“Discipleship is much more than sin management. It is moving from being captivated by the gravity of sin to being captivated by the gravity of holy love. ”
This week’s devotion is an excerpt from a study on the Psalms by Dr. Sandra Richter called “Epic of Eden - Psalms.” I suggested this as a resource for further learning in last week’s devotion. I wanted to give you a taste of this wonderful study and encourage you to get the book as well as the steaming videos that go along with it. Dr. Richter is a fantastic teacher, and this resource will help you learn more and gain significant insight from this treasured book in the scripture!
Real People, Real Places, Real Faith - by Sandra Richter
“One of the things to keep in mind as we begin our journey into the book of Psalms is that these psalms were written by real people, in real places, struggling with real faith. The superscript of Psalm 32 tells us that our psalm for this lesson is a psalm “of David” (ledawid). The Hebrew is made up of a preposition (le) attached to the name “David,” thus the literal translation is “belonging to David". But the exact meaning of the phrase is unclear. Is this "authored by David," "dedicated to David," or "belonging to the Davidic collection”? We don't know. But what we do know is that seventy-three songs are attributed to David in this way. Seventy-three. What this tells us is that David was a man of worship. A man who loved his God and was not at all shy to say so. In the Psalms we hear David's petitions, his confessions, and his celebration of God's faithfulness. As a result, we are result, we are privileged to pray with him, and we are challenged to be like him—a people who cry out to God in our brokenness and our joy.
When I began putting this curriculum on paper, I posted an inquiry to my facebook page: “What is your favorite psalm, and why?” A friend and colleague from my days at Wheaton College named Psalm 32 as “her” psalm and posted this in response:
After living a life far from God during most of my 20s, when i became a mother in my 30s I found my way back to the church and Jesus. Life was good now, right? Not quite. In my 40s I finally had to come face-to-face with the sin of those early years. The shame I had carried for so long was just more than I could bear. God was so good to me in places where I could process through that. Where I could fully experience God’s love for me, something I had never been able to imagine.
It began in a women’s Bible study when my leader asked us to close our eyes and imagine what it would be like when we first met God in heaven. The tears came quickly. I couldn't even imagine lookin up on his goodness. I saw myself turning away, not even able to lay my eyes upon him.
After some really hard work, a lot of time in the Scripture, and some providential sermons, I knew I wanted to confess my sin out loud. That tangible act felt really important. As part of that confession, I read Psalm 32. Those words around God’s forgiveness were a balm to my soul.
Dee Pierce 2020 - Wheaton College
Let me challenge you, right now, to do what Dee did. It is true that when we keep silent about our sin—shove it down, box it up, and bury it—our sin eats away at our souls like a cancer. But it is also true that if we are faithful to confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive. Indeed, as the book of Galatians tells us, “It is for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal 5:1). So, let’s be free. Read this psalm again, out loud, and with each line respond:
Verses 1-2: It is true, how “blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven”!
Verses 3-4: I will no longer be silent.
Verse 5: Confess your sin and be assured that He forgives.
Verse 6-7: I don’t care what the rest of the world knows or think they know, “you are
my hiding place.”
Verse 8: Create in me a clean heart, oh God, change me, conform me to the image
of the Son (Rom 8:29)
Verse 9: I will not be a stubborn mule, an untrainable beast.
Verses 10-11: This is my inheritance, and I will not allow anything or anyone to rob me of
it! I will be glad in the Lord, I will shout for joy that I am forgiven and free!
If you are comfortable, share this moment with a friend you trust. Let this be the day when the power of darkness is shattered and the hope of a new day dawns.”