Very early in life, most of us learn that confession brings unwanted consequences. For instance, if you tell your mom that you ate the cookies when you were told not to, there is likely a punishment of some sort coming your way. Experience teaches us that confession isn’t freedom; it is pain.  

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Maybe you’ve personally had the experience of pain building up in a relationship when there is a sin that hasn’t been confessed. Whether the sin is known or known, the guilty person has built a barrier in the relationship when it is kept secret and not confessed.  

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Confession to God is very different because God is omniscient, knowing everything we have ever done, said or thought. We cannot keep secrets from God, but have you ever experienced the pain that builds up between God and yourself when you have failed to confess to Him? One might ask, why do we need to confess to God when he knows everything? Just as an earthly parent who already knows a child’s offense might wait for the child to come and confess, God wants us to come before him with a repentant heart.  

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David, credited with writing Psalm 32, knew the pain of unconfessed sin, of not going to God with what you’ve done wrong. My Bible’s subheading for this Psalm says, “The Joy of Forgiveness.” The first line in the NRSV says, “Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Normally, I prefer the word “blessed” to “happy” in biblical translations, since “happy” feels like such a fluffy word. In this case, though, I feel like it makes sense. There is joyful freedom in having the weight of sin lifted.  

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Verse three of this psalm also speaks to when the opposite is true: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away.” David’s metaphor describes the physical pain of hiding sin. In this case, it is not other people David is needing to talk to about his sin, but God. We see the moment that David chooses freedom, laying aside his pride, in verse 5: “Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity.” Once David confesses, God forgives his sin (32:5b).

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David expresses the joy that accompanies forgiveness in verse 11: “Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart” (NRSV). I think the righteousness of which he speaks is not from his own effort, but the righteousness found after confession and repentance. David lived long before the sacrifice of Christ, but this psalm shows he understood the freedom that is available when you go to God with your sins instead of keeping silent.

Let’s acknowledge that confession is hard! We don’t like to admit our failures and our weaknesses – not to others, not to God, sometimes not even to ourselves. Sometimes a lack of confession in our lives is a pride issue. Maybe, like David at the beginning of Psalm 32, we are too stubborn to say where we went wrong. Verse 2 says, “Blessed is the one...In whose spirit is no deceit.” Could this suggest our tendency to lie to ourselves?

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How can we have honest spirits this week? Pray that God would show you your sin and then be obedient to confess it. Sometimes, we know clearly that we are in the wrong, but other times, sin is so sneaky, we might need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us where we are disobeying God.

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Heavenly Father, we know our need to be reconciled to you through confessing our sins, and yet, we are too proud, too distracted, or too broken to humble ourselves and break the silence. You already know everything that is in our hearts, so we find peace knowing how deeply you know us and choose to love us anyway. May your kindness lead us to repentance today. If we have offended you or a neighbor in any way, may we have the courage to confess and make amends. Your righteousness is available to us through the blood of Christ. Let us put that on today and live in it.

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In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.