#DailyDevotion Don’t Turn Away From The LORD Because Of Your Sins, But To Him
Psalm 25 17The troubles of my heart have become great. Take me out of my distress. 18See how poor and miserable I am, and take away all my sins.
We pick up a theme from earlier in verse 11. It amazes me when I hear Christians say they have no terror of their sins and are not troubled by them. David is keenly aware of his sins and his sinfulness even if the rest of the world is not. He understands what even the smallest of sins can do to the human heart and spirit. His sins have made the troubles of his heart great. They are causing him distress. There is no doubt the closer we draw near to the LORD the greater our sins should and will cause us alarm. That is because we can see them clearly in the light of the LORD. What we call great big sins, probably because they seem to cause more immediate pain and suffering, murder, adultery, robbery and the like, perhaps don’t seem as dangerous because they are so obvious. Sins that seem so small, nitpicking, momentary unkindness, a lack of mercy, gossiping, being stingy and the life, they become glaringly ugly and repugnant because they show how much we are so unlike our maker and they deceive us into thinking we don’t need to confess and repent of them.
We need the LORD Jesus Christ to take away all our sins, every one of them. Any uncleanness in us He needs to remove from us. These sins make us poor and miserable. Jesus indeed has had all these sins laid upon Him and He was led outside the city to be dedicated to Azazel. There, on the cross, outside of the city, the LORD Jesus Christ took our sins away from us. As He was also dedicated to the LORD, His blood shed for us atoned for all our sins. So we should hear from the pastor the words of absolution. We should be baptized or remember our baptism where we received the forgiveness of sins. We should go to the LORD’s Supper where the blood of the New Testament purifies us and makes us clean. We need to hear from one another the glorious victory over sin and death Jesus has provided and given freely by the cross, the grave and the resurrection.
19See how many enemies I have and how violently they hate me. 20Protect and rescue me. Don’t let me be disappointed —because I’ve come to You for shelter. 21May innocence and honesty protect me because I look to You for help. 22O God, free Israel from all their troubles!
Paul tells us our enemies are not flesh and blood, but rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, and spiritual forces of evil. They are many and they hate us. Our only hope is to turn to the LORD Jesus Christ. We call upon Him to protect and rescue us from them. We should and will not be disappointed when we turn to Him for help and shelter. Jesus’ innocence and honesty protect us when we look to Him for help. It is not David’s innocence and honesty he appeals to for help. He has none. We have none. We have all gone astray. There is no one who does good, no not one. Jesus is our only hope. No one who calls upon Him in the day of trouble will be disappointed.
Israel is the chosen people of God. It matters not whether they have Abraham’s DNA. In fact those who have Abraham’s DNA but do not have faith in the LORD Jesus Christ are not Israel. Only those who have faith in Christ Jesus, the faith of Abraham, are Abraham’s children and Israel. We call upon God, with David, to free Israel from all their troubles. Indeed, we know He will when He brings us into the Promised Land, the New Heavens and New Earth.
Heavenly Father, through our sins are great and many, for the sake of the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, take away ours sins, comfort our hearts and minds and free us from all our troubles. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.