Got a Bad Stain? Try God.

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

1 Praise is due to you,^{1

65:1
Or Praise waits for you in silence} O God, in Zion,
    and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hear prayer,
    to you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
    you atone for our transgressions.
4 Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
    to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
    the holiness of your temple!

5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
    O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
    being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9 You visit the earth and water it;^{2

65:9
Or and make it overflow}
    you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
    you provide their grain,
    for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
    settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
    and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
    your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
    the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
    the valleys deck themselves with grain,
    they shout and sing together for joy.

Footnotes

[1] 65:1 Or Praise waits for you in silence
[2] 65:9 Or and make it overflow

Have you ever done something so bad that you felt disqualified FOREVER from serving God? I have. By the time I became a Christian in my late 20's, I was certain that I had spoiled all of God's plans for my life. I was overwhelmed by the record of my sins and the consequences of the sins others had committed against me. But grace interrupted my rebellion, and God began redeeming my life.

No matter how dark our history is, God can redeem it. He tells us repeatedly how He longs to cleanse us from our sins. One of the first passages to speak this core truth into my heart was Isaiah 1:18: "Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow;
though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool."

God can remove any stain of rebellion. All we have to do is offer Him our dirty laundry through confession. Acknowledging our sins through confession is the step between being overwhelmed by our sins and living in forgiveness. And while it sounds like a simple thing to do, initially it's usually a hard and lengthy process. For me, it took time in the recovery ministries of Celebrate Recovery and Shelter from the Storm to deal with the overwhelming record of sin (both my own and others). God can't remove the stain of our sins until we admit it is there. As 1 John 1:9 instructs us: "But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness."

Now that the overwhelming record of past sins has been broken, it's a daily maintenance of confession and forgiveness to treat the new stains. I'm still a sinner who needs God's grace daily, and the stains are more easily removed when treated immediately. So, whether the stains of sin are old or new, God is the best stain lifter I know.

1. What "record of sins" keeps replaying in your heart and keeping you captive to shame?

2. Which Bible verses can you memorize to remind you of the cleansing you have in God?

3. Do you have any unconfessed sin? If yes, what's keeping you from confessing it?

4. What recovery or equipping ministry can help you live more fully in the grace of God?