Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 32
How Blessed Is the Person Whose Rebellion Is Forgiven
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By David. A maskil.[a]
The Joy of Forgiveness
1 How blessed is the person
whose rebellion is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 How blessed is the person
whose guilt the Lord does not charge against him,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Obtaining the Joy of Forgiveness
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away as I groaned all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me. Interlude
My moisture was dried up by the droughts of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover up my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord,” Interlude
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
6 Because of this, let everyone who receives favor pray to you
at a time when you may be found.
Surely when the mighty waters overflow,
they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place.
You will protect me from distress. Interlude
You will surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Sharing the Joy of Forgiveness
8 I will make you wise.
I will instruct you in the way that you should go.
I will guide you, keeping my eye on you.
9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, which has no understanding.
Its mouth must be controlled by a bit and bridle,
or else it will not come to you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but mercy will surround those who trust in the Lord.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and celebrate, all you righteous,
and shout joyfully, all you upright in heart.
Absalom’s Rebellion
15 After this, Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run in front of him. 2 Absalom would get up early and stand beside the road by the gatehouse. Absalom would call out to every man who had a legal issue to bring before the king for judgment, and he would say, “What city are you from?” The person would say, “Your servant is from such-and-such of the tribes of Israel.” 3 Absalom would say to him, “Your claims are good and valid, but there is no one from the king to listen to you.” 4 Then Absalom would say, “I wish someone would make me a judge in the land. Then everyone who has a legal issue or needs a judgment could come to me, and I would give him justice.”
5 Whenever someone approached to bow down to him, he would reach out, take hold of him, and kiss him. 6 Absalom acted this way to everyone of Israel who came to the king for judgment. In this way Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 After four[a] years Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron and fulfill my vow, which I have made to the Lord, 8 because when I was at Geshur in Aram, your servant vowed, ‘If the Lord will really return me to Jerusalem, I will serve the Lord.’”
9 The king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he set out and went to Hebron.
10 But Absalom sent agents throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn, you are to say, ‘Absalom is king in Hebron.’” 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem who had been invited went along with Absalom. They went innocently, since they did not know what was going on.
12 While he was offering sacrifices, Absalom summoned David’s advisor, Ahithophel of Giloh, to come from Giloh, his hometown. The conspiracy gained strength as more and more people were going over to Absalom.
God Graciously Chose a Remnant
11 So I say, did God reject his people? Absolutely not! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people whom he foreknew—or don’t you know what Scripture says about Elijah, how he was pleading with God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.”[a] 4 But what did God’s answer tell him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[b]
5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.[c] 6 Now if it is by grace, then it is not the result of works—otherwise grace would no longer be grace.[d]
God Planned a Way to Recover Some Hardened Jews
7 What then? Israel did not receive what it was striving to get. The elect did, but the rest were hardened. 8 Just as it is written:
God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear,
right up to the present day.[e]
9 And David says:
Let their table be a trap and a net,
and a snare and a retribution for them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened so they do not see,
and let their backs be always bent.[f]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.