A Week of Psalms in New York - Psalm 32 at the Met

Auguste Rodin 'Adam' (Cast 1910) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The psalmist speaks to us of the joy of God’s forgiveness. We are reminded that forgiving is not about forgetting - absolution of our sins is not a way of escaping the consequences of our actions - our sin is embraced or “covered” by the “steadfast love [that] surrounds those who trust in the Lord” - like the father’s embrace of his prodigal son in the famous parable (Luke 15:11–32). Sometimes we all desire such a hug!

This parable and the psalm remind us that whilst God’s forgiveness and love is prodigal (all embracing and universal), for us to forgive one another requires action on our part and openness to the grace of God. In the parable, the jealous son has not opened his heart to the father’s love and so cannot be reconciled to his brother. The psalmist tells us that we must first put our trust in the Lord, to open our hearts to Him who is the source of all life and goodness, before we can find the joy of true forgiveness. 

Not forgiving ourselves or one another can be even more harmful to us than the cause of our resentment. In the words of the psalm we hear that by failing to forgive we become prisoners to our own anger, guilt or jealousy, which leads us around “like a bridled horse.” We exist in agony; our bodies “groaning” and “dried up.” 

This physical expression of guilt is epitomised in the bronze cast of Adam by Auguste Rodin, which stands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Adam’s perfect physique is set in a contorted, sinusoidal pose as he strains to cover his nakedness. The muscles in his calves and shoulders visibly carrying the weight of his guilt and shame. Influenced by Michelangelo, Rodin gives Adam the hand of God, but unlike the Sistine Chapel, Adam points downwards to hell. The form of the left hand of the sculpture is taken from the dead Christ of the Pietà in the Cathedral of Florence. Adam’s hands frame his life - a life of denial; one which, unlike the psalmist, never knew the joy of forgiveness.

"for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15.22)

Psalm 32
The Joy of Forgiveness
Of David. A Maskil.

Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
   whose sin is covered. 
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
   and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 

While I kept silence, my body wasted away
   through my groaning all day long. 
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
   my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
          Selah 

Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
   and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’,
   and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
          Selah 

Therefore let all who are faithful
   offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
   shall not reach them. 
You are a hiding-place for me;
   you preserve me from trouble;
   you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
          Selah 

I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
   I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
   whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
   else it will not stay near you. 

Many are the torments of the wicked,
   but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. 
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
   and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Links 

Auguste Rodin, Adam (1910) – Metropolitan Museum of Art

Psalm 32 was the Psalm appointed for the Fourth Sunday In Lent - Sunday 31st March - while I was visiting New York