“Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.
Moreover, keep your servant from willful sins;
do not let them rule me.
Then I will be blameless
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.”
– Psalm 19:12-13
This is a great prayer!!! It covers the two categories of sins we commit – those we intend to commit and those we don’t. We need God’s conviction, forgiveness, and cleansing for both. We must take sin very seriously – after all Christ died to deal with your sins and mine! Thankfully, in Christ we know that we are forgiven for our sins when we repent, “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).
However, though we’re forgiven and freed from the power of our sins by Christ, we’re still called to battle against them. We’re called to actively pursue the holiness of Christ Who lives in us. We must regularly inspect our hearts, souls, words, and actions and confess the sins we discover. We must swiftly confess every sin when we become aware of it and ask God’s help in making us more aware.
Our salvation doesn’t give us permission to ignore the sin in our life (intentional or unintentional), but to declare war on our sins because we’re saved from them. In Christ we’re made blameless and because we’re made blameless, we’re called to pursue a life that is blameless.
Cleanse us, O Lord!