Psalm 32:1–7 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 kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand 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.
Sometimes a parent may refuse to speak to their child as a form of discipline. Perhaps you can remember how terrible it felt to be cut off in that way from someone so important in your life - and how it made you realize that they were very offended by something that you had done. How you longed for things to be restored to the way they were before!
But then there are those occasions when we do something that our parents have forbidden and we keep quiet about it, even though we suspect they must know what we have done.
In either of these situations, there is a rupture in the communications that are a positive and natural part of the parent-child relationship, and it doesn't feel good or right until the problem is dealt with and the loving exchanges between parent and child are resumed.
In our text, David goes through this exact situation, but with his Heavenly Father. He keeps quiet about his sin but his conscience eats him up so that he has no appetite and is reduced to groaning day and night. He felt the displeasure of his Father, and the breach in the relationship that his sin had caused. He was wasting away and had no life within himself. We do not know how long this lasted but finally David came to his senses, confessed his sin, and sought and found forgiveness from God.
What is David's advice to us in the light of this experience? That we should pray to God while He is near. We should not allow a situation to continue in which God has withdrawn somewhat from us because of our sin, or in which we are refusing to go to Him and confess our transgressions. It is no more natural for such a situation to continue between ourselves and God than it is between earthly parents and their children.
So let's be quick to pray this week, to confess our sins, keep short accounts with God and seek Him for the help we need, making sure that nothing is allowed to interrupt our fellowship with such a wonderful Father!
