Our Wrongdoing
2008-04-11
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It's been a good day. Had jury duty, and have to go back Monday. Oh, well.
Psalms for today: 11, 41, 71, 101, 131
I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O LORD, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.
Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.
I will not set before my eyes wnything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.--Psalm 101:1-4
I won't continue with the next verse which speaks of destroying one who secretly slanders his neighbor. David the King might have been able to get away with that, but I fear I might be arrested and stuff if I try that. Heh.
Day 137Isaiah 59:9-15
I love this passage! On the surface, it appears depressing, because it is an accurate depiction of us in our sin. It is a truthful evaluation of the human condition. It is an open confession of our sinfulness and our wrongdoings.
The author suggests reading the passage a second time, inserting I, me, and my in place of we, us, and our. That gave it a whole new dynamic.
What does God feel when he hears me read this? I'm not God, so that's kind of hard to answer. However, I can guess that he is gladdened to hear that I agree with him. He is sad when I sin, but it makes his heart glad when I confess.
Father, there are many sins that I could count up and list in past seven days. And mentally, I might be making a note of them, whatever I can remember. Some of them might be listed seven times. Some only one. Point is, I haven't had a perfect week. My wrongdoings do, in fact, stare me down. They pile up before you, stand up and accuse me. Have I mocked you? Worse yet, have I denied you? While I have not said the words, "God does not exist," or "I don't believe in God" to someone, have I denied you by my actions? Have I spread false rumors? Have I lied? I "long for light but sink into darkness."
However, recently, I have experienced a more repentant heart in these matters. I have found myself being able to resist temptation a bit better. Perhaps I was inspired by my friend, Andy. Oh. Oops. I just linked to his diary, and it's locked at the moment. Oh, well. He might let you read it if you ask nicely. Tell him Jeff said to let you. Hahaha...
Back to important stuff. Is my heart humble? Getting more so, I think. But not yet enough. Not nearly enough.
Point is, God desires for us to confess our sins. Not because he doesn't know what we've done. And not because he hasn't already forgiven us. I don't for a minute believe that my forgiveness is based on any action of mine other than the action of accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. However, it is good for my heart to confess my wrongdoings, to agree with God.
I encourage you to read this passage today. If you can find a copy of the Message translation (It's easy to access online), read it from there. I really like Peterson's translation of this passage. Confess your sins. Confess the futility of trying to handle life without him.
Grace and peace, friends.
