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. (Psalm 32: 5)
To sin is to go the wrong way, choose a hurtful path, to become lost, and even to lose oneself.
The psalmist suggests that acknowledgement is one way we can work with God. The Hebrew word translated above as acknowledge is yada'. This means to perceive, recognize, or admit. It also suggests experiencing, engaging, and embracing.
The translation offers, "I will confess my transgressions." Confession is the Hebrew yadah. Closely related to yada, this is to cast, throw or shoot - to actively bring the source of our sin to God. It is not just the wrong turn that we are to acknowledge, it is also our transgression or what caused us to choose the wrong turn.
In this psalm the sin is not forgiven. Rather it is the guilt of my sin. It is that aspect of my sin that twists, bends, and distorts. The sin's distoring influence is undone and set straight.
God forgives - nasa' - the guilt of my sin. Nasa is to lift, carry, take away. In some contexts it can even mean to be exalted or to lift up in triumph.
Out of pride or neglect I too often bend the truth, tarnish the beautiful, and compromise the good. God has given me a straight path, but I want to find my own path. In doing so I have sometimes brought others with me off the path.
God is ready to carry us back to the path we left behind.
To sin is to go the wrong way, choose a hurtful path, to become lost, and even to lose oneself.
The psalmist suggests that acknowledgement is one way we can work with God. The Hebrew word translated above as acknowledge is yada'. This means to perceive, recognize, or admit. It also suggests experiencing, engaging, and embracing.
The translation offers, "I will confess my transgressions." Confession is the Hebrew yadah. Closely related to yada, this is to cast, throw or shoot - to actively bring the source of our sin to God. It is not just the wrong turn that we are to acknowledge, it is also our transgression or what caused us to choose the wrong turn.
In this psalm the sin is not forgiven. Rather it is the guilt of my sin. It is that aspect of my sin that twists, bends, and distorts. The sin's distoring influence is undone and set straight.
God forgives - nasa' - the guilt of my sin. Nasa is to lift, carry, take away. In some contexts it can even mean to be exalted or to lift up in triumph.
Out of pride or neglect I too often bend the truth, tarnish the beautiful, and compromise the good. God has given me a straight path, but I want to find my own path. In doing so I have sometimes brought others with me off the path.
God is ready to carry us back to the path we left behind.
posted by Didymus | 5:24 AM
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