Forgiveness Leads to Glorifying God

I'm finally getting back to talk about the last two verses of Psalm 19.

In verse 13 David asks God to "keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins." Some translations use "willful." This type of sin can be thought of as premeditated sin, or sin committed on purpose. We sin in this way when we know God's command, but we presume His forgiveness, so we commit the sin and then beg for forgiveness afterward. It's difficult to think about how much that hurts God. Paul Bunyon wrote that "Sin is the dare of God's justice, the rape of His mercy, the jear of His patience, the slight of His power and the contempt of His love."

Besides its direct and all-serious affect on God, acting in willful sin will harden our hearts, which will lead to us not hearing God's warning, our conscience, when we face temptation. If we keep ignoring the Holy Spirit's voice in our ear, our heart will harden to the point of not hearing Him at all (Hebrews 3:15).

The third and seemingly most obvious reason to avoid sinning on purpose and plan to ask forgiveness later is that none of us is guaranteed tomorrow or even the remainder of today. A car accident, brain aneurysm, or a house fire could kill us before we repent.

I think David here is asking God to forgive his hidden faults and keep him from sins he knows about – the two broad categories of sin. David, the man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) is asking God to keep him away from sin. It's interesting that he isn't relying on his "man after God's heart" status to protect him. We all need God's help to escape temptation and avoid folly.

God hates all sin – it's all based on the thought that you deserve, rather than an act of glorifying God. You shouldn't pat yourself on the back because you sinned without thinking about it rather than committing a sin you thought through. You deserve hell for either. You need to repent for either and beg for God's forgiveness, which is the last clause of verse 13 – David is saying that after God forgives him of sin and helps him avoid temptation, he can live a fruitful life for God.

All this – David's love for and study of God's Word and God's forgiveness and keeping him from sin – it is all for the glory of God. The purpose of it is to have words and thoughts that please God. The purpose is NOT to improve my life, to make myself a better person. When I am close to God, when I'm in His Word and filling my mind with His perfect law and resisting temptations, I draw close to God because sin doesn't get in the way. And, when I have a solid understanding of the Gospel, I realize that when I do sin (because it won't be long until I do) I can repent and ask God to take my selfishness out of that part of my life and fill it with His Spirit.

The Lord is our Rock – our firm foundation, completely all-powerful and faithful regardless of our faithlessness. The Lord is our Redeemer – He is the author of our faith – He drew us to Him – and perfecter or completer of our faith – God's Spirit works in us to produce fruit and to start and complete the good work He started in us.

Praise be to God.