Run to the Lord for the Blessing of Forgiveness

Good Morning to all of you who are worshipping with us here this morning and to those online, we are glad you joined us today. We are continuing our series through the Psalms, today we are in Psalms 32, which is called a penitential psalm, there are 7 penitential Psalms, the others are Psalms 6, 38 51, 102, 130 and 143. These are Psalms of repentance.

Psalms 32 is unique though because many believe this was written by David later in life thinking about his past. I am 49, the Lord rescued me when I was at the age 15, which means I have 34 years of history and I can look back on my life and see how God has transformed my life, how he has grown me, how I failed and sinned and experienced God’s forgiveness in my life. With each new breath of life, I am overwhelmed at the grace and mercy the Lord has shown me.

Many believe David is looking back at his life and remembering his failures, specifically abusing his power, taking Bethsheba and sexually assaulting her, ultimately killing her husband, to cover up his sin, because she became pregnant. One day the prophet Nathan arrives and tells him a story of a man who has everything but steals the only lamb of the poor man. David is angry, says this man should die, Nathan says “you are that man.” Which pierced David to the heart, so much so he wrote Psalms 51 which is the Psalm of repentance of his sin, I encourage you to go home and read it, today we will read verses 10-13, which read

Psalm 51:10–13 (ESV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

Crea en mí, oh Dios, un corazón limpio, y renueva un espíritu recto dentro de mí. 11 No me eches de tu presencia, y no quites de mí tu santo Espíritu. 12 Restitúyeme el gozo de tu salvación, y sostenme con un espíritu de poder. 13 Entonces enseñaré a los transgresores tus caminos, y los pecadores se convertirán a ti.

David recognized the horror of his sin and asks God to forgive him, to cleanse him, renew him, restore the joy of salvation. But then he makes a promise to God, David promises to teach transgressors your ways and sinners to return to you. Which is important because psalms 32 is David keeping his vow, I am not sure if you noticed, but before the psalm starts it says “A Maskil of David”, the term “Maskil” seems to mean the giving of instruction, there are 12 Psalms with this title. Therefore Psalms 32 is David fulfilling his vow to teach sinners to return to the Lord while he may still be found. Let’s read it on your Bible, Bible App or follow us on the screen.

Psalm 32 (ESV)

A Maskil of David.

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

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. Selah

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

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.

You are a hiding place for me;

you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

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.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,

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

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Salmo de David. Masquil.

32 ¡Cuán bienaventurado es aquel cuya transgresión es perdonada, cuyo pecado es cubierto! 2 ¡Cuán bienaventurado es el hombre a quien el Señor no culpa de iniquidad, y en cuyo espíritu no hay engaño!

3 Mientras callé mi pecado, mi cuerpo se consumió con mi gemir durante todo el día. 4 Porque día y noche tu mano pesaba sobre mí; mi vitalidad se desvanecía con el calor del verano. (Selah) 5 Te manifesté mi pecado, y no encubrí mi iniquidad. Dije: Confesaré mis transgresiones al Señor; y tú perdonaste la culpa de mi pecado. (Selah) 6 Por eso, que todo santo ore a ti en el tiempo en que puedas ser hallado; ciertamente, en la inundación de muchas aguas, no llegarán estas a él. 7 Tú eres mi escondedero; de la angustia me preservarás; con cánticos de liberación me rodearás. (Selah)

8 Yo te haré saber y te enseñaré el camino en que debes andar; te aconsejaré con mis ojos puestos en ti. 9 No seas como el caballo o como el mulo, que no tienen entendimiento; cuyos arreos incluyen brida y freno para sujetarlos, porque si no, no se acercan a ti. 10 Muchos son los dolores del impío, pero al que confía en el Señor, la misericordia lo rodeará. 11 Alegraos en el Señor y regocijaos, justos; dad voces de júbilo, todos los rectos de corazón.

David opens up this Psalm talking about the blessedness of forgiveness, which is something we will discuss, but embedded in this statement concerning forgiveness, we discover our problem,

The Problem of Sin in our Lives

We are sinful people, the Bible tells we have all sinned and we all fall short of God’s glory. There is no one who is perfect, no one. In David’s statement concerning the blessedness of forgiveness, he uses 3 different words for sin, transgression, sin and iniquity, and what David is attemting to do is cover the wide spectrum of the problem of sin in our lives, sin has corrupted us to the very core of who we are.

Let’s examine these words, the first is transgression, which the Hebrew word David uses literally means “a going away or departure” this word pictures a rebellion against the Lord and his authority over our lives. When we sin we transgress God, our sin may hurt other people, but first and foremost our sin is a slap in the face of he God who made us and in our sin we are perpetually telling God I do not care what you say I am going to do it my way. This is why David says in Psalms 51:4

Psalm 51:4 (ESV)

Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

Contra ti, contra ti solo he pecado, y he hecho lo malo delante de tus ojos,

David certainly sinned against, Uriah, Bathsheba, the nation of Israel, but ultimately he was rebelling against God. In our sin we are in rebellion against God and perpetually slapping him in the face with our sin, telling him I know better than you.

The second word is translated sin and means to fall short or come up short. This word was used to describe in archery, when the person with a bow and arrow would shoot at the the target, the bullseye and fall short. It is nearly the exact same word in Greek in the new testament when Paul says “we have all fallen short of the glory of God”. The target is God’s law because of the problem of sin in our lives, we fail to measure up to God’s law and we fall short every time.

The third word is iniquity, which means “corrupt, twisted, or crooked.” These three words describe the problem of sin in our lives but also describe our relationship to God when we sin, we are in rebellion against God, and break his law, we fall short and the law of God condemns us, and finally sin corrupts us and our thoughts and lives become corrupt and twisted and convince ourselves we are living the good life when we are in sin.

But notice, when sin is unconfessed, especially in the life of a follower of Jesus, it impacts our whole being.

Unconfessed Sin impacts us Physically

David says my “when i kept silent my bones were wasting away” David’s unconfessed sin was wearing on him physically to the point his body was in pain. I am not saying all physical pain is due to unconfessed sin, but when we have sinned and we know it, it starts to weigh on us physically.

Unconfessed Sin impacts us Mentally

We are also impacted mentally, David says he was groaning day and night, that the hand of God was heavy on him. The weight of the guilt of sin and the conviction God was placing on him because of sin was impacting him mentally and he was most likely depressed, unable to sleep, because of the sin he was hiding.

Unconfessed Sin impacts us Spiritually

Unconfessed sin impacts us spiritually and our relationship to God, we cannot have a vibrant, flourishing relationship with God if we are living a life of sin. David says he was living in a dry summer heat and his strength was failing him. We here in Arkansas are in the middle of summer, we just experinced a hot humid week, if you are out working in this weather, you know what David is trying to explain, trying to work when it is extremly hot and humid is difficult, your strehgth dries up quickly, this is what your spiritual life is like when you have unconfessed sin in your life.

David explain very well what he was going through, when he was dealing with unconfessed sin in his life. Maybe you are here and are a follower of Christ and you are experinceing this in your life, or maybe you are here and you have yet to become a follower of Jesus, but your feeling the weight of your sin, their is a solutions and David gives it to us in Psalms 32:5-6

Psalm 32:5–6 (ESV)

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

Therefore let everyone who is godly

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

Te manifesté mi pecado, y no encubrí mi iniquidad. Dije: Confesaré mis transgresiones al Señor; y tú perdonaste la culpa de mi pecado. (Selah) 6 Por eso, que todo santo ore a ti en el tiempo en que puedas ser hallado;

The Solution to Sin in our Lives is Pray and Confess our sin to the Lord while you still have time.

Notice David uses the same three words for sin again “ I acknowledge my sin… I will confess my transgressions… you forgave the iniquity of my sin” David admits to God I rebelled against you, I broke your law Lord, I am corrupt by sin. David ran to the Lord, cried out to God for help, and confessed his sin.

When we say David confessed his sin, what that means Biblically is that David rejected his sin and turned to God. He was turning away from sin and turning to God for help. Many times we have this misconception of confessing our sins is going to God, telling him what we did wrong but never changing and we go on living in our sin and continue the cycle. In David’s confession he is running away from his sin and running to the Lord, The Lord is the one with the solution to the problem of sin in our lives. In him we find the blessing of forgiveness. This is the first command in this Psalm, offer prayers to the Lord while he may be found, this is a command, and the prayers the Psalm is talking about is prayers of confession. The Lord commands us to confess our sins and run to the Lord while he may still be found, before it is too late.

Why?

Look what David says about the Lord

Psalm 32:7 (ESV)

You are a hiding place for me;

you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Tú eres mi escondedero; de la angustia me preservarás; con cánticos de liberación me rodearás.

Only in the Lord...

We are hidden in God

I was the youngest of 4 boys in our house hold, which means I was picked on by my brothers when I was younger. Eventually I found some hiding places in our apartment, places were I felt safe from the danger of my brothers. Only in the Lord are we hidden in God, he is our hiding place, our place of rescue, safety and protection. When we are hidden in God, no matter what comes, we know he is in control and he knows what is best for us.

Preserved from Trouble

We are also preserved from trouble, the Lord takes the good , the bad and the ugly parts of our lives and uses them to form us into the image of Jesus, he takes them and makes us more like Christ. Even the trouble that results from sin, David faced major consequences for his sins, Just read 1 and 2 Samuel, his life was full of troubles, some because of the consequence of sin in his life, but the Lord was faithful to preserve him, he didn’t eliminate the trouble but he preserved him through the trouble and ultimately, all trouble will be gone in the new heavens and earth, where we will live a life free from sin and trouble in the next life.

Delivered from bondage of sin

The Lord delivered David and delivers us from the bondage of sin in our lives. This should bring us to shouts of deliverance and thankfulness to the Lord. If the Lord has set you free you are free indeed!

The Lord doesn’t leave us on our own, but is with us to care for us. As David is writing the PSalm under the inspiration of the Spirit, at this point in the Psalm, The Lord is speaking directly to his people and says

Psalm 32:8 (ESV)

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

 Yo te haré saber y te enseñaré el camino en que debes andar; te aconsejaré con mis ojos puestos en ti.

The Lord doesn’t leave us on our own

We find instruction and counseling from our loving Father

The Lord has given us all we need to know pertaining to life and godliness right here in this book known as the Bible. He promised us the Spirit would come and illumine our minds to the truths in this book, we just need to take up and read and we will find the instruction and counseling we need from a loving Father who will use the Spirit of God to live the truths we learn about in this book, this is the grace of God for those who believe and follow Jesus.

This leads us to the second command in the passage, in verse 9

Psalm 32:9 (ESV)

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.

No seas como el caballo o como el mulo, que no tienen entendimiento; cuyos arreos incluyen brida y freno para sujetarlos, porque si no, no se acercan a ti.

This command is a restatement of the first, it is just written in the negative. The psalmist says don’t be like the mule, stubborn and doesn’t listen, but humbly run to the Lord and confess your sin and receive the Lord’s instruction. To remain like a stubborn mule will eventually lead to sorrows, which is why David says many are the sorrows of the wicked, but those who run to the Lord are surrounded by the steadfast love of the Lord.

Praise God for Forgiveness

This is where David ends his Psalm, Praise God for forgivenss and is the third command in this Psalm, Be GLAD in the Lord, REJOICE, SHOUT FOR JOY because we have forgiveness in the Lord, our transgressions, our sins, our iniquity are forgiven by the Lord. In the Lord we have the blessing of forgiveness. Let’s jump back to Psa 32:1-2

Psalm 32:1–2 (ESV)

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

¡Cuán bienaventurado es aquel cuya transgresión es perdonada, cuyo pecado es cubierto! 2 ¡Cuán bienaventurado es el hombre a quien el Señor no culpa de iniquidad, y en cuyo espíritu no hay engaño!

In the blessing of forgiveness we find freedom

Essentially forgiveness is freedom, you are released from the penalty of your sin. You are no longer held in bondage but you are free, this is why Jesus says who the son sets free is free indeed, because through Jesus we are forgiven and set free from the power of sin, which is Paul says your are dead to sin, and if you are dead to sin how can you still live in sin? Know you are dead to sin and alive to God to live a life which honor’s and pleases him. Go home this week and read Romans 6 - 8. It all in there and more.

In the blessing of forgiveness we find covering

Blessed is the one whose sin is covered. This idea of covering does not mean hiding our sin, that idea goes against everything the Bible teaches, this idea of covering is that when the Lord forgives us, he no longer sees your sin, they are covered, that is why the Bible says as “far as the east is from the west so far he has removed our transgressions from us.”

In blessing of forgiveness we are counted righteous

Blesses is the person who the Lord counts no iniquity. Through forgiveness our sins are covered and we are counted righteous before the Lord. What is amazing is the Apostle Paul takes these words of David and talks about how faith in Jesus life, death and resurrection saves us

Romans 4:1–8 (ESV)

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

¿Qué diremos, entonces, que halló Abraham, nuestro padre[a] según la carne? 2 Porque si Abraham fue justificado por las obras, tiene de qué jactarse, pero no para con Dios. 3 Porque ¿qué dice la Escritura? Y creyó Abraham a Dios, y le fue contado por justicia.

Paul is saying if Abraham was declared ritous because of what he did for the Lord, then he has every reason to boast, because he earned his rightousness. But that wasn’t the case Abraham belived God, Abrahma had faith, he trusted the Lord and God counted it to him as rightousness.

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

Ahora bien, al que trabaja, el salario no se le cuenta como favor, sino como deuda;

Those of us have jobs understand this, we go to work to get paid, we earn the paycheck, the companies we work are not in business to just give us money for nothing. We earn it.

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

mas al que no trabaja, pero cree en aquel que justifica al impío, su fe se le cuenta por justicia.

For the one who does not work but trusts in the lord, put his faith in the Lord that he forgives and takes sinners and declares them righteous, the Lord counts as righteousness. Now listen to Paul,

just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

and whose sins are covered;

blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Como también David habla de la bendición que viene sobre el hombre a quien Dios atribuye justicia aparte de las obras:

7 Bienaventurados aquellos cuyas iniquidades han sido perdonadas, y cuyos pecados han sido cubiertos. 8 Bienaventurado el hombre cuyo pecado el Señor no tomará en cuenta.

Paul says look Saved by faith, by trusting in the Lord and not your works or what you do for God is throughout the Bible, and he picks Abraham and David, two of Israels heroes and says Abraham and David were counted righteous and forgiven because they believed the Lord, they trusted him with their lives, they looked forward to a day when the messiah would come and they believed the promise of the one who was to come and the Lord forgave them and counted it as righteousness. You see the Old Testament believers are saved by faith in Jesus just like me and you, the only difference is they look forward to the messiah, a saviour who was to come and we look backward to a messiah and a saviour who already came.

Through Forgiveness we are Blessed

because we are free from the power of sin, the Lord covers our sin and no longer sees our sin but he sees the rightousness of Jesus applied to our lives, and he doesn’t count our sins against, we are blessed to be forgiven, Paul coninues at the end of Romans 4 and says

Romans 4:23–5:1 (ESV)

But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Y no solo por él fue escrito que le fue contada, 24 sino también por nosotros, a quienes será contada: como los que creen en aquel que levantó de los muertos a Jesús nuestro Señor, 25 el cual fue entregado por causa de nuestras transgresiones y resucitado para nuestra justificación. Por tanto, habiendo sido justificados por la fe, tenemos paz para con Dios por medio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo,

For those who believe in Jesus, who was crucified for our sins and was raised so that we can be forgiven and declared righteous by a loving Father, we have peace with God, through Jesus Christ. For those of you who made a confession of faith but may be struggling with sin in your life, run to the Lord and confess your sins while he may be found, he is ready to receive you with open arms. Maybe you are here this morning and you have never made a decision to follow Jesus and you ant to hear more about Jesus who offers forgiveness from the guilt of the sin and bad things we do. We would love to talk to you.