Lord, I messed up again!

All Bible verses are from the King James Version.

“O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” – Psalm 69:6 KJV

As I was reading Psalm 69 last week, I was relating to David’s own confession with my own personal history of mess-ups in life.

It may be surprising, but God said that David was a man after His own heart. ( First Samuel 13:14) (Acts 13:22)

As we know from our Bible history, David was not a perfect man. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed in an attempt to cover his sin.

God knew that David would not be perfect when he chose him to be king. It was not David’s talent or perfection that would have connected with God’s heart. It was his earnest desire to please God. His faith in God’s mighty power was astounding, as we have learned from the story of when he slew Goliath. (First Samuel 17)

Despite David’s mess up, he made a great life choice in submitting to God.

First Kings 15:5 says, “…David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

You and I are going to mess up at times. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time letting go of my mistakes. I can beat myself up over and over again telling myself, “That was so stupid! You should have known better!”

No, God does not close His eyes to our sin. There is a law of reaping and sowing for the works that we do. (David had consequences for his sin!)

Sadly, we also miss out on numerous blessings when we do not heed the Biblical principles that God has given us.

But, you and I can be assured, that when we earnestly repent, humble ourselves before God, and make things right, we will ALWAYS receive His mercy and love.

In Psalm 69:16 David said,“Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.”

We can expect God’s goodness and mercies even during our mess-ups!

And did you know that God doesn’t forget that we are imperfect humans?

Psalm 103:14 says, “For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”

What can you do today about that mess up?

1. Confess your sin.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.“ – Proverbs 28:13

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – First John 1:9

2. Draw near to God.

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.“ – Psalm 34:18

“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8

3. Thank God for His forgiveness and mercies and claim the victory!

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.“ – First Corinthians 15:57

4. Get back up and go on!

“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 24:16

5. Stay in God’s Word daily.

“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” – Psalm 119:11

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” – Ephesians 6:13

I hope these words have encouraged you today. You and I are going to mess up at times. We’re going to feel foolish at times, but our God is so wonderful and merciful and good.

Let’s keep taking those baby steps forward and growing in the things of God. Let’s place our number one focus on building a closer relationship with Him. I do believe everything else will fall into the right priorities once we get our first priority right.

Keep walking in faith,

by Rhonda White, herChristianhome.com