Come Clean!

If there is one thing we hate to do, it is to confess wrongdoing. No one wants to be mistaken on any point. As you read this article, chances are you believe you are doing what is right in your life. By no means do you see yourself as perfect, but by no means do you see yourself as flawed, either. We often straddle the fence between these two extremes with false humility and defensiveness. We use this wishy-washy perspective as an excuse to dodge correction and instruction that would make us better. After all, if we feel we are right, then who has the authority to tell us we can do better? It is no wonder our society often rejects the message of the gospel which forcefully points out our sins and failures before God. We can scarcely read the Bible without confronting the reality that we are wrong, mistaken, and deeply flawed. That is why rather than outrunning our sins we should instead confront them through confession.
 
David’s words in Psalm 32 demonstrate the blessings we will find in confession. In that psalm, we also find the curses that come with denial of wrongdoing before God. The king does not specify the sin with which he struggled, but it is evident he tries to hide it. He opens the psalm with two statements of blessing:
 
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1-2).
 
In these words we find the sobering reflections of a man overtaken by sin but who eventually confesses it before God. There is no hint of excuses or blame-shifting in these words. Instead, David tells us that we are blessed when God forgives our sins and no longer counts them against us. How can we experience these blessings if we are so busy trying to outrun our evil deeds, words, and thoughts? To ask it is to answer it, friends. That is why David writes of his failure to avoid confession:
 
“When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (Psalm 32:3-4).
 
David, the strong and mighty warrior-king, becomes a shriveled-up weakling when he conceals his sin from God. Guilt and shame press in on him, and it makes his life unbearable. While the so-called enlightened people in our day see guilt and shame as what others impose onto us, the Bible sees these feelings as how we acknowledge our wrongdoing and seek to make it right. People certainly do use guilt and shame as tools against us, but that problem does not make the feelings themselves the issue. These feelings are meant to produce repentance. Because he feels guilt and shame, David finally confesses his wrongdoings to God:
 
“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5).
 
Forgiveness becomes David’s when he admits he is wrong. His confession becomes the avenue through which his sin can be put away. God is faithful and just to forgive the sins we voluntarily confess and put away. Why would we want to shy away from such a blessing? We will only hurt ourselves when we avoid confession. As this psalm teaches, the Lord is eager to forgive, but He cannot and will not forgive the proud and unrepentant. Later, David will write a warning to his readers so that they will not be stubborn in times of confession:
 
“Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you” (Psalm 32:9).
 
When we know we have done wrong, the temptation is to sweep the matter under the rug and hope no one finds out. If someone does find out and confronts us, the temptation is to harden our hearts and reject the correction. We must all resist these temptations and confess our evils before God, and in some cases, confess them before others. The Lord knows we are flesh and that sin is a reality in this world. He is not a harsh, overbearing Master who browbeats us for our flaws but is instead a gracious and forgiving One who wants to help us grow stronger. When we run away from Him and refuse to confess, then we run away from the only hope we have. We also reject the only strength we will have to overcome our weaknesses. David learned that confession is the path to God’s forgiveness. The question is whether we will learn the same lesson and come clean before God. Let us all reflect on this psalm and what it calls us to do.