“Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of my hidden faults.” (v.12)
Here David asks the question, Who can discern his errors? Great question. We can always see the errors of others, but our own we tend to justify.
So how does God convict us of our sins? His Holy Spirit might speak directly to our hearts, bringing to mind a sinful attitude or action we need to confess. We might feel convicted of sin by reading Scripture, hearing a sermon, being confronted, or seeing clearly through the actions of others that we ourselves have fallen short of God’s standards. These are just some of the means the Lord can use to reveal our sin to us and bring us to repentance.
In today’s reading, David fell under conviction of his sin while observing God’s creation, and reading God’s Word. So heavy was the perfect, flawless, and truthful Word of God upon his heart that the psalmist wrote, “it converts the soul” (v.7), “it rejoices the heart and enlightens the eyes” (v.8). Leading him to the realization, “the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous” (v.9) and in keeping it (the word) there is great reward” (v.11).
It’s no surprise that conviction of sin falls upon David in this psalm, because that’s what God’s Word does. It lead David to ask of God to, “acquit me of my hidden or secret faults", as he realizes his need to be cleansed. “How can a young man cleans his way? By taking heed to the Word” (Psalm 119:9).
May we have the same conviction, to look at our own lives and pray as David did, “LORD, show me my faults", and then correct them.
The Truth: “The Word have I hid in my heart, that I might sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11)
