Forgiveness

Tom Barnard

 

“Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins.”

Psalm 19:12-13

 

“He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him

the rest of the day.”

John Bunyan

 

Bad things have a way of accumulating during the day. What was fresh and unspoiled and pure at dawn tends to collect dust as the day progresses. While morning is often a time to seek God’s guidance and grace through the day, evening is a time to assess what has happened, thank him for the good things that have come your way, and ask forgiveness for the things that have not gone all that well.

 

Seeking forgiveness is not an exercise in futility. It is a spiritual blessing. The Apostle John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1:9). With God, honest confession always results in sins forgiven. Consider these words from hymn writer Maude Battersby:

 

If I have wounded any soul today; If I have caused one foot to go astray;

If I have walked in my own willful way, Dear Lord, forgive!

 

If I have uttered idle words or vain; If I have turned aside from want or pain;

Lest I myself shall suffer through the strain, Dear Lord, forgive!

 

If I have been perverse or hard, or cold; If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,

When Thou hast given me some fort to hold, Dear Lord, forgive!

 

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee; Forgive the secret sins I do not see;

O guide me, love me and my keeper be, Dear Lord, Amen.

 

And let all God’s people say in unison, “Amen.”