You Forgave

When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah   
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah  

Psalm 32: 3-5  

David was a notable sinner. In his lifetime he broke the law of God in various rather spectacular ways. God records those in his biography, thus presenting him to us, ‘warts and all.’ David was also a notable repenter. He had a heart for God. He failed often and repented often. He endured the hard experience of continuing in sin long enough to be thoroughly miserable. Our text reflects that miserable condition. As long as he continued in sin, his ‘vitality was turned into the drought of summer.’ We know this condition firsthand. Continuation in the practice of evil, or attempting to ignore the fact that we have done evil is soul-desiccating. It produces its own special brand of misery in a believer. The only remedy is confession. The only relief is forgiveness. David confessed and God forgave his sin. We may sin as spectacularly as he did. Certainly we have the potential. When we do sin, we will experience the misery that denial of or continuation of sin brings. What will reverse that misery? John has the answer. ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ In that same passage, John specifies that it is ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son (that) cleanses us from all sin.’ Herein lies forgiveness. Herein lies the path to the rejoicing of the soul that forgiveness brings. There is a way back for us through Christ.   

Our Kind and Forgiving God, 
we rejoice that You are acquainted with all our ways. 
We praise You that You stand ready to forgive 
our many offenses. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning