I read this verse, and it caused me to ponder.
“Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” Psalm 19:12-13 NKJV
What is presumptuous sin, I asked?
This Psalm was most likely written by David. He asked of the Lord to “cleanse me from secret faults” and then to “keep me back from presumptuous sins.”
You, like me, have probably had questions as you read God’s word. Let me challenge you to ask the Lord to answer them! Many times I have scratched my head over something I’ve read in His word, asked the Lord to make it clear and then He does! Sometimes it can takes days, or weeks, but God’s desire is for us to gain any understanding that we lack. And let me tell you, it’s best for the answer to come from another place in His word! It’s kind of like when God says that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6, Proverbs 8:17).
Ok… so that totally happened to me!
The “presumptuous sin” mentioned in Psalm 19:13 is also called “deliberate sins” in other translations. Even after this discovery, I still wasn’t convinced that I had a good understanding. So I’m reading through an old testament story, and BAM, there it was. An example of presumptuous sin in His word.
Let me paint the picture…
Moses and the children of Israel had been led out of bondage in Egypt by the miraculous and mighty hand of God. In the days and weeks to follow, (in fact a whole year) God continually provided for them by feeding them with Mana as the multitude of people camped at Mt. Sinai (here Moses is given the law and instructions for the tabernacle). Everything they experienced after leaving Egypt was to lead them to the land that was promised by God to Abraham and his descendants, a land they would flourish in, free from slavery. They had been in slavery to the Egyptians for 400 years! You would think this sounded like heaven on earth. But no. Not to them. They grumbled against Moses and complained, multiple times. In fact, on more than one occasion we read that they wanted to return to Egypt, which seemed more promising than whatever they were up against. They lacked a whole lot of trust!
We pick up the story in Numbers 14. Twelve spies were sent on a 40 day journey to spy out the land of Canaan (the promised land). The twelve spies bring back luscious grapes, figs and pomegranates. The land was everything the Lord said it would be! But, the people already living in that land had large fortified cities that were protected. They also had strong and “large” inhabitants (giants). Ten of the twelve spies didn’t think they were strong enough to go in and take possession–and were afraid of the giants living there. Those ten spies forgot who was on their side (the God that saved them from Egypt!) So the ten spies discouraged the people in regard to the land, and the people complained against God (again!) The people had yet another excuse to grumble and desired to elect a new leader that would take them back to Egypt. It was two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, who found favor with God. They said that the land was good, and assured the people that if God wanted them to have the land, it would be theirs, and they shouldn’t fear. However, the people’s response was cold; they wanted to stone Caleb and Joshua to death.
I’m sure you’re wondering by now if I am ever going to get to my point. YES! But the story is so significant, I don’t want to leave a single detail out. Plus, it’s fun to build your suspense.
Ok, back to the desert we go…
At this point, Moses intercedes for the people in prayer. God hears Moses, and makes a decision. Because the people didn’t heed the word of the Lord, and didn’t have faith in what God promised, they weren’t going to see the land. Their children would, but not them. Except Caleb and Joshua. These two men were found faithful, when the rest of the people had no faith at all. God then destroys the ten spies who spoke evil about the land and the people mourned.
We’re almost there, so stick with me!
The next day, the people seemingly have a change of heart . They were probably devastated by the death of the spies and remorseful that they complained, so they say, “Ok, we’ll go, we’ve sinned!” They are agreeing to go into the land. But Moses tells them clearly that they are NOT to go, because the Lord their God isn’t with them, and they will be defeated by their enemies. Moses tells them twice that if they go, the Lord will NOT be with them. Moses had already heard from the Lord that they were to go by way of the wilderness and God had already decided that these people would not enter the land because of their disobedience.
You would think by this time the people would have a fear of the Lord that would prevent them from further sinning. No, again! Unfortunately, their remorse wasn’t true repentance.
Numbers 14:44 says, “but they presumed to go up to the mountaintop.” Even though Moses warned them against it, they went. They were then attacked by the Canaanites who lived there.
They presumed to go. Did you catch that? It was a deliberate and willful decision not to listen to the voice of God. They decided to go, even though they had been warned. They decided to disobey. They decided to sin. It was presumptuous sin.
“Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.” Psalm 19:13 NKJV
The Psalmist is asking God to keep him from that kind of sin. Willful… deliberate… sin. The Psalmist is asking the Lord, let it not have dominion over me.
I am reminded that sin is crouching at my door. It desires to have me. But just as God told Cain in Genesis 4:7, I must master it. I must watch and pray, as Jesus told Peter in the garden. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Be encouraged that God always gives us a way out. We need to lean into Him. We need to watch and pray. We need to arm ourselves with the armor of God, which is described in Ephesians 6, in order to take a stand against the devils schemes. God’s on our side. He is for us. He desires to clothe us in righteousness, through the blood of Jesus. He desires our obedience to His word. When we know what God requires, and we don’t do it, it’s sin. Our deliberate sin hurts us, it hurts others, and most importantly, it hurts our Lord.
