Psalm 32: the importance of confessing our sins
How important it is to confess our sins to God! There are so many blessings to be gained from it! Not only do we gain forgiveness, but we get relief. David writes here of a time when he didn’t confess: “I said not a word, but my bones wasted away from groaning all the day; day and night Your hand lay heavy upon me; my heart grew parched as stubble in summer drought.” Sin carried inside us will consume us. That heavy feeling of guilt will lay upon us. Our conscience will convict us, and we will know we did wrong. Sure, we can ignore it. We can make it go away by engaging in more sin, by drowning our conscience in alcohol, but those things can only take us so far before we end up in the dark abyss of hopelessness.
The greater message of the psalm is even more powerful. It helps us realize that we have someone to turn to, that we can have hope, that there is Someone greater than anything and anybody - our Creator - who is willing and waiting to take care of us. Have you ever been at a point where you knew you couldn’t turn to anyone, that you were completely on your own, and there was no hope of deliverance? Have you ever wondered if that’s all there is to life - a brief, shameful struggle to eke out a living, maybe acquire some wealth, only to wither away and die after working so hard? Have your mistakes ever weighed deeply on you, and you didn’t know what to do? I know I’ve felt like this, and it was horrible.
The alternative is so much more appealing! David writes: “I made my sin known to you, did not conceal my guilt. I said, ‘I shall confess my offence to Yahweh.’ And You, for your part, took away my guilt, forgave my sin.” God will take away the heavy guilt, will forgive us for our tresspasses, and welcome us back to His encompassing love! I can’t tell you how good that feels! You have to experience it for yourself!
If we confess and stay close to Him, we have so much to gain! God will be a “refuge” for us, will “guard” us in times of trouble, will “instruct” us and “teach” us, will “enfold” us in His “faithful love”. All we need do is to stop asking why, fall on our knees, and ask Him to forgive us for our sins. Confess them all to Him - He already knows them anyway - but wants to hear us acknowledge them. Ask Him for hope, and ask Him for protection. Ask Him for guidance and instruction, for peace and joy. You will receive them!
