When talk about experiencing the presence of God and learning who he is, we don’t have to go any further than his word! We find out in Psalms 19, God’s word reveals his glory in the physical world and that we were created in his perfect image. We also find out we have his spoken word in our hands. We also can learn from the end of Psalms that God’s word convicts and teaches us.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalms 19:12-14
What are secret faults? (v12) I once heard that secret faults are the cause of earthquakes in our lives. Secret sins are the hidden sins you think no one else knows about. The whispered curses and evil thoughts that roll around our minds and out our mouth in whispers. It’s the hidden sins done in private where others can not see you.
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28
Jesus is telling us that those who engage in thought-sins are guilty of violating the same moral precepts as those who commit adultery. When we engage in any sort of thought-sins we are just as guilty of committing the act even if it is in our minds.
When we keep those hidden sins locked in our hearts, we add another sin on top of it: hypocrisy. Most often, people who have hidden sin are the most outspoken about that sin. A person who commits adultery in their mind has no problem pointing out the sin of physical adultery in another person. Hypocrisy produces the worst kind of guilt in people. Because it’s hidden, it produces an especially debilitating kind of guilt, because by definition hypocrisy entails the concealing of sin.
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Proverbs 23:7
We need to take a good long look at our “private” life. The life that only God sees in our hearts. The life you keep hidden from your family and friends. The life that plays out in your heart and mind. The secret curses, lustful desires, and hateful thoughts.
We have to understand that we can never truly understand the depth of our sin unless we are convicted by it through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the power to convict our hearts of sin. Hard hearts, hearts who have hidden sins, a heart that has not truly confessed and be redeemed will never have conviction or accept the things of God. They cannot hear the Holy Spirit and nothing gets in. It’s having a cell phone that is broke and cannot receive a signal.
God’s word is what cleanses us (v12). WE can not know God, see God, or hear him until we get rid of the sin in our lives. By getting rid, I mean completely turning away from it. It’s not about stopping our habitual sin, its about turning away from it and letting Jesus have the power to overcome it in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
I joke sometimes I need to have a come to Jesus moment, but part of me is not kidding. We need to have a true sincere confession of who we truly are. We can not know who we truly are until we truly understand that devastation sin brings to us. It completely cuts us off from God. It inevitably makes way for the most vile, soul-coloring, character-damaging grave. God’s s word teaches us what every single sin on this earth does to our integrity, our character, and our heart. His Word convicts us of our wrong, cleanses us, and helps through the Spirit to give us self-control.
Presumptuous sin is “I know this is wrong….but…..” There are two promises here: God will keep us from the possibility of secret sins infesting our hearts and the danger of presumptuous sin.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23
The word translated Temperance means self-control. It’s through the Holy Spirit we produce the fruit of self-control. Self-control is responding rather than reacting. When we react to a situation, we are running off emotions. Self-control, on the other hand is responding through developing a thoughtful response that is guided by reasoning.
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
The Holy Spirit gives us the power to have self-control.
Finally, verse 14 gives us an amazing revelation of our Heavenly Father. David wanted his the thoughts of his heart to be acceptable to God. After all, we know David was a man after God’s own heart. In David’s time, it was required that a blemish-free lamb had to be slain for sin. If a blemish was found, the animal and worshiper were not accepted by God.
We can put that blemish free concept to our hearts. We can not come to God with sin our hearts. It doesn’t matter how much you attend church, give, tithe, or read the bible. We are not accepted by God until our hearts are truly cleansed and we have turned from it.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Matthew 12:34
Jesus teaches us that it’s out of our heart we speak. This is why we need to let him write God’s word on our hearts.
God’s word is a mirror and reflection of who we truly are. If we want to experience his presence, we need to deal with what is in our hearts, not what is in our head.
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