PROVERBS 28: 13
SINS COVERED VERSES SINS CONFESSED
[Job 31: 33-34, Psalm 51:1-12]
"He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them finds mercy."
This verse is distinctly divided. Two different types of persons are introduced. Two opposite courses of actions are taken. Two correspondingly opposite results occur. Sin is the common object of concern. What is done with sin is the action taken. What occurs from each action taken are the results. One type of person covers his sins and does not prosper. The other confesses and forsakes his sin and finds mercy.
Both God and men cover sin. God does so by shed blood and glorious grace (Ps. 85:2). Man does so by deceit and hypocrisy. The sinners contrasted here are charged with the same guilt. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). Yet different men choose different ways to deal with the aggravation of their conscience. The choice is not whether to deal with sins or not, but to deal with them either wisely or foolishly, to deal with them either righteously or wickedly. Let's learn what action we are taking to deal with our sin along with its corresponding result (CIM).
I. THE FOOLISH COVERING OF SINS, 13a.
In the first part of verse 13 we find the world's way of dealing with sin along with the result such action brings. "He who conceals his sins does not prosper."
A proud sinner naturally wishes to be thought better than he is. Since man's conscience bears witness that his actions are evil, he seeks to cover or hide his sin. This is done in various ways.
Sometimes sin is renamed in an attempt to cover it. Adultery is called an affair. Homosexuality is called an alternative life-style. Car thief is now lifting a car. Slander is called gossip or stating your mind.
Man endeavors to cover sin by denying it. A lie is a cover which men put over their sins to conceal them. They deny that what they have done is sin. Like Cain, Rachel, Joseph's brothers, Peter, Ananias and Sapphira they endeavored to hide their sin by denying it with a lie.
They covered them by ignoring them. They suspect that if they thought about them or learned more about them that such knowledge would not be pleasant and therefore force them out of their mind. They refuse to listen to the Word because their sin might be pointed out. But to ignore sin's existence does not change its nature or remove its effects.
They covered their sin by diminishing it. They call it a little white lie. What they did wasn't so bad compared to what's done by others. To discount your sin in your eyes or the eyes of others though does not diminish it in God's eyes.
They use excuses to cover their sin. Their mistakes were due to the influence of others, the power of circumstances, their poor up bringing, or their environment. Extenuating circumstances are often used to cover our sin.
They attempt to cover them by forgetting their sins. They endeavor to sweep them from memory by frivolity and mockery, by sensuality, worldliness, or intoxication. No effort is spared to hide the ugly side of sin and dress up its more pleasurable parts. The imaginations of man's evil heart is constantly used like a paint to cover over sin's decay and rot.
Thus the knowledge, realization, or admittance of sin rendered still more difficult by our effort to conceal it. Yet we hides it only from our self & gullible men. Our attempt to hide our sin does nothing to remove them but only furthers sin's injury by allowing its poisoning to continue seeping into us. Beware of the lie that nothing exists which cannot be seen. Moral evil may seem invisible or hidden but it exists and its effects are great.
God's Word states that despite man's effort to cover his sin, "he shall not proper." God's natural, moral and spiritual laws cannot be so evaded. He cannot be so mocked (Gal. 6:7). Although sin in its spiritual nature cannot be seen by human eyes and weighed by human scales, it is real and so are its effects. Sin covered over begins to rotten and hollow out in the human soul and, if tested by God in this life, the fair outward appearance will collapse and its destruction will be revealed. Though the trees may seem tall and mighty if a strong enough wind blows what is inside may be revealed. Though the defective steel may span the river if tested by sufficient weight the potential catastrophe is revealed.
The voice of God summoned Adam from his hiding place to receive his sentence (Gen. 3:9). Abel's hidden blood cried from the ground in Genesis 5:10-12. Conscience lashed out and stole the joy of life from Joseph's brothers (42:4). Saul's covering his sin cost him his kingdom (1 Sam 15:21-23). The leprosy of Naaman clung to Gahazi and his seed forever (2 Kings 5:27). The deeds done in the deepest darkness are open and clear to an All-seeing God and made ready to be proclaimed from house tops before the world (Lk. 12:2,3).
[Look at Achan. Nothing was to be plundered from the city of Jericho, but Achan buried gold and clothing underneath his tent. When his sin was eventually discovered, he and his family died as a result (Joshua 7). The man who covers his sin shall not prosper.]
An Indianapolis patrolman ran into trouble while he was investigating a routine TRAFFIC MISHAP. He had interviewed witnesses, arrested one of the drivers, and had written up the accident report. Then he noticed that the offending motorist was chewing on something that wasn't gum. He was eating the report! Despite the officer's efforts to retrieve the report, it was destroyed. But the delay was only temporary. The patrolman tracked down the witnesses again and recompiled the evidence.
The resistance and coverup that this Indiana officer encountered is similar to what Isaiah saw in the people of Israel centuries ago. The prophet was grieved as he watched his countrymen trying to ignore and conceal the evidence of their sin. They, in effect, stuck their fingers in their ears while the Lord spoke (Isa. 30:9), and they encouraged their prophets to tell them only what they wanted to hear (v.10). They would rather hide from the truth than seek the mercy of God. Consequently, the Lord sent judgment on them (vv. 12-17).
We can learn from Israel's mistakes that an attempt at coverup won't do any good. It's only temporary. At best it only postpones the day of reckoning.
The sins that would entangle us, must never be ignored (Heb. 12:2). For if we try to cover them, they'll rotten us on the inside. The sin we try to cover up will eventually bring us down.
What are we to do then if we would be spiritually mature and healthily? We must confess our sins to God and forsake them. Then we will know the joy of God's forgiveness. Which brings us to our second point in the second part of verse 13.
II. THE WISE CONFESSION OF SINS (13b).
The opposite activity of covering is confessing and forsaking our transgressions. "But he who confesses and forsakes them will find mercy."
Genuine confession stands opposed to the covering of sin (Pss. 32:3-4; 32:5). There is no way to reform a character without the confession and forsaking of sin. Both confession and forsaking are necessary. Neither can stand alone. They are chained to each other. [Confess and forsake are what the Bible means by repentance.]
Confession is to be made to the one against who sin has been committed. All sin is against God. All sin therefore is to confessed to God. Some acts of sin have also been against another person and should be made to him or her also. The circle of confession need be no larger than the circle of offense.
The confessor is to confess fully. If not, he is back to the old trick of covering the sin. We do not do this for God's benefit for He knows all. God demands complete confession for our good. It brings the divine victory over pride and self-deception and initiates our return to God (Lk. 15:17f).
True confession (or agreeing with God) opens the door for actual forsaking of sin. The more complete the confession the more completely it can be rooted out and forsaken. If confession is genuine forsaking will follow. Forsaking ("abandoning," 2:13, 17) is the best proof of genuine confession. To forsake sin is to find the power of Christ's death on the cross not only for our sin but to our sin.
Notice that once sin is confessed and forsaken, mercy (Hebrew rhm) is found. Mercy [compassion] is not receiving the due justice for our sin. This mercy is always ready on the basis of Jesus' death for sin but it is not always encountered because we cover our sin by refusing to acknowledge it as sin and renounce it. If it is hidden it still has the power to pollute or destroy. Receiving God's mercy casts sin out of the soul and opens the confessor to receive new life.
Mercy places sin under the shed blood of Christ where it is lost, forgotten, and never found again by God (Jer. 1:20). This promise of mercy should make every dying man open their life to the search light of God (Ps.139:23-24). What relief that is for the soul and release that is for the spirit.
After bearing the burden of a GUILTY CONSCIENCE for more than four decades, an elderly man decided he couldn't go on any longer without confessing his crime. When he was brought to trial, he told the judge, "After living with this thing hanging over my head for 40 long years, it got heavier and heavier until I just couldn't stand it any longer." What a clear illustration that guilt is inescapable!
The judge decided to show mercy. "Criminal charges are not warranted in this case," he said, to the hard of hearing old man who strained to catch his words.
Confession is the key to the problem of guilt. The Lord pleaded with His people through the prophet Jeremiah, trying to get them to see where they had been unfaithful. Over and over again He warned that He would judge them for denying that they had done wrong, and for refusing to come back to Him for mercy (2:35). He urged them to stop running from what they had done and to admit their sin (3:13).
What about you? Is there something in your life that you are covering up? It won't work. You can't fool God. Confess it to the Lord and experience His mercy, love, and grace. Confession is the key that opens the door to forgiveness and cleansing.
Jesus died to pay sin's debt, forgiveness to bestow;
But all who try to cover sin, His grace will never know.
In CONCLUSION
What shall we do with our sins? Renamed them? Deny them? Ignore them? Excuse them? Forget them? All our efforts to cover our sins in this way will be futile. They can only be covered by the blood of Christ. This is the only way to find mercy from the All-Seeing All-Knowing God. This is done by a full confession in contrition which brings about a forsaking of sin.
Again, who receives mercy? The one who both confesses and forsakes his sin. Who has problems? The one who covers his sin.
It is human nature to hide our sins or overlook our mistakes. Yet it is hard to learn form a mistake you don't acknowledge making. What good is a mistake if it doesn't teach you something? To learn from a error you need to admit it, analyze it, and make adjustments so that it doesn't happen again. Everybody sins, but fools cover them up and then repeat them.
