On Psalm 32

Psalm 32 begins as follows (New Living Translation):

Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty.

The author of 1 Clement, a text probably written near the end of the first century C.E., reads this passage in an interesting way in 1 Clement 50.5-7 (Translated by Michael W. Holmes in The Apostolic Fathers in English):

Blessed are we, dear friends, if we continue to keep God's commandments in the harmony of love, so that our sins may be forgiven us through love. For it is written: "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one to whom the Lord will reckon no sin, and in whose mouth there is no deceit." This declaration of blessedness was pronounced upon those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The author of 1 Clement hears the beginning of this Psalm as a prophetic declaration about the work of Christ in the lives of those he has chosen. The first three statements are easy for us to hear in this way. We are blessed because our iniquities have been forgiven through Christ, our sins covered over by the work of Christ who brings us back into right relationship with God. We are indeed a forgiven people.

But all too often, we stop there and forget that we must hear the last phrase as part of the work of Christ as well. We are blessed not only because we are forgiven, but because we have been freed to begin our lives as disciples. We are freed to reject deceit and to live prophetic lives of love because, as the psalmist says a bit later, "unfailing love surrounds those who trust in the Lord."

During this season of Lent, let us open our hearts again for that guidance. Let us thank God for the forgiveness we have received through Christ, ask God to shape us into a people of honesty and love, and take the time to listen for God's voice so that the scriptures might be fulfilled in our lives.