Blessed Is the One…

In Psalm 32 we read:

Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

The Apostle Paul quotes these very verses in the book of Romans. It is also said that Saint Augustine had these words written above his bed so that upon waking, these words would be the first thing he’d read.

Sometimes we carry our mistakes, our shortcomings, our failures with us in life. We hold them inside. And they eat us alive.

The Psalm ends with these words:

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!

We all want to be in a healthy place in life, where we can experience joy. We want to feel blessed, happy, and able to rejoice.

The Psalm continues:

When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away…

Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

Friends, that is the good news. When we open up and name our sin, our brokenness to God, God hears and forgives. The assurance of our faith is that God is merciful, loving, forgiving. There can be a new start. There can be redemption. Even now.

Let us pray: God of Grace, we confess that we are not perfect. We don’t always have it all together. There are things that we’ve said, things we’ve done. God you know. You know our hearts. We want to be cleansed. We want to be made whole. Hear again the confessions of our hearts. Even as we lay them in your hands, wash over us with your grace. Give us an overwhelming sense of your peace. Now Lord, help us start over anew today. Amen.