Psalm 19:12-14
Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from wilful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. (NIV)

What is your response to God’s word and His voice as it speaks to your heart?

That’s exactly what we find here in this final portion of Psalm 19. Here we see David’s response to God. God has been doing the talking thus far. God has been speaking to David through the stars, through the night sky, and the blazing heat of the sun—the first witness. He has spoken to him through the Word of God—His written revelation—the second witness. Now as this Psalm draws to a close, we hear David responding back to God.

In actuality, David is responding to the third witness. His heart is bearing witness to the reality of God. His conscience is convicting him of his sin and of the righteousness of God. We all have this third witness within us—a witness that will not be silenced, though we may try to drown out this inner voice of the Spirit.

This dialogue between God and man is one of the unique features of the Psalms. The Psalms are not simply the statements of a man in prayer, or even the words of a man caught up in praise and worship of his Creator. God speaks back, or as we see here in this Psalm, God initiates the conversation. We are eaves dropping on a conversation between a human being—someone just like us, caught up in the same travails and passions—and the transcendent, eternal God of the universe.

What a conversation! What communion we find here! This isn’t God pronouncing His dictates from heaven, though He has every right to do so. This is God whispering in the ear of an individual who is struggling to know and understand God’s will. And if God can speak to David in this manner, then there is hope for us. God can speak to us too. Surely this is why the Psalms have resonated with humankind throughout the ages. 

If along with David, we have heard the voices of the first and second witness, then there is only one appropriate response. It is the response recorded here in Holy Scriptures. If we see and grasp the awesome power and majesty of God, if through His word we have glimpsed His holiness, then we are brought low. We are humbled before him. Our greatest achievements are nothing. Our pride dissolves. Our weakness, our smallness is self-evident in the presence of the LORD of heaven and earth. We are exposed; our sin is exposed before this holy, magnificent God. 

Hear David’s response, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

We all stand naked of soul before our Creator. The all-seeing One knows us. He knows us intimately. There are no secrets in His all-encompassing dominion. He sees all. He knows all. We can hide nothing from Him.

But hiding is the human heart’s first response. Adam and Eve did it first. They hid from their Creator immediately after their initial sin. In fact, hiding is what our Adamic nature does best. Since our first parents fall, we have had thousands of years to perfect the art of hiding. And it truly is an art. We have all seen and heard a young child’s amateur attempts at a lie. And lies are simply a verbal attempted at hiding the truth. As we mature, we become ever more sophisticated at hiding the truth. We excuse our faults and quickly sweep them under the carpet, and for many of us the thickest and most luxurious carpets are religious carpets. They are great for hiding a multitude of sins.

One of my earliest childhood memories is an attempt to hide from my mother. I hid behind the living room drapes. They were made of thick, heavy material. I could not see her through them, so I reasoned that I must be safe. My feet were left exposed, and the form of my body was obvious as I pressed my back against the wall. It’s not hard to guess the outcome of this bit of childish foolery.

 All of us have tried to play peek-a-boo with God. Our faulty reasoning goes something like this. If I hide from Him, and I can’t see Him—if I completely ignore Him —He must not be there. I cannot see Him; He cannot see me. He will pass by without noticing me.

But a barefaced encounter with the Almighty exposes all. We have come to the Light. Nothing is hidden or can be hidden. We can’t play peek-a-boo with God.

David has been found by God. He has been found naked, just as our first parents were found naked in the Garden. Ah, but that’s not what the Adam and Eve story says. The Bible says, “they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Genesis 3:7).

They were not naked. No, Eve and Adam had managed to pull a curtain over themselves as they hid in God’s living room. But their feet were exposed, even as their butts were pressed against the proverbial wall.

The truth is they were naked of soul before the all-seeing God. We are always naked of soul before Him, no matter what outer garb we put on.

Hence, David’s first response to God is so appropriate, “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.”

With these words, David is giving voice, to his inner voice, his conscience. The third witness is testifying to the reality of God—a God before whom, we must all give account. The God, who speaks externally through creation, and his holy written word, also speaks from within the human heart. His voice is prompting David to respond.

David is confessing that before the all-seeing One, he is naked. Not only is he fully exposed, but he is incapable of fully discerning his own sin. He cannot see himself in his entirety. Only God can see him completely.

We should note our inability to fully see ourselves is true on every level. All too often, we are blind to the consequences of our actions, blind to our character faults, blind to the annoying quirks that drive others from us. We cannot stand outside of ourselves and see ourselves fully or accurately. This is as true on the physical level as it is on the spiritual level.

Think on the following statement for a moment: You have never seen your own face. It’s true. A photograph of your face is an image of your face caught in time, but it is only an image. It is not your face. The image of your face in a mirror is just that. It is an image; it is not your face. The truth is you have never seen your own face. Only others can see your full physical form.

Only God can see you in your entirety, spirit, soul and body. He sees you from the outside and from the inside, from your beginning to your end.

 In this Psalm, David finds himself face to face with this all-seeing, all-knowing God. In humility he pleads, “Forgive my hidden faults.”

If we perceive God correctly, and if we assess ourselves accurately and honestly, then we quickly realize our greatest need. Our greatest need is for forgiveness. This is the bedrock on which any human relationship with God is built.

Next, because David longs to live in relationship with this amazing God, he cries out for holiness, “Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:13).

 We should note here that there are degrees of sin. For example, John the disciple, writes in his first letter, “There is a sin that leads to death” (1 John 5:16). John then goes on to state that, “All wrongdoing is sin, and there is a sin that does not lead to death (1 John 5:16).

But perhaps nowhere in all of the scriptures are the degrees of sin more clearly delineated than here in this passage. David begins by asking, “Who can discern his errors?”

There is no intent in errors. We all make mistakes. In this great exam called life, errors will occur. Even the most spiritually studious fall short of perfection. To sin is to miss the mark, and all, even the saintliest, will from time to time miss God’s mark of perfection.

David asks God to forgive hidden sins. We all possess an ample supply of these. Some sins are hidden from others. We may confess these sins to God, but to others they remain a secret that we take with us to our graves.

Yet other sins are hidden from us. We fail to see our own faults, which may be glaringly obvious to others. A truly good friend will not only forgive our faults, but in time he will help us to see and overcome these hidden sins.

Now as David prays, he asks, “Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me.”

Here we have transitioned from errors, which are unintentional sins, to the realm of wilful sins. This is a conscious decision to do wrong, to disobey God and His laws or requirements. This is a very slippery slope. Notice how wilful sin can turn into a controlling monster. We begin by wilfully choosing to disobey, but when this sin has taken root and is allowed to grow, something changes. It grows into a monstrosity. What we freely chose, now chooses us. We become its slave. It rules over us. Our will is overpowered. Any addict can testify to the ravenous power of this sin monster. Every wilful sin has an addictive power associated with it. That’s why David wants to avoid this trap. He prays, “Keep your servant also from wilful sins.”

David longs to be “blameless, innocent of great transgression.”

What is great transgression? It could be argued that it is sin that leads to death. James, the brother of our LORD writes, “We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. And when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead” (James 1:14-15).

But within David beats a different heart. He longs for holiness. His desire is for a blameless life—a life lived in relationship with God. It’s as though David is saying to God, “Those evening walks you took with Adam in the Garden, can we go for one of those LORD?”

Hear his prayer, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

With these words David has identified the source of sin and the cornerstone of any hope for holiness, as we live out our lives on this earth. The source point is the human heart. If our hearts are right before God, there is hope. If our hearts are fixed on our Rock and our Redeemer, we can bring pleasure to Him.

Jesus said, “The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These make a man unclean” (Matthew 15:18-20).

Jesus knew the desperately wicked state of our hearts. David knew his own heart too. He knew it needed cleansing and forgiveness. That’s why he cries out for it. He knew that our mouths speak from the overflow of the heart. The meditation of the heart must be pure if the words we speak are to bring life and encouragement.

Your words are important. There is no such thing as an idle word. In a world that constantly spews forth verbal sewer filth, God is looking for those with a pure heart. Your heavenly Father does not need a stethoscope to check the condition of your heart. He only needs to listen to the words coming out of your mouth.

Notice how David wants his words and his heart to bring pleasure to God. His prayer is that they be pleasing in His sight. O, to bring pleasure to the all-seeing One! That is his prayer. He does not wish to hide; hiding is futile. No, he longs to consciously live his life in the full and constant view of the LORD.

We have all endured annoying music, droning noises or irritating voices that grate on our nerves. But the opposite is so refreshing. Soothing music, joyful noises and happy voices invigorate us. They bring gladness into our lives.

Like David, make it your goal to bring gladness to your Rock and your Redeemer. Put a smile on your Father’s face.   

Bringing Life to the Psalms

1. Read James 2:1-12. There is no clearer biblical discourse on the power of the tongue for both good and evil. Heed the advice found there.
2. Do you have a foul mouth? Determine to clean up your conversation. When you slip up make Psalm 19:14 your prayer.
3. Is the third witness—the inner voice of God’s Spirit—speaking to you? Take time to respond to God. Use David’s prayer in this final portion of Psalm 19 as a pattern for your own response to the Holy Spirit’s prompting.
4. Take time to meditate on God’s word. Select a passage and read it repeatedly. See it; smell it; taste it. Let it become part of you. In our rushed world become a cow. Lie down, relax and chew your mental cud. Meditating on God’s word is like that.
5. Psalm 19 has a Trinitarian structure that points to the Triune God, who is the source point of all Holy Scripture. The first portion of this psalm introduces us to our heavenly Father, the LORD God of creation. The second portion extols the virtues of the Word of God. John’s Gospel introduces Jesus as the Word of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Finally, we witness the convicting power of the Holy Spirit as David cries out, “Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me” (Psalm 19:12-13). The concept of the Trinity was and is foreign to the Jewish faith, yet it is written into its foundational texts. How do you account for the remarkable presence of this coded truth?
6. Now take a minute to reread all of Psalm 19. What is God saying to you by His Spirit?

Today’s post is the third chapter from the book Psalms Alive! Connecting Heaven & Earth by David Kitz. To find out more or purchase click here.