Last week in my daily Bible reading, I came across a verse that Beth Moore had mentioned in one of her Bible studies years ago. It is a verse that I have often prayed as I was confessing sin to God.
“Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” (Psalms 19:13 NLT)
Once again, I was struck by the verse when reading it in the New Living Translation. I felt the urging of the Spirit to delve a little more into the verse, so I looked up the passage in other translations. The word "deliberate" can also be translated as "willful or presumptuous." Presumptuous. That word struck me. What does it mean to be "presumptuous?" Here is what the online dictionary said:
(of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate.
Failing to observe the limits of what is appropriate. Wow. In terms of sin, I picture this is as stepping over the line time after time. The sin has control over you. The rules have been broken many times. But then I kept reading the synonyms of "presumptuous":
Syn: brazen, overconfident, arrogant, bold, audacious, forward, familiar, impertinent, insolent, impudent, cocky, cheeky, rude, impolite, uncivil...
And then the one that really got me...
SASSY.
If we substitute "sassy" for "deliberate" in our verse, this is what is says:
"Keep your servant from sassy sins!"
So what does it mean to be "sassy?" We here in the South tend to say that all the time. I looked "sassy" up in the Urban Dictionary, and many people think of sass as a good thing. It means your strong, cool, lively, cheeky - all traits we want to possess. Yet, if we go back to our verse and the meanings of "presumptuous," are those good characteristics? Do we really want to be brazen? Or arrogant? Or cocky? Especially with our dealings with God?
Many of these synonyms of "presumptuous" have to do with our attitudes. Sometimes this attitude of "I know better than God" comes into our hearts without us even knowing it. I think David the Psalmist knew that was the case because in the previous verse, he says, "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.” (Psalms 19:12 NLT) That's a good prayer to pray. "Cleanse me of anything that I don't even know that's happening, God! Keep me from sassy sins! Keep my attitude toward you in check!" Yes, we do need a certain amount of sass to survive, but let's make sure it's in the right place - and not in our relationship with God!
“Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don’t let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” (Psalms 19:13 NLT)
Once again, I was struck by the verse when reading it in the New Living Translation. I felt the urging of the Spirit to delve a little more into the verse, so I looked up the passage in other translations. The word "deliberate" can also be translated as "willful or presumptuous." Presumptuous. That word struck me. What does it mean to be "presumptuous?" Here is what the online dictionary said:
(of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate.
Failing to observe the limits of what is appropriate. Wow. In terms of sin, I picture this is as stepping over the line time after time. The sin has control over you. The rules have been broken many times. But then I kept reading the synonyms of "presumptuous":
Syn: brazen, overconfident, arrogant, bold, audacious, forward, familiar, impertinent, insolent, impudent, cocky, cheeky, rude, impolite, uncivil...
And then the one that really got me...
SASSY.
If we substitute "sassy" for "deliberate" in our verse, this is what is says:
"Keep your servant from sassy sins!"
So what does it mean to be "sassy?" We here in the South tend to say that all the time. I looked "sassy" up in the Urban Dictionary, and many people think of sass as a good thing. It means your strong, cool, lively, cheeky - all traits we want to possess. Yet, if we go back to our verse and the meanings of "presumptuous," are those good characteristics? Do we really want to be brazen? Or arrogant? Or cocky? Especially with our dealings with God?
Many of these synonyms of "presumptuous" have to do with our attitudes. Sometimes this attitude of "I know better than God" comes into our hearts without us even knowing it. I think David the Psalmist knew that was the case because in the previous verse, he says, "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.” (Psalms 19:12 NLT) That's a good prayer to pray. "Cleanse me of anything that I don't even know that's happening, God! Keep me from sassy sins! Keep my attitude toward you in check!" Yes, we do need a certain amount of sass to survive, but let's make sure it's in the right place - and not in our relationship with God!
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| A friend had posted this on Facebook last week. It was just too perfect for this post! |
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