An Ancient Italian “Blessing” (I want to be true)
Psalm 32:1-7

† I.H.S. †

May the grace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ create in you an eager repentant Spirit that rejoices in the God’s presence!

• We should be envied!

There is an old Italian “blessing”, which mommas used on their children when they are misbehaving! That “blessing” is this:

“I hope your children grow up to be …. JUST LIKE YOU!”

Oddly enough, the Psalmist would agree, but without the sarcasm.

You, according to the Psalmist, you are to be envied greatly! People should want to be just like you! Well, at least in one way!

Let me explain. Our translation reads:

^“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! ²  Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!”

In looking up the word “joy”, I discovered it means “to be envied with great desire” So we could translate this

“Greatly envied (with a desire to be like them) are those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is forgiven. Yes, how we should envy (and wanna be like) those whose record the LORD has cleared from guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty”

So you are to be greatly envied, and people should want to be just like you!

• Our stupidity!

Well, except there is a problem—at least the writer of this Psalm had one, and I think some of us might as well. He describes the problem spiritually in verse 3:

³  When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. ⁴  Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

That sounds like a bit of a problem!

I need to be clear here, not all physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering is caused by refusing to confess your sin. But there is a definite correlation between suffering from the guilt and shame sin causes and one’s well-being.

Sin can and does rip us apart.

We need relationships, and it destroys them. It can cause a type of paranoia—as we are afraid someone is going to find out. It creates all sorts of stresses, as it disconnects us from God and from those who love us and would have us live in peace. Even if we convince ourselves that our particular sin isn’t that bad, living a life based on that lie hollows it out until it collapses.

Sin drains us,

It wipes us out..

And makes our life hollow.

There is only one way to deal with this—though it is a joyful one.

• Our Joy!

Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone!

I know how much courage this takes to stop trying to hide all the guilt. But as much courage as it takes, the reward of knowing those sins are completely lifted and tossed away…

All of it – forgiven!

All the guilt—gone!

Think about that for a moment…

Not one thing should haunt you.

Not one thing should you even regret!

As much as we contemplate our sin and brokenness during Lent, it is for this purpose–to know the relief of Psalmist–the absolute joy of the weight being lifted off of us!

We really need to take the time and think through what God has done to us… what He continues to do in our lives. …

Therefore, the psalmist says people should envy us, as we live forgiven lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit! For the burdens we no longer carry, or at least that we aren’t to carry,.. so many do! This is what Jesus came to do, to free us from the sin which stops us from being with God!

So many walk around, living with guilt and shame….so many people walk around without knowing God really loves them, without experiencing that love.

• What happens next

The change is so incredible for the psalmist – that feeling the relief inwards; he turns to those around him

Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. ⁷  For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory!

This is an evangelistic spirit.

Wow, God, you did this for me! All of us need to know this – we all need to pray—we all need to experience this relief, especially before the waters rise, and judgment occurs.

The more you know God has done for you, the more you need to share it with others, to share with them how God heals and protects and hides us from trouble, the more we need to invite people into the safe place we have found.

This is Christianity at its simplest… to realize the incredible way God has called you to His side, cleaning you up along the way, as you invite others into a peace that is beyond explanation….as Jesus saves them, as the Holy Spirit takes us residence with them, as sin and satan the fear of death are tossed out like yesterday’s trash…

This is our hope, and it is the very reason people should be envious of us, why we want them to be just like us.
Amen!