Untitled Sermon

Psalm 32

The Blessed Man

Pray

          Before I jump into my introduction, I just want to thank all of you for your encouragement during my internship. I have been a member here since 2016. And since I have becoming a member I have been through quite a lot, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for all your love and support over the years of my membership here. It is an honor to preach to you this morning. I wouldn’t want my first Sunday sermon to be to anyone else than you.

This Psalm was wrote by David, and could be thought of as a sequel to Psalm 51, or the answer to the prayer of Psalm 51. But really, these passages are parallel. Psalm 51 is the Prayer of repentance. Psalm 32 is the practical, as well as the joy of repentance.

So to just provide some context to what led to David writing this Psalm, in 2 Samuel Chapter 11, David was king, and he had experienced a lot of victory and success as King. In the spring one year, when Kings went out to battle, David stayed back in Jerusalem and sent Joab, his general, and others into battle on his behalf. During that time, the text says that it happened that Daivd was on his roof and saw Bathsheba. David inquires of her and he is told who she is, and whose wife she is, Uriah the Hittite one of his loyal men. And he sends for her. He slept with her, and she got pregnant. David begins his plan to cover it up. David sends for Uriah, tells him to go to his house, in hopes that he will sleep with his wife so that everyone thinks he got his wife pregnant. Uriah refuses to do this because of his commitment to the men that are still at war. Then David eats with Uriah and gets him drunk, trying again to get him to go sleep with his wife. This doesn’t work either. And so David got desperate. David then devises a plan for Uriah to be murdered. He tells Joab to send Uriah to where the fighting is most intense, then pull the other men back so he will die in battle. This plan works. His sin has been covered. Or has it…? We are told it displeased the Lord. God knows David’s sin even when he thinks he has concealed it. God sends Nathan to David about a year later to tell him a parable and exposes David’s sin. When David is confronted by God with his sin, he confesses it. “I have sinned against the Lord” he says. Nathan does tell him that there will be consequences due to his sin, but also proclaims over David: “The Lord has put away your sin, you shall not die.”

          This is the story behind Psalms 51 and 32. We also are told that it is a Maskil of David. Which means to instruct or make clever. God wants to make us wise this morning. He wants us to be informed this morning about the forgiveness that He offers, as well as how we should respond to the mercy of God. David will be doing exactly what he said he would do in Psalm 51 verse 13 “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.” John Calvin, a Reformer in 16th Century and Pastor in France said this,

“The two reasons for which the Psalmist insists so much on the subject of the forgiveness of sins are these, that he may, on the one hand, raise up those who are fallen asleep, inspire the careless with thoughtfulness, and quicken the dull; and that he may, on the other hand, tranquilize fearful and anxious minds with an assured and steady confidence.”

          Now that we have a little bit of back story to this Psalm let’s dive in. We’ll unpack the psalm under these headings.

The Blessed Man

1. Concealing Sin verses 3-4

2. Confessing Sin verse 5

3. The Blessed Man verse 1-2

4. Safety in the Mercy of God verse 6-7

5. Instruction from our Merciful God verse 8-9

6. 2 people, 2 responses verse 10-11

Before I jump into our 1st point, I wanted to make a quick note that we will be heading back to verses 1 and 2 later in this sermon. But I really wanted you to see and understand what led to this proclamation of The Blessed Man.  We will start with our 1st point: Concealing sin.  So if you will look with me at verses 3-4.

“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.”

David kept silent. He concealed his sin. He attempted to hide it from everyone including God. It is like Daivd was saying “God I know something isn’t right, but I don’t want to bring it up.” What Daivd does here causes anguish in his soul. Our souls will do the same when we conceal our sin. . This is the weight of guilt. This is what happens when we keep silent. Our bones waste away, we groan all day long, this continues until confession. David says it was like he was in a dry place in the middle of summer. He was depleted. During this time of silence, God was placing his hand upon David. This is the mercy of God. It may not feel like it at the time, but it is a sweet thing that God doesn’t give us over to our sins. That he would place his heavy hand upon us. It is far worse to be given over to our sin, for God to lift his hand, for God to allow us to run from his presence and hide. Instead, God’s mercy came to David in the form of a heavy hand, bones wasting away, the sense for David that “something isn’t right and I know it,”, is a gracious work of God. David tried to hide from the presence of God, and God would not allow him. God is preparing David for the time when Nathan will confront him in his sin. When Nathan comes to David after a year of attempting to cover his sin, yet unable to conceal his sin from God, David finally confesses!

Which leads us to point 2: Confessing sin. In verse 5, we see the confession:

“I acknowledge 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.”

Here is David’s confession, a confession that holds nothing back. The word that is used here for acknowledge is in the present tense, which suggests the start of something that is ongoing. He uses 3 terms to describe his sin to the Lord- sin, iniquity, and transgression. The first is sin- Sin is aiming to hit a target and missing the mark. To fall short of the Glory to God, The Glory that he has called us to as His image bearers. The term is used to describe someone in archery that attempts to hit a target and comes up short. But David’s is not done yet describing his sin, there more than that here. He goes on to talk about his iniquity- Iniquity is our bend towards evil. Even born-again Christians still wrestle with this. We do have a new nature now that we have placed our trust in Christ, but this battle remains. Or as the Hymn puts it, “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I Love.” This is our sinful nature. It is the heart’s longing for what God has clearly said, no, to . The third word he uses to describe His sin is transgression. Transgression is when God tells us to not do something and we respond with “I don’t care what you say I am going to do it anyway.” This is God setting a boundary for us, and we cross it anyway. These 3 different ways of describing sin are not to simply point out the differences between them, but rather to make the point that this is a full confession. The emphasis is to acknowledge all of it to God. He wants to confess more than just actions. Trying and failing needs to be forgiven. Our bend to do what God has said no to needs to be forgiven. Our willful rejection of what God has commanded needs to be forgiven. In confessing his sin this way, David teaches us that ALL sin can be forgiven. He is telling God that when I try to obey, and fail, I need your forgiveness. He is telling God that when you in your wisdom told me what would be best for me, and I purposefully rejected your wisdom, and counsel, I need your forgiveness. He is saying that while my heart lies to me, and tells me that sin would satisfy me, and my heart at times longs for what I know is wrong, that also needs your forgiveness. This is a heart that has rid itself of excuses, is no longer making light of sin, nor hiding from the judgement of God. This is a man, who when God confronts him in his sin, is laid bare. There is nowhere to hide. When Nathan uncovered David’s sin, and God said to him I see it all, I know the worst about you, this was David’s response. He agreed with God, not just about the actions he had done, but about his heart that desired it. David was covering his sin, and when confronted, he acknowledged his sin, and exposed his sin for what it really was. His sin was in all 3 of these categories and all 3 of them were Forgiven. God forgave all of it, not just the behavior, not just the failure when trying to do right, but even the heart of David that devised this sin. The heart that desired Bathsheba. The heart that practiced deceit by hiding it when he acted on that desire, and didn’t want his sin exposed, and conspired to cover it up. David is uncovering his heart to God here, and when David uncovers his heart to God, that is when God breaks in with forgiveness. We don’t want to run past moments like these in Scripture. You may think to yourself, “I haven’t stolen someone else’s wife, and murdered to do it,” but you have sinned in these 3 ways. Scripture is very clear on this, that the 3 ways that David confesses his sin are all ways that we have sinned. We have been born in sin, We have sin, iniquity, and transgression, that makes us needy of the same forgiveness that David receives here. David was told by Nathan a parable that exposed his sin, and when he heard how in detail this man sinned he said to Nathan “the man that did this deserves to die.” Do you remember how Nathan responds to David? You are the man!! You are the man who sinned!! We should all humble ourselves and admit if there is any way that we are like David. We are the man that sinned. When he acknowledges his sin, even when he just makes the decision to confess his sin, David says, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” There is no delay here. David delayed his confession, but God does not delay once David uncovers his Sin. No, God does not wait. He forgives immediately. God is more eager to forgive our sins than we are to confess them. Nothing is held back here, it is all forgiven! The forgiveness is complete and this forgiveness is wonderful. When we uncover the depth of our sin, we will uncover the beauty of God’s forgiveness. God is Holy, he is just, he forgives. It is this forgiveness that leads us to our next point in verse 1 and 2.

Point 3: The Blessed Man

     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.

         This is the second time in the book of Psalms that we encounter the Blessed man. The first time is in Psalm 1 where we see that when the psalmist was faced with a fork in the road to go the right way or the wrong way, he chose the right way. In our Psalm this morning, the Blessed man is the one who failed to go the right way, yet was forgiven when he confessed. The Blessed man in this Psalm has failed, and when he admits his failure, God responds in mercy. When he uncovered his sin, He experienced the Blessedness of Forgiveness. As Augustine puts it,

“Those who draw a veil over their sins are stripped naked, but the speaker here stripped the cover off of his so he might be clothed”.

This is The Blessed Man. Maybe you come in this morning and you have forgotten the blessing of having your sins forgiven. Maybe it isn’t that you don’t know that you are forgiven. It isn’t that you don’t believe that your sins have been forgiven, but maybe you just haven’t really thought much of the Blessing of having your sins forgiven lately. Or the joy of having them covered, as well as the Freedom that you have because of this Blessing. No longer weighed down by guilt. No longer having bones that are wasting away, No longer feeling as though you are in a dry and desolate place. The freedom of a clean conscious (Hebrew 9:14). THIS is the Blessed man. If you are a Christian, this is true of you this morning: you are Blessed. You are the Blessed man in this Psalm. Your blessing is found in this. Do not use something other than this to determine whether you are blessed. We can look at our circumstances in our lives, and ask ourself the question “am I really blessed?” I am here to tell that if you are a Christian you are. You, like David, should believe that you are blessed. The gospel was promised to David, and he believed it, but we have more reason to be assured of our blessedness than David. These verses are quoted in Romans 4 when speaking of Abraham's faith, and him being justified by faith apart from works of the law. It says that he believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham was viewed as righteous because of faith. The Old Testament saints were saved the same way we are. They were given the promise of the Gospel, and they believed God. God gave a promise, they believed him. God said to Abraham I will do this for you, and He believed God. God has fulfilled all of those promises. Jesus Christ has come as the one that all the Old Testament saints were forward looking to. He has Come, and if you have placed your trust in him and believe that He lived a life that you could not, one without sin, always obedient, having died for your sins in your place, bearing your sins in his body on the cross and completely satisfying the wrath of God that your sins deserved, rising victorious, vindicated, defeating your sin, Satan, and shame; if you believe these things, you are like David: you are the Blessed Man. God gave David and Abraham the promise of the Gospel. We have seen it fulfilled Christ has come. The Blessed man- is more than just treated as if he has never sinned, the blessed man is clothed with the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ does more than just cover our sins, he covers them with his righteousness. We should allow this truth to affect every area of our lives, especially our lives together. Whether it is in community group, or some other setting, we should make it our practice, and aim that when people confess their sin like David, we tell them of the forgiveness that is theirs in Jesus Christ, and the righteousness that he has clothed them in. Reminding them that they, like David, are the Blessed man.

           That leads us to our next point: Safety in the Mercy of God. If you will look with me at verses 6 and 7.

          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.

          The call here is immediate. We should not ask ourselves “how long can I wait and still have God answer my plea.” Instead, the godly should offer prayer while God can be found. In this verse it says there are rushing waters coming. This implies a coming judgement. He is calling us to come to God. How sweet these verses are to the one who has been hiding from God because of their sin. The God that they were once hiding from, has now become their hiding place. They have found safety in Jesus Christ. We have more than just a place to run in times of trouble, we have a person we can run to. When they are faced with trouble, they run TO God instead of FROM him. The person that has experienced the blessing of verses 1-5 responds like this. In the past, their sin was their reason for running from God. But now that they know that God is forgiving, and their sin is dealt with by God himself, they have no reason to run from him. This is the purpose of forgiveness. 1 Peter Chapter 3 verse 18 says it like this:

“For Christ also suffered once for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh and made alive in the spirit.”

God himself has brought us near to himself through the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Forgiveness is to restore our relationship with God. We have peace with Him. We ought to be assured that because of the forgiveness of sins, we can run to God and not from him. We now know the purpose of Him laying his hand on us was never to harm us. The same hand that was heavy on David, was pierced for his sins, and our sins. We can hide IN him! He will preserve us from trouble! He will surround us! He will surround us with shouts deliverance. The God that we hide from in our sin is now our hiding place. Do not wait until you have no sin to come to Christ! Come to him now! come to him often! and he will cleanse you! He will wash you! and he will defend you!

          That leads us to point 5: Instruction from our Merciful God. All of what we have heard so far has been from David’s perspective, but here is where God responds to David. Verses 8 and 9.

          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.

          God is providing us with counsel here. He is giving us instruction, and teaching us. He is reminding us that he is intimately involved in our lives. He wants to provide specific moral guidance. You hear God’s care in these verses. We see this when he says “I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God sees everything that you are going through and he knows exactly what you need. We live our lives before God, his eye is upon us. There should be some reverence in our response to this. Now not only does our God see everything that is happening in our lives, and planning everything that happens, but it is all from a God who cares for us, and wants to instruct us, and desires us to remain near to him. The instruction is given from a God that not only SEES the way we should go, but from a God who wants to inform us in the way we should go. The kindness of verse 1-7 should lead us to repentance. The Mercy received, and the lovingkindness that God has displayed to us, is meant to lead us to a place where we desire to remain near to God. These verses encourage us to not only turn from sin, but to remain near to God. Repentance is not just fleeing sin, but fleeing to Christ. God’s mercy should instruct us. It should remind us that God’s counsel can be trusted.

Verse 9 is telling us what to not do; how to not respond; what to not be like. This is nice for me as a preacher because it provides a sermon illustration right in the text. God tells us “Don’t be like a horse or mule with no understanding. Do not be stubborn like a mule or a horse that needs to be brought near.” A bit is a metal piece that sits in the mouth of an animal to help direct, and control it. Do not be someone who needs a bit. God is saying trust me: Trust my leadership, Trust my instruction, Trust me that my eye is upon you. You don’t have to do it the hard way. God will do what is necessary to keep you close, but don’t make him do it like that. God can put the bit and bridle on if needed to keep you near, but he is calling us to not require that to come near. Don’t make him and his leadership uncomfortable. God knows how to put us in our place if needed. He knows how to direct us even if we try to be stubborn. He doesn’t want us to resist him though, he wants us to stay near. Not because he needs us, but because he knows what is best for us. When I was a kid, I lived in Texas and we owned a horse. Our horse was named Sierra and she was awesome. When we got her, she was very obedient. With very little effort she listened to my mom and dad, much more than she would listen to me. Because she trusted them more than she trusted me. There were times when we would attempt to bring her near first with an apple, then we would try to use a rope to keep her near. There were also times when she was stubborn, and she required a bit and bridle to be brought near, especially when we had to load her into a trailer,. Sierra didn’t like it when we would put the bit and bridle on her because it was uncomfortable, but she became more willing to do the things that she was resisting once it was on. God is telling us that he has the tools necessary to keep us close to him (like a bit and bridle), but we don’t have to require that to listen and stay near to him. His instruction is good. He wants to lead you in the way you should go with his eye upon you. This is really just another way of saying “allow the loving-kindness of God to lead us to repentance.” Do not resist him. Don’t be stubborn Do not be a mule. Allow the mercy of God to instruct you, and allow the goodness that we have tasted and seen in Jesus Christ to keep you close.

The more we trust God’s goodness and mercy, the more we will want to be near to him. We won’t need to be forced to obey, but rather we will trust that what he has commanded is for our good.

          That leads us to our last point: 2 people 2 responses. The last 2 verses in this Psalm, verses 10 and 11.

          Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart!

          There are 2 people in these closing verses: the righteous and the wicked. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, it says. This is the condition that those who refused to confess, repent, and trust in the Lord are left in. They have many sorrows. Their sorrows are unending, they are continual. Repentance is more than feeling bad about your sins or hating the condition and consequences of your sin. We see examples of this throughout scripture. Judas, Esau, Pharaoh, all had sorrow due to the consequences of their sins. Their sorrows were many. This is the condition we were all in before Christ. We were left with no hope. No reason to truly rejoice. We all trusted in the vain promises that sin offered. Wickedness does offer joy, but it only lasts for a season. Wickedness offers peace, but wages war in our lives. Not just in our lives, but also in our souls, and with everyone who is in our lives. Especially the most important relationship, our relationship with God. Those who have rejected God have many sorrows. But not only that, unless you have apprehended the mercy of God offered to you in Jesus Christ by faith, your sorrows will be unending. If you find yourself in the second group of people mentioned in these last 2 verses, those who are trusting in the Lord and surrounded by His loving kindness, it is not because you deserve it, but because of the mercy of God. If you find yourself saying, “I am the blessed man.” It is because of the mercy of God. We come in this morning in need of the mercy of God, dependent on the mercy of God. If you come in this morning righteous, it is because of Jesus Christ who has presented you holy, blameless, and above reproach. God’s Love has surrounded you. When we trust in Christ, everything changes. The difference between us and the wicked is not that we feel bad after we sin, it is that God has met us in mercy. That mercy has led us to rejoicing. This is the peak of repentance. Godly sorrow does bring the fruit of righteousness. There is nothing more righteous that you can do this morning than rejoice in the Lord, and in his mercy. There is nothing more morally pure than being glad in the Lord. This is the fullness of repentance, and the answer to David’s prayer in Psalm 51 “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.” You don’t have to wait until the next time you sin to rejoice in the Salvation that God has provided, do it now! These are commands. We are told to be glad, we are told to rejoice, we are told to shout for joy. This is not a suggestion, this is commanded. We have good reason to do this. Be Glad! Because we are Blessed, we have been forgiven, and counted righteous. Rejoice! We can run to God instead of from him. Shout for Joy! Because God has called you near to Him.. The appropriate response to the Mercy of God is rejoicing, gladness, and shouts of joy. This is God’s word to everyone this morning: don’t let the wonder of forgiveness pass you by. We all, as God’s people, have a reason to rejoice this morning. We have plenty of reasons to delight ourselves in the Lord. He is worthy!

And delighting in the Lord is what we do when we take communion together. Worship team, you can feel free to come up to the stage now. If you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, you are free to eat and drink with us this morning. Communion cups are in the back of each aisle. If you have not placed your trust in Jesus, please do not partake of communion during this time. It is not me that forbids, but God. Instead, during this time, get honest with God, acknowledge your sin to him, confess your need for forgiveness. Ask the Lord to save you from your sins and the many sorrows that they are deserving of. He will answer your prayer, you will find that though your need is great, He is a great savior.

Before we partake in communion I want to provide sometime of silence so we can respond to this Psalm. Maybe you have sin that you need to confess to God. Maybe you have lost your wonder at his forgiveness. Maybe you have forgotten your Blessedness. Use this short period of time to confess to God ask for him Give you Joy in your salvation again.   

Now The bread. Jesus said, This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. We remember that his body was broken for our sins, and Purchased our forgiveness. Let’s eat.

Now the cup. In the same way he also took the cup, and said This the cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as long as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. In drinking this cup we are proclaiming to one another that our sin is covered by the blood of Christ, And when he returns we will rejoice, and be glad, because his mercy endures for forever. Let’s drink.

Now lets worship and rejoicing in the Lord.

Thank you again for coming this morning if you are new we still would like to get that gift in your hands so stop by the welcome center.

Also If you Need Prayer for anything there will be members of the prayer team up here we would love to Pray with you.

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up countenance upon you and give you peace