Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your 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. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:12-14
The Psalmist takes us through a progression that seems to go from faithfulness to rebellion against God. First, there are the errors in judgment or the mistakes that one makes and does what is wrong. All “mistakes” or errors must be dealt with by asking God for forgiveness. These mistakes or errors can come when one is weak in the Lord or when one thinks that he is strong in the Lord. They can occur when one is led astray by others who might tell you that “one little drink won’t hurt.” Errors are sometimes those “little white lies” that come on the spur of the moment when one is caught off guard.
Dealing With Secret Sins
What about the secret “faults?” Secret faults are those “errors” or sins that we try to hide from everyone else. The only way to deal with the secret sins is to confess them to God and ask for His forgiveness. He already knows all about them because He knows all things so to keep ourselves from move from “errors” to secret “faults or sins” and we must stop them through true repentance.
If we do not stop the progression we will move on the “presumptuous sins.” These are sins of pride and arrogance. These sins make excuses for “errors” and “faults.” Pride and arrogance say that “my personal life is nobody’s business but my own.” Be careful because God resists the proud but lifts up the humble in spirit. Pride will lead to the “great transgression.”
What is the great transgression? It is moral revolt. It says that I can do whatever I want to do and nothing or no one can do anything about it. It says, “I am my own god and nothing is right or wrong.” That is a part of the Humanist Manifesto, that is what they believe and that is what they practice. We are not humanist. We are not our own god. We have the LORD. He is our God, and we must worship Him and no other.
The Psalmist closes with what would be a good addition to our prayers every day: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” If our hearts are filled with praise to God, there will be no room for the other stuff. Amen, amen and amen.
