Apparently the sleep of the good and honest man is sweet and the dishonest troubled. I think this is generally true, though it is also true that for some they do not sleep as well as they get older, even though they have no great sinful deed weighing them down. It is also true that an unconfessed wrong deed committed is more likely ‘bug’ the mind in times of wakefulness.
It was not wrong doing that kept Job awake; instead, Job had been verbally chastised as being a great sinner by his self-righteous friends, because as they saw it, there could be no other reason for the deep afflictions and disasters that had suddenly happened to him in succession. Job 31: 2 – 6 “For what is the allotment of God from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on High? Is it not destruction for the wicked, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood, or if my foot has hastened to deceit, let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity.” Job knew he had not committed the heinous crimes attributed to him by his friends, and that he had confessed his sins before God and been forgiven; and God then does not keep record of confessed sins.
In the scriptures it has been made very clear, that all people on earth have sinned and stand in need of the forgiveness of their Saviour. Some people compare themselves against the record of others, and say ‘I am a good person’, never thinking of how God counts the so called little transgressions, or ‘white lies’. God’s word also tell us that all sins, whether socially accepted or not, or seen as small or large always separate us from God. When we acknowledge this, God will give us repentance, and has promised His forgiveness then also. 1 John 1: 8, 9 “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.”
God’s chosen, anointed King David, had walked closely with God in heart and right doing, but now after having committed adultery and murder, had no weight on his conscience until God sent him a message through Nathan the prophet; then David saw his great sin, and greatly repented and in contrition prayed to God, assured of a hearing; as any of us can also do. Psalm 51: 1-3 “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.” Once forgiven, only God could change his sinful heart and restore a right relationship between them. Verse 10, 11 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” The Holy Spirit is with us, but cannot dwell in us when we have a sinful heart. O the weight that goes from our spirit and the joy that comes, when we have confessed all sin, believe we are forgiven, as we are assured we will be! V 12 “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”
Over and over in the scriptures, people give testament of how they have found God merciful and ready to forgive them, and the joy and happiness that came to them then and thereafter when they kept God in their heart and walked in His way. Lamentations 3: 22- 26 “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I hope in Him!’ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
Thank You dear merciful, loving Almighty God, that the unmindful sins of the day, or any other wrong doing, need keep me from being Your forgiven child. I pray that I or no other will delay to confess their sins, thinking the sin/s to grievous and heavy to be forgiven; for You have shown in the past and assure us still, that the true repentant will always be forgiven and restored to their God and right doing. Amen and amen.