“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity” Prov. 28:13-14
As I continue to study through the Proverbs of Solomon this morning I hit upon these two texts and I stopped to consider them. We talk a lot about our on-going need to confess and repent and here in very simple and practical language we have the Bible once again reminding us of this need as we pursue God’s wisdom…another way of saying we are pursuing godliness.
Verse 13 speaks of the contrast between hiding our sins…which we are prone to do…and confessing them. God through Solomon commands us to “confess” our sins/transgressions (which usually speaks to sins of commission, but not always). Confession is often contrasted in the Proverbs with “conceal.” For concealing or hiding our transgressions/sins is a sign of the fool with a hardened heart who will fall eventually into calamity because of unconfessed sin. Confession, then, (to God and to one another as the NT commands us) is the sign of a wise man who will and has obtained mercy and blessing.
This Hebrew word, “to confess” means to make a full and clean admission of what you have done wrong without qualifying, excusing or minimizing the transgression. It is an admission that you have failed to love the LORD and honor Him as He has prescribed enabling you then to begin again to glorify Him and enjoy Him. This Hebrew word goes a step further and reveals the ultimate purpose for this confession. “Ydh” which is here translated “to confess” always has in mind the ultimate goal of praising and thanking God. In other words, we confess so that we might be willing and able to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
But this passage goes further. It commands that we “confess” but also to “forsake”. This is to leave behind completely and to make full renunciation of the sinful behavior. As John Owen said, “to mortify our sin”. This mortification is both in heart and practical actions. John the Baptist said in Luke 3:8- “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” This is a practical action that reverses the wrong behavior of the believer.
This word “forsake” also seeks to communicate that we must set up a plan to change that includes but is not limited to; “I will not go there…I will set up blockers on my devices and give the passwords to a trusted accountability partner or my spouse.” A plan to “forsake” is accountability …that all of us need and we must begin by devising and implementing such a plan or we are concealing our transgressions and we will fall.
One last thought on this text. (So much more could be said.) But let’s look at the reward for those who “confess and forsake”. We will “obtain mercy” we are “Blessed in fearing the LORD”. The word for “obtain” speaks to a willing reception and acceptance of God’s mercy which is free to His children. After we confess and forsake we can fully experience the mercy that is free to all those who have been “blessed” by God…those who fear the Lord always. Blessing and mercy are a free gift by God not based in anything we do, have done or will do. We have it simply because of the love of our Father toward us.
The Hebrew word for “mercy” seems to support this and is actually the same word translated as “womb”. This word is always used in relation to family….parent to child…God our Father to His children. The love we have for those babies in utero is not based in anything that the baby has done…it simply is and that never changes…no matter how stressed the relationship gets in the future. Mercy, like grace, is free, undeserved and unearned and deeply personal. But personal in the way that all in the family are blessed by the news and the addition of a new covenant child.
To sum up; real repentance that confesses and forsakes transgressions rather than concealing them, because of a hardened heart, enables real acceptance of God’s free mercy. Think about that today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
