Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man whose
sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long. For day
and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of
summer. Selah 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. Selah
Psalm 32:1-5
The commentary in The CEB Study Bible points out that David’s penitential prayer in Psalm 32 clarifies “that true happiness derives not from being sinless but rather from being forgiven” and “the psalmist’s problems result not from divine wrath but rather from the failure to confess sin, and perhaps from the energy expended in pretending to be perfect.” What a poignant reminder for us in the age of social media. The pressures created by hyper-competitive work or school environments are daunting, to say the least, and functioning in a culture that celebrates image above substance creates its own set of adversities. Indeed, it is exhausting—and mentally unhealthy—to maintain a deceitful image of perfection. As taxing as this deception is online, how much more so is it to struggle in a vain effort to withhold our most intimate failings and wrongdoings from God?
Creator God,
“This morning
and all mornings,
as we face the day
daunted by expectations
others place upon us,
weighed down by burdens,
unsure of outcomes,
opposed,
alone,
afraid,
remind us that you faced all this and more,
that we might loose
the chains that bind us,
rise above and beyond
the troubles of this world,
and know peace
in your embrace.”*
Amen
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