How Happy Is Your Wisdom?

How Happy Is Your Wisdom?

Good Morning Friends,

Are we hiding under the covers or are we seeking forgiveness from the comforter? Today we acknowledge the reality that when it comes to sin,
God is a great covering. Perhaps you have gotten that sickness in the pit of your stomach when you have messed up. You did something you knew was wrong, or did not do something you were supposed to do. You even heard your parent’s guidance whispering in your ear….”Remember what I am telling you.” Here in our pain we are feeling guilt and its purpose is to bring us to our knees in repentance. But once God’s love and forgiveness clears our conscience the guilt is to end. The healing is the sign of God’s presence… the healing is the fruit of forgiveness. The whispers need to turn into shouts of joy. How Happy Is Your Wisdom?

Scripture: Hear, my child, your father’s instruction, and do not reject your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 1:8 (NRSV)

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. [Selah] 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] Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. [Selah] I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Psalm 32:1-11 (NRSV)

Message: God’s love is your best security blanket. The effects of sin and forgiveness are before us each day. They are brought into focus when we realize that guilt cools our confidence. Guilt freezes our relationships. Guilt keeps us stuck in the cold past. When we realize that we are depraved sinful creatures, hopefully we are brought to repentance. And in repentance learn that God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His Holiness. It was a favorite of Martin Luther’s and the theologian Augustine had today’s psalm engraved on his bedroom wall. When he was on his death bed he instructed others to recite it for him. The words are very important. The psalm is a teaching psalm. David, the author, wants us to pay particular attention to our need for forgiveness. David’s sin and cover up devastated him, but God’s forgiveness brought amazing healing. David made a full recovery and received freedom from guilt because he realized that we have no right to hold onto a sin that God has forgiven. Here we learn that we need to take real guilt seriously but stop wrestling with false guilt. Friends, once guilt has served its purpose of bringing us to repent, we are to give it up. If you continue to shut yourself out from God’s presence by holding on to a sense of guilt the effects can be evil. This kind of guilt can destroy confidence. It can damage relationships and keep us stuck in the past replaying our sins over and over and over again in our mind. Friends, we struggle with guilt because we are guilty, but like David our perspective needs to be that of a sinner who has been forgiven, healed and restored. The psalmist encourages us as he describes how confessing his failure to God changes his life. He holds nothing back, he lets out all his dark emotions and pressures. God’s mercy drives the healing, guiding him. This turning point of honest confession results in the sin and guilt disappearing. He prays his confession. And then having the knowledge of one’s self as a sinner and having come into wisdom, having unburdened his soul, he response with obedience to the advice revealed, he bears witness to the pardon he has received and this births gratitude and gratitude the guidance of love.

Pray that when we have guilt we go to God. Pray we face our sins and uncover them. Pray we realize that guilt cannot change the past. Pray that we are victorious with our inward battle of pride. Pray we let go of the past trusting in God’s forgiveness. Pray we thank God for His instruction, promise and quiet wisdom. Pray we experience the happiness of forgiveness, the heaviness of sin and the help of God. Pray we realize that we are declared righteous not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done on the Cross.
Pray that those who grow cold find warmth in the amazing forgiveness and healing of God. Pray that people carrying the burden of guilt in the winter of life be given the blanket of believing in your forgiveness to warm their spirit. Pray we repent. Pray we repent. Pray we repent. Pray we thank God for bearing our sins. Pray we thank God for guiding us. Pray God make us into the person we were designed to be. Pray a prayer of salvation and sanctification.

Blessings,

John Lawson