Psalm 19 Sermon PART 3 — Who Can Understand His Errors

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austere liturgical/sermonal music, spoken-word preaching, European Reformed (dialectical

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[SECTION SIX — The Question That Stops All Pride]
[Cello note sustained]
[Preacher — quiet, weighty, careful]

We come now to what is, 
for many readers, 
the most demanding section of the psalm.

The third movement opens with a question.

Who can understand his errors?

Hear this question, dear brothers and sisters.
Take it in.

Who can understand his errors?

This is the question 
that follows from the second movement.
The law of the Lord, 
which is perfect, 
has illuminated the soul.
And in that illumination 
the soul looks at itself 
and asks — 
who can understand his errors?

The answer, of course, is — 
no one.

No human being 
can understand his own errors fully.
Our self-knowledge is partial.
The depth of our sin 
is hidden from our own examination.
We do not see ourselves clearly enough 
to know how far we have fallen 
or how many secret faults we are carrying.

This is one of the most important confessions 
in the entire Psalter.
And it is a confession 
that the humanist temper of our age 
cannot make.

The humanist temper believes 
that we know ourselves quite well.
That our errors are manageable.
That with sufficient honesty and effort 
we can produce a satisfactory accounting 
of who we are 
and what we have done.

The psalm refuses this confidence.
Who can understand his errors?
No one.

[SECTION SEVEN — Cleanse Thou Me from Secret Faults]
[Cello note steady]
[Preacher — measured, deliberate]

And so the psalmist prays.

Cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Mark this carefully.
The prayer is not — 
help me to identify and correct my secret faults.
The prayer is not — 
give me wisdom to root out the hidden sins of my life.
The prayer is not — 
strengthen my will so that I may overcome 
what I cannot see in myself.

The prayer is — 
cleanse thou me from secret faults.

The cleansing is asked of God.
It is not a project the psalmist undertakes himself.
He recognizes that he cannot even identify 
the faults from which he needs cleansing.
He asks God to do the cleansing 
of faults whose nature is hidden 
from his own examination.

This is the proper Christian posture, dear friends.
The Reformation recovered it.
Every generation must recover it again.
We do not save ourselves 
by careful self-examination 
followed by careful self-improvement.
We cannot save ourselves at all.
We can only be saved 
by the cleansing that God himself provides 
in Jesus Christ his Son.

[SECTION EIGHT — The Presumptuous Sins]
[Cello note slightly deeper]
[Preacher — firm, theological]

The psalmist continues.

Keep back thy servant also 
from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then shall I be upright,
and I shall be innocent 
from the great transgression.

There is the secret fault.
There is also the presumptuous sin.
The presumptuous sin is the open, willful sin — 
the sin we know about 
and choose anyway.

The psalmist asks God to keep him back 
from such sins.
Notice again — 
the agency is God's.
Keep back thy servant.
Let them not have dominion over me.

Why does the psalmist ask for this?

Because he knows 
that even when sin is openly visible to him, 
even when he sees it clearly 
and intends to avoid it, 
he cannot, by his own power, 
keep himself from it.
The presumptuous sin has dominion 
unless the Lord himself 
prevents that dominion.

This is the doctrine of human bondage 
that the Reformers recovered 
from Paul and Augustine.
We are not free 
to do what we know we ought to do.
Our wills are bound 
by sin's dominion.
We need not just guidance but liberation,
not just instruction but rescue.

And so the psalmist prays for both — 
cleansing from secret faults 
that he cannot identify, 
and restraint from presumptuous sins 
that he can identify 
but cannot avoid by his own power.

In both cases 
the agency is God's, 
not the psalmist's.
This is the Reformed reading of these verses.
This is what Paul knew.
This is what Augustine knew.
This is what Luther and Calvin knew.
This is what every honest believer 
discovers in his own life 
when he tries to live the Christian life 
on his own resources.

[end]

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[intro] [Twentieth-Century Continental Reformed Sermon] [Basel cathedral or prison acoustic] [Single sustained low cello note] [Faint stone-and-wood ambient] [Preacher — continuing, weighty pastoral] [SECTION SIX — The Question That Stops All Pride] [Cello note sustained] [Preacher — quiet, weighty, careful] We come now to what is, for many readers, the most demanding section of the psalm. The third movement opens with a question. Who can understand his errors? Hear this question, dear brothers and sisters. Take it in. Who can understand his errors? This is the question that follows from the second movement. The law of the Lord, which is perfect, has illuminated the soul. And in that illumination the soul looks at itself and asks — who can understand his errors? The answer, of course, is — no one. No human being can understand his own errors fully. Our self-knowledge is partial. The depth of our sin is hidden from our own examination. We do not see ourselves clearly enough to know how far we have fallen or how many secret faults we are carrying. This is one of the most important confessions in the entire Psalter. And it is a confession that the humanist temper of our age cannot make. The humanist temper believes that we know ourselves quite well. That our errors are manageable. That with sufficient honesty and effort we can produce a satisfactory accounting of who we are and what we have done. The psalm refuses this confidence. Who can understand his errors? No one. [SECTION SEVEN — Cleanse Thou Me from Secret Faults] [Cello note steady] [Preacher — measured, deliberate] And so the psalmist prays. Cleanse thou me from secret faults. Mark this carefully. The prayer is not — help me to identify and correct my secret faults. The prayer is not — give me wisdom to root out the hidden sins of my life. The prayer is not — strengthen my will so that I may overcome what I cannot see in myself. The prayer is — cleanse thou me from secret faults. The cleansing is asked of God. It is not a project the psalmist undertakes himself. He recognizes that he cannot even identify the faults from which he needs cleansing. He asks God to do the cleansing of faults whose nature is hidden from his own examination. This is the proper Christian posture, dear friends. The Reformation recovered it. Every generation must recover it again. We do not save ourselves by careful self-examination followed by careful self-improvement. We cannot save ourselves at all. We can only be saved by the cleansing that God himself provides in Jesus Christ his Son. [SECTION EIGHT — The Presumptuous Sins] [Cello note slightly deeper] [Preacher — firm, theological] The psalmist continues. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. There is the secret fault. There is also the presumptuous sin. The presumptuous sin is the open, willful sin — the sin we know about and choose anyway. The psalmist asks God to keep him back from such sins. Notice again — the agency is God's. Keep back thy servant. Let them not have dominion over me. Why does the psalmist ask for this? Because he knows that even when sin is openly visible to him, even when he sees it clearly and intends to avoid it, he cannot, by his own power, keep himself from it. The presumptuous sin has dominion unless the Lord himself prevents that dominion. This is the doctrine of human bondage that the Reformers recovered from Paul and Augustine. We are not free to do what we know we ought to do. Our wills are bound by sin's dominion. We need not just guidance but liberation, not just instruction but rescue. And so the psalmist prays for both — cleansing from secret faults that he cannot identify, and restraint from presumptuous sins that he can identify but cannot avoid by his own power. In both cases the agency is God's, not the psalmist's. This is the Reformed reading of these verses. This is what Paul knew. This is what Augustine knew. This is what Luther and Calvin knew. This is what every honest believer discovers in his own life when he tries to live the Christian life on his own resources. [end]

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