Blind Side
Who can tell how often he offends?
O cleanse me from my secret faults.
Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me;
so shall I be undefiled, and innocent of great offense.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight,
O Lᴏʀᴅ, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19:12-14, The New Coverdale Psalter, from the Book of Common Prayer
The speaker that day explained to the roomful of ministry leaders that everyone has a blind side. His next words caused a swell of response: “And your blind side is not blind to others. They will see your faults when you do not.”
The fact that we can do things wrong and not know it makes most of us uncomfortable. As a recovered perfectionist, I have accepted that I will make mistakes; furthermore, I will sin, no matter how hard I try or how good my intentions are. I will offend others, I will offend myself. I need a Savior.
The fact that we do things wrong out of pride is another matter. It should bother me than it does. Presumptuous sins, translated “flagrant” in the New English Version, point to the Hebrew that says plainly, arrogant, presumptuous, and proud. We presume things that aren’t true and we act on them. And we may not even see our wrong presumptions. I wish I could say that never describes me.
There is a risk to walking closely with God. We risk seeing our blind side in its terrible fullness. #humility Share on XThe good news is, however, that the sting of this revelation doesn’t last long, for the Revealer is simultaneously the Redeemer of all who repent and entrust both the seen and unseen to Him.
The Psalmist understood this and was at peace.
He ends his blind side lament with trust in the only One who sees it all yet loves us completely, constantly, unendingly.
Unconditional love accepts our blind side while at the same time helping us see. The humility that comes from seeing is one of God’s greatest gifts to community and relationships. When we see that there are things we cannot control about ourselves, we realize our need for God. When we ask Him to help us see, He will. He will show us our secret faults, the sins hidden even from ourselves, and He will keep us from prideful sins that could lead to massive offense. Best of all, He will make us clean from them all through Jesus Christ. We will become trusted friends, humble mentors, forgiving brothers and sisters, all growing in holiness together.
We need help to see.
Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults and keep me from presumptuous sins. Amen.
Photo by Redd Francisco on Unsplash
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