Then there is hidden sin.
The cursed thing in the camp of Israel was Achan’s hidden sin. Josh. 7. Dear one, this must be dug up and cast out before spiritual peace can be known. We’re not speaking of sins of ignorance or infirmity or even of the effects of sudden temptation. Or even the imperfections which cleave to our purest thoughts and most holy actions. No, these should not bring about spiritual depression. The humble Christian, daily examining his conscience and confessing and forsaking his sins, is cleansed by the blood of Christ from all unrighteousness. But if some sinful habit is cherished, whether in secret or open, it will lay waste to the conscience and grieve the Holy Spirit. The consequence very often is spiritual depression, and rightly so. It does not mean that grace has never entered the heart. But if an allowed habit of sin has gained the upper hand in your life, peace of mind must and will be proportionally disturbed.
Temptations of Satan. This foul adversary lets nothing escape him. If he cannot destroy the soul, he will trouble it and make it as uneasy as he can. His fiery darts are aimed at our weakest part. His suggestions to the mind and the imagination are like poisonous arrows shot in the dark. He sifts us as wheat, and we tremble. And when the power of darkness combines with outward temptation and a cold heart, spiritual depression is often the consequence. Remember that Satan has no power over us, except as he is helped by our own desires and the darkness of our own hearts.
I mention, lastly, Desertion, Or The Hiding Of God's Face. Is that a real thing? This was the root of Job's trouble,
“O that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him”.
David often complains bitterly of missing God, too. He was an exile from God's house and reproached by God's enemies until, at last, tremblingly, he asked, “How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” We must also remember that our Lord, in the hour of His sufferings, never complained about His cup of sorrow. But when his heavenly Father withdrew the light from His face, He exclaimed in unspeakable anguish, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Under circumstances then of spiritual desertion, the Christian often sinks into a depression of heart which weighs heavily upon him, fills him with the most gloomy feelings, and interrupts all felt communion between him and his God.
To me continued…
Excellent.
Thank you for distinguishing between those cherished sins, which we really don’t want to be rid of, yet pine and moan over hypocritically, and those sins which are of the ‘old man’ and are fought against again and again, crying out “oh wretched man that I am…”
I’ve been the former type, I hope I’m no more.