The past few months I have been living in the book of Psalms. I found myself praying the prayers that David prayed and just weeping before the Lord. You know, I found that just before God does something great for us He must do something great in us and that my friends can be very painful but He has left the outcome of that process up to us.

I would like to share with you what Psalms 32 says in the NLT. It is a little lengthy but I think it will set you free if you are willing.

Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
Therefore, let all the godly confess their rebellion to you while there is time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.

Wow, do I love this! I have been attending a women’s Bible study once a week and we are doing a Beth Moore study on the tabernacle and how it relates to a women’s heart…God’s dwelling place. She had us do an exercise that I found so freeing. So many times we confess our sins to God and believe that He has forgiven us but then a few weeks later we find ourselves repenting again when we have already turned away from the sin. The problem with that is we are only reconfirming our own unforgiveness. We can’t even lay it down because we can’t forgive ourselves. Beth had us shut our eyes and just confess everything to God. And I mean everything. All the hatred and animosity that we have held toward others. All of our anger and frustration. I don’t know about you but…I had a long list. He wants us to get everything out in full confession to Him and not try to hide behind it anymore. After she has us do that then we were to still keep our eyes closed and just picture God whispering in our ear…”I forgive you, I forgive you.” I began to cry as I thought of all the things we have been through lately and how deep I actually let wounds get to me and those sweet words from Him was all that I needed to hear. That whatever I have done wrong, when I honestly confess to Him…He whispers “I forgive you.”

In my imperfection, the simple act of forgiving so that I can be forgiven should be a no brainer. How about it friend? What are you holding up inside of you that you just haven’t quite confessed to God because you think you have a right to hold on to it? I think unless we let it go we can’t sing that song of victory like it says above or have that overwhelming sense of joy that only His forgiveness brings.