Psalm 32

Aged 19, one of the great American theologians
Young Jonathan Edwards
decided to make a list of resolutions.

Like many of us try to do when we come up to a new year
Or about turning a new page or taking a new direction
Edwards instead took a whole year to pen all his
He went for 70
Here's how he starts it all off

"Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake."

Edwards was seeking an intentional forward gaze
What was he going to let shape his soul

We might not talk the same way as him now
Yet Edwards was onto something with his 70 resolutions.
his 22nd resolution reads,

"Resolved: To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigor, and vehemence, yea, violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of."

Getting a real grip on my soul's bearing
Owning up to the total landscape of my soul accurately

Or as Paul puts it in his letter to the Philippians
Living now like we are in training for the resurrection to come

1Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
The stand out word Edwards called Happiness
King David calls blessed

Blessed isn't just a single personal encounter
Blessed is a community experience
A household sharing - it's a plural experience of us together

Blessed points us to the abundant, overflowing, profuse grace
blessedness is what God showers upon those who love him.

grace is nothing less than God's gift of faith and repentance, the desire to die to self so that we gain life in and only through Jesus .

Looking more and more to Jesus while becoming more and more like Jesus

God's grace reshapes and transforms us to be like Christ
That's where God turns our face towards him
The question is will we be happy in God's holiness.
It is costly
David points the way

What is happiness made of
Whose happiness is it
Where is happiness found

What are we to make of Psalm 32
what is happiness made of?
As we read in Psalm 32:1-2

1Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

True happiness is forgiveness for transgression.
our sin covered.
Sin is the want and waste in our lives
We are used, misused and abused
We crave and want and throw our heart at the world
Our bodies can make us miserable
We face general hardship or troubles or limitations
We grumble and complain about what isn't

It's that place we find ourselves
What we so often do next is sin

God opens our eyes to see the theatre of his glory
Grace is God breaking open
the messy broken stumbling world of our lives
where Jesus steps in to redeem us as we are

as we so often seem to think that we have to look good for God to want to chage us