THE WEIGHT OF SIN

We have a loving Father, Who will not allow us to stray far from Him.

Read the whole Psalm

Psalm 32:3-5

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5 I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 

David’s joy and peace in finding forgiveness was preceded by extreme difficulty. For a time he concealed his sin and kept silent, hoping it would go unnoticed by God. But the Lord did not allow David to live in a state of un-confessed sin. The solution for relieving his misery was available, but as long as David was not willing to confess his sin to the Lord, its weight remained upon him.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that it is the loving work of God, to cause us to experience His discipline.

Hebrews 12:3-11

3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

The writer warns us that we must resist sin; calling this a ‘struggle’ reminds us that it is hard work to battle our flesh. Many passages in the Scriptures remind us that it is also an ongoing battle. We cannot let our guard down.

We have a loving Father, Who will not allow us to stray far from Him. He will discipline us. God’s goal is always restoration and forgiveness. We cannot forget that His discipline is always prompted by His perfect love..

I can remember the times of great weight in my life as I struggled with sin, for God revealed it and produced in me deep unrest. I certainly did not enjoy those times of discipline, while I was allured by sin and was justifying it in my life. Today, I am grateful for what that His loving discipline taught me.

As the passage reminds us, discipline assures us that we are His children, for only God’s true children experience His discipline. It also teaches us that sin is not overlooked or minimized by our holy God. We are also reminded that true repentance requires a change in behavior, and when our sin is confessed, we see again the reality of God’s grace.

We begin our walk with God by grace, and we continue in our sanctification by grace, alone. We will never be able to deserve or invite God’s love. He chose to love us, knowing well that we would sin and that He would have to discipline us and that we would have to repent and He would then again freely show mercy toward us, in grace.

David learned his lesson and through him, God gave us this Psalm so that, if we are tempted to hang on to our sins and keep from confessing them, we would be warned of the heavy weight we would be inviting upon us. God’s desire is that we would fight against sin and that when we fail, we would be quick to repent and enjoy His mercy.

May we purpose to live this way, and invite others to know the immense mercy of God. I marvel and rejoice in a perfect, loving Father Who has loved me from eternity past, though knowing exactly everything I would ever do. His Son died for me so that I could enjoy the freedom of God’s forgiveness. His children are truly blessed!