Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
And all God’s people joyfully shouted: ‘Thank you Lord!’ and joyously rushed to confess their sins. Hn! Oh Friends, if that were only true eh! But unfortunately we do more hiding of our iniquity than confessing, which is a fool’s wisdom, as though the Lord doesn’t already know all that we do, and all that’s in our sinful souls and hearts. And in any case, this isn’t for the Lord’s benefit, but solely for ours. Haven’t we read or heard Cousin Sol’s very instructive words? ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.’ So mih people, why don’t we confess and forsake our sins that we can receive mercy and prosper eh? Who knows? I certainly don’t, though I can offer a few suggestions. The first is obvious: If you’re not a Christian, then you have no use for forgiveness of sins. Then the saddest and most foolish is that we don’t really believe deep down in our hearts and souls, although we say so, that God can, or will forgive our sins, which are numerous, not to mention the rather heinous ones. But that’s a sad fallacy my people. We can commit no sins, grave or plentiful enough, that the Lord isn’t willing to forgive, if we come sincerely humble and penitent, asking for mercy and forgiveness. Another possibility could be that we like committing the sin(s) so much, that we know asking for forgiveness will be downright mockery since we intend to commit it, or them, over and over again. We figure that asking forgiveness, then continuously doing them is worse than not asking forgiveness at all. In our warped way of thinking, the Lord will have less to hold against us. Oh the mind games that men play with themselves eh! The way we confuse and ‘confuffle’ ourselves with Lucifer’s generous help is truly amazing! My Friends, hiding our sin only increases our stress and fear levels, and forces us to live in darkness, confusion and unhappiness. Haven’t you noticed that when you get something that’s worrying you off your chest, whatever it is, that you feel better, lighter, your soul feels relieved and unburdened? Well I can certainly vouch for that, for over the years I’ve found that when I keep some negative thing inside, it only irritates me more, increasing my anger and tension. But as soon as I’ve confronted the problem, brought it out into the open, then wonder of wonders, I feel totally relieved! The others involved might not feel that way, but I do. Gimme a big smile there mih children! My family might smile now, but on the occasions when I awoke them at some ungodly hour and released my frustration and exasperation, they surely didn’t smile then. So mih breddren, if a simple ironing out of some misunderstanding can bring so much peace and relief in human relationships, just imagine what the unburdening of your soul to your merciful, forgiving and ever LOVING heavenly Father will do. Now hear these words of Amy Michelle Pitzele that highlight our topic very nicely. Amy was nine when she wrote them. ‘So never let a cloudy day ruin your sunshine, for even if you can’t see it, the sunshine is still there, inside of you, ready to shine, when you will let it.’ Oh Friends, what truly unbelievable wisdom can come forth from the mouths of babes and sucklings at times! Bruh David pointed it out. (Ps.8:2) And Jesus reiterated it. (Mat.21:16) And this is a perfect instance of that truth, for the sins in our lives are like the dark clouds that hide the sun from our sight. That doesn’t mean the sun isn’t up there shining brightly in the noonday sky, it’s only hidden from us by a thick layer of dark clouds. However, once the clouds are blown away by the refreshing wind, voila! The sun is revealed in all its glorious splendour! Oh Friends, it’s the same with the sin in our souls; once we confess them to our heavenly Father, all the layers of dark clouds, which consist of fear, doubt, insecurity etc. are all driven away by the Father’s mercy and forgiveness. But remember too, as we said yesterday, we also have to accept that mercy and forgiveness, and stop feeling guilty, or else the whole exercise will be fruitless. But enough of my theorizing. (smile) Let’s hear now from Bruh David on the blessedness of forgiveness, a topic he knew very well. ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not (does not charge his account with) iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile (deceit).’ (Ps.32:1-2) And a loud ‘Amen!’ went up from the congregation. Now here’s the opposite side of the coin; when we don’t ask forgiveness and our souls are not released from their sins. ‘When I kept silence, my bones waxed (grew) old through my roaring (groaning) all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture (vitality) is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.’ (Ps.32:3-4) Ah mih people! Yuh see the difference? Like night and day, when our souls are relieved of the terrible stress and tension that our sins place on them. So Friends, here’s what we going to do: like the sensible, wise believers we all are, we’re going to sincerely confess our sins to Almighty God, and ask for His mercy and pardon, so that we can drive the sinful darkness out of our souls and replace it with the brilliant, godly light that’s Jesus. Then, like Bruh David, we’ll be able to proudly proclaim: ‘I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.’ (Ps.32:5) Yes Friends, that’s wisdom at its finest! Let’s remember that and keep renewing the light in our souls every day. It will bring great pleasure to our God. Much LOVE!…hiding sin leads to deathly darkness…while true confession erodes that darkness…paving the way to eternal light and life…
And all God’s people joyfully shouted: ‘Thank you Lord!’ and joyously rushed to confess their sins. Hn! Oh Friends, if that were only true eh! But unfortunately we do more hiding of our iniquity than confessing, which is a fool’s wisdom, as though the Lord doesn’t already know all that we do, and all that’s in our sinful souls and hearts. And in any case, this isn’t for the Lord’s benefit, but solely for ours. Haven’t we read or heard Cousin Sol’s very instructive words? ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.’ So mih people, why don’t we confess and forsake our sins that we can receive mercy and prosper eh? Who knows? I certainly don’t, though I can offer a few suggestions. The first is obvious: If you’re not a Christian, then you have no use for forgiveness of sins. Then the saddest and most foolish is that we don’t really believe deep down in our hearts and souls, although we say so, that God can, or will forgive our sins, which are numerous, not to mention the rather heinous ones. But that’s a sad fallacy my people. We can commit no sins, grave or plentiful enough, that the Lord isn’t willing to forgive, if we come sincerely humble and penitent, asking for mercy and forgiveness. Another possibility could be that we like committing the sin(s) so much, that we know asking for forgiveness will be downright mockery since we intend to commit it, or them, over and over again. We figure that asking forgiveness, then continuously doing them is worse than not asking forgiveness at all. In our warped way of thinking, the Lord will have less to hold against us. Oh the mind games that men play with themselves eh! The way we confuse and ‘confuffle’ ourselves with Lucifer’s generous help is truly amazing! My Friends, hiding our sin only increases our stress and fear levels, and forces us to live in darkness, confusion and unhappiness. Haven’t you noticed that when you get something that’s worrying you off your chest, whatever it is, that you feel better, lighter, your soul feels relieved and unburdened? Well I can certainly vouch for that, for over the years I’ve found that when I keep some negative thing inside, it only irritates me more, increasing my anger and tension. But as soon as I’ve confronted the problem, brought it out into the open, then wonder of wonders, I feel totally relieved! The others involved might not feel that way, but I do. Gimme a big smile there mih children! My family might smile now, but on the occasions when I awoke them at some ungodly hour and released my frustration and exasperation, they surely didn’t smile then. So mih breddren, if a simple ironing out of some misunderstanding can bring so much peace and relief in human relationships, just imagine what the unburdening of your soul to your merciful, forgiving and ever LOVING heavenly Father will do. Now hear these words of Amy Michelle Pitzele that highlight our topic very nicely. Amy was nine when she wrote them. ‘So never let a cloudy day ruin your sunshine, for even if you can’t see it, the sunshine is still there, inside of you, ready to shine, when you will let it.’ Oh Friends, what truly unbelievable wisdom can come forth from the mouths of babes and sucklings at times! Bruh David pointed it out. (Ps.8:2) And Jesus reiterated it. (Mat.21:16) And this is a perfect instance of that truth, for the sins in our lives are like the dark clouds that hide the sun from our sight. That doesn’t mean the sun isn’t up there shining brightly in the noonday sky, it’s only hidden from us by a thick layer of dark clouds. However, once the clouds are blown away by the refreshing wind, voila! The sun is revealed in all its glorious splendour! Oh Friends, it’s the same with the sin in our souls; once we confess them to our heavenly Father, all the layers of dark clouds, which consist of fear, doubt, insecurity etc. are all driven away by the Father’s mercy and forgiveness. But remember too, as we said yesterday, we also have to accept that mercy and forgiveness, and stop feeling guilty, or else the whole exercise will be fruitless. But enough of my theorizing. (smile) Let’s hear now from Bruh David on the blessedness of forgiveness, a topic he knew very well. ‘Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not (does not charge his account with) iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile (deceit).’ (Ps.32:1-2) And a loud ‘Amen!’ went up from the congregation. Now here’s the opposite side of the coin; when we don’t ask forgiveness and our souls are not released from their sins. ‘When I kept silence, my bones waxed (grew) old through my roaring (groaning) all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture (vitality) is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.’ (Ps.32:3-4) Ah mih people! Yuh see the difference? Like night and day, when our souls are relieved of the terrible stress and tension that our sins place on them. So Friends, here’s what we going to do: like the sensible, wise believers we all are, we’re going to sincerely confess our sins to Almighty God, and ask for His mercy and pardon, so that we can drive the sinful darkness out of our souls and replace it with the brilliant, godly light that’s Jesus. Then, like Bruh David, we’ll be able to proudly proclaim: ‘I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.’ (Ps.32:5) Yes Friends, that’s wisdom at its finest! Let’s remember that and keep renewing the light in our souls every day. It will bring great pleasure to our God. Much LOVE!…hiding sin leads to deathly darkness…while true confession erodes that darkness…paving the way to eternal light and life…
SCRIP-BITS 