The sixty ninth Psalm is a challenging one to understand. There are numerous passages quoted in the New Testament with specific reference to Christ. But, there are some passages, such as this one , which seem almost impossible to refer to Christ, Who knew no sin, and did no sin. Some attempt to solve the dilemma by referring these negative references to David. The Son of God is flawless; the sons of men, even believers, are not so. In any event, it is from this perspective that I suggest we reflect upon our "nugget" for today.
The first thing that confronts us, then, is the obvious but often forgotten or overlooked fact that the soul is utterly transparent before God. Nothing is hid den from "the eyes of Him with whom we have to do [cf. Heb. 4:13]." When Sarah in a fit of jealously banished her handmaid Hagar, "the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness." A dialogue followed, at the conclusion of which Hagar "called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me [cf. Gen. 16:7-13]." There is no place where God is not, nowhere one can hide from His eye, no thought that escapes His knowledge. Through the prophet Jeremiah God asks, "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD [Jer. 23:23-24]." This knowledge is intended of God as a deterrent to sin, for He not only sees, but judges even those things in which we transgress, but are tempted to take lightly because, we think, "no one knows." Remember, God knows!
The next verse confronts us with another sobering thought. Our sins threaten the testimony of God before others. Sensitive to that fact, the psalmist prays, "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake…" In his indictment of Israel for her national transgressions, the apostle Paul charged, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written [Rom. 2:24]." The sins God's people commit, when they become public knowledge, are an embarrassment to the cause of Christ; even as the scripture says of some who profess faith "and then fall away," they "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame [Heb. 6:6]."
Brought down to a practical level, we never sin to ourselves alone. Others inevitably are implicated. Nowhere is this more evident than in Adam's original transgression. It is written, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men…[Rom. 5:12]." Sin is a contagious malady of the first order. How many a child has discredited the gospel of Christ because of evident, unconfessed hypocrisy in the life of a parent? How many a godly wife or husband has been put to shame by the transgression of a wayward spouse? And withal, the cause of Christ suffers as well.
Indeed, sin is foolishness, and every believer is aware of that. But it is more foolish still to attempt to cover our sins and to ignore their devastating influence. God knows our susceptibility to sin and our capacity for failure. He does not, under grace, demand our perfection, but only our honesty. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [I John 1:9]." Let's make David's prayer ours!
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." —Prov. 28:13
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
The first thing that confronts us, then, is the obvious but often forgotten or overlooked fact that the soul is utterly transparent before God. Nothing is hid den from "the eyes of Him with whom we have to do [cf. Heb. 4:13]." When Sarah in a fit of jealously banished her handmaid Hagar, "the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness." A dialogue followed, at the conclusion of which Hagar "called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God seest me [cf. Gen. 16:7-13]." There is no place where God is not, nowhere one can hide from His eye, no thought that escapes His knowledge. Through the prophet Jeremiah God asks, "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD [Jer. 23:23-24]." This knowledge is intended of God as a deterrent to sin, for He not only sees, but judges even those things in which we transgress, but are tempted to take lightly because, we think, "no one knows." Remember, God knows!
The next verse confronts us with another sobering thought. Our sins threaten the testimony of God before others. Sensitive to that fact, the psalmist prays, "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake…" In his indictment of Israel for her national transgressions, the apostle Paul charged, "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written [Rom. 2:24]." The sins God's people commit, when they become public knowledge, are an embarrassment to the cause of Christ; even as the scripture says of some who profess faith "and then fall away," they "crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame [Heb. 6:6]."
Brought down to a practical level, we never sin to ourselves alone. Others inevitably are implicated. Nowhere is this more evident than in Adam's original transgression. It is written, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men…[Rom. 5:12]." Sin is a contagious malady of the first order. How many a child has discredited the gospel of Christ because of evident, unconfessed hypocrisy in the life of a parent? How many a godly wife or husband has been put to shame by the transgression of a wayward spouse? And withal, the cause of Christ suffers as well.
Indeed, sin is foolishness, and every believer is aware of that. But it is more foolish still to attempt to cover our sins and to ignore their devastating influence. God knows our susceptibility to sin and our capacity for failure. He does not, under grace, demand our perfection, but only our honesty. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [I John 1:9]." Let's make David's prayer ours!
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." —Prov. 28:13
For His glory and our good,
"Pastor" Frasier
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