Some years ago, two TEENAGERS with a long...
Some years ago, two TEENAGERS with a long history of CRIME and DELINQUENCY robbed a YMCA on the lowest East Side of New York City. On the way out they saw a young man at the TELEPHONE SWITCHBOARD. They were FRIGHTENED and ASSUMED that the must be calling the POLICE. They seized and beat him SAVAGELY with BRASS KNUCKLES and a BLACK JACK. Thinking that he was DEAD, they HID him BEHIND a RADIATOR near the SWIMMING POOL and ESCAPED.
Later that evening, a woman who came to SWIM, was walking by the POOL. She SLIPPED in the man’s BLOOD, screamed, and then FOUND Donald Tippet’s BODY. He LIVED, but one EYE was so badly DAMAGED that it could not be SAVED.
Meanwhile, the two TEENAGERS were APPREHENDED and brought to TRIAL. Their PAST RECORDS assured that BOTH would get LONG SENTENCES. However, Donald Tippet did an AMAZING thing—he REQUESTED that the JUDGE allow the two YOUNG MEN to be PAROLED to his CHARGE. He wanted to give them another CHANCE. He believed they could CHANGE.
One of the boys blew his OPPORTUNITY. He COMMITTED another CRIME, was CAUGHT, and to JAIL. The other boy, however, was RESPONSIVE to Tippet’s KINDNESS. He went to COLLEGE and then, eventually, to MEDICAL SCHOOL. He became one of our nation’s leading SURGEONS—an EYE SURGEON.
A REPORTER, writing about Donald Tippet’s AMAZING STORY of FORGIVENESS, said of the SURGEON’S accomplishments: “I wonder if he ever PERFORMS one of those DELICATE EYE OPERATIONS without thinking of that NIGHT in the YMCA and the YOUNG MAN whose CONFIDENCE and FORGIVENESS changed his LIFE!”
FORGIVENESS is one of those WORDS that Christians use quite often, but many still have difficulty
completely UNDERSTANDING what it means to be FORGIVEN.
One reason we haven’t understood FORGIVENESS is because many of us really don’t know what it’s
like to be LOST. Most Christians were BROUGHT UP in the CHURCH.
Do we really KNOW what it’s like to be LOST?
David was a man who understood FORGIVENESS because he KNEW what it was like to SIN.
ILLUSTRATION:
Here was a man CHOSEN by God to be the KING of Israel. A man “after God’s own HEART.” A man who was LOVED by God and PROTECTED by Him when he was PURSUED by King Saul who was out to KILL him.
What does he do? He commits ADULTERY, then LIES about it. And then trying to COVER-UP his SIN, he has a man KILLED.
When David writes, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered and not counted against him by the Lord,” he’s talking about himself. David knew what it
was like to be LOST, but he also knew what it was like to be FORGIVEN.
1. The Happy state of those who are forgiven
Vs1.
David is giving instruction here. He is telling us that he had made his confession to God, was forgiven, and had found complete restoration. He found shelter in God. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! The psalmist, having received God’s forgiveness for his sins, expressed his joy over that fact. Christ died for our sins; and, in His death as substitute for sinners, He met and satisfied the righteousness of God.
Vs2
God does not assign sin to those who trust in Christ. That sin was put on Christ. “He knew no sin, but was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him”
Different translations use different words to describe our rebellion against God.
(1) Trangression means to break with; hence, revolt, rebel.
(2) Sin means not hitting the mark or stumbling. Every departure from God is missing the mark, & trespass against Him.
(3) Iniquity is a bending of the rules. It would mean to act perversely. These violations of God’s laws refer to thought, deed, and word.
2 The painful state of those who are unforgiven. David now relates his experience in trying to hide his sin.
Vs 3.
He had sat on the throne, looked around at the crowd, and said, “Nobody here knows what I have done. Nobody knows about my sin. I have hidden it pretty well.” But David’s conscience bothered him. In fact, this verse tells us that even his bones bothered him. he was weakened physically and grieved inwardly. He began to lose weight, and his friends around him became uneasy. They felt that he needed to see a doctor—that he was probably suffering from some serious disease. But he just kept going through this agony from day to day.
Vs 4
Selah indicates a pause to reflect
If you are a child of God, you can sin, but you can’t get by with it. That’s the difference between the saved and the unsaved man. If you are a man of the world, you can get by with your sin temporarily, but a child of God can’t. The hand of God was heavy upon David day and night.
Have you ever allowed yourself to get CAUGHT UP in SIN—REFUSING to ACKNOWLEDGE it, and then have that SIN keep GNAWING at you where you could no longer THINK STRAIGHT? You TOSSED and TURNED all night. You became SICK of your STOMACH—THROWING UP. You MOANED and CRIED because what you did was wrong.
The REFUSAL to ACKNOWLEDGE our SIN can AFFECT us in many ways: DEPRESSION, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, PHYSICAL ILLNESS, PROBLEMS on the JOB and at HOME—it can SAP the VITALITY right out of you.
I’M THANKFUL THAT DAVID DOESN’T STOP HERE!
3 Confession and it’s results
. Vs 5.
Selah
This is good instruction for the Christian. If you are out of fellowship with God today, David in this verse tells about the way back. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
We BLASPHEME His HOLY NAME, we SPIT in His FACE, we HURT and RIDICULE and DEFAME His CHILDREN, we DESECRATE His CHURCH, and then we come to Him and
say, “God, I’m SORRY!” and He says, “FORGIVEN and FORGOTTEN!”
I don’t know about you, but that HUMBLES me. That makes me REALIZE how UNDESERVING and UNWORTHY I am to be called a CHILD of God!
I CONFESS to you that I have HURT my Father and have DISAPPOINTED Him time and time again, but He CONTINUES to “SURROUND me with SONGS of DELIVERANCE.”
He DELIVERS me from my own SIN and DESTRUCTION!
4. God’s protection of His people
Vs 6. & Vs 7.
Selah
David encouraged others to seek the Lord because He deals graciously with sinners. The time to pray is when the Lord van be found.
When David refers to the “Mighty Waters,” I think he is referring to the flood of Noah’s time. Noah was in the ark when the Flood came, and that flood which destroyed others simply lifted him up because he was in the ark. The waters of judgment could not reach Noah. There’s going to be another time of great judgment coming upon the earth, but it will not be a flood of water; it will be fire. What can you do at a time like that?
5 . God’s Word to His people
Vs 8.
You have to be very close to the Lord if you are going to be guided with His eye.
There are many Christians who aren’t currently in the will of God. They’ve been deceived by the enemy. The author compares a believer who won’t be led by God to an old hard-headed mule.
It reminds me of the man in Texas who visited his friend who owned a little donkey. They hitched it to the wagon intending to take a ride and visit some mutual friends.
Before they got in the wagon, the owner reached into the wagon, took out a two-by-four, and hit the donkey over the head.
The man asked his friend, “Why in the world did you do that?” His friend replied, “I do that to get his attention.” Many of us are like that donkey
6. Concluding moral and sustaining counsel
Vs 10 & 11
This psalm closes on a high note. Whoever you are, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can lift up your heart in great joy to God.
The captain of the Titanic refused to believe the ship was in trouble till water was ankle deep in the mail room. Only then was it apparent the multi-layered hull had been pierced and the unsinkable ship was going to sink. Ships that could have arrived before the great ocean liner went down weren’t summoned until it was too late.
Introduction
Sermon text with italics and bold and John 3:16 and v. 20.
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Text with an outline.
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