Sapped

” Blessed is the one whose sins are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit their is no deceit.

When I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. for day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” Psalms 32:1-4

It’s a hot humid day here in the place that I live. We were supposed to have football practice from 3-5 PM at the height of 100+ degrees with heat index at 108+. We opted for 6 AM where the temp was 78; dewpoint 77, 99% humidity. The young men could drink while breathing!! The misery of the morning was enjoyed in light of what it would have been hours later.

These type of days I always think about Psalm 32. The older I get, the more heated days like this take it out of me. It takes a lot of cold to get my body temperature back down, meanwhile my strength sapped.

There is an obvious link to our Spiritual life. A link that I think many overlook by choice, folly or ignorance. “Do you not know or have you not heard” from Isaiah rings in my ears. Which one is it… Do you not know? Have you not heard? There is a link. Part of the bad feeling we get when we choose to partake in sin is the weight of God’s conviction. Todays’ thought is that it’s just Christians moralizing that makes us feel bad. Get rid of them, we’ll get rid of our bad feelings about these matters.

It’s a great blessing to not live in sin. It’s a great blessing to have it be 72 degrees, sunny with a light breeze. But when I try to act like my sin isn’t there or go to great lengths to cover it up; God, because He loves me, wants it to be confessed by us, wants it to be out in the open, wants confession, acknowledgment, contrition. It’s not so different than the things we expect of each other when someone sins against us. It’s realistic to think someone would come up with an apology so we can get our relationship back on track. That act of contrition leads us to the rest of this psalm, to the solution God is always wanting to get to…

“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 sins.”

I came in out of the heat into an airconditioned space, got a tall glass of ice water to quench my thirst, and took a shower to wash away all the sweat, grease and grime. I feel like a new person.

Today is a day to feel what that renewal physically can feel like spiritually. Then Like David at the end of his Psalm “rejoice in the Lord and be glad you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart.”

Today: physically stay inside and feel much better. Spiritually confess your sin and be one with the One who brings you life!!