Read: Psalm 32

Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
-Psalm 32:10-11

This psalm celebrates the joy of forgiveness and provides instruction as to how we should “acknowledge our sins” and “confess our transgressions to the Lord.”

Oh, how difficult it is to acknowledge our sins! We squirm; we hide; we pretend they never happened. Our stubbornness and pride take over and we bury our sins deep within where, as the psalmist tells us, our bodies dry up and there is no strength within us.
If only we acknowledge our sins and confess them, we will be forgiven. It’s that simple – and that hard. If we trust in God’s word, we will be surrounded by God’s steadfast love and can shout for joy.

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen. (BCP, p. 360)
-Cathey Frederick

Read: Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
-Psalm 123:1

My Dad taught me (from an early age) to “step on your eye.” I presume that was something he was taught, either as a child or as an enlisted man in basic training. I never asked him where he got the saying, and he never told me. Either way, his point was simple: “Watch where you’re going.”

The psalmist has enemies. When Israel was looking to enter the promised land, they sent in spies who returned with news: The people there are humongous giants. We are like grasshoppers in comparison. Rather than turning their eyes upon the One who led them out of slavery into Egypt, the people listened to the spies and decided they couldn’t tackle the task ahead. It was too big. The task was too great. They didn’t look up, nor did they look down. Instead, they looked back and remembered the meals they enjoyed in Egypt, but not the lashes they endured. They remembered the onions they ate, but not the tears they shed.

I think God calls us to look up, but we should also keep an eye out for where we go, for there are many roots to trip us up, holes into which to fall, and curves that could send us careening out of bounds. Ultimately, it is God to whom we look up, and who provides light for the paths we trod or tread. Either way, I plan to step on my eye as God leads me away from where it hurts.

God, grant me grace to lift up my face and dare to see in You all your wonderful glory. Remove from me the stains of my sins; bleach out those stains with the powerful light of your presence, and help me know when I look upon you, I do not see One hastening to scold, but One who desires my hand to hold. Amen.
-The Rev. Keith Axberg

Read: Psalm 31:9-16

For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed. … I am as useless as a broken pot.
-Psalm 31:10, 12b

Palm Sunday is a cacophony of extremes, starting with Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem before adoring crowds; descending all too quickly into the horrors of arrest, trial, bloodthirsty mobs, and agonizing crucifixion in a full public display; and from this pit of despair emerging triumphant over the final enemy, death. And the world is changed forever.

But that pendulum swing from one state to another is our experience, too. Life, no matter how well lived, does not promise anyone an easy time of it. Many of us do our best to put the down times out of our minds, and many of us will not advertise our failures, pains, and losses. We often deal with our griefs primarily in our own minds and hearts. Sometimes we have no choice. Jesus was deserted by his best-loved friends and suffered alone. Alone.

So, what is it with this psalmist, who goes public with his fraught life and fears of his enemies? He energetically lays out samples of what stinks (“they plot to take my life”) and takes a good long time to get around to seeking God’s help. But he does, at last, get there.

If we have similar low times, perhaps it’s good to remember that we can turn to God. We don’t have to be alone.

O LORD, my times are in your hand… make your face to shine upon your servant, and your loving-kindness to save me. Amen.
-Tom Worrell