Read: Psalm 32:1-11
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (v. 1)
Getting into my uncle’s SUV, I noticed the cross stuck on the tailgate. What a nice cross, I thought. Later, he told me why he chose that spot for the cross. His garage door had slammed down, causing a scratch. He thought the dealership wanted too much to repair it. Rather than fixing it, he bought a cross to cover up the damage.
King David knew extreme guilt. After he had an affair with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed to try to hide his sin, the prophet Nathan confronted him, and David had to face the consequences (see 2 Samuel 11-12). In the wake of his confession, David also experienced God’s grace. In today’s reading, David expresses the joy and relief that follows confession and forgiveness. Today, we know that forgiveness is available because of the cross. Jesus’s spilled blood covers up all the unseemly scratches from our lives that make us unacceptable to a holy God. He doesn’t see our lives filled with dings and scratches. Instead, he sees them as spotless because Jesus’s blood covers up every one of our imperfections.
If my uncle were to remove the cross from his vehicle, the scratch would be visible again. His plastic cross was only a temporary cover-up. The cross of Christ completely removes our sin. In a later psalm, David wrote, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12 NIV). That is way better than any cover-up job.
As you pray, thank God for completely eliminating your sins.
About the Author
Steven Laman is a writer and public speaker who has lived with cerebral palsy since his birth in 1970. Steven is a prolific devotional writer for Words of Hope, and the author of three books: My Journey God’s Grace, Strength in Weakness and My Grace Is Sufficient. He also volunteers as a teacher’s aide. He lives with his parents in Iowa.
