Lord, Teach Us To Pray! Part 197

Prayers of the Old Testament
The Prayer of David continued...

Sin is the ruin of individuals, families, cities and nations. Wherever sin is given free reign, it corrupts, erodes, and destroys, for it is in its nature to do so. One cannot reason with sin, nor can one reach an armistice with it, because other than to destroy, sin has no desire or aspiration.

You cannot bribe sin, you cannot hide sin, all one can do is pluck sin from its roots, and toss into the fire.

Sinning less is not an option or a remedy. At best, sinning less is a lull, and at worst it is a self-delusion created to soothe the burdened conscience.

David did not try to excuse, justify, or shy away from the truth. ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’

This was both a declarative statement, and an admission of guilt. It was a full confession, without attempting to first strike a deal, or to get a more lenient punishment.

David was in the wrong, he knew he was in the wrong, and he confessed to being in the wrong. He had sinned, he knew he had sinned, and he realized trying to obfuscate the situation or mitigate his guilt would only stir the wrath of God.

Sin is ever lurking in the shadows; it is always watching, and waiting, hoping for an in, hoping for a moment of weakness, a temporary lapse in judgment, an instant of distraction wherein we are not watchful or weary.

David’s life shows us the need for vigilance, because we see even praying men can sin, even humble men can sin, even men after God’s own heart can sin, if they are not watchful and guarded in regards to their heart.

We are on a journey, and the final destination of this journey is glory. Along the way the hosts of hell will do everything in their power to distract us, cause us to veer off the path, or keep us from progressing any further. We begin this journey fully aware of the opposition we face, fully aware of our own limitations, but also fully confident in the knowledge that Jesus is with us every step of the way.

The devil does not fear me, he fears He who is in me. The devil does not fear you, he fears the Christ in you, and this knowledge must birth in us a true and lasting humility and dependency upon Him.

David knew better. We see it in his prayers, we see it in his devotion, but rather than pluck temptation from his heart, he allowed it to take root and grow until David rationalized both despising the commandment of the Lord, and doing evil in His sight.

Matthew 26:41, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.”

David thought himself invincible. Somewhere along the way David stopped watching, and he stopped praying and once this occurred it was only a matter of time before sin felled him.

For a season David even pretended as though what he had done was acceptable, or justifiable, until the fateful day when the prophet of God came to challenge him. It was only after the prophet Nathan confronted him and opened his eyes to the reality of what he had done that David confesses his sin against the Lord.

If the children of God viewed sin as God Himself views sin, there would be allot less sin within the household of faith.

David sinned, and his entire trajectory changed. He was no longer on the path God had outlined for him. In essence, the entire purpose of sin is to keep you from reaching the destination God had in mind for you. When we sin, we deviate from the plan of God for our lives, and become our own worst enemies.

David saw where his doing evil in the sight of God was leading him. He realized he had lost his joy because of his sin, and rather than attempt to hide what he had done, he confessed his sin before the Lord.

For some the act of confessing one’s sins is difficult. Confessing our sins before God implies wrongdoing and failure on our part, and for many a soul admitting they were wrong is hard. As hard as confessing one’s sins and accepting responsibility for what we do, it is harder still to live with a sin of which we have not repented.

Psalm 32:3-5, “When I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”

The same man who stood before the Lord confessing his sin, now confesses how horrible it was not acknowledging his sin to God. His bones grew old, his vitality disappeared, and the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him, all because he did not confess his transgressions to the Lord.

It is a sad thing when we allow stubbornness and pride to dictate our spiritual decisions.

Countless souls talk themselves into believing that it’s easier to pretend and feign holiness, than to confess their transgressions before the Lord and truly be forgiven.

As is often the case, if we tell ourselves a lie often enough we start to believe it, and the men and women of which I speak have come to believe that all they really need to do is pretend well enough to enter heaven.

There is only one antidote to sin, there is only one thing men can do in order to alleviate the pain and hopelessness sin brings about in a life, and that is to repent. Acknowledge what God already knows, confess your transgression to the Lord, that He might forgive the iniquity of your sin.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.