Presumptuous Sins

In one of David’s prayers, recorded in Psalm 19:13, he says this, “Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.”

A presumptuous sin is one that is done willfully. To presume means to assume something is true in advance without any evidence to support that assumption. People presume upon God in many ways. Probably the biggest way in which we do this is to presume upon the forgiveness and grace that God promises. People sometimes knowingly and willfully sin against God counting on the fact that God has promised to forgive all sins.

According to Scripture it is true that God has promised to forgive all sins of those who come to Christ in faith and trust Him as their savior. If this is so, why is it wrong to presume upon that forgiveness?

In David’s prayer, he suggests that such sins can gain dominion over a person. The sin becomes the master. Paul, in Romans 6:15 Paul asks the question, “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” His answer in the next verse is revealing. He says, “Don’t you know that whoever you yield to in obedience, you are that one’s slave.” If we yield to those presumptuous sins, we are in effect making those sins our master.

Another reason David gives for his request is so that he will be blameless and innocent of great transgression. Blameless doesn’t mean perfect. It means that there is nothing there that will stick when people try to attach blame to him. Presumptuous sins are a great transgression against God and when they become known they give people something to blame us for. In so doing the testimony of Christ is damaged and the Gospel is diminished in peoples’ eyes.

Committing presumptuous sins on a regular basis should cause one to question his own salvation. Paul, at the beginning of Romans 6 writes, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” A few verses later he says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.” Certainly we know that Christians sin. John wrote in his first letter, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

I’ve been challenged by David’s prayer in that he was bold enough to ask God to keep him from presumptuous sins. He knew he was weak and needed the strength of God in order to stand. Are we any stronger than David whom God called a man after his own heart? As Christian men who desire to be faithful, let’s acknowledge our weaknesses and seek God’s help in avoiding this kind of sin.