Reading: Psalm 32
The confession of our sin is an essential part of our faith. It always has been the key to restoring our relationship to God and to finding renewal in our innermost being. When we fail to confess our sins, we carry around within us a weight or a shame or guilt that inhibits us from truly living life. The psalmist calls us blessed when our transgressions are forgiven. The writer contrasts this with his experience when he did not confess – his bones wasted away and he groaned day and night. We to experience similar consequences when we hold onto our sin.
Even more important than avoiding the negative consequences of holding onto our sin, which we can do, is the forgiveness and grace we experience when we do come to God with our sins. In verse five, the psalmist writes, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, you forgave the guilt of my sin”. He speaks of the guilt being forgiven and of the protection he felt after being made right again with God. The psalmist describes it as being surrounded with songs of deliverance. When we confess our sins and allow Jesus to remove the guilt and the burden, we too feel both a sense of relief and also a sense of elation at once again being in a right relationship with the Lord our God.
Today in many of our churches we will celebrate communion. It is our time to confess our sins, to repent, and to be forgiven as an individual and as a community of faith. We trust God to hear the words of our confessions and to then restore us to holy and pure. In verse ten the psalmist writes, “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts Him”. This day and each day, may we be people of confession and repentance, ever seeking to be in a right relationship with God, ever desiring to walk within God’s blessing and protection, so that we too, like the psalmist, may rejoice and be glad.
