Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Psalms 51:9
What is the actual difference between your iniquity and sin? One is the ‘weed’ and the other is the ‘root’.
Here the word ‘sin’ in Hebrew is chet meaning greatly (1), offenses (2), penalty (1), sin (22), and sins (7). This describes an act or offense that can be seen and described which is an afront to God. The word ‘iniquities’ in Hebrew in this scripture is avon meaning iniquity, guilt, and punishment for iniquity. The word avon comes from the Hebrew word avah which means moral perversity, evil, and or fault. Iniquity has to do with the character of the individual and what lies within their heart / inner soul. From the evil within the heart springs plans that manifest sin(s). So iniquity would be the ‘roots’ beginning in the heart and the sin would be the visible manifested ‘weed’. You won’t have sin without iniquity but you can have iniquity without the sin. It’s the evil root inside of you that you choose or not to act upon. Temptation usually is directed at our iniquities – and the enemies of God hope you ‘take the bait’ and act upon that temptation festering your iniquity which then will sprout the sin.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin. Proverbs 5:22
You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your Presence. Psalms 90:8
Can we hide our secrets from God? Is there any thought He doesn’t see in our minds? Is there any desire in us He doesn’t know? What can we hide from God? We deceive ourselves and not God. We listen to the lies of the enemies of God and confusion sets in. Omniscient- look up this word. (this is an attribute of God)
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand? Psalms 130:3
If the Lord was to highlight all of our iniquities at once to us – we would be undone. Because He is merciful to us – in His grace He is gentle with us and slowly reveals each iniquity as we mature and are able to deal with them, but only if we are open to His Light and His Time. His forgiveness and grace extend to those who turn to face Him in humility and repentance. His ‘surgery’ is necessary for iniquity to be removed from our souls. Can we remain on His table of surgery / refinement long enough to have those iniquities removed from us?
What secret iniquity do you have that you haven’t told anyone about and really don’t want to deal with? Have you asked the Holy Spirit to remove it from your life? Bringing it to the Light is the first step. Humility. Confession. Repentance. Forgiveness.
How courageous are you with God and the Holy Spirit? Are you willing to go before Him and ask Him to reveal and deal with your deepest-seated soul / heart iniquities? Do you really want to grow in spiritual maturity?