Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Songs of Forgiveness
Psalms 32
“The correlation between the need
to confess our sins and forgiveness"
We
can see God’s provision of forgiveness in David’s song in Psalms 32.
You see, the beautiful thing about
this chapter is we don’t know what sin David is referring to in specific.
It could have been his sin of adultery with Bethsheba or the
sin
of murder
with Uriah.
He experienced many
of the weaknesses that we go through
now, but the sin is not the importance in this chapter. It’s God’s forgiveness.
Versus 1-2 begins
by telling us that we must have the willingness
to confess our sins, and not be in denial. We
must
have a clear understanding of what our “transgressions” are in order for us to know what is wrong and right.
Happiness comes when we agree with God.
When we don’t confess our sins, we are being deceitful in nature and not admitting
that we are sinners.
It happens very often that Christians are dishonest about their sin.
I’ve
seen it happen very often where
someone who doesn’t have a relationship with Christ is more ready to admit their sin than someone who does.
What does this reveal about us? How does this reveal our Christian identity when we sit with
closed mouths. This is the challenge my friends.
Versus 3-4 tells us that our happiness turns to heartache when we don’t confess our sins. When
David, kept his mouth shut, it was killing him inside.
He may have been silent in his confession, but that didn’t stop his in-
ner
agony. When we don’t confess, it is like holding your breath, and we are going to explode at any minute.
The
stressful nature of keeping such things inside can have a tremendous
affect on our bodies and minds.
When
we
refuse to acknowledge our sin, we will feel
God’s hand weighing down on us. A true disciple of Christ is one
who comes with
their ignorance, superstition,
and
sin to seek out learning, truth, and
forgiveness from
the
Savior. Without this discipline, we are not disciples.
Verse
5 tells us that heartache is removed when guilt is forgiven.
Yes, God wants us to have a open rela- tionship with
him even in
our
sinful nature. Many times we get frustrated because we start talking to
God about our problems or our
sins
and when we start focusing on the specifics
we get frustrated because there just a lot there
to say. God knows our struggles and our weaknesses so we need not worry
about the specifics. What we
need to do is ask God
to cleanse us to our core and
that
we need his healing
hand deep in our lives.
Versus 6-11 tells us of God’s protection through instruction and reminds us of his disciplined love.
David asks for the “godly” to pray? In what context does he mean the word “godly”?
If people
are “godly” why
do they need to pray
for forgiveness?
The word “godly”
here
is not to refer to those who are “godly” in their
behavior but rather to those who have God in their favor. The
confession of our sins is not to obtain his favor but rather as evidence of his favor. We are also reminded that time is limited and it is wrong for
us to think that
“we’ll deal with it some other time”. Confessing to God should take a priority in our lives. When we deal with the
stress of un-repented sin, we must turn to God for forgiveness. How then does God give us protection when we confess? He will save us from devastation when troubles occur.
He gives us a promise to watch over
us and to teach us how to live.
When we refuse to confess, God will humble us and break us. If we still refuse,
the only option left is judgement-“the whip for a horse, the bridle for an ass, the rod for the fool’s back (Proverbs 26:3).
Yet
we can see that
David sings this Psalm with such happiness
and content. We are called to rejoice and sing
that we have such a forgiving father!
Let
us answer this calling and be disciples to his will.
Prayer: Father, cleanse us to our core. Break us and mold us
according to your
will. Teach us how to live and how to be better disciples
of yours. Forgive our sins and make us humble.
We thank you for being a forgiving and
loving father. In
your
name we pray, Amen.
Sabu Abraham, Long Island
MTC, NY