The Freedom of Confession - Psa 32

Introduction

What do you do if you feel sick or get injured?

You go to the doctor.

What do the doctors do?

They look for the problem. And it’s only after they find the problem that they can do anything about it, right?

If they find that you are diabetic, they prescribe insulin shots to regulate the insulin in your blood.

If they find cancer, then you go through a chemo regimen to try to kill the cancer cells.

Bottom line . . . the doctors prescribe a treatment based on what the problem is.

And that’s not only true of physical problems. When we talk about spiritual problems, the Bible says that you have a very serious issue.

In fact, this spiritual issue is your deepest problem . . . the worst issue you have. And that’s that you have sinned against a holy God.

1 John 1:5 LSB

And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

And He requires you to be obedient to Him.

Matthew 5:48 LSB

“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

But there’s where the big problem is—you have broken God’s law.

Rom 3:10

Romans 3:10 LSB

as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;

Romans 3:23 LSB

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

And the payment—what you and I deserve because of the fact that we’ve broken God’s law—is death . . . both physical and eternal in Hell.

Romans 6:23 (LSB)

For the wages of sin is death,

That’s what we all deserve because of sin.

In a word, our biggest problem is guilt

James 2:10 LSB

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

So if that’s our deepest problem—the diagnosis of our problem—what is the cure? What do we need?

Sadly, there are so many who get that question wrong. They think they just need to work harder to be a better person . . . or they need to think better about themselves . . . or do good things to either make themselves feel better or to appease God.

But your deepest need is to have your guilt taken away . . . to be forgiven of your sins . . . to be reconciled with a holy God.

And you can’t do that on your own.

One of the verses I quoted before, Romans 6:23, has a second part that I didn’t read. It says:

Romans 6:23 LSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Eternal life is a gift of God through faith, or trust, in Jesus Christ.

We see that in Romans 4 where Paul uses Psalm 32 to talk about Justification by faith alone.

It is only by trusting in the finished work of Jesus Christ can you be forgiven and saved from your sin.

What is that work? It’s that he never sinned . . . He lived a perfect life. But He died on a cross as punishment for the sins of those who would trust in Him.

The Bible says that if you are saved through Christ’s finished work on the cross, that “We are now under no condemnation, because “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21).

Christ, who had no sin of His own, took the sin and punishment of those who would confess their sins and trust in Him, and instead gave them His righteousness.

What tremendous kindness that is!

But how does that happen? How can you be forgiven?

You’ll want to follow along with King David—he’s going to show you from his own personal example.

Context

Some of you might know about King David and his major sin.

The story is told in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 11. Turn there with me and follow along (Page 335).

**Explain**

So David hid that sin from everyone . . . only he and Bathsheba knew about it.

So David knew what it was like to live with unconfessed sin. Day after day, week after week, month after month, knowing what he did while Bathsheba became bigger and bigger as the baby grew up.

But the guilt crushed him.

Until one day, in 2 Samuel chapter 12, David got an unexpected visitor.

**Explain**

And after David realized he truly was guilty . . . he melted. His shame and penitence led him to say in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

And even though David deserved to die, the Lord had mercy on him, and he did not die.

And David experienced true freedom from the guilt of his sin.

Don’t you want to experience that freedom as well? Don’t you want to be reconciled to God . . . to be forgiven?

David will show you how in Psalm 32

You’ll see there that this Psalm is called a “Maskil.” A “Maskil” is probably an instructional Psalm. It was probably a Psalm meant for teaching, and it was also probably meant to be memorized. This reminds us of Psalm 119:9-11

Psalm 119:9–11 LSB

How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me stray from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

How wonderful would it be for each of you to go back to your barracks and memorize this Psalm! What tremendous benefit it would be for your soul.

David is going to write this instruction using three commands for you to follow so that you can have forgiveness from your sins:

1) Confess your sin to God (1-5)

2) Pray to God (6-10)

3) Rejoice in God’s forgiveness (11)

Confess your sin to God (1-5)

Look with me again at verses 1-2

“blessed” here could be translated “happy” or “joyful”

“Happy is he….. Joyful is the man….”

There are so many who boast that they have found the source of true happiness, but this is the key; to have your sins forgiven.

Literally, the word for forgiven is that the sins are “lifted off”

So the blessed man is the one whose sin is “lifted away” and “covered”

Remember: to have your sin forgiven is your greatest need! So you might wonder, what is a sin?

Well, David uses four words here to describe sin:

1. Transgression = “willful rebellion”

2. Sins = “missing the mark” in specific actions or thoughts (Romans 3:23)

3. Iniquity = “twisted, crooked, corrupt”

4. Deceit = lying about or hiding sin.

You might say, “can I have an example?”

Well, David continues by providing the example of himself.

Look at verses 3-5

“When I kept silent, my body (bones) wore away through my groaning all day long”

When he remained outwardly silent concerning his sin, inwardly his soul groaned. Outward silence, inward agony.

Why this inward agony?

“for day and night Your hand was heavy upon me”

This wasn’t simply David feeling guilty because David misunderstood the situation. David didn’t feel guilty because he was being too hard on himself and just needed to trust himself not to do it again. David felt guilty because he was guilty!

And because he was guilty, God caused him to be in agony inwardly.

David was objectively guilty, and because of this, he felt the wight of God’s heavy hand crushing him.

What did this crushing hand cause?

“my vitality (juices) (strength) was drained away as with the fever heat of summer”

The heavy, crushing hand of God squeezed the life out David, which then felt as though they were drying up in the dry, summer heat.

Now, as you listen to this, It may seem like a terrible thing that God made David feel so terrible about his sin.

But the truth is . . . there are so many people who never feel bad about their sin, right?

The truth is, the fact that God caused David to feel guilty of his sin . . . and then to send Nathan to confront David in that sin . . . are all examples of God’s tremendous grace.

Maybe some of you are here today and don’t feel guilty . . . you don’t feel bad about your sin.

But realize that just because you don’t feel guilty doesn’t mean that you aren’t guilty. It means your conscience isn’t working properly.

You need to pray and ask God to help you view your sin rightly . . . as rebellion against a holy God and deserving of His wrath.

But if you do feel guilty, you can take heart because David shows you in the next verse what to do:

Psalm 32:5

That verse can be translated:

“I made known my sin to you, my guilt, I did not cover. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” and you lifted off the guilt of my sin – sela.”

Do you see the repeated “covering” and “lifting off?”

V1 whose sin is “covered”

V5 I did not cover my guilt

V5 You lifted off the guilt

As long as you are covering your sin, there is no hope. But as soon as that sin is uncovered—you confess that sin to God—the guilt can be lifted away, covered, and forgiven.

So what about you? Have you gone to God and confessed your sin to Him?

You may ask, “Exactly how do I do that? How do I confess my sin to Him?

That’s the second command:

Pray to God (6-10)

It might sound obvious, but the first step is to pray to God.

And When you pray, there are 4 attitudes you should have:

The first attitude is found in verse 6.

This is the attitude of urgency.

This is literally “in a time of finding you” – some translate this as “a window of opportunity” or even “Immediately” – whatever the translation, it has the idea of urgency.

This is the opposite of waiting and thinking about it. It’s as if you were poisoned and you were looking for the antidote.

Why would you wait? If you sinned and hurt someone you love, why would you wait to go seek forgiveness from that person?

David gives an analogy of escaping flood waters.

“surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him”

You probably know what flash floods look like. They happen in the middle east—a river bed will fill up quickly and cause a lot of damage.

But David says that when you run to God, you will be safe.

Don’t wait to pray for God to forgive you through Christ. Don’t leave this building without being sure you’re forgiven.

The next attitude is found in verse 7.

This is the attitude of confidence.

From what is David hiding?

From God!

God is David’s hiding place from God.

God is the most terrifying person when you are hiding your sin—hiding from Him—but He is the most comforting presence when you humble yourself, confess your sin, and run to Him.

And you can do that with confidence because He is kind. He will never turn away anyone who comes to Him in faith on account of Jesus Christ.

Whoever enters in will forever dwell with Him, and He will by no means cast you out.

Run to Him. Hide in Him.

The next attitude is found in verse 8.

This is the attitude of dependence.

I believe this is God speaking now.

Not only will God not be coming for you in judgement, but He will actually guide you through life, providing you with counsel, with His eye upon you.

And the truth is, you need His counsel. No one can get through this life in a way that’s pleasing to Him . . . without Him.

You must pray to God with urgency, hiding in Him with confidence, and understanding your utter dependence on Him.

Finally, the last attitude is found in verse 9.

This is the attitude of submission.

What lessons do we learn from the horse and mule?

It is foolish to resist – If God will forgive you and lovingly teach you and counsel you with His eye always upon you, why would you be so stubborn to resist?

It doesn’t make any sense.

Don’t resist like a donkey. Submit to God, and humble yourself before Jesus Christ. Trust in Him alone for your salvation, and turn from the sin you’ve held onto for so long.

And verse 10 stands as an ultimatum—will you submit to Christ or will you be like the stubborn donkey?

If you choose to reject God’s free offer of forgiveness and grace today, David is clear that that is the path to sorrow and greater sorrows—eternal sorrows.

but if you choose the path of faith in Christ, God’s steadfast, never-ending love will surround you.

And if you choose that path, David says that there’s only one proper response:

and that is to rejoice at God’s forgiveness.

Rejoice at God’s Forgiveness (11)

These are commands.

The cancer patient who finds out he’s cancer free—he can rejoice, can’t he?

The man under crippling debt—he should rejoice if his debts get paid by someone else, shouldn’t he?

Well how much more should the man who was facing eternal punishment in hell for his sins against God rejoice when his sins are forgiven!

If you humble yourself, confess your sins to God through faith in Jesus Christ, you have all the reason in the world to rejoice and exult because Jesus paid for you sins once and for all!

So instead of eternal suffering, you’ll look forward to eternal life with the Father who will wipe away every tear and comfort every sorrow.

Won’t you confess and turn away from your sin? Won’t you do that so you can rejoice that you have been saved by the sacrificial blood of Christ! There is no better news!

That’s the good news of Christ.