Psalm 32
Blessed are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
(Psalm 32:1-2)
Psalm 32 is the first thing the newly baptized hear when they come up out of the water and are given their white baptismal robe. For all the other layers of meaning, baptism retains the most basic two-thousand year old message of John the Baptist, then Jesus and then the early Church: you have taken stock of your life, you have confessed your sins, you have been baptized and washed of those sins, and now you receive forgiveness, a new life and a new start. From the beginning, that has been the good news.
Sadly of course, that white robe gets dirty pretty quickly. We need to go back to our baptism again and again and Psalm 32 gives us a good pattern. If we declare, acknowledge, confess and do not hide our sins the Lord forgives and repeatedly gives us a new start. On the other hand, if we neglect this regular washing, our whole being can be affected.
When I declared not my sin, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Ps 32: 3-4)
The Greek version of that last line is even more evocative: I was reduced to misery while the thorn stuck fast into me. This recalls Saint Paul’s own “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7). In his case, he prayed that the thorn would be removed and the Lord said no. And there are times when we have to live and struggle with our passions precisely because they keep us humble, merciful and mindful that the Lord’s strength in us is made perfect in weakness.
Metropolitan Tikhon
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of His Beatitude’s election as Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in America. By God’s grace, he has brought a new atmosphere to the Chancery and to the life of the OCA. May God grant him many blessed years!