_THE CONFESSION OF SIN_
"_I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me._"
--PSALM li. 1-12.
Sin that is unconfessed shuts out the energies of grace. Confession makes
the soul receptive of the bountiful waters of life. We open the door to
God as soon as we name our sin. Guilt that is penitently confessed is
already in the "consuming fire" of God's love. When I "acknowledge my sin"
I begin to enter into the knowledge of "pardon, joy, and peace." But if I
hide my sin I also hide myself from "the unsearchable riches of Christ."
"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I must then make confession of sin in my daily exercises in the presence
of the Lord. I am taking the way to recovered victory when I tell the Lord
the story of my defeat. Satan strengthens his awful chains when he can
induce me to keep silence concerning my sin. All his plans are thrown into
confusion as soon as I "pour out my soul before the Lord." When I fall let
me not add to my guilt the further sin of secrecy. Unconfessed sin breeds
in its lurking-place and multiplies its hateful offspring. The soul that
makes confession is washed through and through, and the seeds of iniquity
are driven out of my soul.