THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

Lord, “Finally!” Did the psalmist’s word sound sweet to you? You stubbornly refused to let him go but pursued him until he came to his senses.

The psalmist didn’t know at the time, but he recorded his foolish actions, which led to his spiritual downfall, for our benefit. He must have written Psalm 32 knowing how our human nature leads us away from you if we don’t control our carnal impulses.

He began his beautiful prose, praising you for your mercy and grace. Restoration commenced by cleansing his sins from his soul and canceling all charges the devil laid against him. No wonder he fell into unrestrained rejoicing.

Lord, what caused his relationship with you to be sidetracked? Sin. Unrepentant sin.

The psalmist concocted every scheme he could to justify his sin. One sin led to another sin. One lie led to another lie. One excuse led to another, more preposterous, excuse for his sin. Nothing worked for the psalmist. Every relationship turned into chaos. Friends avoided him. Every project failed. Sickness racked his body. Inwardly, he knew he wasn’t living right. Even though sin’s promises of pleasure and fulfillment failed to materialize, his pride refused to allow repentance.

Lord, did you whisper to his inner man, “Just how long do you want this misery to go on? Think you can outrun me? Outlast me?”

Finally! He came to his senses. No more running. Enough is enough.

“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone” (Psalm 32:5 NLT).

“Finally!” How sweet the sound, Jesus. Amen.