December 4, 2024 -- Psalm 141:5 -- Faithful friends vs stubborn sins

People loved by the Father, in the Spirit's power: Sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus!

Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—
it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.
Psalm 141:5a
 
It happens more often than I ever hoped it would that a man I once met in prison is released. That is not the problem. Then he returns to prison. That is the problem. Often, he hesitate, neglecting to attend Bible Study because he is too ashamed. Too embarrassed. Too worn out by his sins. In our Overcomers group men will tell the guy who has returned to prison, get over to the Overcomers group. Come on out.
 
In the first place there will be kindness. Every single one of us knows the power of sin. There are the hauntingly familiar sins. There are the temptations that never quite seem to let us go. There are the floods of justifications we offer when we do wrong. All these, and many more reasons, prove the urgent need a man has, a woman has, a youth has, for true and deep accountability. So, one who is aware of his fallen condition needs gentle welcome and tenderness to deal with the open wounds of failure.
 
Second, as Step 5 states it: I confess my character weaknesses and wrongdoings to God, myself, and another person (Overcomers Workbook, Canadian Bible Society, page 100). Why do we fail? Simply, we refuse to acknowledge the power of the sin that still lingers in us. Yes, believers belong to Jesus Christ. Yes, believers know the power of the Holy Spirit living within them. But it is all-too-often-too-true that believers also, knowing the good they should do, choose the evil. When a believer meets with an accountability person, that brother or sister in Christ, knowing the weakness and inclination to sin the other struggles against, will be brutally honest so that sin will not get a victory.
 
Why? Well, look at the text one more time. The work rebuke can be translated: judge, correct, criticize. The whole point is when temptation has begun its work in you and you are gripped by it, you are already planning more evil than your own mind will allow you see. You are prepared to deceive yourself. A true, honest, fellow Christian will spot in a second what you are hiding from yourself. An honestly righteous person won’t care about your feelings but will guard you against yourself so that you don’t take a hard fall and lose so much ground you had gained in your walk with God.
 
Sin has consequences. They are greater than the lies that the enemy would lead you to believe. Temptations begin to blind your perspective, and you forget how bad the last go-round with sin was. Patterns of evil will numb you so that you are more and more inclined to stumble back into the same sin and shrug your shoulders and call yourself helpless. You’re not!
 
A good brother or sister in Christ will call out what you are thinking of doing and will help you fight the good battle of faith. Why is it oil on your head? In Bible times, oil was used to cleanse wounds and form a barrier protecting a wound against infection. When a sinner morally fails, violates the commands of God, he wounds his relationship with God, himself and others. Preventative conversations that expose one’s motives and keep the person from going ahead with the intended sin is like an oil of healing, applied, affirming the righteousness of diverting one’s path and makes the face shine with the glory of obedience to God.
 
It is hard work to be a Christian. At verse 3 the Psalmist asks the LORD to put a guard over his mouth. How easily people can sin with their words. It takes the might of a military person to hold back the inclination to sin. In Philippians 2 Christians are commanded to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. It is a fitness routine and any slacking in it will result in flabby, unfit Christians.
 
The result of all of this is joy in the LORD. The result of fighting against the temptations of the flesh and sinful inclinations of the heart is the blessing of direct conversation with God, no embarrassment or shame. The result of meeting together for deep and true accountability is to guard one against sin; but where one has stumbled, it is the task of a Christian to help the other to stand again and find the healing grace that is already theirs in Christ Jesus.
 
 
ALMIGHTY GOD, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, Judge of all men; we acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against Thy Divine Majesty, provoking most justly Thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please Thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
(The Confession—to be said by all. Divine Service Book for the Armed Forces, 1950, page 51)
 
https://youtu.be/lXsXmoOXQK4?si=vz6mVxgPTcMhQPLa Remember Not, O God

 

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