“Psa. 32:1 ¶    Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

                        whose sin is covered.

Psa. 32:2         Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

                        and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Psa. 32:3 ¶      For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away

                        through my groaning all day long.

Psa. 32:4         For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;

                        my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

Psa. 32:5 ¶      I acknowledged my sin to you,

                        and I did not cover my iniquity;

             I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

                        and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Psa. 32:6 ¶      Therefore let everyone who is godly

                        offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;

             surely in the rush of great waters,

                        they shall not reach him.

Psa. 32:7         You are a hiding place for me;

                        you preserve me from trouble;

                        you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Psa. 32:8 ¶      I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

                        I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Psa. 32:9         Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,

                        which must be curbed with bit and bridle,

                        or it will not stay near you.

Psa. 32:10 ¶    Many are the sorrows of the wicked,

                        but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.

Psa. 32:11       Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous,

                        and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (English Standard Version)

My wife was briefly involved in a cover-up this morning. No, there is no need to call the FBI, Homeland Security, or even a marriage counselor. It wasn’t quite that dramatic.

She couldn’t find her phone. I was upstairs and had left my own phone downstairs. My wife is very logical. Also, even though she loves me dearly, she is not blind to my tendencies. She yelled upstairs, “I think you have my phone!”

I couldn’t very well argue, since I assumed she was right. I started looking. The bathroom, my desk, my bed, my chest of drawers—nada.

Eventually, I went downstairs, grabbed my phone, and called my wife’s number. We could hear her phone ringing, but it was a bit muffled. There was a good reason for that. It was muffled by a stack of recipes. Sharon had the recipes out and her phone in the neighborhood of those recipes for an excellent cause. She helps cook on Monday nights for a ministry which provides a hot meal and groceries for those who need them. My wife was trying to figure out a way to make pork flavorful and tender. Hence, the recipes and her phone at the ready. (I sampled her work later in the day, and I can report that she succeeded admirably.)

It is frightfully easy to cover up something important. But, as is often the case with the way my brain works, my wife’s cover-up invited me to reflect. I wonder what I am covering up? Is it the right thing to cover up? What is my motive for covering something up? Do I have a motive, or is it just an accident? Covering up our smart phones might be a good thing to do on a regular basis. If you’re like me, you spend way too much time on my smart phone, which is a dumb thing to do. If I am covering up my phone so that I can serve others, that would be a very smart thing.

On the other hand, we sometimes cover up things that don’t need to be covered. They need to be confessed. ’Fessing up is not as easy as covering up, but it’s a lot healthier. Believe me: I’ve tried it both ways.

The psalm with which this post begins is one of my favorites. It points out that hiding stuff makes us sick, but confessing stuff brings back joy to our lives. Confession isn’t easy. It’s just better.

The New Testament also talks about God’s cover-up for our sins. In fact, when talking about what God has done for us in Christ, Psalm 32 is called to the witness stand (Romans 4:6-8). What Christians have historically believed (and what I presently believe, at least in my better moments) is that we must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness. We believe that Jesus died for our sins so that they might be covered.

And that, dear reader, is a very good cover-up. In fact, it’s the best cover-up of all.