Our Undiscovered Faults by J.R. Miller How can I know all the
sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from my hidden faults. Psalm 19 verse 12 The Bible speaks
of sins of ignorance. So there are sins which we commit
of which we are not conscious. In one of the psalms there is
a prayer to be cleansed from secret or hidden faults. So we
have faults which are not seen by ourselves. Then we all have
in us many things, both good and bad, which our fellow men
cannot see, but of which we ourselves are aware. We cannot reveal ourselves
perfectly, even to our own bosom companions. With no intention
to hide anything, even desiring to live a perfectly open life,
there will yet be many things in the inner depths of our being
which our nearest friends cannot discover. No one but ourselves
know the motives which actuate us. Sometimes neighbors praise
our good deed, when we know well that the good was blurred by
a self-seeking intent. Or others may criticize something
we do, charging us with a wrong spirit, when we know in our heart
that it was true love which prompted it. We are both better and worse
than others think us to be. The best things in godly lives
do not flash their beauty before human eyes. None of us can ever
show to others all in us that is worthy. There are countless
stars in the depths of the sky which no human eye ever sees. Human lives are deeper than the
heavens in which the stars are set, and in depths even of the
most commonplace soul there are more splendors unrevealed to
human gaze than are revealed. Who is there who says all the
truth he tries to say when he attempts to speak of, or for,
his master? What singer ever gets into his
song all the music that is in his soul when he sings? What
painter ever transfers to his canvas all the loveliness of
the vision which fills his heart? What Christian ever lives out
all the loyalty to Christ, all the purity and holiness, all
the gentleness and sweetness and helpfulness, all the grace
and beauty which he longs to show in his life? Even in those
who fail and fall in defeat, and whose lives are little but
shame and sin, there are yet gleams of beauty, like the shattered
fragments of a once very noble ideal. We do not know what strivings,
what penitences, what efforts to do better. What tears of sorrow,
what hungerings after God and Heaven, there are in the heart
even of the depraved, in whom the world, even nearest friends,
see nothing beautiful. No doubt in every life there
is some good, which human eyes cannot see. But there is evil,
also, which our friends cannot detect, things no one suspects,
but of which we ourselves are painfully aware. Many a man goes
out in the morning to be loved and welcomed by his friends,
and praised and honoured by the world, yet carrying in his own
breast the memory of some deed of sin or shame committed in
secret the night before. If people only knew me, he says,
as I know myself, they would scorn me instead of trusting
me and honoring me. All of us are conscious of miserable
things hidden within us, secret evil habits wrought into life,
the play of unholy thoughts and feelings, the rising up of ugly
passions and tempers, the movements of pride, vanity, self-conceit,
envy, jealousy, doubt, which do not reveal themselves to any
other eye. There are evils in every one,
of which the person himself knows, but which others do not even
suspect. but there are also faults, unlovely
things, and sins in our hearts, of which we ourselves are unaware. There is an eye which pierces
deeper than our own into our souls. In one place Paul says,
I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified,
but he who judges me is the Lord. It is not enough to be innocent
of conscious transgression. There are sins of ignorance.
Only God sees us through and through. We must live for His
inspection and approval. We cannot see our own faults
even as our neighbors see them. The Pharisee, in his prayer,
which really was not a prayer at all, spoke much of other people's
sins, but saw none in himself. We are all much like him. We are prejudiced in our own
favor. We are very charitable and tolerant
toward our own shortcomings. We make all manner of allowance
for our own faults, and are wonderfully patient with our own infirmities. We see our good things magnified,
and our blemishes in a light which makes them seem almost
virtues. So true is this that if we were
to meet ourselves some day on the street, the self which God
sees, even the self which our neighbor sees, we probably would
not recognize it as really ourselves. Our own judgment of our life
is not unmistakable. There is a self which we do not
see. Then we cannot see into the future,
to know where the secret tendencies of our life are leading us. We
do many things which to our eyes appear innocent and harmless,
but which have in them a hidden evil we cannot see. We indulge
ourselves in many things which, to us, do not appear sinful,
but which leave on our soul a touch of blight, a soiling of purity,
of which we do not dream. We permit ourselves many little
habits in which we see no danger, but which are silently entwining
their invisible threads into a strong cable, which will one
day shall bind us hand and foot. We omit self-denials and sacrifices,
thinking there is no reason why we should make them, unaware
that we are lowering our standard of living and permitting the
subtle beginnings of self-indulgence to creep into our heart. There
is another class of hidden faults. Sin is deceitful. No doubt there
are many things in most of us, ways of living, traits of character,
qualities of disposition, which we consider, perhaps, among our
strong points, or, at least, fair and commendable things in
us, which, in God's eye, are not only flaws and blemishes,
but sins. good and evil and certain qualities
do not lie very far apart. It is quite easy for devotion
to principle to shade off into obstinacy. It is easy for self-respect,
consciousness of ability, to pass over into miserable anger,
when the truth is, he is only giving way to very bad temper. It is easy to let gentleness
become weakness and tolerance toward sinners, tolerance toward
sin. It is easy for us to become very
selfish in many phases of our conduct, while in general we
are really quite unselfish. For example, a man may be giving
his life to the good of his fellows in the larger sense, while in
his own home he is utterly regardless of the comfort and convenience
of those nearest to him. Outside the home he is polite,
thoughtful, kindly, Within the home, he cares not how much trouble
he causes, exacting and demanding attention and service, and playing
the petty tyrant, instead of the large-hearted, generous Christian. Who of us does not have secret
blemishes, lying alongside his most shining virtues? We do not
see them in ourselves. We see the faults cropping out
in our neighbor and we say, what a pity that so fine a character
is so marred. And our neighbor looks at us
and says, what a pity that with so much that is good he has so
many marring faults. Sin is deceitful. The substance
of all that has been said is, that besides the faults our neighbors
see in us, besides those our closest friends see, besides
those of which we ourselves are aware, all of us have undiscovered
errors in our life. Hidden, secret faults, of which
only God knows. If we are living truly, we want
to find every flaw or blemish there is in us, of whatever kind. He is a coward who shrinks from
the discovery of his own faults. We should be glad always to learn
of any hidden unloveliness in ourselves. Someone says, Count
yourself richer that day, in which you discover a new fault
in yourself. Not richer because it is there,
but richer because it is no longer a hidden fault. And if you have
not yet found all your faults, pray to have them revealed to
you, even if the revelation must come in a way which hurts your
pride. It is dangerous to allow any
faults, however small, to stay in our life. But hidden faults
are even more perilous than those of which we are aware. They are
concealed enemies, traitors in the camp, unrecognized, passing
for friends. No good, true, and brave man
will allow a discovered sin of fault to stay unchallenged in
his life. But undiscovered sin lurks and
nests in a man's heart, and breeds its deadly evil in his very soul. Before he is aware of its presence
it may eat out the heart of his manhood, and poison the very
springs of his being. Hidden faults, remaining undiscovered
and uncured in us, will hinder our spiritual growth, and we
shall not know the reason for our moral weakness or lack of
power. They will also defeat the working
out of the divine plan in our life. When Canove, the great
sculptor, was about to begin work upon his statue of Napoleon,
it is said that his keen eye saw a tiny red line running through
the upper part of the splendid block of marble, out of which
he was to carve the statue. The stone had been brought at
great expense from Paris for this express purpose. Common
eyes saw no flaw in it, but the sculptor saw it, and would not
use the marble. May it not be so oft-times with
lives which face great opportunities? God's eye sees in them some undiscovered
flaw or fault, some tiny line of marring color. God desires
truth in the inward parts. The life which pleases Him must
be pure and white throughout. He who clings to discovered faults,
refusing to cast them out, or he who refuses to let the candle
of the Lord search out the hidden faults in him, that he may put
them away, is marring his own destiny. God will not use him
for the larger, nobler task or trust, for which he had planned
to use him. The tiny red line, running through
the marble, caused it to be set aside and rejected. What shall
we do? God alone can know our hidden
faults. We must ask him to search our
hearts and try our ways, and to cleanse our lives of whatever
evil thing he finds in us. Our prayer should be, Who can
discern his errors, Cleanse me from hidden faults, Search me,
O God, and know my heart, Test me, and know my thoughts, Point
out anything in me that offends you, And lead me along the path
of everlasting life. Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24