Psalm 32: 1- 11: Forgiveness of Sins and Our Readiness For It

By Beth Feeley, Children's Ministry Council Chair

Have you ever been wronged by someone? I’m guessing the answer is “yes”. Now imagine that after you have been wronged, you hand your frustrations over to God and get to a place where you can forgive the wrongdoer, only to realize that the wrongdoer does not recognize that they need to be forgiven!

Have you ever tried to forgive someone who doesn’t believe they need to be forgiven? If you have been in a situation like that, you know it simply does not work. A person who has not acknowledged their wrongdoing is not receptive to forgiveness – instead anger builds up, heels dig in and often this person becomes hardened to the very idea of you forgiving them. No true forgiveness can take place in this situation.

And I think that’s why God leaves it up to us first to confess our sin to Him and then give us forgiveness. He wants us to name it, and then, through His amazing grace, forgive us. He wants this to work. He doesn’t want us to go through the motions; He wants us to truly desire His forgiveness and this only happens if we come to him with an openness about what our sin is.

One of my favorite songs by U2 is called “Grace” and I especially love the following lyrics:

“What once was hurt

What once was friction

What left a mark

No longer stings

Because Grace makes beauty

Out of ugly things”

Those ugly things called sin are too burdensome for us to bear. In the psalm David writes,

“When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long”

Sin is ugly and crippling, but when we go to God with our sin, He forgives us and even blesses us for coming to Him. That blessing is the beautiful thing that comes out of the ugly thing. But he knows His forgiveness will be meaningless unless we acknowledge our own wrongdoings.

Once we are ready to acknowledge our sins, the process is wonderfully simple: we confess and we are forgiven – there is no complicated ritual to it. But we must come to Him in honesty and with a humble heart. We then receive the other promises of this passage, those of God‘s protection and guidance and love for those who trust in Him. And best of all, we get to “Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (vs 11).

Alleluia!