Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Allison.

Today's scripture offers us a wiser way of being human as we step into the day.

Have you ever carried something so long that you almost forgot you were carrying it?

Not as secret, exactly, more like a weight you've held so tightly, it starts to almost

feel like a part of you. Something you've pushed down, managed, kept moving around until it

just becomes almost normal. Today we're looking at what happens when you finally begin to

set it down. Today's scripture is Psalm 32,

3 through 7. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and

night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not

cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the guilt of my

sin. Therefore, let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found. Surely the rising of the

mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround

me with songs of deliverance. To me, the order of David's Psalm here is so profound.

He doesn't start with his confession.

He starts with what happens before.

He finally tells the truth.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away, my strength was sapped all day long, groaning. This isn't a distant theology or a vague

idea. This is a lived, embodied experience. And if you slow down enough, you can probably

recognize what it feels like in yourself. Because this kind of silence doesn't just live in

your thoughts, in your mind. It lives in your body,

in your shoulders that won't fully relax, in your jaw that stays clenched, in that low,

constant tension in your chest that you've learned to ignore. The Hebrew word here for kept

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