I have been absent but I am not abandoning my quest to blog through the Psalms. My first thought was I could quickly move through the Psalms. WRONG. Each psalm represents more than just a moment, an hour, or even a day in the life of the author. Each of the psalms represents a season – perhaps lasting a few hours, days, weeks, months – of the writer’s life. So it is with me. Some of the psalms sparked quick and immediate responses. Others are requiring me to slow down, so it is going to take some time to work through this remarkable collection of prayers, songs, and acts of worship.
Psalm 32
When I was a child I had a recurring dream that our home was under attack by WW 2 vintage tanks. (Don’t psychoanalyze me…it’s my dream!). One of the memories I have of those dreams is of my desperation in seeking a hiding place, a place where I would be overlooked (I said – don’t psychoanalyze…I love my family!). I usually dreamt of hiding in some bushes just outside the window of my bedroom (which I shared with my younger brother…STOP IT – I know you are tempted to see some psychological issue regarding my relationship with my brother with whom I shared a bedroom…).
A remarkable gift is expressed in the opening lines of this psalm – God’s gift of overlooking sin, God’s gift of covering sin in a way that it disappears from His sight. This gift leads the psalmist to have the courage to openly admit their sin. We have heard that confession is good for the soul and that rings true for most of us. The real value in confession, though, is in the promise that God overlooks our sin, that He conceals our sin much like I sought to conceal myself from those fearsome tanks rumbling through my dreams.
The promise of God’s gift is a response of joy that must be expressed. Oddly enough I don’t recall how those dreams of mine resolved themselves. I must have succeeded in concealing myself so that the tanks rumbled on down the street where I lived.
I don’t dream of tanks rumbling through my neighborhood any longer. I can’t recall a dream where I have tried to conceal myself either. What I can affirm is that in Christ my sin has been concealed, hidden, and taken as far as the east is from the west by the gracious provision of my gracious God.
WINSTON COMMUNITY BAPTIST CHURCH 