Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

This whole Psalm is a beautiful testimony to the blessings of confession and forgiveness. We tend to pull out verse 7 (You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.) which is indeed beautiful, but if we forget that it is in the context of honest confession to God, we fail to experience it in our own lives. The blessing of verse 7 is reserved for those who are completely honest before God, as it says here in verse 2. It really is interesting how often we try to hide things from God, as though that were even possible. Abraham Lincoln famously said, “You can fool all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” We need to add to that, you can’t fool God any of the time! We don’t need to go parading our sins, but we must acknowledge them before God, and not deny them when confronted, even before men. There’s a reason why cover-ups are so serious! Jesus called the devil “a liar and the father of lies,” (John 8:44) and when we lie to try to cover up our sins we are falling directly into his trap. That’s no way to experience “songs of deliverance!”

I was incredibly blessed to be raised by a father who held Absolute Honesty as one of his foundational principles. I wish I had come to that place myself much earlier in my life! At the same time, I have seen, through my own mistakes and the actions of others, that honesty doesn’t necessarily mean saying all you know, particularly in regard to others. I have a problem in this area, and have hurt some people by failing to respect their privacy. I have seen some deep rifts created even between family members, as parents have talked about their children far more than they needed to. I need to share everything with God, since He already knows it anyway, but seek and apply His wisdom in how much to share with others. I am never to lie, but I must not parade knowledge that would be hurtful to others. As a pastor, I am privy to lots of information that certainly should not be broadcast, and I must never forget that. I am to keep my confession to God up to date and encourage others to do likewise, not deceiving myself or others, but honor and respect others by my silence when that is called for.

Father, You know the situation that is on my heart as I write. I do pray Your healing for the deep wounds that are involved. I pray that the one who inflicted those wounds would be able to understand what they have done, because at this point they seem oblivious. I pray for restoration of individuals and relationships, so that the schemes of the devil may be defeated and all involved sing together the songs of deliverance, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!