Two Kinds of Sin, Two Kinds of Prayer
When we think of sin, we don't typically think about the different kinds of sins that exist.
Psalm 19 can help with that. It not only helps us understand two kinds of sin, but it helps us learn how to pray for each kind.
Who can discern his errors?
Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
(Psalm 19:12-13)
The psalmist talks about two kinds of sins, with a corresponding prayer for each of them.
Sins of Ignorance
First — and this is important — we’re not very good at spotting our own sin. “Who can discern his errors?” The implied answer: nobody. We’re often blind to our own sins. We are not good at recognizing when we make mistakes because, as Derek Kidner observes, they are so typical of us that we don't notice them.
We need God’s law to help us, but even then, we’ll be blind to some of our sins. “He best knows himself who best knows the Word, but even such an one will be in a maze of wonder as to what he does not know, rather than on the mount of congratulation as to what he does know,” observed Spurgeon. We need God’s help.
The psalmist prays, “Declare me innocent from hidden faults.” Perhaps his prayer is that God looks at his life and can’t find any hidden sins, but that seems unlikely. It’s more likely that this is a prayer for God to forgive him of the sins he commits in ignorance. As Spurgeon puts it: “O Lord, wash away in the atoning blood even those sins which my conscience has been unable to detect.”
This is the first kind of sin: sin that we don’t even know about. And this is the first kind of prayer to deal with that sin: forgive me for these sins.
Sins of Presumption
But then David covers a second category of sins: presumptuous ones. These are the sins that we commit deliberately. Sometimes our sins aren’t hidden from us. We knowingly continue our actions, regardless of relying on God's forgiveness or ignoring his judgment.
When we sin deliberately and presumptuously, we need more than a prayer for forgiveness. David prays, “Let them not have dominion over me!” We need forgiveness, but we also need to be set free from the power of willful, presumptuous sin. That kind of sin is so dangerous that we dare not take it lightly. It will kill us if we’re not careful.
We will never be sinless. Praise God for the grace that’s available in Jesus that allows us to be blameless and innocent of great transgression. As we lean into that grace, let’s be aware of the two types of sin that can trip us up, and let’s use the two kinds of prayer as we battle these sins.
