Among his collected proverbs, Solomon teaches us a few things about the wisdom of confession.

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

First, attempts to conceal one’s sin ultimately fail because God already knows. Someone may ask how that observation comes from this verse. Here’s how. God’s fixes the truth in His universe that sin concealers cannot be a prosperers. But how does it work? Who enforces it? Assuming a successful cover-up as the verse does, how would we know whose prosperity to preclude? The principle holds because God knows. He cannot be snowed.

Second, confessing sin is the right foot forward and forsaking sin is the left foot, the necessary second step. Fools hop on confession alone. Honesty before God is good as far as it goes, but accurately describing a garden overgrown with weeds isn’t the same as pulling them out. Devoting time to confess sin should help us avoid the plastic smiles of hypocrites. But we also forsake sin rather than wallow in honest immorality.

Finally, the aim of confessing and forsaking is obtaining mercy. Confession doesn’t earn points with God; by itself, confession doesn’t make us presentable. We always need His mercy. In confession, we acknowledge our disobedience and our dependence on His grace. He gives grace to the needy, not to those who try to conceal their need by concealing their transgression. That’s why coming clean before God is wise.