Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. –Psalm 32:1-3
The conscience is a powerful force in our lives. Most of us know the terrible weight of carrying unresolved guilt. That weight can affect every aspect of our lives to the point that we cannot properly function until the matter is resolved. This explains why the age old truth about confession being good for the soul is still as relevant today as it ever was. When we confess our sins to God, and if need be to one another, and we then take steps to settle whatever the problem was, we are on our way to the blessed peace the Bible refers to in Psalm 32. To confess our sin to God and find forgiveness will indeed lift a great burden from us. True peace is found when we receive God’s forgiveness. Otherwise the weight remains, peace will elude us, and we remain unfulfilled.
A missionary friend of mine once told me of an incident that had taken place many years ago when he was a teenager. One night in a moment of teenage thoughtlessness, he and another boy stole a case of soft drinks from a neighbor’s back porch. He said that he knew it was wrong, but he went along with it. As the years passed, my friend grew up, was called into the ministry, and eventually went to the mission fiend in another country. However, that incident from his youth always lingered in the back of his mind. Finally, he knew he had to do something. So he wrote the neighbor a letter detailing what had happened all those years ago and asking for forgiveness. My friend even enclosed a check to cover the amount of the soft drinks that were stolen. A short time later my friend received a letter from the neighbor thanking him for his confession and assuring him that all was forgiven. Furthermore, the man returned the check my friend had sent and had enclosed another to help with the mission work.
Like David in the Psalm, when we keep silent it’s as though we waste away and groan in discomfort. Resolution comes when we settle the matter between us and God, and between those we may have wronged.
There is no better comfort for the troubled soul than seeking God’s grace, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. The Lord stands ready to offer grace – grace that is freely given through Jesus Christ.
