Pslam 32

1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!

3 When I keep silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your had was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

Even thought we've been through all the beatitudes, and hear countless sermons on the glory of the gospel and how God is so merciful and good and gracious to us, its difficult to be in a state where i am joyous beyond compare. But i think focusing more on my sin and how i offend the holy, perfect, righteous God of creation every single day would lead me to be more joyous. Then i think about how often i focus on that, it isnt quite often, and i realize that focusing on it too much is not good without the realization that God has blessed us with the gift of eternal life and that we are perfect in Gods eyes because of Jesus' suffering, dying, and rising again. stop and smile :) and praise God for His plan to save us before we were even born. Here also we see guilt and a general feeling of unhappiness for David when he did not confess his sin. Confession is important, ive heard that said so many times, its nothing new, but that doesnt change the importance of it. Theres something about acknowledging your sin before God and wrestling through how to fight that behavior and then realizing that God is using that sin to sanctify us because He loves us, all of that is hard work but will cause us to reap so much more. I really like verse 9 and the illustration that David uses to warn against not having a blind faith, a faith that is not your own, a shallow understanding of what it is you really believe in. Those little bits in a horses mouth that control where the horse goes should be our own understanding of truth and God's character and nothing else. I love you guys, i realize i didnt really share that in depth yesterday because i think i was on the verge of being braindead, ill try harder next time to be more open. Shout for joy, all you (thats us!) who are upright in heart :D