Honest Confession Is Good for the Soul

“Both we and our fathers have sinned; we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedness.”-Psalm 106:6.  “Many times he delivered them, but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity.  Nevertheless, He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry.  For their sake, He remembered His covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love.  He caused them to be pitied by all those who held them captive.”-Psalm 106: 44-46 (ESV).

Psalm 106 is another historical Psalm, but this one, unlike 105 which recounts God’s faithful dealings with his people, gives incident after incident of the Israelites’ rebellion when they strayed from God’s laws and rebelled against His purposes.  That is why I entitled these thoughts, “Honest Confession Is Good for the Soul.” Many of their sins are recalled.  They built a golden calf and worshiped it (v. 19).  They forgot the wondrous works God had done to release them from Egyptian bondage and to deliver them from the waters of the Red Sea (21, 23).  They complained and murmured in the wilderness (25).  They failed to destroy the pagan nations from the land as God had commanded and worshiped the idols already set up there (34, 38).  They sacrificed their own children to idols (38).  Sundry sins marked the journey of deliverance through the wilderness to the Promised Land.  Had God made a mistake in choosing to save the nation?

Then we read God’s verdict and learn why honest confession is good for the soul:  “He looked upon their distress…He heard their cry” (44).  Because of His covenant and His steadfast love, God relented from destroying them (45-46).  In reading this Psalm and the catalog of sins the chosen people committed, I am reminded of what Paul taught when some in the early church had a wrong doctrine about sin. In writing to the Roman Christians, Paul asked: “What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  God forbid.  Haw shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?’ (Romans 6:1-2).  The doctrine of Antinomianism (i. e. against law, against morality) was abroad.  The reasoning was:  “If God pardons sin so easily, then is it not reasonable that the more people sin, the greater God’s forgiveness of that sin?  The false belief was growing that the more they sinned, the larger would be God’s forgiveness for them. How strongly did Paul answer them!  “God forbid!”  God did not provide free grace for us to keep on dwelling in sin!  Yes, we err.  We fail often in our Christian walk and fall short of God’s expectations for the Christian.  But to deliberately choose again to go into rebellion and sin was not God’s intent so that His grace might abound.  Sin belonged to the old life before conversion.  In coming to Christ, the Christian has experienced a change of direction.  He flees from sin and seeks righteousness.  And when he does err, “honest confession and repentance are good for the soul.”  God does hear the cry of the erring Christian and stands ready to replace guilt with joy.  Justification by faith is not a legal matter between the believer and God; it is a living relationship that brings new purpose and meaning into a redeemed life.  As the forgiven psalmist proclaimed:  “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” (Psalm 107:2a).

Prayer:  Thank You, Lord, for leading us to see our sin and rebellion and to cry for forgiveness.  Thank You for hearing and restoring us to Your favor.  Amen.