The Question of Sin

The Question of Sin

Psalm 32:1-11

It was once said that “the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner”

Sin is one of those words in our society today that seems to be politically incorrect. We seem to mask the word sin by saying “I have done something wrong”, or “I made a mistake” or “I have messed up”

We do not like to use the word sin it seems to be a word we only like to use about people who do things like be involved in homosexuality or commit adultery.

But sin is a word that we need to use about each one of us. The Bible tells us that we have all sinned—Romans 3:23

Today I want us to understand that we all have a sin problem. In this Psalm written by David he is going to instruct us on sin as it is seen by us the sinner and sin seen by the savior

1. Sin As Seen By The Sinner—vs. 1-7—

a. David was a man we might all agree committed great sins—He slept with a woman who is not his wife, got her pregnant, arranged to have her husband killed

b. But from the beginning of this Psalm David is talking about how blessed it is that sins can be forgiven

c. Now I have to admit if I would have written this Psalm I would have put the first two verses at the end.

d. But David who had gone to God and asked for his forgiveness want to immediately tell everyone how great it is to be forgiven.

e. David begins with a tremendous shout of joy

f. Sin is such a radical offense against God that the Holy Spirit uses fifteen different words in the Old Testament to describe it and David use four of them here in the first two verses

g. See sin is a defiance-vs. 1-transgression-sin is a rebellion, a revolt against authority. It is like a child who says “No”. it is a testing of every rule and regulation

h. See sin is a defect-vs. 1-sin-it means to miss the mark to fall short-like Paul says in Romans 3:23-for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

i. See sin is a distortion-vs. 2-iniquity-the word means something is bent or crooked. Our nature is warped and bent, instead of being straight and true towards God

j. See sin is a deception-vs. 2-guile or deceit-it stands for the insincerity of human nature

k. David in his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah had revolted against God’s divine authority

l. He expressed perversity and crookedness in his heart

m. He tried to hide that sin and cover it up and pretended as if nothing was wrong.

n. What sins are you trying to hide in your life right now?

o. But David like you can realize the joy that comes with asking for forgiveness of your sins

p. David was blessed to have his sins forgiven

q. He knew that God held them against him no more

r. They had been covered and put out of sight

s. They were not imputed-they were all reconciled

t. Your sins can be covered and forgiven and reconciled to God also

u. You just need to come to Him today

v. But sadly many want to hold on to that sin but look at what David says

2. There Is A Penalty When We Conceal Our Sin-vs 3-4

a. See before David had confessed his sin openly he tried to hide it but sin is very hard to conceal

b. Nothing goes unnoticed

c. People talk and whisper

d. Look at people who have be caught in sin (Tiger Woods, )

e. I want to tell you today if you have unconfessed sin in your life you are going to pay a penalty.

f. It will take a toll on your body

g. David tells us that his very bones wasted away

h. He says his life was drained away

i. Can you tell just one lie?

j. No-because you have to tell another one to cover for the first

k. When we sin we wish God would just ignore it, but God cannot ignore sin

l. He wants us to come to Him and acknowledge our sin and confess our sin to Him

m. Sin will destroy our lives

n. I honestly believe that we have people sitting in our pews of our churches to today who are carrying around the sins in their lives and trying to run from God.

o. See David talks about the physical pain of the sin, he talks about the spiritual pain of sin and he talks about the emotional pain of sin

p. While David tried to hide his sin, the worry and fear that he would be found out took a physical toll on his body. I am convinced that many people who spend a lot of money at the doctor and at the pharmacy would do better to spend some time at the altar confessing their sins before God

q. If we refuse to deal with our sins, then the Lord will.

r. God says in Rev. 3:19-that those he loves he will reprove and chasten

s. I think that also is shown in our worship.

t. You come, you sing, you listen, you leave and that is it. Yeah maybe you get involved but that is it.

u. Why because you have sin in your life that you are keeping inside and it is holding you back from really worshipping God

v. Maybe you are here this today and you have never asked God to truly forgive you of any of your sins

w. See the Bible tells us that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God

x. And because of our sin we have to make a payment for that sin and that is through death and eternal separation from God

y. But there is a free gift from God and that is eternal life when we trust in Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior

z. But that God loves us and He loved us enough that even though we are sinners He sent His Son to die for us

aa. The bible also says that if we say we have not sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

bb. But we can find forgiveness when we confess our sins

3. There Is A Pardon When Sin Is Confessed-vs. 5

a. David came to God-the most important thing

b. When we acknowledge our sins to God, He will forgive us.

c. And that forgiveness is immediate

d. God does not hold it over us

e. God does not dwell on it

f. He stands ready and waiting to forgive us of our sins

g. The Bible tells us, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”

h. When we confess our sins to God he is gracious to forgive us

i. The greatest decision you can make it to accept Christ into your life and give Him your life

j. The rest of Psalm 32 talks about our lives in Christ

k.