DEVOTION, TUESDAY 12-28-2010

TUESDAY,  DECEMBER 28^TH,  2010

“A SIN REVIEW”

BY

JAMES MACDONALD

Psalm 25:7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

David remembers all too well the sins of his youth—as well as more recent ones! And yet he comes to God with a bold request: "Remember not the sins of my youth."  Do you know what he's talking about? He's talking here about sins of ignorance, the sins of youthful arrogance. "I didn't know any better." Or, "I thought I knew better!" Does that ring bells for you? Did you do some stupid stuff when you were young? The older I get, the more I realize how little I knew when I knew it all. The sins of my youth—now those are some haunting problems from the past: "I was ignorant. I was foolish. I was immature—Lord, choose not to remember these things."

But notice the second phrase: ". . . or my transgressions." Some translations say "my rebellious ways." It means my willful acts; not just my youthful foolishness, but the times in my life, God, when I knew the right and I chose the wrong. I knew that my attitude was wrong, but I chose that bitterness anyway. I knew that my values were wrong, but I chose to be selfish. I knew that that pleasure was forbidden by You, but I consumed it for myself. As we draw near to God, we have a sense of His holiness.

Sometimes it's not easy to be in the hot seat. If we're going to really connect with the life of trust, the barrier is sin. "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God," Isaiah 59:2 says. "Your sins have hidden his face from you." One of the reasons why people trust God so little is because trusting God requires dealing with sin. "Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!" "I don't deserve to be riding along here with You. I don't deserve to be in this life of trust and faith, but I acknowledge my sin. And I claim Your mercy."
—James MacDonald