PODCAST
Guilt Hurts
March 14th, 2022
Psalm 32:1-5
Guilt hurts. This is not only true in a spiritual sense, but medical science has also long known of the detrimental effects, both mentally and physically, of hidden iniquity. The Psalmist portrays the symptoms of the sickness of sin in vivid detail: “when I kept silent, my bones wasted away” (vv. 3). When the hand of conviction lays heavy upon us, we find ourselves sapped of strength by day and unable to find rest by night.
But there is a remedy. An impenitent heart is surely debilitating and destructive, but it is no match for the refreshing and reviving power of repentance and forgiveness. Charles Wesley, in his well-known hymn, And Can It Be, described this power as “a quick’ning ray” that filled the dark dungeon in which he had been imprisoned in chains with the light of God’s amazing love.
Breaking the silence, giving voice to our sin, and owning up to our transgressions, far from making us the target of God’s punishing wrath, makes us rather the recipient of God’s abundant and life-giving grace.
Author: Tasha Alison
