JULY 22, 2014
Lasting
Regrets
Read: Psalm
32:1-7
When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day
long. —Psalm 32:3
While I was talking
with a gifted pianist, she asked me if I played any musical instruments. When I
responded, “I play the radio,” she laughed and asked if I had ever wanted to
play any instrument. My embarrassed answer was, “I took piano lessons as a boy
but gave it up.” Now, in my adult years, I regret not continuing with the
piano. I love music and wish I could play today. That conversation was a fresh
reminder to me that life is often constituted by the choices we make—and some
of them produce regret.
Some choices produce
much more serious and painful regrets. King David discovered this when he chose
to sleep with another man’s wife and then killed that man. He described the
guilt that filled him as devastating, saying, “When I kept silent, my bones
grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was
heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer” (Ps. 32:3-4).
But David acknowledged and confessed his sin to God and found forgiveness
(v.5).
It is only from God
that we can receive the grace of forgiveness when our choices have produced
painful regrets. And only in Him do we find the wisdom to make better choices.
Father of mercies,
forgive me for the foolish choices
I have made. Please
enable me to be wiser in
my choices. Teach me
the value of resting
in Your grace.
God’s forgiveness
frees us from the chains of regret.
Insight
For about a year after
his adultery with Bathsheba, David refused to repent of his sins (covetousness,
adultery, deceit, and murder) until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Sam.
11–12). David penned Psalms 32 and 51 thereafter. In today’s psalm, David
speaks of the heavy burden of guilt in his year-long denial of sin (vv.3-4). He
also tells of the joy of receiving God’s gift of forgiveness when, with a
contrite heart, he confesses and repents (vv.1-2,5) and becomes receptive to
God’s rule in his life (vv.7-11). Warning of God’s disciplining hand (v.4),
David urges all who have sinned to repent without delay (v.6).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
