Thoughts on Psalm 32

Tonight our Life Group will look at Psalm 32 and how we can apply it to our lives. It is a Psalm written by David. Many scholars think that it was written to be used in worship for the Day of Atonement, the current day Yom Kippur in the Jewish calendar. This was consider one of the highest days in the Jewish year since the high priest enter the Holy of Holies to make an atoning sacrifice for all the people. The main points made by the Psalm are confession, repentance, and forgiveness. The first two require us to willingly humble ourselves. This is difficult since pride, the cornerstone of all sin, is deeply imbedded in our DNA. The last key concept, forgiveness, is one of the many ways God manifests His love and mercy. As much as we drag our feet to confess and repent, he, like the father of the prodigal son, runs to us when we face our sin and turn from it. How appropriate that this Psalm is associated with the Day of Atonement. It also points us toward Christ, the Holy One whose death tore the inner curtain of the Holy of Holies signifying the birth of a new covenant through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. He willingly took on our sin and its consequence, death, on a criminal's cross meant for you and I. He accomplished what we couldn't: victory over both of man's perpetual problems. Slain for the beginning, Christ's sacrifice and the resulting forgiveness, will last forever!

Day 4: Lent 2024

God, I come before this morning knowing that You alone are God. I confess that I at times put other things before You, family, money, vacations, and other pursuits. You know this and my wandering heart for the things of this world. Draw me back by Your Holy Spirit through conviction and confession so that I might once again walk in one accord with You. I know that Your good pleasure gave me free will in this brief life that You have granted me. Help me to be mindful that I can use that gift to freely worship and walk with You each day, each moment. I know my own weakness, my own selfish self, and I realize that Christ came to not only deliver me from death but also self and sin. May that knowledge continue to transform me more and more into the likeness of my Savior, for His glory and my good.