Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 5, 38, 41-42.
“For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
“But my enemies are vigorous and strong, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. And those who repay evil for good, they oppose me, because I follow what is good. Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me!” (Psalm 38:18-21)
As David calls to the Lord for help, he states the reason why the wicked were opposed to him – he followed what was good (Psalm 38:20). Yet right before this, he acknowledged that he had committed iniquity (Psalm 38:18). What should this teach us?
- Everyone sins, even those who strive to follow after righteousness (Romans 3:23).
- Even though a righteous man may sin, the wicked will oppose him anyway. Paul wrote, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). He does not say the sinlessly perfect will be persecuted. Otherwise, no one would face persecution [see previous point].
- The difference between the righteous and the wicked is in the path they choose. Jesus said there were two roads – a broad way that leads to destruction and a narrow way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Those on the narrow way may sin occasionally, but they will not remain in sin. The longer they are on the narrow way, the more like God they will become (Matthew 5:48).
When we suffer for the cause of Christ, we are to rejoice (1 Peter 4:12-13). But we are not to think that a willingness to suffer will somehow cancel out our sin. Our goal is sinlessness; yet if we stumble, we have a way in Christ to receive forgiveness (1 John 2:1). While we live here, we must grow stronger against temptation and continually work to remove the remnants of sin from our lives.
We should never be comfortable in sin. Instead, we must always strive to “walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light” (1 John 1:7).
Tomorrow’s reading: 2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
