The Psalmist has been speaking first of the glory and handiwork of God as declared by the
heavens and then of that yet fuller testimony of God to man as given by His Word, the holy
Scriptures.

Having spoken in verses 7-9 of the law, testimony, statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments
of the Lord, the Psalmist continues in verse 10 by declaring, "More to be desired are they than
gold, yea, than much fine gold." Well might each of us ask ourselves, "How much do I value the
Word of God? Does it far exceed material possessions in my estimation? Or does my quest for
material gain and worldly recognition crowd out God’s Word and relegate it to a secondary place
in my life?"

The Word is further declared to be "sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb" (verse 10).
Jeremiah exclaims, "Thy words were found and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the
joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jer. 15:16). And Job says, "I have esteemed the words of His
mouth more than my necessary food" (Job 23:12). God’s Word is not always complimentary to
us; it does not cater to our egos, our pride. It is natural for us to be drawn to those who are kind
to us, who compliment us, who build us up, who agree with us. Perhaps the honey would typify
the sweetness of these natural relationships. But we are to find an even richer, deeper sweetness
in God’s Word_in that which may sometimes even rebuke us, convict us, humble us (see Prov.
27:5-7; 2 Tim. 3:16,17)_for it leads us to richer and eternal blessings. This is brought out in the
next verse:"Moreover by them is thy servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great
reward."

Who can understand his errors?" Jeremiah states the matter similarly:"The heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked:who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9). Left to our own
reasonings and judgment we are woefully deficient in understanding the true scope and extent and
nature of our sinfulness. For this reason the law was given, "For by the law is the knowledge of
sin" (Rom. 3:20), "Law entered that the offence might abound" (Rom. 5:20). Thus it is only by
searching God’s Word with open heart and mind and allowing His Word to search our hearts and
minds in return that we can understand our errors.

"Cleanse Thou me from secret faults." As we read and study God’s Word, and come to know
more fully the mind and ways of our Father, we will come to appreciate more fully the
deceitfulness of our own hearts and in how many ways and how frequently we sin and displease
our heavenly Father. This will lead us to be suspicious that there is probably much more lurking
in our hearts that needs to be uncovered and cleansed out of our lives. And so we are led to pray
with the Psalmist, "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults" as well as the prayer in Psalm 139,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." It is not true that ignorance of what is
sin has no harmful effect on us. The fact that the Levitical offerings were only available for sins
of ignorance is one confirmation of this. Thus we are responsible to have our ignorance dispelled
by prayerfully searching God’s Word to learn more of Himself and what pleases Him.

Now if we pray these prayers_"Cleanse me" and "search me"_it is hoped that we will have a
real desire for God to answer our prayers. And if we truly have this desire, then we must expect
to have our sins exposed. And such exposure may not always be in a gentle way; it depends our
consciences may be in certain areas and how difficult it is for God to get our attention. So in
addition to our sins, being exposed through reading the Word and prayer, :we may also find our
sins and inconsistencies being pointed out by our children, neighbors, spouses, brothers or sisters
in Christ, and others. If this happens, let us not become defensive_as would be our natural
reaction_but be thankful that God is answering our prayers.

"Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me; then
shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." Carelessness and laxity
with regard to having our secret faults brought to light and cleansed can easily lead progressively
to the allowance of presumptuous sins, that is, those done in the full consciousness that we are
doing wrong. The presumptuous sins, in turn, if indulged, may lead to a progressive hardening
of the conscience and ultimately to "great transgression" or revolt against God.

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord,
my strength, and my redeemer." This concluding portion of the Psalm discloses the extent to
which the writer had learned about the nature of sin. Sin is not limited to outward acts, such as
murder, theft, adultery, or idolatry. Sin is often found on our tongues (Matt. 5:22; Eph. 4:29, 5:4;
James 3:5-10) ; meditation of our hearts (Prov. 24:9; Matt. 5:28; James 3:14). Well might we join
the Psalmist in that our words, our thoughts, our meditations, our all might be acceptable in the
sight of our Lord_our Strength and our Redeemer.