Psalm 90:8-9

Psalm 90:8-9

It ends with a moan is no sin that is not known to God. Christian friends of mine talk about “being with the Lord in the secret place” but for too many of us, the secret place has not been where we have met with the Lord at all! It’s the place where our greatest battles are won and lost, where the conflict with sin and temptation rages most fiercely, where desires, lusts and dark schemes pound our flimsy battlements and where Satan’s powers are at their most insidious.

Meanwhile, in the corridors of heaven, all is noted and recorded, nothing sneaks under the radar, there are no secrets with Almighty God, He sees and knows all things. Sadly, the darkness and wickedness of all men brings exclusion, the Lord cannot tolerate sin and disobedience, and no one may enter His presence stained by evil and treachery. Such is the beauty and glory of the light of His presence that we could not approach Him, even if we tried. Light and dark cannot dwell together. That is why God is angry, His wrath is not directed at us but at our sin. And so most lives end with a death rattle, a moan that symbolizes the futility of a godless life and our inability to approach Him. (Please don’t read into this that only non-believers suffer this, the death rattle is a physical phenomenon not a spiritual one!)

It is all rather terrifying, the sinful state is permanent and condemning, no human being has ever defied its grip or broken through its chains. But one man made it possible for us all to know freedom, to be washed and cleansed, to be free of our sin and made fit for God’s presence. That is the power of the cross and the voluntary offering of Christ as our substitute. How can we ever grasp how much that cost and how significant was His death? Only eternity can teach us. But, because of Him, we are no longer under God’s wrath. Because of Him, our secret sins are remembered no more. Because of Him, we will not finish our years with an eternal moan. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

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