Monday, December 12, 2011

Hidden Faults and Presumptions


Psalm 19

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands
.

 So begins David’s consideration of the grandeur of His God!  He continues to build a strong case for the wonder of a God who we will never understand; His law, His restoration, His encouragement, His enlightening, His righteousness.  Overwhelmed would not be to strong of a word to describe David’s attitude as he writes Psalm 19.

But right in the midst of his wonder he comes to this: “and then there is me”.

Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I will be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.

When the truth is known, it is no longer the outright sin that messes up our walk with our God it is the hidden faults and the presumptuous sins that trip us up.

The hidden faults are those that lie deep within our personalities.  We get tired, stressed, over-worked, under appreciated and those hidden faults begin to emerge.  Back biting, criticism, lust, self-adulation, fits of anger, depression and on and on are the things we have learned over time to keep under wraps. 

Presumptuous sins are so easy to slip into that we are, in the most part, totally unaware to them.  Jesus counseled us about “worrying about tomorrow”.  As I sit writing this today I am remembering the previous night as I contemplated not only “tomorrow” but far too many tomorrows to even remember. I didn’t intentionally seek to have all of the “what if’s” run through my mind particularly at the cost of needed sleep.
 
Presumptuous sins are not just about worrying things that will probably never happen anyway.  Other types of presumptuous sins are when we presume we know the intentions of others.  That person driving erratically, what do you presume, rudeness or stress or emergency?  The person who walked by you without saying anything, what do you presume?  Your spouse is abrupt of just plainly rude to you, what do you presume?

Can you see why David is brought so short by this issue? 

Contemplating the great goodness of our God and His grand design for our liberty and provision while knowing how quickly we sell out to these hidden faults and presumptuous sins.  They are enmeshed within our personalities and are difficult to weed out!  

It is simply impossible for us eradicate these things our of our lives.  David understands his great need for God’s help.  “Acquit me” of my faults and pull me back from my tendency to presume!

Liberty, including the joy and the peace that fills our thirsty souls is at stake.  Bring your faults and your presumptions to Him!

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