I said, I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence. But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue: Show me, O LORD, my lifes end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each mans life is but a breath. Selah Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you... Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more. (Psalm 39:1-7, 13 NIV) Where do we place our blame for our sinful actions? Do we meet responsibility head on and humbly bow before our Maker to earnestly confess that we have sinned? Do we recognize that the troubles we experience might be a direct result of our sin? Do we kneel before our Mediator and plead for His mercy without offering excuses for our transgression? Or do we simply remind God that we are just human and can’t measure up? I hope that none of us fall into the trap of that excuse. But the fact is, we just may do so if we are not careful. You see, God knows our human frailties and inclinations. He knows that sin is enticing and that temptation beckons often. He knows that without His Spirit guiding and counseling us we will fall into sin. Thats why He has offered us His Spirit to be our guide. The problem is that we fail to meditate upon that and we try to live our lives on our own strength. Consequently, we often prone to stumbling. Then, when we stumble, we feel a heavy hand of correction upon us, prompting us to seek His forgiveness and restore the fellowship that was broken by our sin. And the more time that lapses and the more excuses we offer before we repent, the heavier that hand feels. But, in reality it probably is not the weight of the hand that we feel. No, far heavier is the weight of the actual sin we have committed. The weight of sin is great. Remember, it took our Saviors life on the cross. The weight is from the fact that we have reached out and tried to take our old nature up again and it loads us down making it hard to look up, hard to speak up, hard to overcome. And yet all too often, we blame God for pressing down against us. We put the blame on Him for the struggle. We are like the child who says, Yes, I lied. But, I wouldnt have had to if... Or were like a person who received a traffic ticket for exceeding the posted limit only to become angry at the officer who wrote him the ticket. We blame God. It wasnt His fault that we sinned. And it wasn’t His fault that our sin has borne difficulty and burden. He told us it would happen long before we chose to act. Thats what I believe David was speaking of in Psalm 39. He had anguish from his sin. Luckily, he chose not to lash out at God. Instead, he chose to be silent. Silent! He even chose not to try to say anything good because his heart was just too heavy and he would be catching himself in his own lies. Still, his heart burned and his soul was on fire. All the while, he knew the answer! His hope was in God, his Savior. But, still, in that moment he just had to ask the Lord to look away from him because the guilt from his own sin was so heavy upon him. Is that us today? Are we willfully holding ourselves back from coming into Christs presence because we feel the guilt of sin in our lives? Are we keeping Him at arms length because we know that we have not surrendered all of our pet sins into His nail-scarred hands? Are we hoping that God watches us only from a distance because we are truly afraid for Him to come any closer? Are we afraid to completely offer Him our hearts because of the treasured sins that are rotting away at the core of our being? If so, then we must go back to Davids statement, My hope is in you. You see, He is our only hope! He is our only Savior! He does not weigh us down or oppress us until we conform. No, quite the contrary! If He were not holding us up, our sin alone would smother us! Dont blame God for the discomforts resulting from sin! Dont run away from God! Run to Him! He will forgive and heal! He will love and show mercy! He will be your God, if you will be one of His people. Hope, then, in your Great God and trust the promise that David would later proclaim: A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:17 NIV) Trust in His mercy today, and have a wonderful day in His grace! Ron
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:31:42 +0000
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