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Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them 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 on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.  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. Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord ’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! – Psalm 32:1-11

Yesterday I took an eddying out day, without even the energy to post.  I am approaching the end of the term and two big trips with students to Haiti and Ghana….too many balls to juggle.

But I am back on the river today with my walk on water and what an intriguing and unexpected passage…deep water to be sure. It starts off relatively straightforward with an acknowledgement that sin is heavy and weighs on our soul.  Then comes the first riffle in this passage “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.”

I had to look up the word “iniquity” to make sure I was understanding this word correctly.  Merriam-Webster defines it as “the quality of being unfair or evil”.  So the passage is saying we can confess our sins to God and he will not cover up our evilness or unfairness.  That seems a bit counter intuitive.  The more I chew on it the more it does make sense though.  The next line is “And you forgave the guilt of my sin”.

So God does not remove our evil tendencies, we all still want to behave like rebellious sheep and we are all still all flawed followers.  What God does promise is that he will forgive the guilt of our sin.  So although we may still mess up we need not feel guilty about it.

Then comes another bit of funny water “let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found”.  This makes it sound like our choice to follow God and accept His forgiveness has an expiration date after which we may find it difficult to find God.  That is a sobering thought.  The mighty waters will rise and God voice will rise above them.  We can choose whether to hear his voice above the mighty waters of this world or we can choose to be free of God.

The last part of the passage is God instructing the listener how to we can navigate this complex relationship with Him…this pretty much boils down to don’t be stubborn like a mule, trust God, rejoice, and sing.

Prayer: God Help us to endure our evil nature, accept Your forgiveness, and rejoice in Your Love.