Psalm 19:12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse you me from secret faults. The Psalmist is thinking of the errors that we don't understand, and of which we are not conscious. 1. There are faults which are secret, because they are bound up with our dispositions and characters. We see every day how blind men become to their own habitual faults. 2. There are secret faults which are due to the influence of our surroundings. There is a law known to naturalists as the law of protective colouring, according to which animals grow into the likeness of their environment. There is such a law in society. Human beings tend to assimilate themselves to the customs and opinions of the world around them. In the business world men do, without hesitation, what they could not do if they applied the law of Christ to the regulation of their daily calling. The society in which we live affects us. It tends to bring us down to its level, and imbues us with its opinions. 3. There are secret faults which consist of undeveloped germs and possibilities of evil that lie lurking in our hearts.How are we to be delivered from these secret faults? 1. Set about the work of self-examination. Careful and judicious self-examination lies at the bottom of all progressive Christianity. It may be done in a morbid, introspective way, but it need not be. 2. We must apply ourselves to the study of the Word of God. 3. We should bring ourselves into the holy presence of Jesus Christ. 4. We must learn to pray the Psalmist's prayer. We cannot cleanse ourselves, we need to be cleansed. Christ must live in us by His Holy Spirit if we are to be cleansed from our secret faults, and to become pure even as He is pure. (J. C. Lambert.) Parallel Verses KJV: Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.WEB: Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors. |
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