Text: Psalm 32:1-5
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Devotion
“When I kept silent, my bones grew old,” that is: when I would not confess my sin, I was restless and unhappy. That’s how David was from the time he fell into sin, until Nathan came. Isn’t that the case with many people? Sometimes more clearly or sometimes more dimly they feel God’s wrath in their conscience, but they are too proud, too rash, too worldly to repent and seek mercy and so they fall into greater and greater self-security.
“I confessed my sins, and You took away my guilt.” The one follows the other. Before you lay your sin before God, asking for mercy, He forgives you. Before you have expressed it, He answers; before you say: “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” He says: “I have taken away your sin, you shall not die.” For who else but God Himself has wakened a knowledge of sin in your soul? Should He then deny you the prayer He Himself called forth? Or should the stream of grace that pours forth from God’s heaven over the whole human world in order to open hearts and draw them in, go dry for precisely those who thirst for it? Away with Satan’s lies! Away with the dream of security, in which sin is denied or defended or excused, when it says: “I am no better, I cannot do it; I am no worse than God made me, but still I’m better than many others!” But away also with the denial of grace, in which the heart says: “I still do not dare to believe that all my sin is forgiven, I can’t. I still don’t feel it, I don’t want to deceive myself with a dead faith!” Beware the devil’s cunning, lest for the sake of your feelings you make God into a liar and have Him say what He does not mean, and say what He does not say! It is always so safe to remain with the Lord’s Word. Dear troubled soul, confess your sin in all simplicity; tell the Lord what you are like and what you have done, how you feel, and what you need. Tell Him and pray for grace, but do not worry that you have not said everything; the tax collector prayed just a short prayer. When you pray like that, then truly your sin is forgiven. Then you confess your sin, Jesus receives you by His merit, and you are a saved child of God.
Closing Prayer
Help us all, merciful God, to confess our misdeeds and receive forgiveness for our sinful guilt. O it is and always will be too heavy for us. Let Your Spirit enlighten us to repentance and faith and salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hymn
Lord, now wilt Thou hear me,
Lend Thine aid to cheer me,
When I sigh and pray?
Wilt Thou come to meet me
With Thy love to greet me,
Though I’ve gone astray?
Faint and weak, I must now speak;
With my pray’r I shall draw near Thee.
Lord, now wilt Thou hear me?
Lord, Thou wilt not leave me
In Thine eyes I see Thee
Filled with ev’ry good,
To all sinners gracious
Who in faith are anxious
Soon to see our God.
Haste meanwhile, My Jesus’ smile,
In my doubt and care relieve me;
Lord, Thou wilt not leave me.
Landstad: Herre! jeg maa klage L 510:5-6 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Jesu meine Freude (ELH 263); alternate hymn: Not in anger, mighty God ELH 454