February 1, 2017: Day 32 – Psalm 32

There are some great references in this psalm.  Did you catch vs.9 which encourages us not to be like the horse or the mule, without understanding?  I know from talking with people who know (because I don’t know) that sheep tend to be one of the least responsive and, dare I say, the least intelligent animals.  Compared to a sheep, a horse is a genius.  But do you notice what animal we are often referred to in the Bible?  If the Lord is our shepherd, then who are we?  We are like the sheep who have gone astray.  I am positive that the Lord has known the intelligence of sheep and has called us in Scripture a very appropriate animal.  All you have to do is look at the book of Judges and the recurring line: “And the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”  We don’t ever learn, do we?

But on to the psalm.  This is a great psalm for lent because it does speak about the joy that we receive in knowing that our sin is forgiven.  You see the theme of the forgiveness of sin that takes us from vs.1-5 where he tells us that we have to acknowledge our sin before the Lord and He will forgive our guilt.  It is a psalm that focuses on the forgiveness that the Lord provides and ends with a reminder that our hope is found in the Lord and it is in him that we are able to rejoice.

2 thoughts on “February 1, 2017: Day 32 – Psalm 32

  1. Kathy Eisenhauer

    Please correct me if I am misguided, but I read this as saying that in most cases you cannot just say to God I have sinned and it will be forgiven. But you must “acknowledge what the sin is” to God before he will forgive it. It seems to follow the path of how can we correct what we have done if we do not know what we have done. I know that God knows what is in our heart, but God needs to know that we are repenting and want to do better.

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  2. kcooper

    Great point Kathy. I do absolutely agree that we have to call out the sin which we have committed and then we are able to move forward without regard to that sin. What I try to steer away from is thinking that our confession of our sin in any way serves as an action which necessitates that God forgive us. Let me be more clear. God does not act quid pro quo. God just acts, he has forgiven us in Jesus Christ…period. Now, if we confess our sin, our specific sin, and understand how that sin is driving us away from God, then we will absolutely be enriched in our relationship with God as a result of that confession. But, and this is tricky to think through, our forgiveness is not impingent upon our action of asking for forgiveness. Forgiveness is already given once and for all. It is a present that is given to us. But we have to choose to open it or not.

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