Pray for Purging

“O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities prevail against me: [as for] our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away.” (Ps 65:2-3 AV)

What a promise!  Better than anything the world can offer!  David’s chief concern here is the battle over sin.  His own sin.  He wants liberty from the wickedness that resides within.  He is tired of having to apologize for things he has done or failed to do.  David, like all believers, strives against his nature, which strives against God.  He wants out.  So, he does what we all do.  He goes to the LORD in prayer.  He claims a few things here.  First, since that which he seeks is God’s will, he knows God hears him.  He knows that if he seeks liberty from sin, the LORD will work to that end.  The LORD will not take away all temptations without participation on our part.  But He will strengthen us and lead us out of the valley of failure.  God hates sin more than we ever will.  He hates it with infinite ire.  God the Father sent His only Son to die that we might be free from it.  Pretty extreme.  If God hates sin that much, asking for liberty from it is in the perfect will of the Father.  The second promise David claims is God’s purging.  If David truly wants deliverance from sin, then purging is the answer.  He knows it is coming.  He claims it.  He wants it.  He wants purging more than he wants the pleasure of sin for a season.

There is a new classification of drugs on the market.  They are being advertised pretty heavily.  Our president is trying to get them covered by Medicare and Medicaid.  You have probably seen it.  They are called GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.  Originally manufactured to help with diabetes type II, these drugs have been the designer drugs for celebrities.  They take these injections as a way to lose weight.  The manufacturers make many claims.  Like all treatments, the patient is the best advocate for his or her own healthcare.  One must read between the lines.  It wasn’t but a couple of years, that some celebrities who jumped on board with these injections began to suffer some side effects.  They switched from one manufacturer to another until they found one that worked for them.  The promises these treatments made were initially overstated.  Now that the data is in, the promises made and warning offered are far more reliable.  The patient who believes these treatments will work and understands their poor health is partly, if not totally, self-inflicted with experience more positive results.  One must hate his or her poor health more than they dislike the steps to overcome it.

Battling sin is an ongoing warfare that is waged in the hearts and wills of the saints every day of their temporal life.  David could pray, knowing God would answer, because he first understood God’s will in the matter.  Next, David participated in the answer.  He hated sin and fought against it.  He confessed it and forsook it.  The confidence David shows above is not empty.  He did not talk himself into an unrealistic faith in what God would do.  He knew God’s heart regarding sin.  Therefore, he could clearly pray in faith that God would purge him from all iniquity.  Praise be to God!  For those of you who hate your sin, there is an absolute promise that if we confess it, forsake it, and seek God’s hand in overcoming it, God will remove it.  Amen!