Mistakes or Sins

“Have mercy upon me, Oh God, according to thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” (Psalm 51:1)

The difference in a “mistake” and “sin” is that mistakes can be corrected with a little “white-out” or an eraser.  Sin requires confession, repentance and the blood of Jesus to cleanse.

David had committed his terrible sin with Bathsheba, another man’s wife, and then had him murdered to try to cover up his sin of adultery.  Nathan, the prophet of God came to David and confronted him.  David’s confession and contrition are found in Psalm 51.

In looking at David’s confession, nowhere does he say that he made a “mistake.”  He uses five strong words in his confession. He calls it “transgressions” twice in verse one. He calls it “iniquity” three times, and he calls it “sin” four times, “evil” once and “sins” (plural) once.

If we are going to be real and serious with God we must call sin what it is and let Him deal with it on that basis.  In my opinion it is an insult to God, who sent His Son to die on the cross and to shed His blood to pay our sin debt, to class sin as a mistake. 

Someone to Care

“I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.” (Psalm 142:4)

David had been a faithful shepherd. He had killed the giant, Goliath, and the people had applauded him.  He had settled King Saul with his music.  The king’s son, Jonathan, had been his best friend.  He was married to the king’s daughter.  Now, he is hiding from King Saul in a cave, because the king in his jealousy was pursuing David to kill him.  He looked around, but no one was there to defend him, console him or pray for him.  

Perhaps you have been there.  You have struggled with your troubles and trials but no one is there to care.   

The next verse says, “I cried unto thee, Oh LORD: I said, ‘thou are my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.’” (Psalm 142:5)  That is the answer to your struggles when there is no one to help you, when everyone has forsaken you.  God has promised, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5)  

Would you be a friend to the “Davids” who find themselves without a friend to care? It doesn’t take a seminary degree to help someone. Neither does one have to be ordained to lend a hand. I had an uncle who said, “When you are a long way from home and you are homesick, even an old dog from back home looks good to you.”

In Christ

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

It was at the close of a revival service one night that I approached a young man about sixteen years of age.  I had seen him in the services each of the previous nights and I assumed that he was a member of that church.  “How long have you been a member of this church,” I asked. “Oh, I’m not a member,” he said. “Have you been saved?” I asked. Very seriously he said, “No sir.” That night after everyone else had gone home the pastor and I had the privilege of leading this young man to personal faith in Jesus.  When he stepped out on the front porch of the church building he looked out into the night and said, “The whole world looks brand new.”

When one becomes a child of God everything changes. He has a new nature.   He has a new Master. No longer is Satan in control of his life.  Jesus is now in charge. The fear of eternity has been traded for a new anticipation of heaven.

Paul was a man I knew in the days of my first pastorate.  On Friday when he got paid on the construction job he had in Louisville he would stop on the way home and get liquor.  He was very abusive to his family when he had been drinking and they feared to see him coming home if he was late, because that meant that he was probably drunk or nearly drunk.  They would hide or leave home until they knew he was sober.  Then, something happened.  He got saved. When Lola, his wife died, she had told Paul to tell me that it was like having a brand new husband after he got saved.

Are there changes that need to be made in your life, in your home?  Turn your life over to Jesus.  

God’s Word Greater Than His Name

“…for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”  (Psalm 138:2)

One can read the many descriptive names of God in the Bible.  He is called the great “I AM.”  He is called Jesus, Immanuel and LORD.  He is called Jehovah.  Holy and reverent is His name.  The model prayer says that when we pray we are to say, “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed, or holy, be thy name. (Mathew 6:9)

We read in the Ten Commandments that we are not to take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. (Exodus 20:7)  God has given Jesus a “name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” (Philippians 2:9,10)

But, the Bible says that as great as His name is, God has magnified His Word above all His name.  No wonder we preachers, pastors and evangelists are instructed to “preach the word.”  We believers are to read it faithfully, meditate upon it, to study it, to hide it in our hearts, believe it and to live it day in and day out. 

Patiently Waiting

“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.”  (Hebrews 10:36)

All of us have heard the prayer of the impatient: “Lord give me patience and give it to me now.”  The Bible reminds us to be patient unto the second coming of Jesus.  Then we are told of the farmer who waits patiently for his crops to mature as a result of the early and late rains. (James 5:7) One must wait for strawberries to ripen in the field and then they may be picked.  Corn, wheat and other grains must ripen before they are harvested. They cannot be rushed.  It takes time and patience.

More often than not our prayers are not answered on the same day we offer them, any more than grain is harvested the same day it is sown. Many times we have witnessed to a lost person, have prayed for that person and kept witnessing, praying and waiting.  And one day we had the privilege of baptizing that person.  We could not give up.  We had to wait patiently after having done the will of God.

Perhaps you are praying for and working with a rebellious son or daughter. Maybe it is a husband or wife who has gone astray. Keep on working, praying and doing the will of God and don’t give up. Wait on the Lord to do His work with you and through you.   

Rest

“Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy singing out of the hymnal.  Straight lines of words on a screen give little or no direction.  I like to see the notes on the staff lines so I can determine ahead of time if we’re going up or down, if we are holding a note and so on.  There is one little signature on the staff lines that has no music in it.  It’s called a “rest.”  Although it has no music, the rest of the song sounds better if that “rest” is observed.

As I think about this I realize that there are times when we Christians need to just rest in Jesus. We do not have to be like “Jell-o,” always active. We exercise restlessness, thinking that activity is to be equated with Godliness.  Years ago I heard a preacher say there were not enough days in the calendar for him and his church to do all the things the denomination and the association and his church called on them to do.

Unfortunately, many homes are ripped apart by this constant activity, with no time to just enjoy one another and for children and parents to have fun at home together. Rest in the Lord.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea?

“And Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever.’”  (Exodus 14:13)

Do you ever feel as though you are “between the devil and the deep blue sea?” You can’t go forward and you can’t go back. The children of Israel were coming out of Egypt where they had lived for four hundred years, most of that time serving the Egyptians as slaves. They had gone as far as the shores of the Red Sea and now the Egyptian army, in pursuit, was about to overtake them. God told Moses to lift up his rod over the Red Sea.  The waters were parted and Israel went across on dry land.  When the Egyptians followed, Moses was instructed to lift up his rod over the waters. The waters came back together, drowning the Egyptian army.

Sometimes it’s hard to stand still and wait on God to do His work. In his prophecy Isaiah said, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)