Confess & Repent - Psalm 38:18

For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. - Psalm 38:18

    The call of Jesus Christ to men of immoral dispositions has seldom been clearer than in recent times. From high profile movie producers and politicians to celebrity actors, news anchors, and talk show hosts the rush to judgment in the public forum has taken on the personality of a 17th Century witch hunt.
    I neither intend to add another nail in the coffins of these suspected profligate men’s careers or defend their actions. It is merely my desire to share the words of the Apostle, John - “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9.
    Reason demands that among those accusations of philandering, a number of them are true, while some may indeed lack credibility. And quite surely these individuals, both the guilty and those who are not, wish that these allegations would disappear. However, Scripture teaches us that we are all guilty of transgressions against the holiness of God, and without a heartfelt and truthful confession of wrong-doing, none of us, quite literally, have a prayer! “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” - Isaiah 59:2.
    All men and women would do well to follow the confession of David in Psalm 51, when he declares  - “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” - Psalm 51:3-4. We have the very promise of God that we will not succeed in covering or hiding our iniquities. But confession will bring us His mercy. “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” - Proverbs 28:13.
    God has given us time and room to confess our sins. He wants us all to come to repentance because we are all living in the guilty shadow of sin. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” - Luke 5:32. We must remember that it is God’s desire that we accept His forgiving call to us to repent and He is giving us all a due time and a season to do so.  “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” - 2 Peter 3:9.
    The promise of God’s forgiveness is not to be taken lightly. And while there still may be temporal consequences to our sinful actions, God’s promise of mercy and pardon is secure if we but confess and repent. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” - Isaiah 55:7.
    Confession and repentance are the keys to opening the promises of God, “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” - Acts 8:22. May we all pray for God’s forgiveness and infinite mercy, now, before the hour of our deaths.