ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 MONITE SEPITEMA 25

DIVINE SILENCE

KO E FAKALONGO FAKA-‘OTUA

PSALM 32:3-4

FOR WHEN I KEPT SILENT, MY BONES 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. 

SAAME 32:3-4

3 Lolotonga ‘eku fakalongo pē, Ko hoku ngaahi hui na‘e ‘aufoe, Pea ‘osi ‘a e ‘aho mo ‘eku to‘e. 4 He ko e ‘aho mo e pō na‘e mamafa mai ho nima: Na‘a ku mahahu‘a hangē ha me‘a ‘i he la‘ala‘ā. (Sila)

[LILIU FAKA-TONGA]

Ko e ngutu ‘oku tapuni (fakalongo), ‘oku fa’a lelei ange ia ‘i he ngutu ‘oku ava [fa’a lea]. "Na‘a mo e vale, ka fakalongo ‘oku lau ko e poto: Ka tāpuni hono ngutu ‘oku tuku ko e tama ‘atamai” (Palovepi 17:28). "Ko e ‘aho ke sīlongo, Mo e ‘aho ke lea" (Koheleti 3:7). Ka kia Tevita, na’e ‘ikai ko ha me’a lelei ‘ene salase ("fakalongo"), ‘o ‘ikai te ne fakahaa’i ‘ene angahala ki he ‘Otua (Saame 32:5). Ko e faikovi ‘oku ‘ikai ke vete, ‘oku ne kainikavea ‘a e mo’ui, hange ha kanisaa: "Ko hoku ngaahi hui na‘e ‘aufoe, Pea ‘osi ‘a e ‘aho mo ‘eku to‘e" ‘Oku ‘i ai ‘a e fo’i lea Hepeluu ‘e taha, sipela tatau pe mo e salase, ka ‘oku ‘uhinga, “ke palau.”  Mahalo ‘oku fakatou ‘uhinga pe, koe’uhi, ko e palau’i (tanu) ‘e Tevita ‘ene angahala ‘i he kelekele.  Ko e uaine, ‘oku lelei ange ‘i hono tuku fuoloaa, ka ko e angahala ‘oku tuku loto’i ke fuoloa, ‘oku faka’a’au ke kovi ange pea iku ki he mate. 

Ko e vete ‘o e angahalaa, ‘oku ‘ikai ko e tala ki he ‘Otuaa ha me’a ‘oku ‘ikai te ne toka ‘afio’i. Pe ko ha fakafetongi pe fakatau mai ha fakamolemole, ‘o hangee ha fetongi koloa. Ko e vetee, ‘o ‘ikai ke fakalongoo, ‘oku ‘uhinga pe ia, ke te lea ‘aki ‘a e mo’oni. Pea ‘oku tali mai ‘e he Tamai ‘aki ha mo’oni ‘oku toe ma’olunga mo malohi ange: “Kuo u ‘osi fakamolemole’i koe, ‘oku ou fakamolemole’i koe he ‘aho ni, pea te u kei fakamolemole’i koe ‘i he kaha’u.” 

"Na‘a ku fakamo‘oni ki he ‘Afiona ‘eku hia, Pea na‘e ‘ikai te u fufū ‘eku angahala: Na‘a ku pehē, Te u vete ki he ‘Eiki ‘eku ngaahi talangata‘a; Pea na‘a ke tāmate‘i ‘a e mo‘ua ‘o ‘eku angahala" (Ps. 32:5).

[ENGLISH]

A closed mouth is usually preferable to an open one. "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise" (Prov. 17:28). There is "a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Eccles. 3:7). But David did himself no good when he charash ("kept silent" or "held back"), when he did not acknowledge his sin to the Lord (Ps. 32:5). Unconfessed evildoing was a devouring cancer: "my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long." "Another Hebrew word, spelled exactly the same as charash, means "to plow." Perhaps a play on words is used here, as if David plowed his sin beneath the soil. Corked wine may grow better with age, but sin that is all bottled up grows nothing but death and decay within us.

To confess is not to tell God anything he doesn't already know. Nor is it to barter for forgiveness, as if the Lord "sells" absolutions, like shoes or hamburgers, for the cash of confession. To not keep silence, but to confess, is simply to speak the truth. And our loving Father responds with a greater, stronger truth: "I have already forgiven you, forgive you now, and always will."

"I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin" (Ps. 32:5).