#DailyDevotion Don’t Hide Your Sins From God, But Confess Them
Psalm 32 3When I kept silent, I wore out my limbs, groaning all day long. 4Day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my vitality was drained by the summer heat.
David here describes what he felt when he did not confess his sins and kept them to himself. I don’t know if unbelievers experience this or not. Perhaps young ones do because they have not seared their conscience yet. Certainly, believers, when they sin, their spirit does not let them rest. The LORD won’t let them rest. He does not want them to go down into the pit. The LORD laid His hand heavily upon David. Hiding his sin wore him out. If this was particularly from the Bathsheba affair, the LORD provided him a way out with the prophet Nathan. The LORD most likely will not reveal our sins to our pastor. We’ll just have to go and seek him out if we want relief from hiding our sins from God, others and ourselves.
(Music) 5I told You my sin and didn’t cover my wrong. I said, “I will confess, O Most High; I will confess my wrongs, O LORD.” And You took away my sin and guilt.
When David was confronted with his sin, he confessed it. We can see a confession of his sin in Psalm 51. It would be better for us not to wait until we are confronted with our sins. As verse 2 says, “How blessed you… if there is no deception in your spirit.” David only was blessed when he confessed his sin and didn’t hide his wrong. It isn’t that confessing our sins earns or merits God’s forgiveness. It’s simply the fact we cannot receive God’s forgiveness if we don’t think we need it. Forgiveness is what the LORD our God always wants to give us. He wants to take away our sin and guilt. It is why the Father sent the Son, Jesus Christ, to be crucified–to gain salvation for us and to reconcile us to Himself.
(Music) 6That is why all Your devoted ones pray to You. When distress comes, or a flood of raging waters, it will not reach them.
The LORD’s devoted ones (ceseed) are that way because they believe the LORD has stead-fast love (cesed) for them. They turn to Him in prayer because they believe in the name of the LORD their God who revealed His name in Ex. 34:6, “the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, slow to get angry, rich in love and faithfulness, 7continuing to show mercy to thousands, forgiving wrong, rebellion, and sin, without treating it as innocent, but disciplining children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their fathers.” We too should believe in the love and stead-fast love(agape and cesed) of the LORD we have in Christ Jesus. In Him we should trust to defend us against all evil.
7You are my Hiding Place; You protect me against trouble. You surround me with people who are rescued, and shouting happily about it. (Music)
When we make the LORD our hiding place to protect us from trouble, we will experience what David does here—the congregation of the saints. He provides us with fellow believers who have been rescued from sin, death and the devil. We can join with them in their hymns of praise. We know from what we have been rescued from. The LORD gives us relief having turned from sin and turning to Him, we find our much needed relief and refreshment.
Heavenly Father, open our lips that we may confess our sins to you, find relief, be saved from every evil, and know your stead-fast love towards us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.