You Can Run but You Can’t Hide

Not long ago, police in Zambia recovered stolen money that had been buried on a man’s farm. The value of the money in American dollars was about $450,000,000! How could a man living in one of the poorer regions of the world gain access to that much cash? The answer is simple: He worked for the government as labor minister. During a search at the man’s farm, authorities located two trunks crammed full of money.

They had been buried and covered over with a layer of concrete. Naturally, the man was arrested and sentenced to prison. In one way or another, people have been trying to bury their sins for a very long time. Cain tried to cover up the murder of his brother by feigning ignorance, but God already knew every detail of the crime.

Moses buried in the sand the Egyptian he had murdered. But he couldn’t hide the truth of what he had done and soon had to flee for his life. King David had Uriah killed in order to cover up his illicit relationship with the faithful soldier’s wife, but he couldn’t hide anything from God or His prophet.

These men all paid a high price for trying to cover their sins! Moses said, “Your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). So why do people think they can hide anything from the One who is all-seeing— “He who searches the hearts,” He who “knows all things”? (Romans 8:27; 1 John 3:20). That might be a hard question to answer, but one thing is for certain: Trying to hide wrongdoing instead of confessing it and turning away only makes matters worse, especially in the offender’s heart.

David describes this grueling situation in Psalm 32: “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (vv. 3, 4). It sounds like refusing to repent cost him some miserable days and sleepless nights. But once confronted with his sins, David made the right choice.

He says, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). The same forgiveness that brought such great relief to King David is available to anyone. God’s Word assures us that any person who confesses and forsakes sins will have mercy.

Additional reading: Proverbs 28:1–14

Key Bible Texts

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13 KJV)