Hidden Faults

You know Psalm 19, right? Many of you could probably start quoting right away.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. (Psa 19:1)

From the lover of nature to the apologist, we like that one just fine, thank you very much. That all of creation tells us about God is a wonderful thing. "Natural revelation" they call it. True stuff.

You might be a little less aware of the next step the psalm takes.

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (Psa 19:7-10)

We all think it's pretty neat that God's creation tells us about God, but this passage tells us that the best information comes from God's Word. And surely you can see that must be true. We can draw inferences about God from Creation, but straightforward statements from God are much clearer and explicit ... and, therefore, desirable (Psa 19:10).

What's interesting to me in this psalm, then, is the next thought.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. (Psa 19:11-13)

According to David, God's Word has a side effect, so to speak. It warns us against sin. And the progression here is interesting. There are the "hidden faults", there are the "presumptuous sins", and there are the "great transgressions". We have those secret sins, those things we struggle with inside that we keep quiet. They lead to open sins -- presumptuous sins. Eventually they become great transgressions. This is the obvious process, but the text indicates that God's Word warns us against and keeps us from that process.

In this day and age when Scripture is challenged by theological liberals and conservatives alike, when we are told repeatedly that "You can't take it as it is written", when they assure us that "It's a good book, but don't get carried away", it is no surprise that we see an increase in great transgression. We are being told to embrace the hidden sins and, since we don't have an authoritative, reliable Word of God, we have nowhere to stand to defend against that.

It is absolutely true. The heavens declare the glory of God. It is equally unavoidable that God's Word gives us a clearer picture of who He is than the heavens do. We ignore that Word to our own peril, because each of us have our own hidden sins waiting to become presumptuous sins ending in great transgression. We cannot afford to go there. And God has provided the remedy right here in this psalm -- God's Word.