Psalm 32

Summer Playlist

TLK 4

Bottom Line: Lasting joy flows from restored fellowship with God

Intro

Half way through our Summer Playlist series… going through a few Psalms- prayers in song form… looking at the truths these songs teach for navigating different seasons we find ourselves in

Today’s Psalm is going to expose a lie about seasons many can believe and reveal a significant truth about how to experience a season we all desire to have.

Have you ever been in a place where you thought, “If I could only change my circumstances? If only my season of life could change? Joy would surely come to me.”

Holding the crying baby at 2 am, sitting outside after another argument with a loved one, going back to your office after another weird, unclear conversation with your boss

I have been there many times… dealing with Ohio winters→ moved to SC, desired to be a part of something different (healthier, bigger, more significant) → moved to GA…. Here is what God taught me through those times→ seasons of lasting joy, experiencing joy have very little if anything to do with the season or circumstances we currently find ourselves in.

Begs the question→ where do we find lasting joy?

Truth

Psalm 32→ many scholars believe David wrote this as a testimony to teach people a truth about God… Maskil→ a song/prayer of instruction… was written after his Bathsheeba incident… One of two Psalms written… 51 was his response… 32 was his public testimony

v. 1-2) Joyful→ Blessed, happy → but not in an emotional state type of way. Rather an objective state of flourishing because of favor given… “What an enviable position to be in” or “Congratulations”... it is like David is shouting “Congrats on being forgiven!”... This joy is not fleeting. It is full and complete… lacking nothing… outside feeling or emotion

David is communicating a truth about joy that is critical… Joy is not found or sustained in circumstances or seasons… the source of joy, flourishing because of favor given, flows from a very specific source

He is starting to paint us a picture of that source… it involves forgiveness… but forgiveness is not in itself the source… it is one of the conduits for the source

v. 3-4) David begins to testify about his experience → when I kept silent after Bathsheeba something happened… joy gone, peace gone, friction in a relationship

Heavy hand→ not punishment… but discipline… very different… to provide correction resulting in flourishing for the child… the relationship was still there… God was not gone… He was guiding David to something every follower will experience, if you're like me, will often experience…

Conviction→ God refuses to leave His kids in rebellion… it is evidence of son/daughtership… this is another conduit God uses to get us to the source… conviction… conviction is the sweet invitation to the next conduit we see David talk about…

v. 5) turning point of the Psalm… David stopped hiding his sin… Acknowledged→ same root as the word translated “to know”... this is not to know in the informational sense, this intimate relational knowledge → Genesis 4:1→ Adam knew his wife…

David is not saying “I know my sin exists.” He is confessing something much deeper… “I have made a bed with my rebellion and now I am caught with it in the presence of God.” He now sees his sin the way God sees it… betrayal of the deepest kind… like a spouse caught in bed with another.

Sin is not just a struggle or something I would like to eventually fix one day… Sin is a complete and utter betrayal against our creator… Yet, it is not the sin itself that resulted in what David was talking about in verse four…when sin is concealed, guilt is carried and intimacy is broken… fellowship with creator fractured

David agrees with God about the condition and reality he finds himself and confesses his sin to God… Conviction is the sweet invitation to confession which leads to forgiveness… Here we see all the conduits in play… Conviction, confession and forgiveness…

Forgave→ lifted off of, carried away by someone stronger and more capable of bearing the burden or carrying the weight→ picture of Graysen on my shoulders→ i have all the burden weight, she feels completely unburdened… energy and joy regained

David’s fellowship with God has been restored…. Here is where his point comes in full view→ lasting joy flows from restored fellowship with God→ this is David’s testimony

How is that possible for me? Kyle, I have messed up too much… seasons like this are long gone for me… Paul actually addressed this and used Psalm 32 in the process

Romans 3:23-4:8→ because on the work of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection, restored fellowship is available to all! Christian- you are not too far gone to have intimacy and fellowship restored…. Non-Christian- you are not too far gone to have a relationship with the very One who knitted you together in your mothers womb… gospel

This is the reality David just taught about→ lasting joy flows from restored fellowship with God→ how are we to respond to this truth? David actually teaches us this in the rest of Psalm 32

Application

v. 6-7) David says to confess quickly… confess often… God longs to fellowship with you again… get out of intimacy with your sin (produces guilt) and into intimacy with God (produces joy)... Point: Confess your sin to God→ Run to God with your sin→ Confess it and allow Him to carry it away… the mark of a Christian is which direction they ultimately run

v. 8-9) David reminds his audience that forgiveness is not the end result of conviction and confession… restored fellowship is… walking alongside God… getting guidance from Him… Point: Receive His instruction→ Humbly walk with God→ Romans 3-4 (who may boast)... two things with receiving His instruction

Faithfulness follows fellowship→ willing obedience→ dont resist

You don’t walk alone→ family of God… group pouring into us and us pouring into a group

v. 10-11) David points to the type of love God has for those who call on His name→ hesed→ Covenant-faithful love… this is where we receive the full benefit of our restored fellowship… no matter the season, we can be confident- not because of circumstances or seasons, but rather because we find ourselves in the joy of fellowship→ objective state of flourishing because of God’s favor on us through the work of Christ… at the cross→ our guilt was carried, our fellowship was restored, God’s faithful love on full display… this should lead us to proclaim the joy that we have through fellowship with God no matter the season

Point: Proclaim the joy that flows from fellowship with God

Lasting joy flows from restored fellowship with God

What is the Holy Spirit asking of you right now?

Confess→ both believer and non believer→ run to God

Receive→ stop resisting God’s instruction

Proclaim→ shout for the joy that flows from your fellowship with God