Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount: Inner Life (6)

Pray Psalm 19.12-14.
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.

Sing Psalm 19.12-14.
(St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
Who, Lord, can know his errors? O keep sin far from me!
Let evil rule not in my soul that I may blameless be.
O let my thoughts, let all my words, before Your glorious sight
be pleasing to You, gracious Lord, acceptable and right!

Read Matthew 6.1-15; meditate on verses 14, 15.

Prepare.
1. What conditions for being forgiven does Jesus put forth?

2. What can we expect if we will not forgive others?

Meditate.
Forgiveness is a very important matter, and in these verses, Jesus does not exhaust all He will have to say about it. If I had to summarize these two verses, it would be to remind us that we are called to be like our heavenly Father, Who is holy, perfect, and – as we see here – forgiving. We demonstrate that He is our father as we forgive others the sins they commit against us.

Jesus has just instructed us to seek forgiveness for our sins from God (v. 12). Forgiveness is a two-way street, though. It’s something we receive, but it’s also something we must give. In these “follow-up” verses to His teaching on prayer, Jesus emphasizes that a disposition to forgive must be present in us, so that we forgive those who sin against us as the Father forgives us.

But what is forgiveness? Forgiveness is a transaction between spiritual beings, where offences are admitted, mercy is sought, grace is extended, and love and relationships are restored. When we come to the realization of having sinned against God, we confess our sin – agreeing with His Spirit that we have transgressed – and seek the mercy of forgiveness. What we’re asking for is that God will not hold our sin against us; that He will accept our confession and regret; and that He will put our sin away from us, and remember it no more, so that our love relationship with Him can be renewed and continue. Only Jesus makes this transaction possible, because He has paid the debt our sins incurred, and He is the righteousness we need for God to receive and accept us.

When others transgress against us, and come seeking forgiveness, our duty is to do the same as God does with us, and to look to Jesus for the strength to do so. Sins forgiven must be sins forgotten – sins no longer remembered, nor held against those who have offended. This is how God the Father forgives us, and it must be how we forgive others as well.

Reflect.
1. Why is it important that we regularly confess our sins to God?

2. What does it mean to maintain a disposition to forgive the sins of others?

3. How can you know when you have truly forgiven someone who has transgressed against you?

Nothing makes us so like God as our readiness to forgive the wicked and wrongdoer. For it is God who has made “the sun to shine on the evil and on the good.” John Chrysostom (344-407), The Gospel of Matthew, Homily 19.7

Forgive my sins, O Lord, and grant me mercy and grace to help as I…

Pray Psalm 19.1-11.
Thank God for His daily reminders of grace and mercy, and for His Law, which shows us the way of holiness, righteousness, goodness, and love.

Sing Psalm 19.1-11.
Psalm 19.1-11 (St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus)
The heav’ns declare God’s glory, the skies His work proclaim!
From day to day and night by night they shout His glorious Name!
No speech, no words, no voice is heard, yet all across the earth
the lines of His all-present Word make known His holy worth.

Behold, the sun arises, a bridegroom strong and bright,
rejoicing as he runs his course from morning unto night.
From east to west across the skies his circuit he completes,
And none can hide their sinful eyes or shelter from his heat.

The Law of God is perfect, His testimony sure;
the simple man God’s wisdom learns, the soul receives its cure.
God’s Word is right, and His command is pure, and truth imparts;
He makes our eyes to understand; with joy He fills our hearts.

The fear of God is cleansing, forever shall it last.
His judgments all are true and just, by righteousness held fast.
O seek them more than gold most fine, than honey find them sweet;
be warned by every word and line; be blessed with joy complete.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).