Fixing the Invisible

“Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.” (Ps 19:12 AV)

There is a sating:  You don’t know what you don’t know.  This is certainly true of our faults.  In particular, our sins.  The Bible teaches is that one of the purposes of the law is to reveal the difference between righteousness and sin.  Without the law, we would no know what sin is.  Those that wish to do away with the law and live in (rather than under) grace are really pursuing a life without the knowledge of right and wrong.  They do not want the law because they would then know the difference between sin and righteousness.  But I digress.  David wishes to know what he doesn’t know.  The secret faults are not secret from the perspective of David keeping them hidden from God or others.  They are secret to David.  David is unaware of his own faults and he wants to understand what they might be.  This is true spiritual growth.  Knowledge for the sake of conformity to the law of God that God might be pleased in all things.  This takes maturity.

Years ago, a pastor came to me and asked me a difficult question.  Being very young in the faith and barely out of Bible college, this aged and vastly more experienced pastor asked me if I had recognized and areas of his life that may not be pleasing to the LORD.  I learned a several very valuable lessons that day.  The first is that if someone comes to you in humility, asking such a question, then have the courage to give him and honest answer.  Out of respect for my elders, I declined to mention his greatest of faults.  This would later hinder his ministry and cost a church their future.  Second was that one is never too old or too mature in the LORD to seek out blind spots.  There is always room for improvement.  We will never arrive on this side of glory.  There are always faults that we cannot see no matter how hard we investigate.  Thirdly, these secret faults cannot be discovered without the help of others.  The word of God and the Holy Spirit – primarily.

Seeking areas of undiscovered faults keeps one spiritual young.  Striving for conformity no matter how deep those faults might be spurs the spirit to improve.  More importantly, this pursuit also is a great reminder of the nature of our relationship with the LORD who bought us.  It keeps us humble and dependent upon a gracious God who desires to change us into the image of His Son.  It keeps us where we belong an elevates the LORD to where He deserves.  Those secret faults are a hindrance.  They are a hindrance to growth and contentment!