“For the honour of your name, O Lord, forgive my many, many sins.”
Psalm 25:11 NLT
There is something sobering about the thought that we could besmirch the name of the Lord. How could we? How could we sully the name of God, the One who has done so much for us? How could we drag God’s name down to the same level as ourselves? But many do. The phrase of surprise, “Oh my god”, is ubiquitous in the UK today and it has brought down God’s name to the same gutter populated by blatant sinners who have no intention of asking God for forgiveness for their sins. Most of these people deny the presence of God anyway. The “god” of such people is the god of this world, satan. But David was concerned about honouring the Lord, not just in a private sense but also publicly before the world of his day.
How did David know that he had “many, many sins”? Probably because he lived a life close to God, and therefore the gulf between the sinless Lord and sinful David was very visible to him. I have known several people who claim to be “good” people and see no reason as to why they should repent of anything. They pay their taxes. They don’t steal from shops. They don’t try and avoid paying for train or bus fares. They are polite and respectful to their neighbours and fellow workmates, and even keep to speed limits (more or less). But they, like everyone else, fall into Paul’s net, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). And David was very aware of what “God’s glorious standard” was, purely because he spent so much time with his Lord. The people of Jesus’ day initially embraced Him and His miracles, enjoying having a stomach full of bread and fish, and perhaps seeing a loved one healed of a debilitating illness. But being in close proximity to the Son of God was an uncomfortable place to be because he was sinless, and because of that He exposed their sinfulness.
God’s standard for human beings is unreachable for those who want to achieve it in their own strength. Through Moses, God gave the Israelites a blueprint for how to become perfect in His sight. And yes, for a time, usually brief, the Jews of ancient days were able to live by the Law and they showed God the love He required. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, “[He] replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind'” (Matthew 22:37). That was the purpose of the Law, but Paul wrote, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4). “For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:19).
But we pilgrims know all about trying to reach God’s perfection through our own strength. So many Christians think that they can tick the right boxes by going to church on a Sunday, laudable though that is. But what about on a Monday morning, when they have to get up for work? A husband growls at his wife for something trivial. The wife snaps back and a row develops, and the time spent in God’s presence the previous day quickly evaporates into the mundane human world of sin and wickedness. We pilgrims, however, and like David, “have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God”. We do that in our daily lives, living in the light of our confessed sins, and doing our utmost to walk in repentance. Isaiah wrote, “For our sins are piled up before God and testify against us. Yes, we know what sinners we are. We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord. We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies” Isaiah 59:12-13).
With David we cry out to the Lord for forgiveness for our “many, many sins“. It doesn’t matter if we feel our sins our trivial or great, insignificant or noticeable. Before God, all sins are significant and need to be repented of before the Man on the Cross. His blood will cleanse us from all sin, and grant us His righteousness.
Dear Lord. We humbly thank You for the forgiveness granted us so freely. We worship You in praise and adoration today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 