February 27, 2025 -- Proverbs 28:13-14 -- Blessed is the one who fears the LORD

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

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always,
but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Proverbs 28:13-14 ESV
 
It is common for people to get stuck on the phrase the fear of the LORD. Those same people walk in the fear of the world and never give it a second thought, let me explain. The fear of the world is that compulsion to fit in. The anxiety one feels if he is not listening to the right music. When others make sly references to the latest vlog or movie and you can’t quite catch it, you are made to feel as if you aren’t a dude but a dud. On a ridiculously cold day, I saw a woman standing at a bus stop with jeans ripped in parallel tears up and down each leg. It was a fashion statement, a desire to conform to what is au courant, a fear of the world while simultaneously freezing being a fool for fashion and ridiculous in her desire to conform.
 
To fear the LORD is to desire to conform to His will and word and do so in the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice the promise, the one who fears the LORD is blessed. In the world to be conformed to culture or music or fashion or a people group will not always lead to blessing. Others will be jealous. The fashionistas are constantly changing the colours, the references, and so are moving the boundary stones. The one who fears the LORD is blessed because what God has commanded has been consistent from the dawn of time and will remain until Jesus returns. His people will be out of step with the ways of the world.
 
The desire to be fragrant in Christ is what compels a believer to confess his sins. He knows that allowing sin to linger, to fester and to stay concealed is like rubbing sewage water into an open wound. The nightmarish miasma of pathogens will work terror inside his body. What cleanses the soul, and allows the living water found in Christ to bring healing? It is confession. Our Father in heaven already knows full well what you have done, how you have sinned and how you are straining against the cords of His lovingkindness is trying to get away from Him. He holds the remedy for your healing, and it is His command that you confess your sins, turn from them and walk in the way of His mercy.
 
Our Father in heaven already knows all the wickedness, all the wrong-doing and all the concealed sin harboured in the heart. Why confess it? Why not just have Him cleanse me and we can get on with it? When the believer confesses his sin:

  • he is actively identifying not with the world, but with Christ, in Whom is all his hope;

  • he is submitting himself to the word of God which commands the believer to confess his sin and forsake it, that is, to turn away from it;

  • he is saying, God You are right and just in all Your requirements;

  • he is asking God for the mercy he needs to break the pattern of habitual sin;

  • he is turning away from the pressures of the world and intentionally placing himself within the company of believers who experience the blessing of fearing the LORD always.

 
God of all perfection and holiness, secretly I wonder to myself if You don’t get tired of hearing all my streams of confession and the repetitiveness of my sins? Such a question compels me to admit I want to hide them; I am in fact looking for reasons to go dark. To cover these sins over, or to pretend there is nothing to see here and so I overdramatically act as if all is good. I know it is not good at all. Keep me from the calamity of unconfessed sin and guard me against the perverse pride of my heart that leads me to falsely imagine my sins are not as great as that person’s over there or the wretchedness of this person here. No, the putrefying effects of sin will infect more of my life, invading mind and soul unless these are purged by confession, healed by mercy and I am compelled to walk in the newness of life promised by God my Father. As one healed by Your mercy, God lead me farther, deeper in Your blessedness by allowing me to walk in community with Your people through the blessed presence of Your Spirit. For the holiness of Your Name and the in view of the glorious triumph of Christ at the cross, I pray, hear my confession and lead me into greater unity with Jesus, Who is the path of blessedness. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/LA9UfBEHciY?si=vvDUgVDP-E1RNiTt Praise the Lord of Living Waters
 
 

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