02-24-24-ENG.

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

Psalm 32:3–5

Our culture places fun and pleasure on a pedestal. Many times, those two things are the goal in advertisements and entertainment. Because of this, we often get a skewed view of the spiritual kingdom value known as mourning. In Ecclesiastes 7:2, the Bible says that a funeral is better than a party. This is because at a funeral you will be guided to think about what really matters. You will be guided to make wiser choices in the life you still have on earth. A party merely camouflages what truly matters. But a funeral forces you to think, evaluate, and consider how you are choosing to spend your time. Similarly, Jesus says we need to think, evaluate, and consider how we choose to spend our time when it comes to sin and poor choices in our lives.

Do we dismiss what we have done or thought? Do we hide it? Do we continue in it? Or do we recognize the damage it creates and acknowledge it so that we will turn from it? The psalmist David wrote about sin’s lasting impact on a soul in Psalm 32, which we read in today’s opening Scripture. David told us that as long as he didn’t deal with his sin, he lived in a restless state. Yet when he dealt with it biblically—when he repented (confessed and turned away)—all the pain and anguish he was experiencing due to his sin went away. You and I are blessed when we recognize our own sin, and when we recognize what it does to the heart of God. We are blessed when we respond by confessing and repenting of our sin so that we can have restored fellowship with God. I know that it hurts to mourn. Trust me, I know. But what Jesus assures us in this kingdom value is that if we choose to mourn and grieve over our sin and its impact on our relationship with God, we will be comforted. We will be forgiven. We will be blessed. On the other hand, refusal to address our sin blocks our prayers from being heard and answered (Psalm 66:18). You go to a doctor when you’re in pain. You go to the doctor to tell him or her what’s wrong. You go with the hope that they will know what to do to bring you comfort and restored well-being. You want the doctor to turn things around. Choosing to live according to this kingdom value is no different. 

Blessed are those who realize they are in spiritual pain because of sin, and so they go to God to restore their well-being. The prodigal son received comfort by the father when he came home. He received forgiveness. One of the reasons is because he returned to his father repentant for what he had done wrong. He didn’t return bragging about his disobedience and hardened by it. He returned in a state of humility and was blessed by his father as a result. Jesus says that you will also be blessed with the comfort and love of God when you return to Him in a state of humility and mourning over your sin. You will find the comfort you need to navigate the chaos around you when you choose to call sin what it is—sin. You will find comfort when you respond to it with the anguish of a heart that seeks to honor God in all you do. 

Reaction:
Describe what it means to you to experience God’s comfort in your life. Do you feel like you are living more in a state of restlessness or in a state of experiencing God’s comfort? In what ways can you better position yourself spiritually so that you tap in to God’s comfort? 

Prayer:
Jesus, help me to experience God’s comfort at a greater level in my life by being more honest about my sinful thoughts and actions and repenting of them. Help me evaluate my choices in light of Your kingdom values, as well as in light of eternity. Show me what I can do differently to live a purer life. Let Your love and purity surround me to such a degree that I feel it and want to seek to model You in all I do. In Your name, amen.