Sins Are Covered – Psalm 32

A text – Psalm 32:1-7

¹ Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
² Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³ While I kept silent, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

⁶ Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.
⁷ You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

A reflection:

This psalm of David talks about how we try to hide our sins and what happens as a result. When the writer kept silent, he was miserable – verses 3-4. It also talks about being open about our sins to God, and how God hides them away so neither of us has to look at them – verse 1: Happy (or some translations say “Blessed”) are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. When we confess our sins, when we repent of them, God covers them – puts them out of God’s sight. They aren’t “erased,” but they are no longer visible to God. Let’s consider that for a moment.

When we stop our forward motion in daily life, pause, and really talk with God, when we turn God’s way and confess the mistakes we have made, God forgives us and makes it so that God is not keeping score with our misdeeds. God cannot even see them. They are covered. Not covered as in covering a debt – paying for it – but actually covered up or hidden, as if a sheet were thrown over them.

This is good news for those of us who make mistakes, misjudgments, errors that cost something. When we turn to God in sorrow for those deeds and say we are sorry, God forgives us and covers them. This happens to me a lot. And even when I feel God’s forgiveness, sometimes I keep looking at the mistake and feel bad over and over. But Psalm 32 tells us God has covered that thing. God says to us, “Yes, you did it. But you are forgiven, and now we are neither of us going to look at it anymore.” It’s over.

How beautiful to be given permission to let it go and move on as a forgiven human being. We leave that interaction a lot more humble than before. But think of it: God does not hold our sins against us if we ask for forgiveness. They are covered. And we are blessed.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for forgiving our sins and covering them. Help us to remember that. Help us to make things right with those we have harmed, but always to know that nothing more is asked of us by God. Forgiveness is followed by God’s covering our sins.  Amen.