2-6-2019

 Good Morning All,

              Psalm 62:8; “Trust him at all times, you people.  Pour out your hearts in his presence.  God is our refuge.”

    “Listen, do you want to know a secret?” was the opening line of a Beatles hit.  Of course, his secret was that he was in love with the girl so not that big of a deal.  But who do you confide in?  Who is that person who will keep your confidence and not share with anyone else what you tell them?  Who knows your secrets?  Who do you go to when you need to get things off your chest or off you mind?

    The origin of the court jester in the royal courts was one of being someone who the king would talk to and tell him all his innermost thoughts and fears.  The court jester was then one of the few who could speak bluntly to the king and get to keep his head.  The court jester served as a confessor to the king.  The king would confess all his thought, ideas, plans, desires, fears or whatever and the court jester would be a sounding board for the king.  It is somewhat ironic that someone who is viewed as a fool or simply an entertainer would serve this role but the court jester was one of the few people a king could trust.  The priests and bishops reported to the Pope in Rome and the other lords and ladies often had mischief and schemes afoot.  We all need some way to eliminate the frustrations and fears that we have and we need someone or somewhere to get rid of the burden.

    Our verse for this morning speaks to us of how God is to be our confessor.  Pour your hearts out before him; what an amazing phrase and an incredible promise yet we rarely use it.  We try to hide things from God.  I don’t know why we do that but we do.  We all have something, some sin; that we just refuse to let go of that we refuse to confess and yet God knows all our secrets.  When you and I confess our sins, or admit our fears, or acknowledge our weaknesses to God; we are not telling him anything new; God already knows.  Yet by confessing our sins and our other shortcomings we benefit.  You see as long as we hang onto those sins and those fears, the devil and our old sinful nature has stuff to throw at us stuff to make us feel ashamed and unworthy of God’s gifts.  As long as we think we are hiding that sin from God we have a 100 pound weight on our back and we just keep walking getting bogged down by the weight of our sin.  And remember this is a sin which God has already forgiven we just don’t want to let go so the devil just keeps picking at it like a scab from a cut, the devil just keeps picking and inflaming it and causing us pain.

   God tells us over and over,” it doesn’t have to be that way”.  Confess your sins, or as the Psalmist wrote ‘pour out your heart’ and God will give you refuge.  God sent his one and only Son to die a horrific death because he loves you; how much more proof do we need?  Pour out your heart; your sins and fears alike and let God deal with them.

 Gracious Father, we are slow to turn to you at all times and we miss so many of your tender mercies because of it.  Give us the wisdom to trust in You at all times that we may live the life that you desire for us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,        

Pastor Bret