Let us look closely today at verse 11 in this Psalm. The psalmist proclaims that God’s Word helps warn us, and because it helps warn us there is great reward. I think a very good analogy to share with this would be when there are severe storm or hurricane warnings. Many times our meteorologists can foresee extreme danger many days in advance. Many times there will be warning to evacuate an area, and some ignore the warning, and sadly lose their lives. It is always so sad to me to think of one losing their life simply because they thought they knew better than one that understood the severity of such a thing. So today we are looking at how our Lord has blessed us with the Word, and it is able to keep our souls from error and danger. When the Holy Spirit warns us of impending danger, or He keeps us from a dreadful mistake…I count that as a great reward don’t you?
I thank God for the many times as I have read His Word, and it has set my thinking straight, and caused me to see things as He sees them. In verse 12 the Psalmist says “…but who can discern his own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.” Many times we can be doing something wrong, and we do not even realize that it is wrong, we may NOT pick up on the fact that what we are doing could cause a great problem for ourselves or those around us. I thank God that His Word can bring discernment to our hearts, and keep us on the right track for Him. He goes on to say “Keep your servant from willful sins, may they not rule over me.” May we be reminded and admonished how dangerous it is to do something willfully that we know is wrong. Such a thing can hurt us, and lead us down the wrong path. The psalmist proclaims here that a willful sin can harm our souls, and could eventually rule us. This writer ends by saying if his sins do not rule over him then he would be blameless, innocent of great transgression.