Psalm 32.1-5
[1] Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
[2] Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.
[3] When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. [4] For day and night
your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
[5] Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
These are not the words of a sinner first coming to God for salvation; they were spoken by David who had a strong trust in the God who enabled him to fell Goliath, who kept him safe through the years when Saul was trying to kill him, who defeated the Amalekites and the Philistines, and conquered Jerusalem to be his capital city. But he wrote this psalm after he had sinned dreadfully, taking another man’s wife and then contriving to get her husband killed in battle. But his sin was found out – it usually is, even if we try to silence our guilty consciences and deny our guilt; we may succeed in pretending to others that we have done nothing wrong, we may even try to convince ourselves, but God knows, and we will have no peace in our hearts until we confess our sin to him. David learned this the hard way – there isn’t an easy way! But, wonder of wonders, when we come clean and admit our failings, God will forgive and restore to us the peace and joy of a relationship with him.
4 The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures.
John Newton
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