Psalm 106:1-48

Confession of sin is good for our souls and it puts us in a right relationship with God.  Our natural tendency is to try to hide our sin or rationalize it in some way.  This will only pull us further and further away from the Lord as it facilitates our pride as well as further sinning.  If we will confess our sin it will demonstrate our dependence upon Him and fill our hearts with gratitude towards Him.  When we admit to our failings, it establishes our hearts in the tender loving kindness of our Lord; it inspires us to be thankful to the Lord and motivates us to praise Him.  As we remember the mercy of God it will also help us to live in a way that is pleasing to Him as we will desire to be righteous in our actions.  God’s favor and forgiveness should be our greatest desire and they are only available when we recognize and confess our sin.

WE MUST REMEMBER OUR FAILURES: It is never fun to remember the sins of our past, but it is a healthy exercise that will humble our hearts and help us to exalt that name of the Lord.  This Psalm is a review of the major failures that occurred in the children of Israel between the Exodus from Egypt and the entrance to the Promised Land.  It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  It is far better for us to remember the failings of the past so that we do not repeat those failures than it is to pretend that the past was perfect and then reproduce that cycle of sin.  The children of Israel allowed themselves to be polluted by the culture of Egypt.  They lacked faith when confronted with the Red Sea.  They murmured against God’s provision.  They rejected God and built for themselves an idol made of metal.  They practiced all forms of immorality, following the lusts of their hearts.  They refused to enter the Land that God promised to give into their hands.  They followed the idolatry of the people in the Lands that they were supposed to have destroyed.  All of these failures are bound in the heart of man and we are all vulnerable to all of these kinds of sin.  We would do well to remember these failures so that we will be able to avoid them.

WE MUST REMEMBER GOD’S FURY: The failures of God’s people were met with fury from the Lord.  God’s anger has always burned hot against those who sin against Him.  It is very important for us to remember that sin has consequences and that those consequences are never pleasant.  God’s anger was hot against the children of Israel and they suffered greatly because of theirs sin.  They were stricken with illness.  They were struck down by the sword.  They were swallowed by the earth.  They were bitten by snakes.  They were condemned to wonder in the wilderness until they perished.  They were defeated by their enemies.  They were taken into captivity under the brutal hand of godless nations.  Sin always looks appealing when we choose to ignore the consequences of sin.  We must constantly remind ourselves that God hates sin and that He will see to it that there are always consequences for our sin that are much worse than we wish they were.  If we will thing about God’s hatred of sin it will help us to sin less.

WE MUST REMEMBER GOD’S FORGIVENESS: Even though the Lord hates sin; He has always been faithful to forgive the sins of His children.  The consequences of sin are designed by God to encourage His children to confess their sin and repent so that He can extend His forgiveness.  God dried up the Red Sea so the people could cross.  God removed His wrath from the people and healed their diseases.  God gave them victory over armies that were larger than they were.  God brought them into the land.  God gave them abundant crops.  God set them free from captivity.  God delights in forgiving sin because it demonstrates His love as well as His justice to all of mankind and inspires us to praise and worship the Lord.  When we forget about forgiveness we tend to hide from God and deny the reality of our sin.  But if we will constantly remind ourselves that God is a forgiving God; we will more readily admit to our failures and live in a right relationship before the Lord.