A Devotional Thought from Psalms 32:1-5
Psalms 32:1-5
A Psalm of David, Maschil.
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:
my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
It was his favorite Psalm. He loved it so much that he had it written on the wall beside his bed so that he could meditate upon it. In the last part of his life Augustine of Hippo would look at his wall and ponder the words of Psalm 32. Why such love and attention to this Psalm?
Augustine said, “the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner”.
Is that true? Isn’t that a depressing thought? There are many that would say just the opposite of Augustine. They would say, “the beginning of knowledge is to know there is no such thing as sin”. After all, doesn’t that term, “sinner” and the guilt associated with it make you feel bad about yourself? Some in society would tell us to do away with words like “sin” and just do whatever makes you feel good without restraint. I have witnessed many persistently pursue joy this way. They have reached out in their attempt to catch contentment and brought back only handfuls of emptiness. The simple truth is that declaring an act not wrong does not make it right or remove internal guilt. David described the effect of the guilt of unconfessed sin. It is believed that he wrote these words in reference to that period of disobedience after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and was attempting to cover his crime.
Psalm 32:3-4
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old
through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:
my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
David understood through experience that happiness, which the word “blessed” implies, comes from being forgiven by God and having your guilt removed.
Psalm 32:1-2
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
The relief of God’s forgiveness is truly the path to joy! I can attest to the fact, there ain’t nothing like it!
In order for God to forgive and cover your sin (vs.1), you must uncover it to him.
Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid.
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
So, Augustine was correct. The beginning of knowledge really is to know oneself a sinner so that you can confess, be made clean and find the joy that only Jesus offers.
Is there anyone else that would testify to the greatness of getting the guilt gone?
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