Today’s Bible reading is Psalm 32.
You don’t have to be perfect or flawless in order to be blessed by God. Just listen to the first three lines of Psalm 32:
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity…
“Blessed” indeed. Our Creator is willing to be a gracious fountain of amazing blessings.
The fourth line of Psalm 32 subtly reminds us to look inward. What could keep us from these blessings? What will hinder the flow of God’s grace into our lives?
Blessed is the man … in whose spirit there is no deceit.
If God is the fountain of every blessing, “deceit” is the clog that lodges in human spirits and blocks our enjoyment of those blessings. What are the warning signs? The symptoms of a deceit-clogged spirit?
I leave sin unaddressed.
For when I kept silent… (Psa 32:3a)
I neglect the pushes and pulls of a convicted conscience.
…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. (Psa 32:3b-4)
The solution?
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. (Psa 32:5)
Deceit in the spirit–a stubborn unwillingness to be honest with myself, others, and God–is the nasty obstruction that will limit the flow of God’s amazing grace into our hearts.
“Therefore,” David says of God and encourages us, “let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found…” (Psa 32:6). Don’t just read over that. Your Creator wants to be found, and when he is, the finder is never disappointed.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD. (Psa 32:10)
Do you trust him? Enough to be honest? To acknowledge? To uncover? To confess? To be transformed by his blessings and surrounded by his steadfast love?
Blessed is the person in whose spirit there is no deceit.