Marking Iniquities

“If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” –Psalm 130:3

Painful human conflict is a fruit of sin God lists for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Our enmity with God in our sin commits spiritual adultery in our enmity with one another. No matter how healthy a marriage is, there is a threat of keeping a record of wrongs by both the husband and wife which feeds conflict. Good friendships formed over time can grow cold and distant over an angry word.

The temptation is to think we can fix conflict in our relationships by only talking with one another. “Against You and You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight,” cried David after adultery and murder (Psalm 51:4). The conflict which rages in our hearts is not made clean by talking about it to each other, but is only cleansed by the power of God.

Pleading to God for mercy “out of the depths” (vs 1) forces me to look upon God as holy and my standing before Him.  If God should mark my iniquities, watching and marking down each sin of thought, word, and action, how could I stand His wrath? “But with You there is forgiveness,” trusts the one pleading for mercy (vs 4).

When I go to God harboring any enmity with others in a prideful unforgiving heart, I am not met with practical tools to smooth over my relationships. I encounter a God of tremendous holiness demanding perfection from a pitiful little creature like me. The Psalmist makes a great point: how could I stand against the fury of God’s anger if God kept a record of all my wrongs? God has every right to mark my iniquities. He is perfectly and eternally holy.

Yet, with God there is forgiveness. I look to the cruelty Christ suffered on the cross. There God displayed His intense hatred of sin; yet, also His love for me. In Christ who died this sinner’s death, I am not treated by God as my sins deserve. If God should mark my iniquities, I could not stand His fury. Since in God there is forgiveness, I enjoy His peace.

Though I had offended God’s holiness, I can stand before Him forgiven in peace. How then, pitiful, sinful creature, could I plead for mercy from God and mark others’ iniquities against me? Like the unforgiving servant, would I dare leave the King’s courtroom forgiven of an unforgivable debt only to be unforgiving toward others?

Having received mercy, the Christian is a student of the mercies of Christ. What causes conflicts and quarrels amongst us? Desires at war within us, says James 4:1. The peace between us as humans is tied to the desires in our hearts. If you notice tension, fits of rage, words said in anger in your relationships, go before God and you will study His holiness and your own wickedness. What is the desires of your heart you want so badly that you fight others to get it? God’s holiness will show you.

From the depths cry out to God for mercy, encounter God whose wrath you could not stand if He should mark your iniquities, find forgiveness in Him, and have your desires in your heart changed by mercy.

Heavenly Father, against You and You only do we sin. Our conflicts You see, angry words You hear, wicked thoughts You know. If You should mark our iniquities, we could not stand. In Christ whom You sent to endure the cross for us, we have forgiveness. O Lord, may Your mercies be a teacher for Your people to be merciful. We praise You for Your forgiveness and power to save. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Teaching Transgressors the Ways of God

 

“Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.” -Psalm 51:13

How many transgressors do you know? It’s not a word we tend to use anymore. Yet, the Bible uses this term for those not following God: criminals, transgressors of God’s law. What do you want to say to transgressors?

In Psalm 51, David had been caught in a great evil. He had slept with a married woman and arranged her husband’s death to cover up his crime, but the Lord sent His prophet Nathan to call David out. David cried out to the Lord, “hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (10-11). What kind of renewed spirit? “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit” (12). This all comes from knowledge of God in His Word, and a delight in this knowledge (6).

David was forgiven by God for such a grievous transgression. David prayed for God’s wisdom in his heart, forgiveness of sin, a joy of God’s saving power, and a new spirit to walk in the ways of God. With God’s salvation and the return of David, David now says “I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You.”

Do you consider yourself before God as David did, aware of your transgressions and sins against God (3-4)? Has the Lord forgiven you, a criminal? Has the Lord restored the joy of His salvation to you, giving you a new spirit to obey Him? Are you walking in God’s ways? If you are, it is all grace. In the song we as a church family sing together, “All I Have is Christ,” there is a line that grips my heart each time we sing it: “Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone and live so all might see the strength to follow Your commands could never come from me.” You are not righteous, good, doing good things, being an upright person because you worked hard, learned more, make better life decisions than the transgressors around you.

Now I return to my opening questions: how many transgressors do you know? What do you want to say to transgressors? As I reflect upon Psalm 51, I am aware of the stunning amount of sin I am guilty of before God. I am a transgressor. I have no moral strength nor right standing to accuse my transgressing neighbor. I want them to know the ways of my gracious, compassionate, holy Lord who forgave me and put a new spirit within me.

This idea of “teaching transgressors Your ways” is discipleship. It isn’t a one-time thing, but an ongoing thing. I want my neighbors to know the ways of the Lord, so I teach them the wisdom of His Word in casual conversations with a genuine care for their souls. I befriend my transgressor neighbors as a fellow transgressor, yet forgiven. If I teach transgressors the ways of the Lord, to follow Christ, sinners will return to Him.

This is the desire of my heart, and I pray this is the desire of your heart: to know transgressors, compelled by the love of Christ teaching them His ways that sinners may return to the Lord. God is glorified in His grace in Christ toward such transgressors of His law as you and me. God has made a new creature of our old selves. Let us teach transgressors the ways of the Lord that sinners may return to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, how my heart rejoices with thankful praise that Your grace for me in Christ who washes me clean and gives me a clean heart and a new spirit within me! I thank You, Lord, for Your compassion and patience with such a transgressor as me. Lord, grant me wisdom to teach my transgressing neighbors Your ways that sinners may return to You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.