"Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." — Psalm 19:12-13
This psalm presents a wealth of material for profitable meditation. The text at hand, however, has been of great personal significance, hence its choice for this week's "nugget." Many years ago, while involved in a scripture memorization program, these verses were committed to memory, and subsequently, over the years, have been translated into a personal prayer. While I have rehearsed them many times before the throne of grace, I have never attempted to analyze them until now. This provides the occasion to do so, and I trust to the benefit of someone who will receive this from "cyberspace."
The first thought that strikes me is the pervasiveness of sin. So limited is our knowledge of holiness, and so subtle the power of sin that we are victims not only of obvious transgression, but inclined to sin without being aware of it. It is no accident that among the offerings in the great Levitical system, there is a afforded a ritual for sins of ignorance: of the individual (Lev. 4:2), the priest (v. 3ff), the "whole congregation" ( v.13ff), the ruler (v. 22ff), or "one of the common people" (v. 27ff). Such is the nature of sin, and the nature of fallen mankind, that no one is immune to this dread disease. David understood this when he uttered this prayer.
The second thought, no less terrifying to the spiritually sensitive soul, is the perversity of the sin nature. The psalmist prays, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." One sins presumptuously when he knows what is right, or wrong, and acts nevertheless to the contrary. It is, if you will, deliberate sin. The one time comic Red Skelton had a line in his repertoire that ran, "If I dood it, I get a whippin'; I dood it!" Comic, in its own way, and it always got a laugh, but perhaps it was the uneasy laughter of those who could identify with presumptuous sinning!
David recognized that there lies within us, in our fallen state, an inclination to succumb to certain temptations despite the knowledge that they are contrary to the will of God, and despite the awareness that there is judgment in the offing. It was not David's disposition to sin first, then ask God for forgiveness, but rather to seek the face of the Lord beforehand and shore up by prayer his feeble attempt at godliness. The spirit was willing, notwithstanding the flesh was weak.
The severity of these sins is illustrated in a passage that views them together. "And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. [Num. 15:27-30]." Sin is no trifle in the presence of a Holy God! "For the wages of sin is death [Rom. 6:23a]."
There is a third point of great importance to be observed by meditation on these verses, and that is where the power of victory over sin lies. It does not lie in man, not even in the redeemed man. Victory lies in grace of God. David petitions in another place "… that I may know how frail I am [Ps. 39:4]." It is only when we desire holiness, and discover the impotence of the flesh to conquer the sin nature, that we will make this kind of petition earnestly and often for the conquest of our old sin nature. In the New Testament, the truth involved here is sharpened. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law [Gal. 5:17-18]." Walking in the Spirit involves conscious, constant dependence upon God, and no small part of that dependence is evidenced in prayer. When we learn thus to pray, we may by His grace and power be "upright," and "innocent of the great transgression!"
For victory,
"Pastor" Frasier
This psalm presents a wealth of material for profitable meditation. The text at hand, however, has been of great personal significance, hence its choice for this week's "nugget." Many years ago, while involved in a scripture memorization program, these verses were committed to memory, and subsequently, over the years, have been translated into a personal prayer. While I have rehearsed them many times before the throne of grace, I have never attempted to analyze them until now. This provides the occasion to do so, and I trust to the benefit of someone who will receive this from "cyberspace."
The first thought that strikes me is the pervasiveness of sin. So limited is our knowledge of holiness, and so subtle the power of sin that we are victims not only of obvious transgression, but inclined to sin without being aware of it. It is no accident that among the offerings in the great Levitical system, there is a afforded a ritual for sins of ignorance: of the individual (Lev. 4:2), the priest (v. 3ff), the "whole congregation" ( v.13ff), the ruler (v. 22ff), or "one of the common people" (v. 27ff). Such is the nature of sin, and the nature of fallen mankind, that no one is immune to this dread disease. David understood this when he uttered this prayer.
The second thought, no less terrifying to the spiritually sensitive soul, is the perversity of the sin nature. The psalmist prays, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." One sins presumptuously when he knows what is right, or wrong, and acts nevertheless to the contrary. It is, if you will, deliberate sin. The one time comic Red Skelton had a line in his repertoire that ran, "If I dood it, I get a whippin'; I dood it!" Comic, in its own way, and it always got a laugh, but perhaps it was the uneasy laughter of those who could identify with presumptuous sinning!
David recognized that there lies within us, in our fallen state, an inclination to succumb to certain temptations despite the knowledge that they are contrary to the will of God, and despite the awareness that there is judgment in the offing. It was not David's disposition to sin first, then ask God for forgiveness, but rather to seek the face of the Lord beforehand and shore up by prayer his feeble attempt at godliness. The spirit was willing, notwithstanding the flesh was weak.
The severity of these sins is illustrated in a passage that views them together. "And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. [Num. 15:27-30]." Sin is no trifle in the presence of a Holy God! "For the wages of sin is death [Rom. 6:23a]."
There is a third point of great importance to be observed by meditation on these verses, and that is where the power of victory over sin lies. It does not lie in man, not even in the redeemed man. Victory lies in grace of God. David petitions in another place "… that I may know how frail I am [Ps. 39:4]." It is only when we desire holiness, and discover the impotence of the flesh to conquer the sin nature, that we will make this kind of petition earnestly and often for the conquest of our old sin nature. In the New Testament, the truth involved here is sharpened. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law [Gal. 5:17-18]." Walking in the Spirit involves conscious, constant dependence upon God, and no small part of that dependence is evidenced in prayer. When we learn thus to pray, we may by His grace and power be "upright," and "innocent of the great transgression!"
For victory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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