Read Psalm 32-33
A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma's back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit the duck and it fell dead. The boy panicked. Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn't you, Johnny?" And she whispered to him, "Remember the duck! So Johnny did the dishes.
Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, "I'm sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper." Sally smiled and said, "That's all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it." Again she whispered, "Remember the duck." Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing. After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's, he couldn't stand it anymore. He confessed to Grandma that he'd killed the duck. "I know, Johnny," she said, giving him a hug. "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.
God is a God who forgives. Oftentimes it's us who are not willing to forgive ourselves. Or we let Satan enslave us and cause us to feel shame and guilt and make us think we have to try and do something to make up for our sin. But Jesus did everything necessary for sin to be forgiven. He paid the debt of sin on the cross. In Psalm 32 we have a psalm of David after he confessed sin in his life. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had her husband killed. He went a whole year without repenting of his sin. But after being rebuked by the prophet Nathan, David confessed his sin to God. And after confessing, David said this was the result in v. 1 of Psalm 32: "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. David went from feeling like his bones were wasting away (v. 3) and that God's hand was heavy on him (v.4), to feeling blessed. That's the result of forgiveness when we will humble ourselves before God.
We don't have to "remember the duck" because God doesn't. It says in Psalm 103:12, "as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us". If you travel from east to west, you will continue to travel east to west. But if you head north, at some point you will start heading south. The Psalmist is intentional about the direction, east to west. He's reminding us that it's never-ending, God's willingness to forgive, to remove our transgressions. And the proper response to that truth is what Psalm 33:1 says: "Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright." Don't "remember the duck". Rejoice in your repentance!
Is there a sin you have been holding on to? If so, confess it now. Is there sin you've been forgiven of but it's still causing you to feel shame and guilt? Ask God to take those feelings away. Embrace your forgiveness!
Will you take some time today and "shout for joy in the LORD"? Take time to have a little praise service with the Lord today.
Prayer for the day: "Dear Lord, thank you that you are a God who forgives. Thank you that you not only forgive, you choose to forget about my sin. Thank. you for Jesus and the blood He shed for me. Help me live in the joy of my salvation and the joy of my forgiveness. You are so good to me Lord. Thank you. Amen."