Presumptuous Sins
Psalm 19:12-14
12 Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
13 Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.
What are presumptuous sins? Presumption is a behaviour perceived as
arrogant, disrespectful, failing to observe and transgressing the
limits of what is permitted or appropriate. Basically, it is taking
for granted, and accessing unauthorized power to do whatever that is
totally inappropriate and not permissible.
A person who has presumptuous sins will often boast, “I’m going to
do this. Nothing is going to stop me. I know God says this is wrong
and harmful. But I don’t care what God thinks or says. I’m going to
do it anyway. I know God loves me, He will forgive me and I will not be punished for
this.”
The psalmist who composed Psalm 19 was King David. He knew what he
was writing and addressing. And the godly king had committed
presumptuous sins. He knew God's commandments about not committing
adultery or murder. But he still went ahead to do them. He went
beyond the limitations allowed by the laws of God. He had adultery
with Bathsheba. When she became pregnant, David murdered Uriah, her
husband, to cover up his sins. And God punished David
severely for these sins!
Presumptuous sins are committed with the full knowledge that they
are against the Word of God! They are premeditated, intentional and
deliberate. Before committing these sins, there is a grace period to
ponder about them. But many people still choose wrongly, and
deliberately go ahead to do them. By suppressing their own conscience
and the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, they just want to
satisfy their own cravings and lusts for those dark moments in time! In doing so, they commit
presumptuous sins.
Presumptuous sins are committed wilfully with a stubborn and
determined intention to do as one craves for, regardless of the
undesirable
consequences. And much harm is deliberately done to someone else.
Basically, it originates from a self-centred and arrogant
personality who is totally insensitive to God and others. The whole
world seems to revolve only around these arrogant and insensitive
people. And everything is about them, and for them!
Presumptuous sins are committed in total contradiction to what the
person truly believes. One may know the Truth that some doings are
against the Word of God. He may speak out strongly against them.
He may even advise or counsel others not to do them. But when
tempted, he will go against his own beliefs and convictions, and
commit those sins. Very often, presumptuous sins harm
not only
others, they will also cause destruction to the person who commits
them!
The nature of the human heart is both unfathomable and deceitful.
Unless we realize how vulnerable we are prone to sin against God, we
can become proud and arrogant, letting
presumptuous sins to have dominion over us!
King David knew that he had sinned against God, and grieved His
heart! He knew that he had secret faults. He knew that there were
some sins lurking and hiding in some dark corners of his heart. He prayed that
God would keep him from committing presumptuous sins, and help him
to stop doing them. He desired to be blameless and innocent of such great transgressions. He prayed that all of his spoken
words and unspoken thoughts would be pleasing and acceptable to the Lord!
We too must know our own hearts that we have weaknesses and hidden
faults. We can become powerless against
our own flesh. Thus we must humbly pray to God for His Holy Spirit to
lead and guide us, to strengthen our inner being and empower us to
do what is pleasing in His sight! We must be sensitive to God and
others so that we will neither despise God and His commandments nor bring reproach to His name!
Written on: 11 January 2020