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What Happens After …

By: Steve Negley

Posted: July 26, 2019

Category: Daily Devotional

Psalm 32

If reading David’s words in Psalm 51 puts us in touch with the destructive nature of sin in our lives and our need for confession, then Psalm 32 gives voice to the true joy of experiencing forgiveness:

Psalm 32

 Of David. A Maskil.

 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

 While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up[a] as by the heat of summer. Selah

 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

 Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress,[b] the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.

 10 Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Reading and praying this Psalm makes you want to get past the sting and stain of sinful urges and actions, so that we can really revel in forgiveness. There’s no time like the present to experience what happens after.

Prayer

Thank you, God, for showing me how to truly live according to Your will. Keep me focused on Your word. Help me to make Your word the outline for my free and forgiven future. Amen.