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The Pilgrim Path (9-26-2020)

The Pilgrim Path---Psalm 32: 5

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

I DID NOT COVER MY INIQUITY…

There was a medical doctor who had a practice that included a rather large number of patients that had trouble paying their bills. He was a very devoted follower of the LORD Jesus Christ. He tried to minister to bodies and souls. Sadly, his wife had never shared his faith in the Savior. The dear man died after a sudden illness. His wife was shocked going through his payment records to find that many patients had not in fact taken care of their obligations. Her husband had written across many of the poorer patients bills the words, “PAID IN FULL.” She wanted the money---even though her husband had left her adequately cared for. She went to court, only to have a judge tell her, “Madam---no judge in this land will ask these debts be paid---where your late husband has said they were paid in full. There is NO obligation by any of the patients. There is NO case. Good Day.” Imagine the impression on those in the court. The full effect of her husband’s decision even began to take on a new meaning to her. Forgiveness is a wonderful thing. And the greatest debt to be released from---is the awful debt of our sin against the Holy God of Heaven. We need to acknowledge our sin---and turn from it---to find life and renewal and peace. Don’t you love those Holy Spirit inspired words of King David, “…I did not cover my iniquity---I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and YOU forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

From St. Cyril of Jerusalem (310—386)

Moses says: “The anger of the Lord came upon Aaron: and I prayed for him,” and God forgave him (Deut. 9: 20). Did Moses, praying for a High Priest who sinned, obtain mercy from God---and will not Jesus, God’s Only Begotten, obtain mercy when He prays for us? If God did not prevent sinful Aaron from receiving the High Priesthood, will He prevent you, a Pagan by birth, from receiving salvation? Only repent, O sinner, as Aaron repented, and God will not deny you His mercy! From this time onward, let your way of life be wholesome. For God’s love toward humanity is genuine: eternity is not long enough to tell the story of His compassion! Even if all human tongues joined, they could not declare a fragment of God’s compassion…

From Thomas Watson: The godly man is ingenuous in laying open his sins. The hypocrite doth vail and smother his sins; he doth not abscindere peccatum, but abscondere; like a patient that hath some loathsome disease in his body, he will rather die than confess his disease; but a godly man’s sincerity is seen in this---he will confess and shame himself for his sin. “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly” II Samuel 24: 17. Nay a child of God will confess sin in particular; an unsound Christian will confess sin wholesale; he will acknowledge he is a sinner in general, whereas David doth, as it were, point with his finger to the sore: “I have done this evil “ (Psalm 51: 4); he doth not say I have done evil, but THIS evil. He points at his blood-guiltiness.

From Tim & Kathy Keller (a prayer): “Father, as great as my sins are, it is a great and additional sin to refuse to rest in your grace and accept your pardon. Give me the blessedness and release of knowing I am completely, absolutely, freely forgiven through Jesus. Amen.”

HYMN

Grace led my roving feet

To tread the heavenly road;

And new supplies each hour I meet,

While pressing on to God.

Grace all the work shall crown,

Through everlasting days;

It lays in heaven the topmost stone,

And well deserves the praise.

Grace and Peace in Jesus Christ Our Risen LORD, Pastor Jason