Mar 24 2019 - Psalm 32 – Transgressions covered

We were made in the image of God, made to reflect God's character and to live in close fellowship with him. But something within us is broken and that beautiful image has become distorted and ugly. We have sought to go our own way in life, to impose our own will on others and to insist that the world ought to be reshaped to feed our desires. But instead of this bringing joy and satisfaction, it brings only pain, a deep sickness of the soul. This is the wages of sin – it is a living death.

The psalmist speaks of this sickness of soul in verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 32. It is a heaviness of spirit that can lead to physical pain and sickness. Is there any remedy for this fatal disease?

In 2014 I was very ill. I did not know what the problem was but I did know that I had no energy. I could no longer go running and even climbing stairs proved difficult. When I went to the gym I could only exercise for a minute or two before I had to stop and my pulse, which previously had risen dramatically during exercise, now refused to rise at all. One afternoon I was told by my GP that I needed to go into hospital immediately. Initially they still did not know the cause of my problems but it was soon discovered that I had a faulty heart valve that was allowing the blood flow back the wrong way. This had also resulted in damage to the electrical pathways in the heart damaging my body's ability to adjust its pulse rate. Once an accurate diagnosis had been made a remedy could be prescribed; I was first fitted with a replacement heart valve and then with a pacemaker. A fatal condition was remedied through accurate diagnosis and appropriate action.

It's the same with the soul-sickness of sin; while we refuse to recognise that there is anything wrong with us, we close ourselves off from the possibility of remedy and allow the fatal sickness to continue its course. Much better to come to our senses and acknowledge that we are rebels against God, that we are broken and unable to mend ourselves:

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. (v.6)

Diagnosis and acknowledgement of the disease is the first step towards a cure. We need to come to God in confession and repentance. But God alone can mend and restore our broken lives. He alone can mend the broken relationship with him; he alone can remake the broken image.

How does God, the great physician, deal with our sin? He cannot overlook it or just sweep it aside any more than we can. The Psalmist speaks of the blessings of those "whose transgressions are covered" (v.1). God does not cover our sins in the sense of brushing them under the carpet; he has dealt with them finally and effectively through the saving work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came into this world to identify himself with us and take our sin and guilt upon himself. He paid the price for our sin through his atoning death upon the cross and broke the power of sin and death through his resurrection from the dead. Trusting in him our sins are forgiven and our guilt is turned to joy. By the power of his Spirit he is repairing the broken image – remaking us in his own image, the image and glory of God.  He is our "hiding place" who surrounds us "with songs of deliverance" (v.7)

Lord God, we thank you that you have made us painfully aware of our broken and sinful condition; we no longer try to hide our sins but readily confess them before you. Thank you for the Lord Jesus who bore our sin and condemnation. We thank you for the blessing of knowing that we are forgiven – that our sins are no longer counted against us. We praise you with our songs of deliverance.

Peter Misselbrook