Psalm 32 from my book, "Praying the Psalms for the Unborn Child."

Psalm 32
Blessedness of Forgiveness and of Trust in God.

1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.

6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.
11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

Jesus hears our prayer at the foot of His Cross⁶⁰: We are extremely grateful that our sins have been forgiven by His sacrificial blood (32:1-2). We suffered (wasted away) when we refused to acknowledge our sins. Night and day we were burdened with guilt and our soul was dead (vitality drained away) (32:3-4). However, because of His death on the Cross, we are now reconciled to the Father and we draw down upon us His forgiveness when we confess our sins (32:5). God will protect us from danger and free us from evil (32:6-7). Jesus instructs us to live as He lived. If we are stubborn and mistrustful, we will suffer. However, God will have mercy on those who seek His forgiveness and this will bring them great joy (32:8-11).

Prayer for life: Lord, You loved us so much that You suffered and died so that all souls might be saved. However, You are saddened by the lack of love we have for each other and the lack of gratitude for all You have done for us. Blinded by stubborn pride, we insist on ignoring Your ways and following our own counsel, even to the point of killing our unborn children. And we are suffering because of our wickedness. Let us pray for the souls of all those involved in the abortion business. May they and the mothers who are contemplating abortion allow God's grace to open their eyes to the evil that surrounds them and choose to live according to God's ways. God is always ready to forgive if we repent with a sincere heart. Then we will rejoice that the baby's life has been saved. Amen.

Have a blessed day!
John

⁶⁰Reardon, Patrick. Christ in the Psalms. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 2000. 702. Print.

Scripture (Psalms 25-36) taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Copyright © 2010 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is offered to the public free of charge in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and for the glory of God.