I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin– Psalm 32:5

Two things we are clearly meant to take away from this account: sin must be confessed and, when it is, sin will be forgiven.

The psalmist reports that he was brought to the place of acknowledging his sin. He was not trying to hide it, or justify it, or excuse it. He held nothing back during his confession; he admitted to God his every fault and failing.

As he freely admits his sin to the Lord, we should notice, the psalmist also freely acknowledges it as sin (not just a mistake or personality flaw). He confesses his transgressions to the Lord. They are his (no one else is to blame) and they are transgressions (willful offenses against the law of God).

Have you gone to the Lord in confession and owned up to your own willful disobedience and pride? Have you utterly opened your heart to Him, acknowledging the wrongs you have done against his good and just law?

Then—but only then—will we have the same assurance in which the psalmist rejoices, that our sin is forgiven and every transgression pardoned. What a sweet, powerful thing is a clean conscience before our holy God!

Do not delay the repentance that God deserves or the forgiveness that you need.– Baptist Bible Hour

“Fear not: for I am with thee…” Isaiah 43:5

The presence of a friend in trouble is cheering and consoling. But it is too often the case, that our friends, like the friends of Job, prove to be miserable comforters. They either do not enter into our troubles — or they cannot help us. The advice they give at times, only aggravates our woe, and adds to our distress.

But, believer, your God says, “I am with you!” What a thought is this! God, the great, the glorious, the omnipotent Jehovah — is with me! He is . . .
with me to help me,
with me to comfort me,
with me to sanctify me,
with me to save me,
with me as a kind benignant Father,
with me in every place, in every trouble, in every conflict,
with me through all my journey and forevermore,
with me on the bed of sickness,
with me  to hold communion with me,
with me to listen to my sighs,
with me to number my tears, and
with me to secure me from all injury!

Appearances may be very dark; the night may seem very long; and your pains, weakness, and fears may be many and great. Still, if the Lord is with you, you may sing, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18 —James Smith, 1842

“…is not easily provoked..” 1 Cor. 13:5

Surely the number one reason both for mental and physical illness in our society today is the overwhelming preoccupation with our rights and the consequent lovelessness. When everyone is fighting for his own rights, no one can really succeed or be happy. Everyone grabs, no one gives, and everyone loses—even when one gets what he wants. Lovelessness can never win in any meaningful or lasting way. It always costs more than it gains.

We get angry when another person gains a privilege or recognition we want for ourselves, because it is our “right.” But to put our rights before our duty and before loving concern for others comes from self–centeredness and lovelessness. The loving person is more concerned about doing what he should and helping where he can than in having what he thinks are his rights and his due. Love considers nothing its right and everything its obligation.

Telling our wives or husbands that we love them is not convincing if we continually get upset and angry at what they say and do. Telling our children that we love them is not convincing if we often yell at them for doing things that irritate us and interfere with our own plans. It does no good to protest, “I lose my temper a lot, but it’s all over in a few minutes.” So is a nuclear bomb. A great deal of damage can be done in a very short time. Temper is always destructive, and even small temper “bombs” can leave much hurt and damage, especially when they explode on a regular basis. Lovelessness is the cause of temper, and love is the only cure. Love that takes a person outside of himself and centers his attention on the well–being of others is the only cure for self–centeredness. –John MacArthur

“..Love your enemies...”–Matt. 5:44 (Read vs.38-48)

It must be the aim of a Christian to make his enemy lovely. It is not my supreme business to secure my safety, but to remove his ugliness. He may only annoy me, but he is destroying himself. He may injure my reputation; but far worse, he is blighting his own character. Therefore must I seek to remove the greater thing, the corrosive malady in his own soul. I must make it my purpose to recover his loveliness, and restore the lost likeness of the Lord.

And only love can make things lovely. Revenge can never do it. Even duty will fail in the gracious work. There is a final touch, a consummate bloom, to which duty can never attain, and which is only attainable by love. All love’s ministries are creative of loveliness. Wherever her finger rests, something exquisite is born. Love is a great magician: she transforms the desert into a garden, and she makes the wilderness blossom like the rose.

But where shall we get the love wherewith to make our enemy lovely? From the great Lover Himself. “We love, because He first loved us.” The great Lover will love love into us! And we, too, shall become fountains of love, for our Lord will open “rivers in the high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys.”–J.H.Jowett