A Road Map for Life | Beginning With GodSample

HOW TO DEAL WITH YOUR SIN EVERY DAY (Psalm 6)

D.L. Moody said, “If you want to stay right with God, keep short accounts of sin with God.”

In other words, don’t let it mount up. On a regular basis, throughout every day, confess your sin to the Lord. Stay right with God.

We think of repentance as what happens when a person comes to know the Lord Jesus as personal Savior, receiving Him by faith while repenting of sin. That is true. But it is not the end of repentance. It is simply the first time that person has repented.

I would suggest to you that the Christian life is a life of repentance. I have repented much more since I have been saved than I did when I got saved. Why? Because the Lord keeps showing you things in your life for which you need to repent; things that you need to bring to God and confess to Him.

Psalm 6 is the first of what is referred to as the Penitential Psalms. They are scattered throughout the book of Psalms and they are powerful.

“O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies” (Psalm 6:1-7).

If the psalm stopped there, it would be pretty depressing. Thankfully, the tone changes.

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly” (Psalm 6:8-10).

Do you see how things changed? What caused it? The Lord, the God of mercy and forgiveness.

Think about the last time you repented, allowing the Lord to search your heart, bringing your personal sin to Him, and confessing it by name. You didn't make excuses for it and blame somebody else. You just had a thorough time of confession, of sin, and repentance toward God.

Let me remind you that David was the man after God’s own heart when he wrote this psalm. David was a deeply spiritual man, a man who understood worship, and yet he still needed repentance.

We do not know exactly when it was written, but it is believed that this psalm came near the end of David’s life; perhaps somewhere around the time of I Chronicles 28 or 29 where he was admonishing his son Solomon and setting things in motion because he knew he would be leaving this world soon. If so, one could say that Psalm 6 was the perspective of an old man looking back on his life and saying, “I know that I’ve failed the Lord in many ways and I’ve had to bring my sin to God. But every time I have, the Lord has graciously forgiven me.”

No matter how old you are, or how long you have been a Christian, you never get to the place where you do not need to repent of your sin, confess your own wickedness before God, and depend upon His mercy. We are all just sinners. If David had to pray this prayer, how much more do we?

Maybe you want to take even the very words of Psalm 6 and make them your own today. Cry out to God from your heart. This psalm does not just point to David’s life and experience -- it points to something about God.

First of all, it shows us that He does not look lightly at sin. In the opening verses, it seems as though David was under the chastening hand of God. His bones were weary, and his physical condition was being affected by his spiritual condition. God touched his body to touch his heart.

We have all been there. The Lord may touch things around you, and even people you love, to get your attention. What will it take to get our attention? The God of Psalm 6 is a God who will chasten His children because He does not want them to remain in their sins.

At the end of the psalm, however, He is the God who delivers. He brings conviction, but also cleansing from that sin. Praise the Lord! He loves us and meets us where we are. He just does not leave us there; He brings us to where we need to be. He is the God of forgiveness, cleansing, and restoration.

That brings us directly to what Psalm 6 shows us about ourselves, which is that every day we must bring our own sins to the Lord. David pointed out here how he could not sleep because his sin was keeping him up. Remember, there is no peace for the wicked. God will make us uncomfortable with our sins.

Notice the pattern from Psalm 3 to Psalm 6: we have come from the evening to the morning to the evening. God is telling us that He wants us to be in fellowship with Him all through the day and night. He doesn't just want part of your life; He wants all of it.

Practically speaking, I think a very good time to take inventory is in the night hours just before you go to bed, just before you end your day. Let the Lord search your heart and show you from that day anything that did not please Him. The moment God brings that to your attention, confess it to Him. He will hear and answer your prayer as surely as He did for David.

This is one of the disciplines of the Christian life. Every day we should be in God’s Word and in prayer. Every day we should worship and witness. There are many daily disciplines. But do not miss the discipline of daily confession and repentance.

We must do this as quickly as possible. Bring your sin to God, and God will bring you back into fellowship with Him. If you want to rest in peace at night, confess your sin to the Lord, and come clean. He will hear you and receive your prayer.