“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.” (Psalm 51:4, ESV)
A writer in New York penned a column on a subject she knew would connect with her readers. When she wrote the article, she was determined to set the record straight and expose what she believed was a lie being told in society today. Thus, she wrote about women with obesity. In the article, she complained that the main reason women are obese is due to climate change. She opined that climate change has affected the quality of food, living conditions, and the standard of living. However, there have been climate changes since the beginning of time. When climate change occurred during the ice ages, people were thin. When England went through the Industrial Revolution, and the microclimates in the big cities were seriously affected by pollution, the people were even bordering on malnutrition. Yes, today’s food can lack some nutrients from the soil. Yes, living conditions do change. Yes, processed foods affect overall health. However, we know without a certainty, that the climate can’t force a person to overeat. One’s food choices are personal. Nowhere in the article does the author even imply that obesity may be due to poor choices, self-destructive attitudes, and sinful living.
Several news releases I saw recently focused on places in modern society that were going through terrible changes. There is a new street drug hitting inner cities. The war in the Ukraine is causing shortages in the natural gas supply for Europe. The loss of crops is affecting Eastern Africa. The COVID pandemic has caused terrible pollution in the oceans due to masks being dumped there by unscrupulous countries and corporations. Inflation is decimating the lives of the poor all over the world. Shortages of products are leading to job losses. Instead of taking blame, Russia blamed Nazis for war in Ukraine. President Biden complained that the Climate Crisis was the cause of all these problems and sought an increase in taxes to help alleviate the crisis. One talk show blamed sexism for all the world’s problems and for climate change! A Hollywood starlet proclaimed that misogyny caused all sorts of these issues, and if there was no patriarchy there would be no problems! Over and over, governments and news sources and social media blamed racism, sexism, the patriarchy, woke thinking, liberals, conservatives, technology, Facebook, Google, CNN, and so many more corporations, governments, ideologies, and leaders. What NONE of them spoke to was the FACT that sinful living was and is the greatest source of suffering in modern society.
People want to blame all kinds of things, play the victim, point fingers at others for their problems. Most often, bad results in life can always be traced back to sin. It is either sin in that person or sins committed against them. Yet, only in churches do you hear that sin is a problem. And what is most interesting is that some churches don’t like to even talk about sin as a problem today because the subject is not politically correct! That doesn’t stop the truth that sin is the ultimate source of all the wrongs in your world today.
Until you admit your sin and ask for repentance, your life will continue to feel the effects of sinful living. Until the world admits the suffering caused by sinfulness, there will never be healing and wholeness. Until sin against Almighty God is seen as an ultimate problem, lasting solutions to life’s problems will never be found.
Psalm 51 from our Bible exposed King David’s way of thinking. This psalm was written after David committed adultery with Bathsheba, as stated in the introduction to Psalm 51. As David looked back upon his sinful interactions with Bathsheba, he came to a rightful conclusion. His sin had caused all the suffering. Sexual sin caused David to desire to commit adultery. The sin of pride caused David to have Uriah killed in order to cover up his sin. The sin of selfishness caused David to take Bathsheba as his wife, when he already had a wife! Over and over, David sinned and covered his sin with other sins. Until Psalm 51, David refused to admit that his own sin was the source of everything going wrong in his life.
Only after David confessed and repented for his sin did he find any relief. Finally, David realized that all his problems were due to not only sin against Bathsheba and Uriah and the people of Jerusalem and his faithful soldiers. David ultimately had sinned against God. Finally, the truth gets told! David admitted in Psalm 51:4 that he had sinned ultimately “against God”. This caused “evil in God’s sight”. David was guilty. God was totally “justified” and “blameless” in the entire affair. Only after such a confession did David find lasting comfort from his suffering. Only when he owned up to his own sin and sought God’s justice and mercy were things made right.
While considering the meaning of David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51, John MacArthur wrote:
“If you want to have a decreasing frequency of sin in your life and an increasing amount of spiritual growth, you must acknowledge your responsibility. Don’t blame your circumstances, your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your boss, your employees, or your pastor. Don’t even blame the devil. Your sin is your fault. Certainly the world’s system can contribute to the problem, but sin ultimately occurs as an act of the will—and you are responsible for it.
Perhaps one of the best examples of someone who learned how to take responsibility was the prodigal son. When he returned home to his loving father, he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). He was even willing to be treated as a humble laborer because he knew he didn’t deserve anything (v. 19). That is the right attitude of one who confesses sin.” (Truth for Today, p. 56)
Until a person admits his or her own sinful intentions, their situation will not get better. Until you deal with your own sinful tendencies and past, sin will cause harm in your life. Sin will twist your thinking, skew your reality, cause unintended harm to others, and damage your relationship with God. The only way to deal with sin and stop its damaging effects is to follow King David’s example from Psalm 51. You need to repent and confess your sin to Almighty God. You need to take responsibility for sinful thinking. You need to stop blaming other things for your sinful actions. Then, and only then, do you have any chance of overcoming evil in your world. Once you deal with your sin, truth and lies will be exposed for you. Your direction forward will become more clear. Love and peace will find their way back into your heart and soul. And soon, the blessings of God will follow.
Several news releases I saw recently focused on places in modern society that were going through terrible changes. There is a new street drug hitting inner cities. The war in the Ukraine is causing shortages in the natural gas supply for Europe. The loss of crops is affecting Eastern Africa. The COVID pandemic has caused terrible pollution in the oceans due to masks being dumped there by unscrupulous countries and corporations. Inflation is decimating the lives of the poor all over the world. Shortages of products are leading to job losses. Instead of taking blame, Russia blamed Nazis for war in Ukraine. President Biden complained that the Climate Crisis was the cause of all these problems and sought an increase in taxes to help alleviate the crisis. One talk show blamed sexism for all the world’s problems and for climate change! A Hollywood starlet proclaimed that misogyny caused all sorts of these issues, and if there was no patriarchy there would be no problems! Over and over, governments and news sources and social media blamed racism, sexism, the patriarchy, woke thinking, liberals, conservatives, technology, Facebook, Google, CNN, and so many more corporations, governments, ideologies, and leaders. What NONE of them spoke to was the FACT that sinful living was and is the greatest source of suffering in modern society.
People want to blame all kinds of things, play the victim, point fingers at others for their problems. Most often, bad results in life can always be traced back to sin. It is either sin in that person or sins committed against them. Yet, only in churches do you hear that sin is a problem. And what is most interesting is that some churches don’t like to even talk about sin as a problem today because the subject is not politically correct! That doesn’t stop the truth that sin is the ultimate source of all the wrongs in your world today.
Until you admit your sin and ask for repentance, your life will continue to feel the effects of sinful living. Until the world admits the suffering caused by sinfulness, there will never be healing and wholeness. Until sin against Almighty God is seen as an ultimate problem, lasting solutions to life’s problems will never be found.
Psalm 51 from our Bible exposed King David’s way of thinking. This psalm was written after David committed adultery with Bathsheba, as stated in the introduction to Psalm 51. As David looked back upon his sinful interactions with Bathsheba, he came to a rightful conclusion. His sin had caused all the suffering. Sexual sin caused David to desire to commit adultery. The sin of pride caused David to have Uriah killed in order to cover up his sin. The sin of selfishness caused David to take Bathsheba as his wife, when he already had a wife! Over and over, David sinned and covered his sin with other sins. Until Psalm 51, David refused to admit that his own sin was the source of everything going wrong in his life.
Only after David confessed and repented for his sin did he find any relief. Finally, David realized that all his problems were due to not only sin against Bathsheba and Uriah and the people of Jerusalem and his faithful soldiers. David ultimately had sinned against God. Finally, the truth gets told! David admitted in Psalm 51:4 that he had sinned ultimately “against God”. This caused “evil in God’s sight”. David was guilty. God was totally “justified” and “blameless” in the entire affair. Only after such a confession did David find lasting comfort from his suffering. Only when he owned up to his own sin and sought God’s justice and mercy were things made right.
While considering the meaning of David’s confession of sin in Psalm 51, John MacArthur wrote:
“If you want to have a decreasing frequency of sin in your life and an increasing amount of spiritual growth, you must acknowledge your responsibility. Don’t blame your circumstances, your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your boss, your employees, or your pastor. Don’t even blame the devil. Your sin is your fault. Certainly the world’s system can contribute to the problem, but sin ultimately occurs as an act of the will—and you are responsible for it.
Perhaps one of the best examples of someone who learned how to take responsibility was the prodigal son. When he returned home to his loving father, he said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:21). He was even willing to be treated as a humble laborer because he knew he didn’t deserve anything (v. 19). That is the right attitude of one who confesses sin.” (Truth for Today, p. 56)
Until a person admits his or her own sinful intentions, their situation will not get better. Until you deal with your own sinful tendencies and past, sin will cause harm in your life. Sin will twist your thinking, skew your reality, cause unintended harm to others, and damage your relationship with God. The only way to deal with sin and stop its damaging effects is to follow King David’s example from Psalm 51. You need to repent and confess your sin to Almighty God. You need to take responsibility for sinful thinking. You need to stop blaming other things for your sinful actions. Then, and only then, do you have any chance of overcoming evil in your world. Once you deal with your sin, truth and lies will be exposed for you. Your direction forward will become more clear. Love and peace will find their way back into your heart and soul. And soon, the blessings of God will follow.