Covered Up

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. (Psalm 32:1-7 ESV).

Animals killed on the highways of America seem to be quite a problem for some states. I recently read an article about the outraged mayor of a small town in Pennsylvania. The interstate runs through his community. The reason for his outrage? A paving crew was working on that road one day last summer. They came upon a dead deer with much of its carcass lying on the road. They went right ahead and paved right over the deer! It's hard to believe that you could have this major obstacle, major bump in the road - and your solution would be to just pave over it. The just covered it up!

That is difficult to believe, but many people have done the same thing in their spiritual lives. They have opted for the "pave over it" approach. The writings of David show an intensely passionate, honest man. In Psalm 32, he starts by announcing, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven... who sin the Lord does not count against him." All the mistakes of your life, all the sins, all the hurts you may have inflicted - forgiven and forgotten by God.

David first tried covering up his sin. However it didn’t work at all. "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer." Like David, many of us don't deal with our sins - we "keep silent." We do our best to cover up our wrongdoing. It feels as if we're getting away with living outside the laws of God. We're not. We keep hitting the bumps of what we paved over. And God's hand is heavy on us... we often feel drained or incomplete and the thought of God's inevitable judgment haunts us. David finally found peace, he said, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity." No more paving over or running from God. What happens when you do that? "And You forgave the guilt of my sin." Finally, guilt-free... clean... ready to meet God. You face the facts of a life you have run instead of God running it... and you bring all that sin to the cross of Jesus Christ - where HE took the death penalty for YOUR sin - so you don't have to! You don’t have to cover it up at all. Come to Christ and He will forgive you of every sin. Aren’t you ready for that today?