Lenten Midweek Reflection on Psalm 32 (March 1st)

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no guile.

 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:

my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

 I acknowledge 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.

 

For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee

in a time when thou mayest be found:

surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble;

thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:

I will guide thee with mine eye.

Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding:

whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord,

mercy shall compass him about.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous:

and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

 

It is hard sometimes to remember that repentance is a gift, because it is fundamentally a fruit of faith which St. Paul makes clear is a gift in itself born of the Word of God.  Repentance is a turning from evil to embrace the good, a confession of the truth of our shortcomings, and a trust that God will be merciful to His faithful and repentant people.  There is no true or saving faith which is not expressed in repentance for sins, just as there can be no true repentance apart from faith in the Word of God.  Faith must embrace the truth of both Law and Gospel, so that repentance finds its motivation and fulfilment in the Cross of Christ.

 

The Psalmist also points out what has been known by people for thousands of years, that refusal to believe and repent rots a person from the inside out.  Evil unaddressed in one’s life eats at one’s bones, drains the joy out of living, and leaves one feeling dry, old, and dead.  Unconfessed sin will gnaw at the mind and the soul until it brings forth all kinds of noxious fruits, from the irrationality of self-justification, to loathing of one’s self and others.  Evil in the heart is a poison leading to death, both in the flesh and the spirit, so that the suffering and delusion of sin in this world leads to an eternity of suffering in the next.  While evil often presents itself in this world cloaked in lies and half-truths about temporary pleasures, it always draws one away from God who alone is the source of life for all created things.

 

Thus the gift of repentance born of faith is a healing draught that quickens mind and body and soul.  It clears the mind of delusions and errors which deceive one into arrogant self-righteousness; it enlivens the soul by cleansing it from the filthy stains which evil so readily imparts; it heals and subdues the body to the image of Christ, that it might be a servant of His will in this world and the next.  Repentance is a gift which receives the blessings of Jesus by faith, knowing that the promises of Jesus are more sure than any darkness which may have overtaken us.  Repentance acknowledges the Law, yet clings to the Gospel.

 

If today you are weighed down by guilt and despair, hear the Word of Jesus come to you again, that you might trust Him to be true to His Word.  Lay your sins at His feet, and believe Him when He says that He forgives you, that He has done all things necessary to pay for your sin, and to keep you in His grace.  Let go of the poison which creeps through your mind, that you might open yourself fully to the Great Physician who heals not only body and not only for a day, but the whole of your person and for all eternity.  Hear Him as He calls to you, and receive the riches of His forgiveness, life, and salvation, by faith and repentance before His Word—for it is He who desires to give you the blessedness of one whose sins are forgiven, and of one whose iniquities are blotted out through His Cross.  Amen.