As a preliminary to this brief article we would quote a few statements from the Apostle Paul as to indwelling sin: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man . . . O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans Ch. 7). And now let us consider a little concerning the exercise of David, the Old Testament man of God. David, in many of his psalms, has been led by the Spirit of God to place on record much of his very varied spiritual experiences. And in his recorded prayers these experiences are conspicuously revealed for the instruction, edification and encouragement of the exercised Christian. In the 19th psalm, he admires the heavens as they declare the Glory of God and indicates his deep regard for the doctrine of God. But when he comes to consider his own spiritual case and concerns at this time, he turns to prayer to the Lord, in these words “… cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back also thy servant from presumptuous sins.” This prayer with its two distinct petitions is indeed the prayer of the believer time and time again; thus they follow in the spiritual footsteps of those of the flock of God as far back as David’s day.
The secret faults of the Christian are principally to be considered as heart sins: sins of thought, of desire and of the imagination. The Christian at times is made keenly sensible of his secret faults and grieves over them as sin against his Lord. He believes that God searches the heart and that his own heart is well known to the Lord. The fear of cherishing any sin in his heart affects him seriously, in the light of what is written elsewhere: “If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” This has been a sad and a trying experience. And thus the believer’s desire is that the Lord would cleanse him from secret faults; nothing but the Lord’s cleansing will do. Therefore the believer prays for cleansing, renewed cleansing, from the guilt of his secret heart sins, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, which cleanseth us from all sin. He also prays for cleansing or deliverance from the power of secret faults, and that the Lord would do this through His Word and by the power of His Holy Spirit. The Lord in His love and mercy does afford this cleansing to His people in answer to their cries. But secret faults will arise again and again in the life of the living soul throughout their journey here, so that they are kept turning to the Lord in prayer continually.
Now presumptuous sin is open, practical and heinous sins of which the ungodly are guilty; and into which some of the godly have fallen to their great grief, the dishonour of Christ and the hurt of His cause in the World. David himself of course was a sad case of this nature. The prayer of the Lord’s people should be continually “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sin.” And indeed this will be the burden of their prayer often times. They hear the Word of truth speaking to them in these solemn terms: “Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall.” And they accept the warnings of the Word of God regarding the power and animus of the devil as the adversary that goeth about seeking whom he may devour. And some of the Lord’s people know, some more, some less, what influence the carnal and vain world can exercise, when they look back to the days of their ignorance. Being still in the world, although not of it, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, they feel and recognise their great need of being kept back from falling into some actual and grievous sin. This felt need is a blessed frame of heart and mind. It is made known in the Scriptures that God’s people “are kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” And so they require the trust of faith in the power of God’s Spirit and in the power of their Mediator’s intercession for them within the veil; that they may enjoy divine keeping and a conscience void of offence toward God and men. What a mercy for the Christian to be thus kept throughout their sojourn in this evil world!
These two petitions as coming sincerely and genuinely from one’s heart in the exercise of prayer to God, in the name of Christ, are evidently “marks of grace.” They were truly marks of grace in David’s case and they are so in the believer’s experience today. When the people of God will be brought out of this World, they will be perfectly and fully cleansed from every fault, and will be presented faultless before their Saviour with exceeding joy. And they will be kept for ever, clothed in white robes before the throne of God and of the Lamb. And all the praise will be to God and His sovereign grace.