Over the past two weeks, we’ve started on an expedition and a mission to develop a habit of turning to the Bible each day. If you’re following along through the reading plan provided at the end of these blog posts, that means by this time next week, you’ll have stuck with this habit for 21 days! Congratulations. That number, 21, is significant to the way our brain works to establish routine and habit. On average, it takes 21 consecutive days for a task to become “automatic” or “second-nature” to us. Cool things start happening when we’re able to meditate or carry God’s Word with us every day as a habit.
We can’t forget that our daily discipline is a time for us to relish, though. Reading the Bible isn’t a chore we are mandated to accomplish. Like prayer is our means of communicating to God, reading the words that God has inspired in the Bible is how God chooses to talk to us. It’s a conversation! I compared reading the Bible last week to reading old love notes that Michelle and I have collected from each other since our high school days. There’s something I’d like to point out that is different about those achievable letters and Scripture. The Bible doesn’t get out-dated or irrelevant. It doesn’t change because it is perfect. When we jump into a psalm that was penned no later than twenty-six centuries ago, the conversation between me and God is active and current. Isn’t that cool?
Let’s be honest, sometimes it is easy for some of the floweriness and repetitiveness of the Psalms to not feel like it is an actual conversation at all. I loved hearing how some of the psalmists clung to their hope in Jesus last week. It reminded me of how I can keep my eyes towards the future no matter the situation I find myself in. Last week, it felt like God was comforting me. The week before that, when we first started this series, I felt like God was reminding me of how special it is that I can hear from Him through the Bible. The Psalms we’re looking at this week really call us to action though. We’re called to make our confessions to God and seek his forgiveness.
This is an uncomfortable topic. It isn’t always clear to me what I need to confess. My second-nature is actually ignoring the fact that there is anything offensive to God within me, actually. I’m blind to how much of God’s forgiveness and rescue I actually need. That’s actually the purpose of our discipline.
A Guide to Confession from the Psalter
Rely on God to reveal our sinfulness to us
A part of the nature of each and every human alive today is being imperfect. Not only are we imperfect, but we’ve done wrong against God and His law. The hard part about acknowledging this fact is also realizing that the only way we’ll ever understand our trespasses is by God revealing them to us. God has to show us how we’re sinners. Fortunately, in His abundant knowledge, we can ask God to “search us” and to make known to us who we actually are. This is the first step in truly being able to confess our sins.
Take Ownership of our Sinfulness
Of course, the natural reaction once acknowledging sin is to find another means to shuck our personal responsibility. I say that harshly, but the reality is we do it some deceptive ways. It is easy to use our circumstances as a way of justifying why we do what we do. The problem always revolves around something outside of ourselves. To be successful at turning away from our sin, it requires us to acknowledge the truth, that sometimes we are actually the problem.
Seek heart transformation – not changed behavior
If you find yourself asking why you have to confess the same sin over and over, go no further than Psalm 39. The psalmist talks about his heart and his tongue. I imagine he is repenting of the kind of sin that Jesus half brother, James, discusses in James chapter 3. He misuses his words. In an attempt to stop saying hateful things, he stopped talking altogether, “not even saying anything good”.
Fortunately, the psalmist comes to the realization that he doesn’t need to put his focus on changing his behavior. Instead, he needs to focus on the reason he keeps acting the way that does. For us, this can be a reminder that we should seek the transformation that comes in our lives (in our hearts) from following Jesus. This is the only way we’ll ever begin to resemble our Lord.
Remember God is Faithful to forgive us
How about some encouragement in the midst of all of this self-reflection. Folks, this might actually be the most crucial point I’ve outlined here. Despite the depravity that dwells within our sinful state, God is faithful to forgive and restore us. If you’re beating yourself up over something that you’ve genuinely turned away from, you’re doing it wrong. This is one of the sweetest truths in the entire Bible – that we’re set free from sinfulness when we accept the grace of God.
Seek God’s protection from our sinful nature
And last but not least, we can rely on God to protect us from our sinfulness. There’s going to be temptations and stresses are going to make it seem more natural to pursue an unsaved way of doing life. Still, the grace of God is sufficient for us. If we continue to rely on God, he’ll continue to guide our steps and protect us from the traps set out in this world.
Week 3 Psalm Reading Plan
Here is a link to a daily Psalm reading plan that you may use as we Resume our Routines. We have included five days of focused study with a discussion question you can use as a journal response, or to start a conversation at lunchtime with your family. If you’re up for the challenge, we’ve planned out finishing the book of Psalms in this six-week study with some additional reading that sticks to each week’s theme.
Here’s a PDF link of the reading plan, too.