Scripture for Today: Psalm 32:4 “For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

Just as our thoughts turn to the new school year, shorter days, and the reappearance of pumpkin spice, along comes a heat wave! In our part of the world it seems to happen every year about this time, but it always surprises me! The usual precautions are taken, those taken the last few months, as we wait for that last gasp of summer to finish. The heat has a way of demotivating us, putting on hold all those preparations for the fall.

In today’s verse David describes himself as being sapped of strength. It is as if he is experiencing the heat of summer. David is feeling this way, not because of the weather but because he is feeling bad about his sin. The conviction he was experiencing felt like the pressure of a hand on him day and night. But that discomfort lasted only as long as he was silent about it. The minute he came clean with God, he felt the huge relief of forgiveness. God forgave him of his sin and even the guilt he felt about it (vs 5).

I wonder how long it took David to realize why he was feeling as he was. If he were anything like me, it may have been awhile! I sometimes grow so used to my own sin that I become calloused and even unaware. But eventually, that lack of joy and peace with the Lover of my soul becomes obvious. There is never a good enough reason to put off that badly needed confession. Despite the discomfort, the relief felt when I rise from my knees makes confession worth it!

Thank you Lord, that You are faithful to forgive.