When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me. My strength was drained as in the summer's heat. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord," and You took away the guilt of my sin. (vs. 3-5)
I once heard a minister tell his congregation: "Confess your secret sins before the Lord has to expose them to everyone." Hmm. Things done in private that need light shed on them. Talked a couple of weeks ago to a young woman whose husband confessed he had been watching porn since their marriage less than a year ago. Of course, she felt betrayed and cheated on, but I was impressed with the integrity of her groom. Not, of course, that he had been watching porn while she was at work, but that he had been honest enough and courageous enough to admit a secret sin. Secret sins can go on forever sometimes. But if you are a child of God, He will not allow it forever. He cannot abide our covert unholiness for very long, and He will be as gentle with us as we will allow Him. But there always comes a time when He has had enough.
Manasseh became king of Judah when he was twelve years old and for fifty-five years he reigned. But he was an evil king. In the temple of the Lord, he built altars to worship the stars, practiced witchcraft, sacrificed his children on a fiery altar in Ben Hinnom, and became a fortuneteller who got advice from other mediums. There was even a shrine to Asherah, implying that God had a concubine in the heavenly realm. In other words, Manasseh made the Lord really mad! Finally, Manesseh carved an idol and put it in the Lord's Temple designed and built by Solomon in Jerusalem. The Temple was a picture of God's covenant with His people, and Manasseh did the last "in Your face" thing to His God that the Lord could stand.
Where did Manasseh end up? A captive of the Assyrian army, Manasseh wound up with rings in his nose and chains on his arms and legs as he was dragged in shame through the streets of Babylon. Like a beast of burden, Manasseh felt the shame of His God. Jeering masses laughed at him as the sweat poured down his face and the coarse sand chafed his naked body. Humiliated and dethroned, Manasseh finally did something right. He begged the Lord, his God, for help and humbled himself before the Lord of his ancestors.
Probably, if I were God for a day, I would say, "Manasseh, you idiot! You have shamed me before all of Judah, loved other gods, sexually violated women, incinerated your own children, and set up false altars in my holy place. Eat dirt!" But our God? He heard him and had pity on him. Let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then...Manesseh knew that He was the true God....
You know what Manasseh did after that? He loved His God.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee's house and sat at the table. A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind Jesus at His feet, crying. She began to wash His feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with perfume. When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought, "If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching Him is a sinner.".....
"You are right," Jesus said to Simon, the Pharisee. Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Simon, do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little."
Then Jesus said to her: "Your sins are forgiven."
Oh, don't hide from the Lord any longer what He already sees. It is a heavy burden to sin secretly and carries a heavier and heavier price the longer you keep it in the dark. One day enough light will be shed on it that like a roach in the glare of a flashlight, your sin will be revealed for all to see. Better to acknowledge it now before the God of mercy when it is just between you and Him. Otherwise, there will be a hook in your nose and you will be led down the streets of town for all to see.
I once heard a minister tell his congregation: "Confess your secret sins before the Lord has to expose them to everyone." Hmm. Things done in private that need light shed on them. Talked a couple of weeks ago to a young woman whose husband confessed he had been watching porn since their marriage less than a year ago. Of course, she felt betrayed and cheated on, but I was impressed with the integrity of her groom. Not, of course, that he had been watching porn while she was at work, but that he had been honest enough and courageous enough to admit a secret sin. Secret sins can go on forever sometimes. But if you are a child of God, He will not allow it forever. He cannot abide our covert unholiness for very long, and He will be as gentle with us as we will allow Him. But there always comes a time when He has had enough.
Manasseh became king of Judah when he was twelve years old and for fifty-five years he reigned. But he was an evil king. In the temple of the Lord, he built altars to worship the stars, practiced witchcraft, sacrificed his children on a fiery altar in Ben Hinnom, and became a fortuneteller who got advice from other mediums. There was even a shrine to Asherah, implying that God had a concubine in the heavenly realm. In other words, Manasseh made the Lord really mad! Finally, Manesseh carved an idol and put it in the Lord's Temple designed and built by Solomon in Jerusalem. The Temple was a picture of God's covenant with His people, and Manasseh did the last "in Your face" thing to His God that the Lord could stand.
Where did Manasseh end up? A captive of the Assyrian army, Manasseh wound up with rings in his nose and chains on his arms and legs as he was dragged in shame through the streets of Babylon. Like a beast of burden, Manasseh felt the shame of His God. Jeering masses laughed at him as the sweat poured down his face and the coarse sand chafed his naked body. Humiliated and dethroned, Manasseh finally did something right. He begged the Lord, his God, for help and humbled himself before the Lord of his ancestors.
Probably, if I were God for a day, I would say, "Manasseh, you idiot! You have shamed me before all of Judah, loved other gods, sexually violated women, incinerated your own children, and set up false altars in my holy place. Eat dirt!" But our God? He heard him and had pity on him. Let him return to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then...Manesseh knew that He was the true God....
You know what Manasseh did after that? He loved His God.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee's house and sat at the table. A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume and stood behind Jesus at His feet, crying. She began to wash His feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with perfume. When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought, "If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching Him is a sinner.".....
"You are right," Jesus said to Simon, the Pharisee. Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Simon, do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little."
Then Jesus said to her: "Your sins are forgiven."
Oh, don't hide from the Lord any longer what He already sees. It is a heavy burden to sin secretly and carries a heavier and heavier price the longer you keep it in the dark. One day enough light will be shed on it that like a roach in the glare of a flashlight, your sin will be revealed for all to see. Better to acknowledge it now before the God of mercy when it is just between you and Him. Otherwise, there will be a hook in your nose and you will be led down the streets of town for all to see.
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