I Kings 8:46  If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
47  Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48  And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
49  Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
50  And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
51  For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
52  That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

Romans 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We have just finished our study of the book of Exodus. God spent much time teaching Moses and the children of Israel the importance of having access to Him. He gave Moses detailed instructions regarding the construction of the tabernacle and its vessels.
Prior to this time, God tells us of His power and authority over the entire world. Before God made man, He created a perfect world. He created man and placed him in a perfect garden called the Garden of Eden. In the midst of that Garden, God placed a particular tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
People have argued that if God had not put that tree in the midst of the Garden, Adam would not have had occasion to sin and the world would have been fine. Those who want to argue that point think they are wiser than God. That is in fact what was wrong with Adam. If Adam would have believed God Whom he knew to be good in all things, he would never have entertained the lie of the devil. He accepted a lie over truth and became a sinner.
It is a waste of time to speculate on what if Adam had not sinned. The fact is he did sin and the fact is that we, all of mankind are descendants of Adam and Eve. The Bible credits Adam as the one who brought sin into this world. That is a fact that we will not change.
In the verses at the top of this devotional, we are reminded that there is not a person born into this world that does not sin. Jesus Christ was also born into this world; however, His birth was unique. He never sinned. Mary’s conception was by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was and will always be the eternal Son of God.
It is important for us to remember that no man can claim to be without sin. We see that in I John and in fact throughout the Bible. The fact is that man has a very serious problem. King Solomon understood this. Adam did not understand that after he sinned. He thought he could get out from under his problem by blaming his wife. She thought she could get out of it by blaming the serpent. God showed us right from the fall of Adam, that personal responsibility is a must, whether we like it or not.
If a person does not want to accept responsibility for his actions, he cannot be helped. The fact is that we are all born guilty before God. Before we commit a single sin, we are already sinners. King David stated:

Psalm 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

We know that the sin spoken of here is not the sin of procreation. God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply. The sin David was directed to speak of was the fact that his father and mother were both sinners and they passed on that sin nature to him.
David had tried to hide his sin with Bathsheba. He could not do that. He came to realize that God knew all about it and that he was accountable to God for sinning. David could not pay for his sin, but he suffered grief as a result of his sin.
One of the major problems facing mankind is the lack of willingness to acknowledge sin and the need for forgiveness. In our opening passage, we read of part of the prayer of king Solomon. He acknowledged the sinfulness of man, at least with his mouth. He pleaded with God to be willing to forgive those who would acknowledge their sin. Solomon was at least wise enough to know that God was not obligated to forgive sin. He knew in his mind that there needed to be a personal responsibility for sin. This came from a man whose life ended with him being deeply involved in the sin of adultery. His sin caused him great grief but not only he but the entire nation of Israel suffered greatly due to his sin.
There are some high profile people who love social media. There are videos of their lives. Those videos show the worldliness of these people. They speak of how God is using them and they are doing His will. Yet there is no acknowledgement of sin in their lives. There is no acknowledgement of the fact that the videos that show their past show their life of sin.
The danger we face today is that too many people judge their own goodness by other people, rather than by the Word of God. As we have seen in our verses today, God declares that we are all sinners. What do we do with that fact? Can we just brush it under the carpet and go on with life? Observation shows us that people often mellow out as they get older. Does that make them right in God’s sight? Does some person’s declaration that their deceased loved one was a good person, make that person right with God?
King Solomon asked God to be merciful unto His people. That prayer could be spoken against any people. A father could pray that prayer for himself and for his entire family. We need a merciful God. We need to understand that God is a righteous God. We need to understand He is a holy God Who demands holiness of His creation. We need to come before Him with humility in order to find the help that we need. Most people do not want to recognize their need, but that does not change the fact.
We will look further into this matter in the days to come. Be sure you are trusting in God for your righteousness. Mythology will not replace truth.
Pastor Bartel