“When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. (v4-7,10)
This Psalm is all about receiving the refreshment that comes from God when we confess our sin. I know how it feels when I’ve sinned and haven’t spoken to God about it – I am weak and lethargic, I feel a heavy weight upon me, and I avoid people and God (kind of how David describes it in v4). The good news is, we don’t have to feel like that, even if we somehow think we deserve the misery because of what we’ve done. God doesn’t want us to wallow in shame and guilt.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1:9) “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Pr 28:13) “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Ac 3:19)
I won’t for a moment suggest that we should not take our sin seriously, or that we can just forget about it and move on as if what we did was inconsequential, however, dwelling on it for too long is not healthy either. Living in the shame and guilt of sin we naturally avoid God, which means we probably aren’t worshiping or glorifying Him, or being a light in this world. So we must move on after a healthy recognition of our guilt, knowing that Jesus paid the penalty for that sin so we could experience forgiveness. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:23-24)
The act of repentance is to not only acknowledge the sin and confess it, but also to turn away from it and not keep heading down that same path (ie. learn from our mistake). I recognize how hard this truly is for some types of sinful habits that we unintentionally develop, but I know God longs to bring us freedom in those areas too, and He will, if we faithfully pursue Him instead of whatever addictive sin we were pursuing.
I’ve slowly learned over the years that just trying to “not sin” doesn’t work. It’s doomed to fail (at least it is for me). The more I think about “not sinning”, the more I’m focusing on the sin, the more likely I am to fall prey to it. What I’ve found works much better is focusing on following God. If my eyes are on Him and my mind is constantly trying to discern His will, and my ears are constantly listening for His voice, I tend to forget about sin. The fact of the matter is, when I turn toward God, I turn away from the sin, because God and sin are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Focusing on God will help keep us from drowning when we’re trying to walk on water – if we shift focus from God to the water it will overwhelm us and we’ll sink.
This is similar to what psychologists will tell you when you’re trying to break a bad habit – don’t focus on not doing the bad habit, focus on creating a new healthier habit that will end up replacing the bad one.
Father God, your word says that You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You. May we strive to focus our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. (Isa 26:3, Heb 12:2 par)
In closing, “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (v11)
~ Conqueror in Training