Scripture Songs: Greatest Tunes of the Old Testament How to Overcome a Mistake or Failure A song of confession: admonishing us to come clean before God. Psalm 32:1-11 Pastor Brian Messler May 31, 2015 Prayer: God, today, may we understand the road to forgiveness, the path of redemption, and the walkway of reconciliation with you. We thank you God, for providing wonderful scriptures to help us see the depth of the love that you have for us. Work within us this morning as we seek you more. For we pray it in the name of the one who provides the way to you, Jesus, the Christ. Amen Sermon: Have you ever had those moments when you do something wrong and you know you did, but you don t say anything? You are too embarrassed to ask for forgiveness, to seek out reconciliation, and you just let it stew? I have those moments from time to time. One time in particular, I was a student at Bridgewater College. I signed up for a room and it wasn t ready for me when I got there, I got upset, sent a note to the facilities person, got angry and blew up. I let the anger out on this person. It was only, after one month, did I realize that I never did schedule the event with them! Ugh. I sat on that feeling for a while, scared of what the response to my apology would be, worried that I would be hated, worried that I already did irreparable damage to our relationship, our friendship. Do you know what that feels like, knowing you did something wrong and just sit there in the guilt, the awkward feeling of what to do and not sure how to handle the situation? At some point later, I went and apologized and he was gracious enough to forgive and we worked it out; however, that feeling, that feeling of anxiety, guilt, frustration- that hangs around you like a cloud if restoration does not happen. I think we have all had that feeling perhaps some of you right now. Today, we are looking at Psalm 32, the whole Psalm, and it in, we are going to learn about how to work through that distance to be reconciled and to overcome the mistakes, failures, and sin we have in life. As we are in Psalm 32, we first of all recognize that David is the author. While he was a great king and walked with God for much of his life, we also know that he committed adultery and murder. When David speaks, he does so as a sinner who has been forgiven. The particular sin that David refers to is not important because there are plenty to choose from. What we have in Psalm 32 is a psalm to help us know that we can be fully restored and completely forgiven no matter what we ve done. This psalm is one of the seven psalms of forgiveness, which include Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. Psalm 32 has also been referred to as one of Paul s Psalms because it is quoted extensively in Romans 4:6-8 to help establish that we are declared righteous not because of what we ve done, but because of what Christ has done on the Cross. 1
If you look at the very beginning of Psalm 32, right before verse 1, you ll see the phrase, A maskil. This was a literary or musical term to indicate that the words to follow are very important. In other words, this is a preaching psalm similar to the kind of psalm we looked at a few weeks ago it is given to us so that we can learn from the experiences of another. David wants us to pay particular attention to this inspired instruction so that we ll understand and embrace our need for forgiveness. This is likely one of the psalms that Paul had in mind in Colossians 3:16: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms With that in mind, let s see what we can learn about the fruit of forgiveness. We are going to break up the scripture into a few natural spots. The first natural section we have in this chapter are the first 2 verses verses one and two talk about the happiness of forgiveness. The very first word of Psalm 32 is blessed. This has a very rich meaning that cannot be defined with just one word. We could say, How happy! or Congratulations to, or, Good for the one who, or Oh, the bliss of! In addition, this word is in the plural so we could say, Oh, the multiple happiness s, the bundles of blessings to the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. This is the second Psalm that begins with the word blessed. The first use is found in Psalm 1:1: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. We are to be congratulated when we avoid sin and refuse to follow those who are a bad influence in our life. We are blessed when we do right and yet, when we do sin and mess up and have our sins forgiven, Psalm 32 says we are blessed as well. This is cool. It s much better to avoid sin and experience the blessings that come from making right choices. But when we blow it, we can still be called blessed if we ask for forgiveness. David provides a threefold description of sin in these first two verses. Transgression depicts a defiant disobedience toward God, a revolt against God. Sin means to miss the mark of God s perfection either through acts of commission or omission basically the sins we actively commit or the sin of not doing something we needed to be doing. The word translated sin in verse 2 is actually the word iniquity, which represents a crookedness, deformity, or perversion. The image is of a tree that is gnarled and twisted. The point of using these three different words is to remind us that all types of sin and wrongdoing can be forgiven. We defiantly disobey, we miss the mark, and we re inherently crooked. Our little sins are an affront to God and those big acts of rebellion offend our God. But here is the joy of God through Christ, no matter what we ve done, we can be restored. This is wonderful news friends - David also uses a triad of words to express the fullness of our forgiveness. The word forgiven means, to lift a heavy burden and carry it away. Our transgressions are taken away. Instead of trying to tug them along with us, we allow the Lord to lift them from us. The word covered refers to that which is concealed. What is offensive to God is put out of sight. The idea is that our sins are so covered that they will never appear again. The third phrase, not count against is rich in meaning. God does not count our sins against us. God erases our sin-debt from the books as if it never happened. No wonder David refers to the blessingnesses of forgiven transgressions, the covering of sins, and the erasing of our iniquities. Isaiah 1:18: Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. And, according to Isaiah 43:25, when 2
God forgives, He no longer remembers our sins: I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. In the last part of Psalm 32:2, David says that God does all this for the one in whose spirit is no deceit. That doesn t mean someone who has no faults but rather refers to those who readily admit their sins. It s the idea of authenticity. It means that we are not deceitful in acknowledging our sin. Listen carefully. The key to the Christian life is not our personal holiness, but our repentance. It s not a matter of trying to be perfect but recognizing that we re not. We need to fully admit those things that pull us away from the holiness of God. Far too many of us are dishonest about our sins. We have sin nature about us. This is always a part of the message that is tough for people to hear actually we tend to block out this part because we talk about the tough stuff. Sometimes, actually many times, we come to church to hear the touchy-feely, self-help kind of words. We like it when those things happen because, for the most part, those conversations are safe, those conversations do not really challenge us to live a new kind of life. Friends, our faith is not just based on our coming to church, it is about realizing the immense love that God has for us through Christ. In understanding that, we also need to realize that we are fallen people. If you find an apple with a worm hole, it does not mean that there is a worm inside the apple. It simply means that an insect laid an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatched in the heart of the apple, then ate its way out. Despite the appearance, the worm doesn't work its way into the apple, it works its way out. And so it is with sin. It doesn't work its way into our hearts, it works its way out. Although manifest much later through our words and actions, it was there all along, hidden in the very blossom of our human nature. "Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them." Mark 7:15. It is interesting that back in the day, the awareness and idea of sin used to be something that concerned us. Christians hated sin; feared it, fled from it, grieved over it. Some of our grandparents agonized over their sins; however, it seems that now, where sin is concerned, people just mumble and shake our shoulders. Are you mumbling about your meanderings, excusing your infractions, and being deceived by your disobedience? If we re not real with God, David describes what will happen in verses 3-5. This is the second section of Psalm 32. The first was the happiness of forgiveness, the second section, verses 3-5 concerns the heaviness of our sin. Look at verse 3: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. David is reflecting upon those times when he chose to keep quiet about his sins. When he tried to ignore his iniquities his bones felt like they were decaying. The word groaning was used to describe the roar of a wounded animal, or the growl of a bear. David tells us that his groaning went on all day long, or continuously, without intermission. When we don t own our sins, our bodies revolt. Instead of happiness, we experience heartache. When we keep our mouths shut, our conscience screams. When we bottle up evil our bones waste away. Proverbs 28:13: He who conceals his sins does not prosper. We could put it this way: we are only as sick as our secrets. The secret you want most to conceal is the one you most need to reveal. Brothers and sisters, what have you been concealing? What is it that you ve been hiding? It s time to come clean. Verse 4 continues, For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. Even at night David could not rest from the cries 3
of his conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The word heavy means, to grievously afflict. God s hand can bring blessings but can also bear down on us. It s because He cares so much for us. He loves us just the way we are but loves us too much to let us keep living the way we are. David recalls feeling like his strength was sapped, his energy evaporated as in the heat of the summer. Listen to how he described this time in his life from Psalm 38:2-8: For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me my bones have no soundness because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. These verses remind us that when we don t fully confess we will experience emotional and physical distress. Anger and bitterness can come as a result of unconfessed sin and will eat your insides out. Ulcers, high blood pressure, migraine headaches, and lower back pain can come from concealing our sins. David is suggesting here in verse 4 that you could be dry spiritually because of some specific disobedience in your life. After describing his spiritual drought and distress, David then writes the word, Selah immediately following this verse. This is a word that beckons us to pause and think about what has just been said. David doesn t want us to miss the point. Only confession will bring restoration. Where do you need restoration in your life? Let s pause for a moment to perhaps confess in our hearts those things we need forgiveness for. (PAUSE IN THE SERMON) It s not easy for us to admit our sins, is it? It s like the guy who went into the Hallmark store and asked the clerk, Do you have a card that stops short of saying I m sorry yet vaguely hints of some wrongdoing? Many of us do this with God when we re not specific about our sins. We might admit, at times, our frailty but rarely do we fall down on our knees in real repentance. Two elderly Southern women were sitting together in the front pew of church listening to a fiery preacher. He was banging the pulpit and the ladies were cheering him on. When he condemned the sin of stealing, the two church ladies cried out loudly, Amen, brother! When he condemned the sin of lust, they yelled again, Preach it, Reverend! And, when he spoke out against lying, they jumped to their feet and screamed, Right on, brother, tell it like it is - amen! But when preacher-man condemned the sin of gossip, the two got very quiet. One lady turned to the other and said, Well, he s done quit preachin. Now he s just meddlin. What sin shuts you up this morning? It s easy for us to get upset with those who sin differently than we do but it s much tougher when the Holy Spirit starts meddlin in our lives. Are you getting meddled with this morning? Are you being convicted of something this morning? Verse 5 gives us the right approach. When David could find relief in no other way, he said, 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. Instead of concealing, David is now confessing. He first acknowledged his sin by stating the obvious. Then he stopped trying to cover it up. By the way, we can t expect God to cover what we re not willing to uncover. Finally, he confessed to the Lord. In a sense, he s like the prodigal son who had grown tired of living with the pigs. He owns his wrong and doesn t make any excuses. David finally surrendered. Notice that he takes personal responsibility by the use of personal pronouns my sin, my iniquity, my transgressions. David repeats the three words for sins mentioned in verse 1: he 4
acknowledges his sin, he does not cover up his iniquity, and he confesses his transgressions to the Lord. Notice that he doesn t deny, minimize, or blame someone else. He simply calls his sin, sin. It s not an error, a mistake, or a lapse in judgment. He doesn t argue about what the meaning of is is. The greatest holdout to the healing of my hang-ups is me. We would be much better off if we would stop using other words and phrases to excuse our behavior and begin using biblical terms. We sin. John Piper puts it this way: Until we fear sin and its consequences more keenly, we will not prize our pardon very highly. This may sound blunt to you but actually it s much better to call sin what it is. Why is that? And this is the wonderful part of this morning, we call sin a sin because, guess what, there s a solution for sin - it s called forgiveness. Until we acknowledge that what we ve done is sinful, we won t experience freedom and restoration. Confession is more than merely informing God that we ve sinned. It also involves a turning away. It s only when we stop being quiet about our specific sins, when we refuse to hide our transgressions and admit to God what we can barely admit to ourselves, that we will experience the fruit of forgiveness. Instead of just confessing our sins wholesale, it s time to own up for the specifics. Here s a helpful phrase to keep in mind: when you make a mess, confess! When you recognize your sin and reject it, God will remove it: And you forgave the guilt of my sin. We don t have to beg God to forgive us because He wants to forgive more than we want to be forgiven. We don t have to bargain with Him and we don t have to bribe Him by promising to do a bunch of good things, and we don t have to do penance for the bad things we ve done. Another pause is needed here, Selah, so that we don t rush past the beauty of having all of our sins forgiven. Take some time right now to specifically confess any sins that you ve been concealing. Another Selah moment here, where David puts in this word to remind us to pause and think about what was just shared, you first confessed and we took a moment of pause, now David tells us that because we confess, God forgives our sin. Friends, lets pause just for a moment and just be thankful for the grace of God s forgiveness, pray a prayer of thanks that God has forgiven us. Finally, we run into the third part of the Psalm. After talking about the happiness of forgiveness and the heaviness of sin, in verses 6-11, David draws our attention to the help of God. God s help is seen in three ways. David first talks about God s protection. Verses 6-7 share, 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. David urges those who are godly to pray. There s a sense of urgency attached to this call to prayer. Verse 7 says that He will keep us from trouble and surround us with songs of deliverance. He is our hiding place. It s interesting that in the beginning of this psalm, David is hiding his sins from God; now he is hiding himself in God. Whenever we confess our sins and find forgiveness, we will want to seek shelter under His wings. Doesn t that sound amazing? We don t have to run from God, We can run to God, seeking His holy and wonderful shelter. Another point, David puts the word Selah here, pausing to reflect on the protection that God has given us in the midst of our trouble, surrounding us with a song of deliverance. Take just a moment and think about those times when God s hand of protection has surrounded you and protected you. The second way God helps us overcome is through His instruction. Look at verses 8-10 with me, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my 5
loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the LORD s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. God promises to instruct us and teach us in the way we should go. The blessing of protection is wonderful but it would be incomplete if it were not accompanied by His direction. What good would it be if He guarded us from destruction but didn t tell us which way to go? Verse 9 warns us about not being stubborn and stupid when it comes to following God: Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. By nature, most of us are wild and unwilling to obey. When David acted like a mule, God put the bridle of suffering on him and pulled him to repentance. Is God humbling you right now? Is He trying to break you with the bit and bridle? He only does this so we will see our need and come back to Him. The last way that God helps us is giving us His joy. When we stay close to the Lord by cultivating a spirit of surrender and submission, and when we practice regular confession, we can t help but break out into joy: Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! The word, rejoice means to spin around with glee. And the phrase be glad literally means, to brighten up! When we have our sins forgiven we can t help but break out into spontaneous expressions of joy. David put it this way in Psalm 92:4: You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me! I sing for joy because of what you have done. Those who are forgiven much love much. Those who have their sins covered can leap for joy. Conversely, if you don t have much joy in your life today it may be because you ve been carrying around a burden of guilt. Sin may be sucking the life out of you. It may be strangling your joy. Friends, there are times that I have dragged around a sin for a long time and so have you. In fact, some of you came into church today carrying a boatload of bitterness. The only way to be rid of your regrets and to have your sins covered is to confess them to God. When you do, He will forgive you. And when He does, your sins are forgotten and you re free! Some of you have asked for forgiveness but you re still pulling a suitcase of sin with you. If you ve confessed and repented, God has forgiven you. Can you forgive yourself? Are you ready right now to have your sins forgiven and your life changed forever? I want to close with a prayer for all of us. Today, friends, if you haven t surrendered to God, if you haven t given yourself over to the redemptive power of Christ, if you just need a moment to confess, I would like for us to pray together. As I pray this prayer, perhaps it can be a prayer that you need to pray as well. Lord Jesus, for too long I ve kept you out of my life. I admit that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. I repent of my sins by changing my mind about the way I ve been living. I don t want to drag my sins around anymore. No longer will I close the door when I hear you knocking. By faith I gratefully receive your gift of salvation. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to earth. With all my heart I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead on the third day. Thank you for bearing my sins and giving me the gift of eternal life. I believe your words are true. I accept you into my heart. Be my Savior and Lord. I surrender to your leadership in my life. Make me into the person you want me to be. Amen. 6