Who Can Understand His Errors?

In Psalm 19:12 the Psalmist asks the question, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.” In this context he is talking about unintentional sins. We can sin unintentionally when we don’t know enough of God’s word to realize that something we are doing is sinful in the sight of God. Unfortunately, a lot of people are in this situation. Many people rely on society’s standards of what is right and what is wrong. The major problem with this is that society’s standards of right and wrong are constantly changing; what was wrong last year is right this year. We need to understand that, in the judgement, we will be judged by God’s standard and not by society’s; and God’s standard does not change. “Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:7). If we would understand our errors, we must know enough of God’s word so that we can live our lives in accordance with God’s standard of right and wrong. Unfortunately, even when we know what is right and wrong in God’s sight, we may fail to properly apply this knowledge to our own lives. People have a great talent for convincing ourselves that, yes, something may be wrong when others do it but not when I do it. In 1 Samuel 15 king Saul was told to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites (vs 3). When the prophet pointed out to Saul that he had not obeyed God (vs 14), he first claimed that he had obeyed God, then tried to blame the people, and then tried to excuse his failure by saying that it was for a good reason (vs 21). Making excuses for our wrong doing may make us feel better in the short term but, until we are ready to admit our sins to ourselves and confess them to God, they cannot be forgiven. In 1 John 1:8-9 we read, “If we say that 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.” “Who can understand his errors?” We must know enough of God’s word to know what our errors are and must have the humility to confess them to God.