Thursday, February 9, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading 
Psalm 32

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.

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.

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.

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. (NRSV)

Reflection
There seems to be no craft that we as Americans excel in quite like the non-apologetic apology. I jest a bit, but as the vintage song from the band Chicago puts it “It’s hard for me to say I’m sorry.” Pride certainly gets in the way. No one enjoys being wrong, and the onslaught of criticism made easier to offer through social media pummels the ego so much that we tuck away our vulnerable self and defend ourselves. We may not find refuge in God, but we can, it seems, find it in a sheepish apology while saving face.

I bring this up because as we look at our history, especially our collective history as a society, there is a tendency to disparage our mistakes to the point that we avoid talking about them, let alone acknowledging them. To do so, we surmise, would be to imperil our sense of dignity and impair our ability to function. The banning of books is one way of covering up the sins of the past. To erase the hurtful past becomes an indirect way of apologizing for it.

But scripture consistently reminds us, as in this psalm of forgiveness, that we are flawed and fragile creatures who should avail ourselves of confession. There is nothing inhuman or diminishing about admitting our faults before God. If we refuse to do it, as the psalm suggests, the body wastes away absorbing the wounds that strike the core of our very being. Our own health, whether in flesh and blood or the body politic, pays for our silence. Only in admitting the traumas of the past can the sickness, through God’s Spirit, be treated. If we allow God to enter into our collective as well as individual messiness, then there is the promise that we can become like those who are happy that their transgressions have been and can be forgiven.

Prayer
God of the wounded and weary, we know that as we present ourselves fully to you, you have the power to fully heal and restore. Let us not hide our pain or the pain that we have caused, but trust, as we confess it, that your Spirit can address it. Amen.

Written by Joseph L. Morrow, Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Community Engagement

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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