TODAY’S SCRIPTURE Psalm 32:1-11
One can hardly watch a television program without seeing an advertisement for one of the latest pharmaceutical products. Most of them have a list of side effects that seem to potentially be more complicated and debilitating than the actual health issue the drug is intended to treat. Some of those symptoms include body aches.
A long time ago, a man sat down with pen and parchment and began to write about a hurtful time in his life. The way he wrote seemed so clear, he was in such pain and such distress, and he did not feel like he could escape it. It did not matter––day or night, he hurt. It’s the nagging headache that won’t leave and no amount of pain pills can touch it. It’s the pain in your shoulders and back that the chiropractor cannot seem to relieve. You hurt, and you feel like your pain is so great that you’re wasting away before your time (Psalm 32:3).
What do you do? Do you go to the doctor? Perhaps, but then what? There’s nothing physically wrong, no explanation found, and all the tests, blood work, and scans show normal. What’s the problem? The answer is found in what this man first said, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away” (Psalm 32:3). Our greatest hurts and our deepest pains, both figuratively and literally, pain us in our silence. The guilt of our sins and the burden of our past is so massive, and we’ve ignored or denied it for so long, we waste away in our pain.
What are we to do? We follow the path not of a hurting many, but of a happy man (Psalm 32:1)––we confess! “I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin’” (Psalm 32:5). A steady diet of guilt and a constant practice of avoidance bring us pain. The cure is our confession to our Creator!
Today, I will…read Psalm 32 and examine what is in your life you have been hiding or covering (or at least trying to). How badly does it hurt? Open your life and your heart to break your silence and speak through your pain with a trusted soul, and together pray to your Lord and embrace His forgiveness.