My boys are solidly in their research paper season, and I am here for it. It will come as no surprise that I take more joy in playing the role of proof-reader, source-finder, and sounding board than they take in having to write twelve page papers. As much as I miss the extra hours of sleep, I truly savor the times spent watching my boys wrestle down a paper of which they are proud.

Reentering the land of syllabi reminds me how much I love a rubric. I love the crystallized clarity they provide: to succeed, simply cover this series of strong suggestions. This is the stuff of a highly-responsible perfectionist’s dreams.

But real life is so very different from a research paper. I know, because I keep frantically looking for the rubrics. I want one for parenting teenagers, I want one for being married to a pastor, I want one for deepening a soul, helping heal from trauma, and being a good host. I’ve even become quite adept at creating my own internal, unspoken rubrics. I don’t realize I am living out of them until I feel paralyzed by the weight of failure under my pretend rubrics.

In such a state of soul, I sat down on my couch today, worn from the holiday hustle (which also doesn’t come with a rubric, in case you were wondering). The Lord has had me in Psalm 32, so I went to where I last left off. And, as He regularly does, He met me. He showed me the most freeing rubric for growing in righteousness through His righteousness.

A Rubric for Those Longing to Be Righteous

David begins Psalm 32 confidently proclaiming the blessed happiness of those whose sins are forgiven, against whom the Lord counts no iniquity (Psalm 32:1–2). He knows this blessedness from both sides of the experience, as he shows us in the following verses which remember the holistic misery he felt when he tried to cover, hide, or deny his sin, both to himself and to other (Psalm 32: 3–4). He then gets into what I read as the rubric for righteousness.

1. Acknowledge your sin to God, don’t cover it up (Psalm 32:5). The learner will only be able to do this when he or she realizes the motivation to stop covering over weakness, failure, limitations, and sins: The Second Person of the Trinity covered himself with skin, becoming fully human yet divine, so that He could climb a cross to cover our sin. He has it and us covered. No hiding or pretending necessary.
2. Offer prayers to God in a time when he may be found (Psalm 32: 6). Spoiler alert: this is all the time because Christ stepped into time to meet an untimely death. We have full and forever access to God’s presence purchased at the cost of Christ’s precious blood. All that is left for you to do is to cry as a child who knows that he or she is heard.
3. Hide in Him (Psalm 32:7). We can hide in Him only because the Father hid His face from the Son. Wrath is gone; only safety in the Savior remains. His scars make the perfect hiding spot for the weak and weary ones.
4. Hear the shouts of deliverance which are louder than the lies (Psalm 32: 7). He sings over us, even as the Liar lies and enemies snarl. We hum the tune of sure deliverance even as we fall weary in the battles which are already won.
5. Let Him look at you as He leads you (Psalm 32:8). The gaze of a lover is both comforting and disconcerting. Being seen is hard work, as is being teachable; however, being stiff-necked and stubborn only makes being led more painful. Let him see you as He steers you. Notice the light and love in His gaze. You are His chosen race, His royal priesthood, the people of His own possession.
6. Be glad in the Lord (Psalm 32: 11). Gladness befits a people so loved and secure. Circumstances need not be favorable to experience and extol God’s full favor. In fact, unfavorable circumstances often press us into His favor faster.

As I reread the rubric, my heart grew strong even in my weakness. My job is to admit sin, cry like a child, hide in Him, look to Him in desperate dependence, and listen to Him as if my very life depended upon it. He does the rest; in fact, He already did it. “It is finished” he speaks over me. The grade is in. I have his perfect righteousness.