Psalm 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

I know that I cannot be alone at how shocked I am at how quickly rationalizations and excuses come to mind when I have done wrong. At first, it seems better to cover up guilt than to be honest about about it. I know that I am not alone in this feeling!

Just in case you are not aware, Psalm 51 is written after David experiences a humbling reality check brought to him by the prophet Nathan. A succession of choices had taken King David down a path that lead him away from righteousness into the land of excuses and denial. Nathan had to speak the hard truth in love in order to bring David back to the reality of his sins.

We can read in Psalm 51 how David comes clean! In this heartfelt prayer, David reminds us that God is a compassionate and merciful God, but He is also a God that demands that we be truthful with ourselves concerning our wrongs. We are to live life without rationalizations and excuses. When we have done wrong, God demands heartfelt, open honesty about our wrongs and for us to take responsibility for what we have done. Only after this can God’s grace and mercy flow over us.

Self-deception is the worst of deceptions. Trying to convince ourselves to feel better about our sinful condition by using lame excuses is like bathing a pig in the middle of the pig pen. It means putting in a lot of hard work only to end up with a dirty pig! Your excuses may feel good for a while, but before long, you will not like who you have become. Even more serious is the realization that failing to come clean about our sin hinders the process of God’s work in our lives.

So why are we lying to ourselves? God stands ready to forgive and forget! If you are going to be honest with anyone, be honest with yourselves. In Psalm 51, David points out that being honest with ourselves opens our hearts to comprehend God’s wisdom. Confronting our wrongs always shows us that we are not nearly as smart as we thought we were.

So let’s be done with our excuses, and let’s come clean before our God! Let us approach Him with clean hands and a pure heart. By doing this, we position ourselves to gain wisdom that leads to the best life… a life guided by Him!