You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Psalm 32 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
² How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
⁶ Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
⁷ You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
⁹ Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
¹⁰ Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

The psalmist says:  How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!  How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!  When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.   Medical doctors agree that living with sin, with anger, bitterness and deceit can take a toll on vitality and physical health. Certainly, it takes a toll on emotional and psychological health. Romans 6:23 says:  The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.   Jesus asked the Father to forgive our sins. (Luke 23:34) Isaiah 53:5-6 says:  He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.  The consequences of our sins were covered by the sacrifice of Christ. Rather than death, we are imputed life through Christ.

The psalmist says:  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.  Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found.  Perhaps the greatest deceit that we can be subject to is self-deceit. 1 John 1:8-9 says:  If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We cannot hide our sin from God. He is omniscient. James 4:17 says: To one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.  We can make excuses and try to justify and deny our sin, but each of us knows what is right.   We can lie to ourselves and deceive other people, but God cannot be deceived. In Psalm 51:1-4, the psalmist says:  Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.  Like the psalmist, we need to acknowledge that our sins are against God. It doesn’t matter what our society and culture has determined is acceptable. What matters is what is evil in the sight of God. In Isaiah 5:20 God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!  We cannot blame God for the consequences of our sin; when we choose evil rather than good.

The psalmist says:  Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found.  In Jeremiah 29:13 God says:  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.  People look to many things to find peace and fulfillment. All that searching and striving is in vain. In Revelation 3:20 the Lord says:  Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.  In John 14:27 Jesus says:  Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.  The psalmist says:  You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.  Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.  Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

May this song be our declaration and prayer. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k

Amen.