Friday, March 7, 2014
Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
PEACE OF CONSCIENCE
We all know what it is like to struggle with something we know we have done wrong. When our consciences are condemning us, it can be hard to think of anything else. It can even make us physically ill as it did King David. He once described the battle with his conscience, saying to God, "My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long, For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer" (Psalm 32:3-4). In another place he wrote similarly: "I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart" (Psalm 38:6-8).
To be freed from the guilt of sin is a tremendous, beautiful freedom. But we can not be freed by making excuses for our wrongdoing, or by convincing ourselves that our sin isn't really sin, or by claiming God will just overlook it -- for none of these methods can really calm the troubled conscience in the long run. But we are freed from the guilt of sin when we hear Jesus say to our heart, "Your sins are forgiven" (Mark 2:5).
When Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest," (Matthew 11:28) we can be sure we will find rest for our souls. He has every right to forgive sins for He is very the Son of God who gave His own life into death to pay for those sins.
What then to do when our sins trouble us? Take them to Jesus. He takes them away. He truly gives us peace of conscience, escape from the guilt that would otherwise eat us alive.
If my sins give me alarm
And my conscience grieve me,
Let Thy cross my fear disarm,
Peace of conscience give me.
Grant that I may trust in Thee
And Thy holy Passion.
If His Son so loveth me,
God must have compassion.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 140:5)
