One of the most important principles of marriage restoration is also one of the most difficult to practice, because it’s covering up our husbands’ nakedness. Since this is a concept not often explained or emphasized enough when we stand for marriage restoration, we need a better understanding of exactly what it is and how to do it. And the bible gives us an excellent illustration of this important and powerful principle in Genesis 9:21-27, which says:
1 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father’s nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him,
25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.”
Wow! This is a very powerful passage of scripture, because it reveals a lot to us about ourselves…if we’re really honest about it. First, almost without exception, most of us would have done exactly what Ham did when he found Noah drunk and naked in his tent. That’s just human nature, which seems harmless enough since we’re not telling a lie or trying to spread gossip. In fact, we often feel so concerned about things that we NEED to tell others so they can agree with us in prayer about it. Okay, now I’m being just a little sarcastic, but you KNOW that’s what we think and say so many times when we “share” what’s going on in our husbands’ lives with others. And when we do that, we’re uncovering his nakedness and doing harm to him by damaging his reputation and stature in the eyes of the very people we will one day expect to receive him in their midst when the Lord works to restore our marriages. And they’ll NEVER be able to forget every wicked and evil word we’ve ever spoken against them, so we need to remember that the next time we’re so tempted to “share” or uncover and expose our husbands’ sin and nakedness! And remember what Psalm 32:1 tells us, which is Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. and, in addition to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 telling us that love keeps NO record of wrong and ALWAYS protects (ouch!), 1 Peter 4:8 tells us Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

So, when we state that we love our husbands, and fail to “cover” their sin by exposing every gory detail to anyone who will listen, we’re UNCOVERING their nakedness when we should be covering it, and we’re NOT demonstrating love in accordance with what the Bible teaches. Not only does covering their nakedness mean we don’t share the details of what our husbands are doing with others (this may exclude ONE or possibly two confidants we rely on for spiritual guidance and counsel, preferably someone who does not know them)), but it also means not pointing out and reminding our husbands of their sin either. And that might be the greater challenge, because we can’t help wanting to point out their sin; telling them how much they’re hurting themselves and us, and the one thing most of the women I talk to absolutely can NOT resist is pointing out how they’re hurting their children. And they don’t see anything wrong with that! Yet, instead of doing that, we all need to be covering our husbands’ sin and nakedness with prayer and the blood of Christ, with absolute faith and confidence that the Lord will deal with it in accordance with the awesome promises we have in His word, which He promises will not return void and which WILL accomplish that for which it was sent!

Sadly, the MOST grievous failure to cover our husbands’ nakedness occurs when we allow our children to hear about everything going on in our husbands’ lives (usually by overhearing phone conversations), and not doing everything we can to protect and shield them from the adult issues they can’t possibly understand. Some women actually seem to express a sense of vindication and justification when they tell me how angry and upset their children are with their father, and all I want to do is scream! Seeds sown in children’s hearts against their dads at this time will be something they reap for the rest of their lives and it breaks my heart that hurt, bitter and angry women can’t see that, or how destructive it is. So to whatever extent humanly possible, we MUST cover our husbands’ nakedness before their children, because if we don’t, they will be the ones bearing the brunt of our failures, just as it was Ham’s son who bore his. And when we cover our husbands’ sin and nakedness and do our best to guard and protect the precious relationship our children have with their fathers, the Lord will bless us just as Noah did his other sons, Shem and Japheth, who refused to look upon his nakedness and covered it up so no one else could see it either.

The following verses demonstrate how important covering up our sin and nakedness is in the eyes of God:

Psalm 85:2
You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. Selah

Hosea 2:9
“Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready. I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her nakedness.

Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

I know this is an area of marriage restoration where every one of us can stand improvement, so let’s pray for the Lord to reveal to us where we’re failing and to show us ways to cover up our husbands’ nakedness in the future. And just think of the powerful blessing of grace and redemption our husbands will experience when they do return and find out that no one knows the true nature and extent of their sinful behavior, especially their children! And another VERY important principle at work when we’re more careful about the words we speak concerning our husbands is found in Proverbs 18:21 (AMP), which says Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. So let’s start practicing the very important marriage restoration principle of covering up our husbands’ nakedness and speaking goodness, righteousness, healing and life into their lives and ours!

Posted Tuesday, June 20th, 2006 at 3:55 pm in Seeds Of Faith.