natural bent from birth toward
sin, and given the opportunity would do wrong every time! However, instead
of ignoring or excusing our sin, we need to acknowledge and confess it.
In fact, we need to go beyond that and also acknowledge the truth that
we need God's help in overcoming our sin! Is it a desire of your heart
to be cleansed completely and regularly from your sin? Praise the Lord
for His loving kindness and the multitude of His tender mercies that David
mentions in verse one, for without these attributes we wouldn't be able
to approach our God for forgiveness at all…
Psalm 51:2 (KJV)
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
As we said a moment ago, there is the universal sin of man stemming back
from the Garden of Eden, and then there is the personal sin of every man,
stemming from the condition of our hearts. In the verse above, David states
before the Lord that he desires to be cleansed from "MY sin", meaning
his personal, private sin. What is your sin today, dear lady? When you
cry out for forgiveness do you want to be throughly washed of it, or only
partially? Just what is your attitude toward your sin?? You see, attitude
is a little thing that makes a big difference! It makes a big difference
in how serious you are about being cleansed! Do you have any plans to
return to your sin once you've asked the Lord to wash you of it? If so,
you couldn't be too serious about it! When you cry out for forgiveness
are you keeping back a few of your secret sins that you aren't willing
to let go of yet? Tell me, are you truly ready to acknowledge them ALL??
David was…
Psalm 51:3 (KJV)
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
We have in this psalm the example of David, a believer who longs to have
the whole debt of his sins blotted out, and EVERY stain cleansed! He would
be THROUGHLY washed from ALL his sins; but the hypocrite always has some
secret sin or some favorite lust he would set aside. David had such a
deep sense of his sin that he was continually alert to it. Is that your
example as a believer, or are you not as troubled about your lack of virtue?
You wouldn't be a hypocrite, would you? Do you want only your outsides
washed, or your insides too?? David said, "Wash ME"! He wasn't focused
on anybody else's errors but his own. Before a complete cleansing can
take place, you and I are going to have to be willing to look at each
one of our sins through the Lord's eyes - it is our God we have offended…
Psalm 51:4 (KJV)
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight:
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when
thou judgest.
As we listen in on David's prayer of confession, we find that he names
his sin specifically before the Lord as seen in the phrase “...and done
THIS evil in thy sight...” Ladies, this is true confession! We would do
well to follow David's example. When you are on your face before the Lord,
name the evils in your life; call them exactly what God says they are
- don't dress them up or excuse them! Don't just pray, "God forgive me
of all my sins." Or maybe you pray like this - "God, forgive me IF I've
sinned." That's not acknowledging anything!! If you've been rebellious,
call it that. If you've committed fornication - admit it. If you've coveted,
say so. If you're guilty of adultery, face it head on and call yourself
an adulteress. If you've lied, call yourself a liar! Tell God and yourself
the truth about your sins; don't deceive your heart anymore! You had no
problem doing wrong in God's sight, why should there be a problem naming
wrong in His sight?? Far too many Christians are foolishly convincing
themselves they aren't really guilty of doing anything seriously wrong,
hence, the preaching of sin becomes offensive to them and confession rare!
Ladies, our hearts don't need any more padding; they need a good scrubbing,
amen? God desires us to humble ourselves before Him and tell the truth
about our sin, finding then true forgiveness and the blessed help of the
Lord…
Psalm 51:5-6 (KJV)
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part
thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Where there is truth, God will give wisdom! We can't possibly expect to
overcome our sins if we aren't willing to look at them the right way -
HIS way, amen? If God sees in our hearts a sincere desire to do right
and a proper acknowledging of our sins, He can then assist us in overcoming
our corrupt nature, but not until truth replaces the lie! The question
is, are you ready to admit the truth about yourself? Are you ready to
look at YOUR sin? Are you ready to call your sins exactly what they are
before the Lord in prayer? Are you ready to turn from them after you've
acknowledged them one by one and be THROUGHLY washed - inside and out?
With a fake confession comes only a fake sense of forgiveness - the kind
the devil wants you to get! Get the real thing today, won't you? It starts
with the truth!
1 John 1:8-9 (KJV)
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
