Thursday, March 27, 2025
Psalm 32, NRSVUE
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silent, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.
Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Reflection - Deacon Allison Wilcox, Grace Lutheran Church Royersford
Who likes to admit they are wrong? Who loves to admit their own sin? Raise your hand! Sometimes - maybe a lot of times even - I don’t even like to admit my guilt to myself. Why should I ask forgiveness when I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong?
But living in that state keeps me apart from God, from others, and from myself. One of the best definitions I know for sin is separation - separation from God and from God’s beloved community.
But sin also keeps me separate from myself - my true self that God created me to be. While I keep silent, as the Psalmist says, it is like a part of me is wasting away. It disconnects me. It separates me.
And what I need to cross that barrier of separation is truth. Forgiveness sets me free when I am most able to acknowledge my need for it. In my experience, freedom comes not just from a blanket forgiveness for general sin but admitting the need for mercy for something particular. Something that weighs me down, leaves me groaning at night.
When that sin is uncovered - when I lift the cover off - then I am truly free indeed.
Prayer: Provoke me, Lord, to truth that I might not lie to myself, or to you, or to your people, about my need to cross the barrier of separation between. Amen.
Comments