Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

SECRET FAULTS

1. David was a keen observer of human nature and he constantly made personal application of what he felt was of importance to his relationship with God:
   1. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts." - Ps. 139:23
   2. Solomon took after his father in seeking out the hidden things of life, "I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things." - Eccl. 1:13
   3. David was very much afraid of secret faults, "cleanse thou me from secret faults" was one of his petitions as indicated in our opening text.
2. That, dear friends, is the way it must be with us:
   1. For none of us knows the hidden dangers as we ought to.
   2. To make sure that such hidden sin will not break into the open and destroy our relationship with God, we must have the aid of the Holy Spirit to search and uncover secret sins.

1. Secret faults: "Who can understand his error?"
   1. The word "error" is derived from the verb which means "to wander, to go astray".
   2. "All we like sheep have gone stray." - Isa. 53:6
   3. "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray like a lost sheep." - Ps. 119:176
   4. "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls." - 1 Pet. 2:25
2. What are secret faults?
   1. They are faults hidden from the public, and in many instances from our own selves.
   2. They are very hard to discover in our own lives, but are not so difficult to expose in the lives of other people - Matt. 7:1-5
   3. David knew from experience how dangerous it is to keep things in secret - Read Ps. 32:1-8

1. I can think of four possible basic reasons for secret faults:
   1. They may be hereditary, inherited. None of us knows what hereditary pre-dispositions are flowing in his veins. Peculiar appetites and sensibilities are transmitted from generation to generation. Here is an explanation of the strange behavior of some people. The taint is in the blood. Some people are veritable powder magazines of violent passions stored within them from their forgotten progenitors.
   2. A blunted conscience is another cause for our inability to recognize certain sins in our lives - 2 Cor. 4:4
   3. Self-love too often conceals from us the sins that will destroy us unless uncovered and expelled - Luke 18:11-13
   4. Sin is often hidden from us because of the restraints of society -- anger, pride, malice, selfishness, deceit, are all kept under cover because of our desire to appear more acceptable to others.

1. It is here where the prayer of David comes out in its brightest colors:
   1. Because hidden faults are deadly unless uncovered in time. Had Judas realized that his love for money made a thief out of him and led him to betray his best friend, he would have had a different ending.
   2. Had David foreseen the end results of his sin against the tenth commandment, he would have allowed the Lord to forewarn him.
2. What makes hidden faults so deadly is the fact they do their deadly work before they can be uncovered and removed:

1. We need a cleansing: Ps. 51:2
2. That is God's counsel: Isa. 1:16
3. Realize that there is nothing hidden from God: Ps. 139:1-6
4. Welcome the light that exposes our secret sins:
5. We must practice eternal vigilance.