30 Days With the Psalmsಮಾದರಿ

Repentance, forgiveness and holiness

“For your name's sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose” (Psalm 25:11-12 ESV).

Today’s psalm mentions two elements that are of crucial importance in the relationship between the Lord and people who believe in Him.

The first is that the believer asks for God’s forgiveness. This is not something we only need to do once when we become a child of God. All too often we fall into sin again, and need to ask the Lord to “pardon our guilt”. The apostle John is very clear about both the need for repentance and the assurance that God will forgive: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9 ESV).

The second element that stands out in Psalm 25, is that believers also receive and obey God’s instructions for life. Although we remain sinful, our desire is to lead a life that pleases Him. This process of learning and trying to obey God’s will is called “sanctification”, or “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14 ESV). The Lord transforms our hearts, so we resemble Him more and more and our sinful desires disappear.

Do you recognize these two elements in your own life?