Stop, look and listen

Churches that emerged from the sixteenth century protestant reformation regard this day dedicated to the hearing of the story of the passion of Jesus as one occasion in the year when the Lord's Supper should be celebrated, citing support from St Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11:24 'As often as you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes'. Yet, since early on in the Christian era, there were two days in the year when the Lord's Supper was not celebrated, as the whole church in different ways not simply remembered but relived the story from Thursday evening to Saturday evening. 

This is a day of quiet attention to the story of Jesus' suffering and death. Each detail of the narrative, from any of the Gospels, can permit a glimpse into the nature of the sinful and evil deeds which caused this injustice. The truth of the story holds a mirror to ourselves, so this becomes a day of expressing sorrow for sin, in ourselves and in our world. It is a day of return to the infinite compassion and mercy of God in as full a way as possible. Not simply in our thoughts, and efforts to pray, but with our whole being. The practise of walking and praying the Way of the Cross originated in Jerusalem and spread throughout the world. It enables worshippers to imagine what happened as if it occurred wherever they are. Active participation of this kind brings home the story's relevance to the whole of humankind. 

The reading of St John's Passion during the liturgical celebration of the Word, takes place during the three hours when Jesus suffered on the cross. The first three Gospels tell the story in a way that invites us to think about who this man is, who sacrifices his life for the sake of divine truth, who'd save others rather than saving himself. It invites us to confess this is the Son of God. St John, on the other hand, announces at the outset of his Gospel that Jesus uniquely is God's Son and eternal Word. He tells the same story in ways that reveal the splendour of divinity in his human existence, above all in the way he offers his life and accepts suffering so completely for God's sake.   

The dramatization of the reading of the Passion Gospel has happened for the past fifteen hundred years in the public life of Christian faith and worship, as a way of enabling believers to identify with the story. Creative imagination and reflection on the passion has resulted in it being represented in visual art, music, poetry and drama, aiming to take worshippers more deeply into its rich depths of meaning. Artistic endeavour by anyone, however simple or sophisticated, is a pathway to deep silent communion at the heart of prayer.

The greatest of the Suffering Servant Songs (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) is read before the Passion is proclaimed. It gives an insight into how Jesus may have understood his own mission, and how the first Christians soon came to understand it, after initial dismay and bewilderment at the shame and horror of his unjust death, and their failure to prevent it.

For all or any part of this day, making time to stop and dwell with thoughts of what it means and commemorates in whatever way we choose to do it, is a conscious effort to look at Jesus look at ourselves, and listen to what God's Spirit has to tell us about mercy and pardon. It is a day for reconciliation, a day for forgiveness, a day of letting go of all that separates us from God, allowing his love to free, strengthen and heal us. A day for re-shaping, re-aligning our future.

'Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.'

Remember and proclaim

Maundy Thursday takes its name from the Latin 'novum mandatum', meaning a new commandment. Two quite different eucharistic gatherings take place on this day. The first is with the Bishop in the Cathedral, when the focus of the celebration is the healing ministry of the church, featuring the blessing of Holy Oils used in baptism, confirmation and ministry to the sick. The Servant's missionary declaration of purpose from Isaiah 61 sets the tone - 'The Spirit of the lord is upon me.' read first, then re-read in the Gospel from Luke 4:16-21 where Jesus reads the passage during synagogue worship and speaks to the congregation about it representing his vocation to offer healing, liberation, and good news of hope from God.

It is an occasion for priests to rededicate themselves to ministry, following the example of Christ the servant. It is an occasion when all God's people can share in taking ownership of the church's ministry, as part of preparation to renew baptismal vows together on Easter Eve at the climax of this three days of re-living the Saviour's passion and passover from death to resurrection. 

This is also the time of the Jewish Passover celebration. This evening's Eucharist has a passover theme, opening with a reading from Exodus about remembering the events with a special meal. St Paul speaks of the commandment received by his followers from Jesus of remembering him by sharing bread and wine together in thanksgiving, but not only for the liberation of the Israelites at the first passover, but in thanksgiving for the self-sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of the world's sin, and reconciliation with God.

'Do this ... in remembrance of me. Whenever you eat this bread and drink from this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.' (1 Corinthians 11:25b-26)

All those accompanying Jesus would have grown up sharing this special meal, remembering the Exodus and Passover to affirm their Jewish identity. The introduction by Jesus of the words 'This is my body ... this is my blood' over the broken bread and cup, change the meaning of the action forever. They provide a unique point of reference for Christian prayer and worship in relation to Jesus.

The Gospel read this night doesn't repeat the story Paul tells, or repeat what the first three Gospels report about Jesus' words at this meal. Instead, John's Gospel tells how Jesus washed the disciples' feet after supper and gave them the 'new commandment' - "Love one another, as I have loved you." Love, expressed in the humblest acts of service and in his own self sacrifice. Eating and praying together, bonded by love and mutual care are foundations of the personal relationship each person can make with God in the intimacy of their hearts. Jesus also says

'I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.' (John 13:15)

Each person who would serve others, must also let themselves be ministered to. Jesus showed this in accepting Mary's anointing of him a few days earlier. Whenever we pray, this is not just an occasion for us to offer something to God. God is already offering himself, his life for us, and this is cause for thanksgiving and praise. Words from a Psalm rejoicing in deliverance from peril and enemies, have long been linked by the church to the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

'What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I shall lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.' (Psalm 116:12-13)

After the meal and conversation, Jesus and the disciples end with a hymn of thanksgiving and retire to the Garden of Gethsemane to enjoy the silence of night under the passover moon in personal prayer. The church imitates them by moving away from the main worship area to a place where worshippers can keep a prayer vigil as long as they wish during the night hours. It is a time to recall the agonising of Jesus over his ultimate surrender in total trust and obedience to God, even to death. 

'Not my will, but thy will be done.'  (Luke 22:42)

In recalling his betrayal, interrogation and abuse, also the disciples' flight and Peter's denial, we reflect on our own steadfastness of faith: 'Lord, is it I? Psalms of Lament and penitence can be read. Despite their grim intensity, they will be found ultimately to express trust in the One who vindicates His Suffering Servant.
   

Self recognition

In today's portion of the Servant Songs, the calling of the one who God calls to be servant of his Word is declared to reach back before his birth. But there is more. The Servant's calling is not just to serve the children of Israel but all people everywhere. The prophecy of Simeon over the infant Jesus in the Temple acclaims him to be 'The light to lighten the Gentiles'. (Luke 2:32) Clearly Simeon was familiar with the oracles of Isaiah.

'I will make you the light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.' (Isaiah 42:6)

In many ways the story of Jesus' passion sheds light on human behaviour that is relevant far beyond its historical and cultural context. Everyone can find different aspects of themselves reflected in the participants of those events. Identifying ourselves with the traitor Judas is less than easy, uncomfortable in fact. When Jesus said "One of you will betray me." (John 13:21)  those present responded with bewilderment. "Lord is it I?" (Matt 26:22). Hearing the warning of Jesus about the imminent crisis, Peter was quick to assert that he would defend and protect Jesus, yet he flees, and then lies about his association with Jesus.

"Before the cock crows, you will have disowned me three times."  (John 13:33)

To betray is to hand someone over to their enemies. Peter doesn't do this, but his denials betray his weakness and fear, his inability to keep his word. Having warned his disciples, Jesus lets Judas go about his business. Although aware that Judas is up to no good, Jesus will give no more warnings, he simply lets everything happen.

Judas is responsible for the disciples' common purse. John regards him as a thief. He asks for money from the chief priests for leading them to arrest Jesus. Love of money is thought to be the motivation for his action by many ancient interpreters. But, in way love, of power is just as likely. Judas wants to engineer a confrontation with religious authorities that will pressurise Jesus into revealing himself and his true authority. Judas wants to set the agenda for others, wants everyone to interpret things his way, as he sought to when he  reproached Mary's generosity after her anointing of Jesus.

When Judas leaves the supper table to inform the chief priests, the others assume he is going away on some charitable errand. They do not question. Are they in awe of this capable and confident man? The relationship between Judas and the other disciples also merits consideration. Do they trust him? Do they put up with him without really liking him because Jesus does?

How to interpret the declaration Jesus makes "Now the Son of Man has been glorified." (John 13:31). 'Glory' is a word used to convey the true nature of divine splendour. Its Greek original can also be used to denote 'opinion', what we think of something or someone. In this statement it refers to that elusive phrase Jesus uses to speak of himself as a human being. It suggests he's saying to his disciples that in the story so far (particularly in the 'signs') they have seen what true humanity is. The revelation of the divine in him is yet to come. 

Despite Peter's protestations of loyalty, nobody can follow Jesus where he has to go. None of the disciples are aware of how things will turn out. Betrayal, denial, rejection, come as unexpectedly as his untimely and unjust death. 

At this time we take into our prayer the disciples' words: 'Lord, is it I', and try to remain as conscious of we can of our vulnerability to fall short of our own hopes and convictions in the face of unforeseen events that out us to the test, for the truth is, if we had been there at the time, our reactions might have been similar.
  

Active Remembering

After Jesus has been warned of the threat Herod poses on his life and dismisses it, he states

"I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem." (Luke 13:33)

Holy Week is the final stage of Lent, what the journey so far has been preparing for. From today's commemoration of Jesus' public entry into Jerusalem to cheering crowds, onwards day by day, the events are recalled that lead up to his betrayal, condemnation, execution and burial, then the discovery of his empty tomb, and his first resurrection appearances. 

The timing of this week each year is linked to the Jewish festival of passover, the occasion when the passion of Jesus occurred. The tradition of active remembrance, imagining and dramatising the story as each day passes, is derived from the way Jews keep the Passover; re-living the story, as if it was happening now and they were participants. 

The whole week, taken like this forms an initiation into an immersive kind of prayer. With good reason, this is central to the process of bringing candidates to baptism. One of the first acts in celebrating Christ's resurrection is the  the baptism of adult candidates and collective renewal of baptismal vows by all the faithful.

During Holy Week services and outside of them in personal prayer, participants seek to imagine unfolding events, and can do so as an observer, surveying and trying to understand the entire scenario, or by taking the point of view of someone taking part in the events. The tradition of Passiontide pageants, tableaux and plays is a way of making concrete this imaginative process.

When he arrives with his disciples, Jesus rides a donkey into the city. To those with a sense of history, this reminds them of a royal entry into the city in a previous millennium, when Solomon receives the throne from his aged father David.

'And the king (David) said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet there anoint him king over Israel.' (1 Kings 1:33-34)
 
It also resonates with a prophetic oracle from the period of the return from exile in Babylon and the re-building of the Temple five hundred years earlier. It looks forward to the Messiah's arrival in Jerusalem. The evangelist cites this as an interpretation of the event.

'Behold, your king comes to you, triumphant and victorious. He is humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.' (Zech 9:9)

Jesus is already known in Jerusalem and has a popular reputation, so he is acclaimed as one who belongs to the city, David's city, and its people, though not actually hailed as Messiah, even if many may wonder if this is so.

'Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!' (Matthew 21:9)

He is identified as the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee, and when he visits the Temple he acts as a prophet might be expected to, expelling money changers, declaring they do not belong in holy precincts, and challenging religious leaders who are outraged by his action and demanding an explanation.

In hearing the story, with whom do we identify among its many participants? Can we see it all from several different people's perspectives?

In order to exercise compassion and act lovingly in any situation, our prayer needs to allow us to put ourselves in the position of others in seeking God's guidance. The rehearsal of the Passion of Jesus, annually and in regular reading can teach us to exercise imagination and find compassion in our prayer for others in our locality and in the wider world.

'Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.' (Phil 4:6)

Overcoming dread

Religious authorities were afraid when they saw the rising popularity of Jesus, afraid their Roman colonial overlords would see his spiritual leadership as politically threatening, with damaging consequences for Jews and their home land. Their own high priest thought it was expedient to do away with Jesus and eliminate the risk of losing the privileged identity they struggled and suffered to preserve as God's chosen people. Thus they began to look for ways to arrest him, try and execute him for blasphemy. What they most feared happened anyway forty years after the time of Jesus, when Jerusalem was razed, the Temple destroyed and the inhabitants dispersed, if not killed.

Fear of annihilation distorted their perspective and their vision for the welfare of Jewish people and their religion. Fear undermined the trust that God alone deserved to receive from them. Fear robbed them of confidence in dealing with change and new opportunities to glorify the God of their ancestors. Fear could only spur them to actions destructive for themselves and others. This can happen to anyone, no matter how strong and active they are in believing or praying, unless their prayer life embraces the fact of fear as a force to reckon with. St John, in his first epistle declares

'There is no fear in love, perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment.' (1 John 4:18a)

Punishment is the painful consequence of actions which others consider wrong, whether justifiably or not. Fear of punishment although intended to deter someone from repeating the offence doesn't always have the desired effect, unless some learning about the nature of the offence and the reason for punishment has occurred. Such is the pervasive nature of sin that perpetrator, victim and those who pass judgement may not fully understand or learn from the experience of suffering which sin causes. Reality can be terribly painful. Healthy human beings instinctively flee pain, just as they seek to avoid punishment. 

Faced with adversity and suffering it is not unusual for people to dread this as divine punishment. Persecution by enemies is often regarded as something permitted by God as punishment for sin in Hebrew scripture. This also carries over into the Christian era. 

'My heart is in anguish within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me, And horror has overwhelmed me. I said, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness.' (Psalm 55:4-7)

'LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.' (Ps 6:1)

'O LORD, rebuke me not in Your wrath, And chasten me not in Your burning anger. For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me.…' (Ps 38:1)

One word is used both for reverence and for fear in Hebrew language. Disabling fear is too easily associated with God. It needs to be overcome, trusting 'God is love' (1 John 4:8). Only by God's grace can the depth of truth about the human condition be addressed, In prayer, we expose ourselves to the unique healing, learning process which God's love effects in us.

'By grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works (i.e. our own efforts) so that no one may boast.' (Eph 2:8-9)

Following the oracles of the prophet Habakkuk comes an unusual prayer declaring awe and wonder at God's power, expressed in nature and in the rescue of his chosen people from enemies. It concludes, voicing trust in God despite the worst calamity of nature - famine - with rejoicing and praise. Loving trust in God, by grace, can triumph over the worst fear.

Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls; nevertheless, I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.' (Hab 3:17-19)

God's children

The people of the Exodus and some prophets of Israel were at ease regarding themselves collectively as God's sons (in effect God's children), and God as their father,

'Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, "Israel is My son, My firstborn. "So I said to you, 'Let My son go that he may serve Me' (Exodus 4:22)

'Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine, even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.' (Psalm 80:14-15)

'Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the Lord speaks, "Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.' (Isaiah 1:2)

When his contemporaries heard Jesus speak of his intimate relationship with his Father, they regarded him as going beyond how they thought about themselves in relation to God to the point of blasphemy. 

He quotes to them verse six of Psalm 82, somewhat provocatively, as the Psalm is about divine moral judgement against lesser divinities, exercised by the one who is 'A great king above all gods' (Psalm 95:3b), and Author of the Law. These gods do not inhabit eternity, but are mortal, for they are projections of human imagination and ignorance.

'They do not know, neither do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, "You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High. Nevertheless you will die like men And fall like any one of the princes."…' (Psalm 82:5-7)

What is said of lesser divinities also applies to human beings. Yet despite being born to die, human beings are held in special regard, called to partake of divine life in eternity.

'What are human beings that you are mindful of them, morals that you care for them? You made them little lower than a god and crowned them with glory and honour.' (Ps 8:4-5)

For Jesus, whether anyone can truly be regarded as a son of God depends on whether or not they do the Father's work, keep his commandments, believe and trust in him. His critics see what he does and the way he does it, but find this too demanding of them challenging their actions and attitudes, and so they reject the evidence of his life, and end up denying any sense in which he could be regarded as like them, sons of the Most High.

Conscious of our faults and frailties, we come to prayer in humility, taking our confidence to approach despite our limitations God from St Paul's words 

'For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.' (Galatians 3:26)

And from St John

'Beloved we are God's children now. What we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.' (1 John 3:2)

This is a good and sufficient reason pray as Jesus taught us saying - 'Our Father ... '  

I am love

God acknowledges Abraham's faithful trust and promises that he will be regarded as the common ancestor of generation after generation to come among the peoples of the promised land and its surroundings. Jewish people spoke then as now of 'our father Abraham'. Jesus seems to be claiming a special relationship with Abraham in his conversation in the Temple with his contemporaries, reported by St John. It takes a strange turn when he says 

"Whoever keeps my word will never see death." (John 8:51) 

They challenge him: who is he claiming to be? Jesus claims nothing for himself. He speaks only what his heavenly Father gives him. The Father declares loving mercy and compassion, as the ultimate power to deliver humankind from the annihilation of death. Jesus makes this timeless word his own. Physical death is natural, unavoidable, but in relationship to God, there is hope of an utterly different kind of existence. As St Paul later says 

'The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life' (Romans 6:23)

Jesus speaks of Abraham as if they were contemporaries. All those who have ever kept faith with God are equally alive to him, and equally looking forward to the great day when God's work will be realised in the coming of the Messiah. But his living sense of perspective makes no sense to them. Their imaginations are limited. 'Our father Abraham is dead. The prophets are dead too.' so how can he have personal knowledge of Abraham. He responds

'Before Abraham was I AM.'

Jesus doesn't just declare God's words, he embodies the divine Word, ever present. This is the ultimate prophetic utterance, and it is taken as blasphemy by his audience, people who are unconvinced of his standing as a teacher of faith, let alone a spokesperson of God. This phrase 'I AM' is the same as that uttered by God in revelation to Moses (Exodus 3:14, 6:2). It becomes the divine name, so sacred as to avoid direct invocation lest it be called in vain. Also it appears in a celebration of divine sovereignty in the Psalms, in a phrase that is key to deepening the inner journey of prayer.  

'Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted upon earth.' (Psalm 46:10)

In John's Gospel however it is used boldly, linked with seven images, through which Jesus builds an accessible picture of the divine nature - I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the gate, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am the way the truth and the life, I am the true vine. Also in the Revelation to John 'I am the Alpha and the Omega' (Rev 1:18 and 21:6, 22:13), also 'Here I am, I stand at the door and knock' (Rev 3:20). 

In the development of human consciousness and speech, the personal utterance 'I am' marks the emergence of distinct individuality, derived from the creator's own uniqueness. In prayer meditating on the phrase 'I am love' can serve to remind us of the relationship for which we exist. It both declares what God is, and what we his children are called to be.

'Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.'  (1 John 4-7)

     

Gazing at the cross

In the wilderness, Moses wards off an attack by poisonous serpents on the children of Israel, by using the power of suggestion to mitigate the impact of their fear of being bitten, fear more deadly than the poisonous bite itself. The bronze image of a serpent raised above the people will rescue them if they will keep looking at it.

'And if anyone was bitten by a serpent, he looked at the bronze serpent and lived.'  (Num 21:9)

It's an image Jesus draws upon in cryptic reference to his own fate, being lifted up on the cross, first in his night time conversation with Nicodemus

"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." (John 3:14)

Later, in conversation with his critics among the Pharisees he alludes to his death again with the same cryptic image, suggesting it is the point of reference for revealing who he is

"When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realise that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as my Father has instructed me." (John 8:28)

And, he says it again in the Temple to the disciples, when some Greeks have asked to speak with him

"Now judgement is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." (John 12:31-2)

John the evangelist explicitly states that 'lifted up' refers to his execution.

'But he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die.' (John 12:33)

The cross is not yet mentioned, but John prepares those hearing the Passion story to look straight at his coming death, and find in it an image of healing and rescue.

When the method of his execution is revealed, it comes as a shock, a traumatic event that affects all who witness it. Death by crucifixion was regarded as a shameful curse, not only on the person but all associated with them, something nobody could live down. 

Paradoxically, this worst possible scenario, confronted in earnest, will reveal the immensity of divine love and mercy for all humankind. This gives meaning to the phrase 'Look and live'. Thus the act of gazing on any image of the crucified one, or the cross itself, no matter how elaborate or simple it may be, no matter how realistic or abstract it may be, becomes a path to prayer and communion with God.

'When I survey the wondrous cross on which the prince of glory died,
me riches gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.'

'Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul my life my all.'
     

How to search conscience

One of the additions to the book of Daniel featuring in the deutero-canonical writings of the Apocrypha is the story of Susanna, falsely accused of adultery by two men whose evil advances she refuses. She is saved from condemnation to death under the Mosaic Law by the insistence of the young Daniel on the interrogation of the men separately. 

They condemn themselves by the inconsistency of their lies, although it is clear that without Daniel's intervention, she would have been executed without a hearing on the untested evidence of two men alone. Normally in that setting, the testimony of women was disregarded, and that of men alone to be relied upon. Daniel reveals the unjust and foolish nature of custom and practise, but in spite of this, such a travesty of inequality under the law can still be found in our times.

Susanna, accused and automatically condemned cries out loud to God about the false accusation, and God arouses Daniel to act and speak out with authority on her behalf. Even though he is young, his reputation for wisdom commands the attention of the crowd and leads to Susanna's acquittal.

In the Gospel story about the woman taken in adultery from John 8:1-11 (or after Luke 21:38), it is not a matter of proving her innocence, but rather how she is rescued from certain death under the same Law of Moses. To those who have put her on trial, those who have presumed the power of life and death over her, Jesus says: 

"Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 

And nobody can. 

He has invited them to search their consciences, and they admit to themselves that they too sin and break God's law. None of them would want to be punished for whatever their consciences accuse them of. Their honesty spares a life. Jesus will not condemn her either. 

"From now on, do not sin again." 

is all he will say.

When we're honest with God about the state of our consciences, God doesn't condemn us. These words of Jesus apply also to us, whatever we've done or failed to to. If we think of sin as causing suffering to anyone, including ourselves, it is easier to search our hearts honestly than it is to trawl through the catalogue of religious and moral rules to identify a breach. The greatest moral evil is not to care at all about the impact of our actions on others.

'Happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! Happy is the one to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit!'  (Psalm 32:1)