Confession of Sin to God Alone! Psalm 65:3-4

Text: “He/she that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.  Happy is the man (woman) that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.”

Proverbs 28:13-14.

          “But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth (cleanses, and continues to cleanse) us from ALL sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins (to God alone!), He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.  If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.”

                                                                                             1 John 1:7-10.

Good morning, sin-prone Christian!  Yes YOU, my friend, and ME!  Every man/woman born of the God-Created Adam and Eve – after their great FALL into sin in Eden’s Garden – are born sin-prone creatures, with a fallen nature that will always want to sin; and sad to say, always shall sin against a thrice Holy Lord God Almighty.  (Read Genesis Chapter 2)

Such was the total loss of Adam & Eve in the Genesis of mankind’s Creation. They were Created perfect, holy, impeccably good, by our Lord God the Creator - Who does not Create imperfect things, but does all things well and perfect and good – yet from that terrible time of disobedience to God, ALL mankind has been born body, soul, and a DEAD SPIRIT. 

From the day of our progenitor’s disobedient sin in Eden, sin’s curse has blighted us with a dead spirit!  What was Created in Adam Supernaturally, became merely natural – and all humankind born of woman are born sin-prone ever since.

Note: We do not become sinners when we commit our first sin – we commit our first sin because we are natural born sinners!  Sin comes naturally to a fallen creature.

“Behold (look closely, examine, and fully understand!), I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”  (Psalm 51:5)

“Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.  He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not…Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? NOT ONE.”  (Job 14:1-4)

All mankind are born of woman under God’s Curse for sin; with a fallen human nature that is always bent/prone to commit sin against God and our fellowman.  Fact.  This is WHY the Lord Jesus teaches us, “Ye MUST be born again.”  (John 3:3-8) 

We must be ‘quickened’ by God the Holy Spirit, from a dead spirit - the fruit of God’s Curse in Eden – to be a spirit that is alive again and able to communicate with our Holy and Heavenly Father God. (Genesis 2:17

“And you hath He (God the Spirit) quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;…Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved).”  (Ephesians 2:1;5)

“When God came to man to convert him, he found him a DEAD man.”  (John Bunyan, 1628-1688)

When the quickened soul yields to Christ in full repentance from sin to fully follow the Lord Jesus, he/she is born again, made a member of God’s family – the church, the Body of Christ – and the process of Christian conversion commences.   That quickened soul is commanded to ‘…grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’  We are commanded to do so, that we might be ‘…transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  (2 Peter 3:18) (Romans 12:1-2)

To be a genuine Christian, one must be actively seeking to become more like Christ, and less like oneself, daily.

The soul that has been Spiritually quickened and Spiritually regenerated to life in Christ, immediately becomes very aware of personal failings, weaknesses, faults, and the presence of continual SIN.  We do so because God the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, and is grieved by the very presence of our natural tendency to sin.  The Spiritual Battle begins.

Verse 3. “Iniquities prevail against me. This is the immediate cry of a newly regenerated heart, we become appalled at the gross nature of our tendency to sin, and yearn for a greater power against all sin and temptations to sin against our Holy Lord God.  His grace is applied in all-sufficiency.  Praise His Name!  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Verse 3. “Iniquities prevail against me. Our sins would, but for grace, prevail against us in the court of Divine justice, in the court of conscience, and in the battle of life.  Unhappy is the man who despises these enemies, and worse still is he who counts them his friends who slander and accuse him.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 280)

Verse 3. “…As for our transgressions, Thou shalt purge them away.  What a comfort that iniquities that prevail against us do not prevail against God!  They would keep us away from God, but He sweeps them away from before Himself and us.  It is worthy of note that as the priest washed in the laver before he sacrificed, so David leads us to obtain purification from sin before we enter upon the service of song.  When we have washed our robes and made them white in His Blood, then shall we acceptably sing, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.’” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 281)

Sin, even after we become born again Christians, causes a separation between us redeemed sinners, and a Thrice Holy Lord God.  This separation is powerfully felt by the believer, and his/her prayers and fellowship with God are hindered until sin is confessed and forsaken.

“But your iniquities (sins) have separated between you and your God and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.”  (Isaiah 59:2)

Having sinned against our Holy God alone, for He alone is Holy, it is to Him alone we must humbly go in order to confess our sins and to be sanctified afresh in our daily State.  We must, as the Puritans frequently taught, ‘keep short accounts of our sin with the Lord.’; we must confess our sins, have our sins forgiven; forsake our sins, and be cleansed anew, before we can offer worship and praise and service to a Lord God of absolute Holiness.

Verse 4. “Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee. Christ, Whom God chose, and of Whom He said, ‘This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased,’ is indeed ‘over all, God blessed forever’ but in Him His elect are blessed too.”  (From ‘A plain Commentary on the Book of Psalms)

Thought: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:16)  Away sin, away!

Psalm 65: A Psalm of Personal Prayer Psalm 65:1-2

Text: “O Thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come.” 

Psalm 65:2.

          “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” 

Jeremiah 33:3.

Good morning, personally praying Christian!  Not for you the ‘vain repetitions’ of mere, and often superstitious, religion.  No!  Your prayers are not formulated from some denominational ‘prayer book’, your prayers are true fellowship prayers, personal prayers, prayed from a heart (essence of being) that has been Spiritually made alive by God the Holy Ghost, and redeemed by the precious shed Blood of Jesus Christ.  Your prayers are the real deal prayers, that only a true and genuine adopted child of God can ever pray.  Praise God for personally praying Christians!

Hypocritical Prayers: “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men.  Verily (truly) I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be ye not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth (knows, and continues to know) what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.”  (Matthew 6:5-8)

Any prayer that does not come from a personally presented opening of the heart in truth – is no real prayer at all.  The tongue can recite learned, or read, prayers (i.e. responses?); but such ‘vain repetitions’ go no further than the ceiling of whatever priest-house, or humanistic group room they are ‘prayed’ in.  Beware of false religion!  “Ye MUST be born again!”

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”  (Christ Jesus in John 3:6-7)

Our Heavenly Father, when we are born of His Spirit, already knows everything about us, our state, our circumstances, and our every need (not greed!).  Needs are met by His ever-giving hand – in His time and ordained portion.  He is Jehovah Jireh – ‘the Lord who seeth afar off, and continually provides.’

“O Lord Thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest (knows and continues to know at all times) my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandeth my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.”     (Psalm 139:1-4)

Honest Personal Prayer: “I love the Lord, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications.  Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live.  The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of Hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.  Then called I upon the Name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul.”  (Psalm 116:1-4)

Can you and I fail to feel and to understand the sincerity of this God-inspired prayer?  Can we fail to understand that, in these verses from God’s Word, we find God the Holy Spirit teaching us both the earnestness of such personally prayed petitions to our Father, and the outcome of our praying personal prayers in the correct spirit of meekness, honesty, and true Christian belief?  See the outcome of the Psalmist’s sincere personal prayer:

“Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.  The Lord preserveth the simple (earnest, humble and sincere); I was brought low, and He helped me.  Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.  For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.”  (Psalm 116:5-8)

Such a gracious answer to all that the Psalmist earnestly prayed for!  What Sovereign and merciful grace from our Lord God!  Bless the Lord, oh my soul, for hearing, and answering, our personally formulated prayers!

Psalm 65: “This is a charming Psalm.  Coming after the previous sad ones it seems like the morning after the darkness of night.  There is a dewy freshness about it, and from the ninth verse to the end there is a sweet succession of landscape pictures that remind one of the loveliness of spring; and truly it is a description in natural figures, of that happy state of men’s minds, which will be the result of the ‘Day-Spring’s’ visiting us from on High.”  (Luke 1:7-8) (O. Prescott Hiller 1869)

Confession of Sin & Praise:  Personal prayer to the Lord God, should always be preceded, in my opinion, by first, a confession of sin to clear the path of prayer to a Holy Lord God; and then personal praise and worship of Him to Whom we are about to petition in prayer.  Sin blocks out our path to a Holy Lord.  Praise is due to the One to Whom we are about to pray.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: but verily (truly) God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.  Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.”  (Psalm 66:18-20)

Verse 1. “Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion.  Those who have seen in Zion the Blood of sprinkling, and know themselves to belong to the church of the firstborn, can never think of her without presenting humble praise to Zion’s God…How inadequate are all mortal songs to proclaim the Divine goodness.”      (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 280)

The heart that cannot issue fervent praise to God, is a heart that knows nothing of His grace!  GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  Hallelujah to the Worthy Lamb!

Verse 2. “O Thou that hearest prayer. This is Thy Name, Thy nature, Thy glory.  God not only has heard, but is now hearing prayer, and always must hear prayer, since He is an immutable (unchanging) Being and never changes in His attributes.  David evidently believed in a personal God and did not adore a mere idea or abstraction.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 280)

Verse 2. “Unto Thee shall all flesh come. To come to God is the life of true religion; we come weeping in conversion, hoping in supplication, rejoicing in praise, and delighting in service.  False gods must in due time lose their deluded votaries, for man when enlightened will no longer be fooled; but each one who tries the true God is encouraged by his own success to persuade others also, and so the kingdom of God comes to men, and men come to it.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 280)

Thought: Our sins are very personal sins – should we not offer to God personal prayers of repentance, praise, thanksgiving, and adoration?  Come, let us pray?

5. The Fear of The Lord! Psalm 64:9-10

Text: “All men/women shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of His doing.”

Psalm 64: 9.

          “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth (endures, and continues to endure) forever.”

Psalm 111:10.

Good morning, God-fearing Christian!  God the Holy Spirit has graciously quickened (made alive) you and I to know our sinful state of ruin; Christ’s impeccable righteousness as the Standard for Heaven; and the fearful judgement of Almighty God which is soon coming upon a world of Christ-rejection, and gross disobedience to the Commandments of God.  Praise God it is so, my friend!  We who were once totally lost, are now found by Christ, and redeemed by His precious and sinless Blood. Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!  Glory to the Lamb!  Amen.

Fearing the Lord God, we have no cause to fear anything, or anyone else!  Hallelujah! 

“Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”  (Psalm 34:11)

The Fear of the Lord:

“And unto man (you and I!) He said, Behold (look, and fully understand), the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”  (Job 28:28)

When genuine Bible-believing Christians refer to fear of God, we do not mean that we are to be walking around in dread of the judgement of God; cowering in our sinful natures before a thrice Holy and righteous God of wrath against all sin.  No.  We have been redeemed from sin by the precious shedding of Christ’s sinless Blood at the Cross; therefore, the sin question for genuine Christian believers is forever dealt with, nailed as it were to Christ’s Cross, and never to be remembered against us ever again.  This is God’s own Word on the matter of our sin:

“As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.  Like as a father piteth his children, so the Lord piteth them that fear Him.”    (Psalm 103:12-13)

Fearing the Lord God, for believers, is holding Him and all His Word in the highest of solemn reverence; total respect; worshipful awe; profound thanksgiving for His grace towards us; and constant praise for the Salvation He has permitted us to have in His dear Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the ‘fear of the Lord’ we both have, and teach others to seek, if it be His Sovereign will to grant it to them as He has granted it to ourselves.  Glory to His gracious Name!  Amen.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments: His praise endureth (endures, and continues to endure) forever.”  (Psalm 111:10)

Verse 9.  “And all men/women shall fear, and declare the work of God.  All people shall fear the Lord, but not in the acts of genuine reverence I have just defined above – the Christ-rejecters shall be put to abject fear, dread, horror, and terror as they stand before the Great White Throne of God’s fiery judgement, for rejecting Christ and wanting nothing of His gracious Salvation.  That Christ-rejecting fear shall endure with them unending in torment forever.

Verse 9. “And all men/women shall fear, and declare the work of God.  So strange, so pointed, so terrible shall be the Lord’s overthrow of the malicious, that it shall be spoken of in all companies.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 279)

The Fear of the Lord:  “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.”  (Psalm 34:11)

God-Fearing Job:  Job was a man who feared, reverenced, the Lord God.  He had many trials, testings, and temptations; many heartaches; griefs, and times of distress.  However, God knew Job feared and reverenced Him, and the Lord God granted Job more in his end times, than he had ever had during his life.

“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect (mature) and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”  (Job 1:1)

“And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before…So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:…”  (Job 42:10;12)

Fear of God is Clean:  The old adage, ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ is a wise saying if applied to one’s entire lifestyle and walk in Christ.  Having a Godly reverence and profession of Christ, compels the Christian to clean up his life, his home, his family, his very surroundings – that all might speak of a genuine conversion to Christ, and bring glory to His Holy Name.

“The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”  (Psalm 19:9)

Fear of God is a New, Wise, Beginning: When we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Salvation in His full Atonement Sacrifice at the Cross, and the Lord God grants us faith to believe, and grace to receive Christ’s forgiveness and cleansing from our sins – we suddenly begin to see all things in a new light, and begin to live our lives under the wise instruction of God’s Will, revealed for us in His written Word.  God’s wisdom leads the way in everything we subsequently say and do – that’s true wisdom!

“The fear of the Lord tendeth (tends, and continues to do so) to life (real life with dignity!): and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.”  (Proverbs 19:23)

Fear of God Hates Evil: Having been granted a totally new nature when we are Spiritually regenerated (born again) by the Lord God’s grace, our new nature immediately detests all evil, selfishness, worldliness, and sin.  Our old nature is still right there with us in our very being, and only desires to sin due to the Fall of Adam and his disobedience in Eden’s Garden.  Yet, we feed the new nature on God’s inspired Word daily, and this assists us to grow in His grace and knowledge of Christ’s Holiness - thus compelling us to clearly discern, and to detest all sin and evil. (2 Peter 3:17-18)  And confess and forsake sin when we fall short. (1 John 1:8-9)

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way and the froward mouth, do I hate.”  (Proverbs 8:13)

Fear of God Brings Confidence: Trusting in the Lord God, and not in ourselves, we gain a tremendous confidence and freedom from fear/dread of everyone, and everything else! We are blessed with His Omnipotence and help in our every need.  (Psalm 46:1-3)

“Happy is the man that feareth (fears God, and continues to reverence Him) always: but he that hardeneth his/her heart shall fall into mischief.”  (Proverbs 28:14) Christian, take heed!

Thought: “Happiness does not depend on outward circumstances, but on the state of the heart.” “Do nothing that you would not like God to see.”  “Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. “Beware of manufacturing a God of your own making:” “Hell is truth known too late.” (J.C. Ryle 1816-1900)

4. The Lord God Avenges ‘His People’! Psalm 64:7-9

Text: “And shall not God avenge (margin: protect) His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh (Jesus Christ), shall He find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:7-8.

          “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Romans 12:19.

Good morning, sorely tested, tried, and persecuted Christian!  Not for you the easy-believer’s walk in attempted secret Christianity.  No!  You have been saved at a great Price to serve the risen Christ Jesus, and as a direct consequence of your faithfulness in diligently serving the Son of God, you are constantly faced with the most gross and fierce hindrances, testing, and trials of your God-given faith. 

If this describes your experience of Bible-believing Christianity, I rejoice to hear it – for it certainly closely describes my own!  Hallelujah!  No persecution? No faithfulness to Christ!  Check it out, Christian!  There can be no secret, comfortable, Christians!

“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.  But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”       (2 Timothy 3:12-14)

Mankind’s patience is not always to be relied upon – no, not even in the best of Christ’s saints and servants.  Push, prod, hassle and bully the Christian long enough, and with enough viciousness – and WHAM!  His/her patience will crack.  This is a clearly observable fact.

The wonderfully patient, kind and humble person – when redeemed by the Lord God – remains a patient, kind and humble servant of Christ.  However, the impatient, short-tempered, and prone to swift action person – when redeemed by the Lord God – can very often remain just as impatient, short-tempered, and prone to action servant of Christ Jesus.  

Faith in Christ makes us ‘…new creatures in Christ…’ in many vital Spiritual ways, but we remain the same person the Lord seen fit to save, we do not suddenly become another person in our personal nature, that takes a lot of time, and testing, and failings, and persevering before the new born again nature begins to get the advantage of the old carnal man/woman within. 

The loving disciple John remained a loving, humble disciple after being called to follow Christ.  The impulsive and hot-tempered Peter remained so after he too was called to serve his Lord.

This is a practical procedure in what we theologians call Progressive Sanctification; or becoming more and more ‘conformed’ to Christ Jesus; more Christlike.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed (daily) by the renewing of your mind (consistent Bible study?), that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  (Romans 12:1-2)

God’s will is contained within the pages of God’s written Word.  Therefore, we learn God’s will for us, by constant, prayerful fellowship with Him within the pages of our canonical KJV Bibles.  The more we learn of God’s will through God’s Word – the more we can know how we are to live our daily lives as witnesses of the Living Christ Jesus.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judae-a, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8)

Knowing Christ’s wonderful, loving and humble manners and way of living, both disciples – John and Peter – were duty bound to try to emulate them. However, John seemed to have been a tad more successful in doing so, while impulsive Peter continued to want to immediately ‘walk on water’ with Christ, and chop off the ear of Malchus when they arrived in Gethsemane to arrest the Lord Jesus!  Both were born again, but each were still the same person as before.  Only time with Christ can empower us to become more like Him in all our ways, yet, always imperfectly.

Malchus “Malchus was the servant of the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas who participated in the arrest of Jesus as written in the four gospels. According to the Bible, one of the disciples, Simon Peter, being armed with a sword, cut off the servant's ear in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Jesus.” (Wikipedia)

When impulsive Peter drew his sword and cut off Malchus’ ear, the Lord Jesus immediately intervened: “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far.  And He touched his ear (Malchus), and healed him.”                 (Luke 22:49-51)

It was not, nor is it today, God’s will that we Christians avenge ourselves when confronted by persecutors’ slanderers’ gossips, and tormentors – NO – the Lord God has taken that duty upon Himself.   “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”  (Romans 12:19)

Verse 7. “But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.  We are well aware of God’s warnings to the world to ‘…touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” (1 Chronicles 16:21-22) (Psalm 105:13-15)  The Lord God has spoken, He has promised to ‘repay’ all such persecutors with His Holy vengeance.  Fearful indeed.

Verse 8. “So shall they make their own tongue to fall upon themselves.  Gossiping, and especially gossiping maliciously against a Blood-bought child of God, is a most dangerous occupation, and should immediately cease.  So often has Christ’s servants had our character assassinated in secret, by detractors from the Christian faith, and often by media hacks who are paid far too much wages to conjure up written lies in order to smear the witness of God’s people. The Lord God has promised to deal with such detractors/persecutors severely.

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man/woman soweth, that shall he/she also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”  (Galatians 6:7-8)

Verse 8. “So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves.  Their slander shall recoil.  Their curses shall come home to roost. Their tongue shall cut their throats.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 279)

Thought: The same, unrepentant tongues that currently scream out abuse, persecutions, and rage against Bible-believing Christians today – shall utter a terrible, unheard, cry for God’s mercy as they stand at the Great White Throne of Holy Judgement.  How sad.