Confession is good . . .

 

My grandma used to say, as I held the half-eaten cookie behind my back, that confession "is good for the soul." (Grin)

And she was right -- the great blessings of forgiveness are given to us as we confess our sins to God. 

David confesses his sin in verse five, and then he encourages us to do the same in verse six:

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
    and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
    my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
    the guilt of my sin.

 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
    while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
    will not reach them. (Psalm 32:5-6)

A couple of notes here from studying these verses . . . bear with me for a moment, won't you? The first thing I noticed here is there seems to be a window of opportunity for repentance. Now, be careful, I don't mean there's a set time or there's a certain number of sins that can be forgiven, or anything like that. What I mean is that there is a window of opportunity when God is appealing to our conscience. If we repeatedly refuse to turn to the Lord, there can be consequences. We may be hardened and calloused beyond remedy. 

Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes
    will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1)

If we do not confess our sins, they can have a cumulative effect on us. They can desensitize our conscience and make it difficult to even distinguish right from wrong. This is what happens to a sinful, hardened heart.

Here's an example of this, so that you can better understand what I mean: remember Pharaoh? Moses went to him again and again. He tried to explain to him the consequences of his sin. He clearly spoke the Word of God to him, and gave him a proper, humble view of God. Pharaoh refused to listen.

In fact, Pharaoh doubled down! He was already a prideful, arrogant ruler, and rebellious against YAHWEH. But finally, he crossed the line:

Pharaoh’s officials said to him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is ruined?” (Exodus 10:7)

Pharaoh's heart was set like stone against God. It was so hardened, obstinate, and calloused that he could no longer understand truth. A deeply hardened heart is like the "seared" conscience that Paul speaks of in I Timothy. God's Word tells us that if we are relentless in our pursuit of sin, there will come a time when God may give us over to our "debased mind" and let us have it our own way. And Paul even writes about the possibility of God's anger and abandonment in his letter to the church in Rome. He says that godless and wicked people "who suppress the truth" are eventually given over to the desires of their sinful hearts (read this passage: Romans 1:18-24).

Does this sound too hard? Unlike a loving Father God? We must remember that God gives everyone many, many opportunities to repent. He "woos" us with the Holy Spirit and calls us to Him. Jeremiah said in the days of old, that God sent His prophets "again and again," to call sinners (Jeremiah 35:15). Ezekiel spoke the Word of the Lord, too:

 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. 15 As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:12-15)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)

The second thing that I noticed is that David confesses his sins directly to the Lord in verse five. He doesn't confess to a priest. He doesn't confess to the ones whom he wronged -- not at this point. That can come later . . . Sin is first and foremost against the Lord. He is our holy God, so we must confess it to Him. If one is helped by telling someone else, that's ok. Some people are, so a priest or a therapist can listen. And after we have confessed to the Lord, it is sometimes possible to go to the ones we have wronged and set things straight again. But the issue of sin and our repentance (turning away from our sin) is one that is first taken care of between us and our Lord.

What does it actually mean to confess? What is a prayer of confession like?

First, let's look at the Hebrew word -- it has the meaning of telling forth, of openly acknowledging one's sins. In other words, we need to uncover our sins before God. Pull back the tarp, rake the leaves away, turn on the light . . . whatever analogy we want to use, it means the same thing: we must acknowledge them to God. That verse in I John has the added nuance of "agreeing together" with God about our sins.

We need to call sin "sin." We don't need to do as so many do today, and explain it away!

Not "well, I had a dysfunctional family..."

Not "well, I had a moment of weakness...."

Not "well, you know, I'm only human ....."

Instead, we say, "Lord, I'm sorry, I sinned." And the sooner we say it, the better.

We also need to see sin as serious. The closer our walk with the Lord, the more seriously we will see sin. Our sins put our Savior on the cross, and sin causes damages -- sin can cause damage to the name of Christ, to other believers, and to ourselves. You see, sin becomes a barrier. A huge wall between us and God. And between us and other humans. So we must take it seriously, not casually.

Lastly, our prayer of confession thanks Him for His forgiveness. No sin is too great for God's mercy. If we have sinned and repented sincerely, and we still feel guilty, it's not the Lord, but the "accuser of the brethren" who is troubling us. We can tell the devil to leave, for the blood of the Lamb fully satisfies the demands of God's call to righteousness. We can rest in His promise - He is indeed faithful and just to forgive all our sins.

Today may send us hunting band-aids for our toes, but after the Spirit treads on our toes, He also gently reminds us of our Father's compassion and love -- He is always listening to our prayers of confession, and always forgives us when we repent!