Forwards and backwards

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!

Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! | Psalm 32:1-2 (NLT)

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! Psalm 32:1-2

FORWARDS

There are four wonderful parts in these two verses.

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven – isn’t it good news that our sins have been forgiven, but as I re-read these words, I’m left with two questions:

· Does my heart experience what my head understands?

· Is my joy over forgiveness the same today as it was when I was first set free?

SO, the challenge is to “not take it for granted” and come afresh each day to experience that joy as we confess our sins and receive forgiveness.

whose sin is put out of sight! – I’m sure you have you heard the phrase “out of sight, out of mind”? Is this your experience or are you like me, when there are times when our sins can way us down – even though we have confessed our wrongdoings – we don’t take hold of the forgiveness and we let things gnaw away at us? This can lead to feelings of bitterness, insecurity, unworthiness, dirty etc etc.

SO, lets us take hold of forgiveness and remember that God no longer sees our sins – they are out of His sight

Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, - and just in case you didn’t get it first time round, its repeated… get it? Our record is cleared of guilt. The Message translated the first verse like this

“Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be — you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean.”

I grew up in the era when they still you used chalk and boards in the classroom, and after each lesson the pupils had to take it in turn to clean the board – what ever had been written on the board was wiped off and once this was done there was no getting it back – it was gone, gone gone. No recovering it from deleted items.

SO, let’s have that picture clear in our minds every day – we have a fresh start, clean page, what has gone before has been wiped clean when we made our confession.

whose lives are lived in complete honesty! – This is the bit I find tough – do I live with integrity? How often do I find myself doing the very things that I am so quick to find fault with in others? Being hypocritical? I read this of a well-known Christian with a world-wide ministry – Someone had started spreading false rumours about him and they spread rapidly – speaking engagements were cancelled – he complained bitterly to the Lord that his ministry was being affected but the Lord spoke to him saying “The worst they can say about you is not as bad as the truth” and he thought “Thank you God that they don’t the truth”. His autobiography is entitled “Not as bad as the truth” because of this.

SO, let’s take up the challenge and be those that live in complete honesty – this is not something we can do in our own strength – we need the Holy Spirit to be at work in us!

BACKWARDS

Let’s start at the end – living in full integrity – why? Because our slate has been wiped clean – no more does God see our sins - …

SO – remember again how you felt when you were first set free – remember that inexplicable joy - do it every day – don’t settle back and take it for granted.