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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
The second of the Penitential Psalms (Songs of Penitence) contains more poignant truths that relate to mercy, forgiveness, and comfort. Our devotional today will center on only a few selected phrases from this Psalm, but it will emphasize some essentials of godly comfort. [Note; Yesterday's article mistakenly stated that there are six penitential Psalms; it should have read seven, not six.]
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. I [the LORD] will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Psalm 32.1-11).
God made man a free moral agent. He could have created us otherwise, but He did not. He gave man commands of things to do as well as commands of things not to do. We have the freedom to act as we please without any physical constraints from God. The only constraints that govern man are those which man choses to acknowledge. If man should chose to sin, God wills NOT to forcibly stop him. That determination was and is a timeless trait of Creator God. We are, in that respect, free moral agents!
That trait of moral agency is at the heart of the 32Psalm. God reiterated the fact that He would teach and instruct humanity. The constraints upon man, if any, would be moral constraints. Conscience and condition of heart became fundamental to pleasing God, not mere outward compliance. To drive that point home, God said, “I will guide you with My eye!” There are no physical bands or cords between the eye of God and the way He wills man to go. Unlike the mule and the horse that have to be controlled by physical means (i.e. the bit and bridle), if man is controlled it will be by his own conscience and sense of moral ought.
That explains why the Psalmist put such a premium on the man “...in whose spirit there is no deceit.” (Psalm 32.2). It also corresponds with the triumphant ending of the Psalm: “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” (Psalm 32.11). The Psalm began with the concept of a transparent heart and ended with the same. The Psalmist knew, as we all should, that his thoughts were open before God and could not be hidden (see Hebrews 4.13). To believe or act otherwise is to betray the moral aspect of man that is subject to God ONLY through the conscience and our moral faculties.
Genuine penitence is a product of man's desire to please His Creator. Any other objective is but a ruse and is disingenuous. Like those to whom John preached, it is always our obligation to “...bear fruits worthy of repentance.” (Matthew 3.8; series is continued).
Questions:
1. What type of heart does the man have if he is one to whom the LORD will not impute iniquity?
2. What instruments of control does the master have over the mule and horse? How does that differ when it comes to God and man?
3. What does it mean to bear fruits worthy of repentance? What would it mean NOT to bear fruits worthy of repentance?
4. What is meant by the phrase moral ought in the fourth paragraph of today's devotional?
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