He that conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.   Proverbs 28:13  NASB

Conceals – This Hebrew word is kasa.  It is used in poetic contrast with the word for “forgive” (nasa’).  The root meaning of the word is “to cover.”  It is used to describe a covering on the ground, frogs covering the land and covering the body.  Here the meaning is “to hide.”  The remarkable fact here is not the word itself, but the declaration by God that our attempts to hide our sins will cause us to fail.  In the Hebrew view of life, sin is not an act separated from its consequence and punishment.  Sin is an umbrella concept that includes the deed and the judgment.  No sin ever goes unpunished, even the ones “nobody” knows about.  Why?  Because sin has its own judgment built into it.

Over the centuries our view of the legal system has allowed us to draw a dividing line between the sinful act and the consequence of sin.  It is the same dividing line we draw between a crime and the punishment for that crime.  This leads to incredible moral confusion where actions that are clearly reprehensible go unpunished and consequences do not flow from evil actions.  But this does not happen in God’s world.  God’s idea of justice is not based in our idea of the rule of law.  We are Greeks in that regard.  God is Hebrew.  Efforts to conceal our disobedience will bring downfall.  God’s ethical and moral structure is written into the fabric of life.

How many times have we seen cultural heroes attempt to avoid consequences by hiding their actions?  How many times have we witnessed the exposure of corporate giants, celebrities and politicians caught in webs of deceit?   God reminds us that no one is given partiality when it comes to His rules.  We are all the same.  Furthermore, none of us can assert “executive privilege” when it comes to covering up sin.  We might think that we are the rulers of our own lives.  We might believe that we have the right to conceal what we wish.  But that never applies to sin.  That doesn’t mean we should stand on the street corner and reveal our faults to the world.  It means that we must live as if all those faults were visible.  Any hint of superiority is immediately erased.  Any arrogance gone.  Humility is what’s left – and an enormous sense of gratitude that God spared us the shame of actually revealing all we have done.

For years my life was filled with secrets.  Always those secrets resulted in harm to me and to others.  Twelve Step people know that secrets have power over your life.  Only exposure kills the grip of destruction.  We become free when we let go of our efforts to hide – from ourselves, from our families, from our friends and from God.

May your secrets be revealed so that you can be free.

Topical Index:  conceal, kasa, secret, hide, executive privilege, Proverbs 28:13