Psalm 32

Year C - Lent⁴ or Conviction⁴

March 6, 2016

Psalm 32

Verses 5-6 are at the center of this psalm. They are worth focusing on, even to the exclusion of the rest. Hear them in this translation by Norman Fischer in Opening to You: Zen-Inspired Translations of the Psalms —

But then I turned toward my mistakes and shortcomings
Knew my unworthiness, did not cover it up
I said, “I will confess all this, since it is so”
And you forgave me for what I am 

Therefore let all the faithful
When they find their confusion find you
And pray that the waters of self-delusion
Won’t crest to crush them in their time

This is better than sin language so encrusted with anti-holiness that it can’t really be acknowledged for it is so deadly. We all are able to know how “unworthy” our actions are in relation to our intentions. “Since it is so”, confession is made the easier. What just is can be faced. It is the fears and the falseness that keeps us trapped.

What a relief to be forgiven so deeply that it goes well past forgiveness of an instance and goes to the core of who I am. This kind of forgiveness is a life-giving relief that sets us on a new journey.

And so a prayer for those who are still so confused about what is true in their life. As they affirm their confusion, may they find a deep forgiveness of who they are and now work their way back to any particulars that need attending to. If this prayer is not effective in their life, it will be, as we found in our own life, that self-delusion eventually crushes itself out of existence.

Don’t turn toward home without first facing grinding and grounding realities of how you got lost in the first place by covering up what was simply “so”.