4-9-2021

 Good Morning All!

       Psalm 62:8: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”

     Did you or do you keep a diary?  Do you have a place where you write down all those thoughts that you have and then lock them away so no one else will see it?  When I was much younger, it was common for girls to have diaries and to pour their hearts out in the diary.  They would lament over boys and teachers and friends and enemies and what today we call “frenemies” and only the most trusted friends ever saw the inside of the diary.  Some of the boys did but not many; it was still the time of macho tough guys; none of this touchy-feely stuff.  People like to have a way to “unload” their thoughts and feelings and not just teenage girls.  Psychologists still recommend using this method to relieve burden and stress. 

    The origin of the court jester in the royal courts was one of being someone who the king would talk to and tell him all his innermost thoughts and fears.  The court jester was then one of the few who could speak bluntly to the king and get to keep his head.  The court jester served as a confessor to the king.  The king would confess all his thought, ideas, plans, desires, fears or whatever and the court jester would be a sounding board for the king.  It is somewhat ironic that someone who is viewed as a fool or simply an entertainer would serve this role, but the court jester was one of the few people a king could trust.  The priests and bishops reported to the Pope in Rome and the other lords and ladies often had mischief and schemes afoot.  We all need some way to eliminate the frustrations and fears that we have, and we need someone or somewhere to get rid of the burden.

    Our verse for this morning speaks to us of how God is to be our confessor or our diary.  Pour your hearts out before him; what an amazing phrase and an incredible promise yet we rarely use it.  We try to hide things from God.  I do not know why we do that, but we do.  We all have something, some sin; that we just refuse to let go of that we refuse to confess and yet God knows all our secrets.  When you and I confess our sins, or admit our fears, or acknowledge our weaknesses to God; we are not telling him anything new; God already knows.  Yet by confessing our sins and our other shortcomings we benefit.  You see as long as we hang onto those sins and those fears, the devil and our old sinful nature has stuff to throw at us stuff to make us feel ashamed and unworthy of God’s gifts.  As long as we think we are hiding that sin from God we have a 100-pound weight on our back and we just keep walking getting bogged down by the weight of our sin.  And remember this is a sin which God has already forgiven we just do not want to let go so the devil just keeps picking at it like a scab from a cut, the devil just keeps picking and inflaming it and causing us pain.

   God tells us over and over,” it doesn’t have to be that way”.  Confess your sins, or as the Psalmist wrote ‘pour out your heart’ and God will give you refuge.  God sent his one and only Son to die a horrific death because he loves you; how much more proof do we need?  Pour out your heart; your sins and fears alike and let God deal with them.

 Gracious Father, we are slow to turn to you at all times and we miss so many of your tender mercies because of it.  Give us the wisdom to trust in You at all times that we may live the life that you desire for us.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,        

Pastor Bret