From wanton sin especially, restrain your servant; let it not rule over me. – Psalm 19:14
Imagine that you are being held captive. Your hands are tied with ropes. You are a slave to another. You must do what the other commands. You are ruled over. This is what the Psalmist prays to God to protect him from: being ruled by serious sin.
When I look back over my life, especially before I became Catholic and began to work to root out patterns of serious sin, I definitely experienced sin as a type of master (cf Romans 6:20). It can be a type of trap, tangling you up in a web of lies, shameful behaviors, and especially self-deceit. Think about how enslaving addictions can be, ruling the lives of so many. Similarly, consider how enslaving the endless pursuit of power, wealth, and status can be. King David, who wrote many of the Psalms, was once a slave to sexual sin leading him to every-worsening guilt: voyeurism, lust, adultery, deceit, and even murder (2 Samuel 11). Thankfully, David repented and turned away from this pattern of sin, which set him free from its bondage.
The Good News in today’s Gospel reading is the remedy for serious sin. It is the answer to David’s prayer! Jesus uses hyperbole to show how to turn away from serious sin: cut it out of your life completely! Don’t play around with the things that cause you to sin. The first step in rooting out serious sin is to confront it directly. Make the decision to be free, and ask Christ to set you free from it. Then trust that Jesus will act and make a firm commitment to cooperate with Him. He said, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin…if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).
Thank you, Jesus, for setting me free from the sins of my past. Help me root out any patterns of serious sin in my life and bring them to You. Set me free from their bondage once and for all.