Thanks For Forgivness

I Need Forgiveness!

We in week two of out series on Thanksgiving.

Last week we found out that we need to be thankful for answered prayers from Psalm 30.

Today, as we continue focusing on the things we need to be thankful to God for, we are going to look at forgiveness.

I saw that a psychologist who said that in order to be happy the human soul has to feel safe, clean, and significant.

And what he meant by that was that in order to be happy we have to feel a certain sense of security; freedom; like we’re valuable; that we’re not condemned or that we need to walk around feeling ashamed.

But many people, this psychologist said, are overshadowed by a lurking sense of judgment … For some, it’s because they know they’ve messed up (guilt and regret for what they’ve done); for others, they can’t quite put their finger on it; it’s just this dark cloud that hovers over them that makes them feel ashamed.

For a lot of people, including us, have a voice inside you telling you that you’re not good enough … If people saw who you really were, they wouldn’t like you …

Is something wrong with me? And is that what keeps me from being joyful, happy, or thankful?

Psalm 32 is written by David after confessing to God his sins or adultery, murder, and deception.

This is one of seven penitential psalms or those in which the writers are being disciplined by God and experiencing suffering.

The other psalms are 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143, and all of these psalms are helpful to us when we need to confess our sins and draw closer to the Lord.

We all need forgiveness like David and so these psalms are good for us to read and pray through.

Let’s read Psalm 32.

Psalm 32 CSB

Of David. A Maskil. How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit! When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When great floodwaters come, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with joyful shouts of deliverance. Selah I will instruct you and show you the way to go; with my eye on you, I will give counsel. Do not be like a horse or mule, without understanding, that must be controlled with bit and bridle or else it will not come near you. Many pains come to the wicked, but the one who trusts in the Lord will have faithful love surrounding him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Joy Of Forgiveness! Verses 1-2

In a lot of translations the term here is “blessed” or happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

This begins with the presupposition of a forgiven person not one who is sinless.

We are sinning beings as humans and the possibility of our happiness lies in the removal and forgiveness of that sin.

We are walking around with guilt, shame or uneasy that is keeping from experience real joy.

David was very happy that he was forgiven.

He regarded himself as being blessed in receiving it.

So he was joyful that he had a large burden taken off of him.

If we do not share his appreciation for forgiveness, it is most certainly because we do not share his understanding of sin.

Wrongdoing presupposes an objective standard of right and wrong.

The Bible insists that God’s law is that standard.

David alludes to God’s standard of behaviour by the words he uses for his sin.

He calls it ‘transgression’, which indicates the stepping over a known boundary.

He calls it ‘sin’, which refers to missing a mark or a target.

He calls it ‘iniquity’, which carries the idea of twisting something.

In each case, the thought is the same, namely, failing to live up to a standard.

There is a boundary, there is a target, there is something that is straight and true, but sin steps over the boundary, misses the target, and twists the straight.

But the grace of forgiveness is ever sufficient for the sin.

David had found it to be so.

His sin had been forgiven and covered (v. 1).

And iniquity was no longer imputed or credited to him (v. 2).

God had lifted the burden and carried it away.

God had covered it from view.

God had blotted out the handwriting of its indictment.

Burden of Guilt Verses 3-4

The happiness he was experiencing as he wrote these words were just the opposite of what he felt prior to his confess and subsequent forgiveness.

He describes how it felt to be burdened with the guilt and shame with vivid imagery.

He had the sense of being prematurely old, constant groaning, the feeling of heaviness, the sense of being spiritually parched and destitute.

All as a result of the guilt he had eating away at him.

I’m sure you have had to grapple with guilt like I have.

Perhaps we cheated someone in order to get ahead, or we failed to help someone who desperately needed it.

We may have failed to give the proper time to our children, or when we did give them time, we were grouchy and irritable.

Perhaps we have taken God’s day as our own to do with as we please or frequently taken his name in vain.

It could be that we have nurtured unclean thoughts.

Charles Spurgeon said, “God does not permit His children to sin successfully.”

God will discipline us to get us to confess and get right with Him.

It probably took almost a year for David to get to the point of confession.

He was miserable until he stopped lying, humbled himself before God, and confessed his sins.

Relief of Confession Verse 5 - 7

In verse 5, we see how David went from an immense burden of guilt to happiness or joy.

He simply said, “God, I messed up!”

Unlike Adam and Eve, he stepped out of the bushes and told God he was sinful.

Confess here implies something beyond what our English word confess means.

It means you are seeing things from the perspective of the one you wronged.

It doesn’t just mean, “I sorry if I offended you,” or “I’m sorry for what I did.”

That’s not really owning up to the act, but apologizing for the consequence of the act.

The word confess here, in this this psalm, means “Now, I see things, God, from your perspective. What I’ve done is wrong.”

Before David came to the point of confession, he and God were on opposite sides of the fence.

God was condemning his sin, and he was defending himself by rationalizing and excusing his sin.

When he finally came to the point of confession, David stopped fighting against God.

He, as it were, walked over to God’s side of the fence and stood with God and joined him in condemning his, David’s, sin.

The relief that came to David through confession is available to all of God’s people.

The apostle John declares: ‘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).

If we will follow David and will do with our sins as he did with his, then we will find joy replacing brokenness.

We will find peace replacing worry.

We will find hope replacing fear.

We will find our relationship with the Lord restored.

Remember God has told us that when we repent of our sins, he casts them as far as the east is to the west, never to be remembered again.

We can hide in Him

He will protect us from trouble

We can shout with joy that we have be delivered.

The Joy of Obedience Verse 8-11

God speaks in verses 8-9, assuring him that the joy of salvation would be restored to him if he obeys and walk in God’s ways.

It was David’s wrong thinking that got him to trouble in the first place.

However, the Lord would instruct him, guide him, and keep His loving eye on him.

David must be obedient to God’s ways.

God doesn’t forgive us so that we can go back and sin!

When we go our own way, we are acting like an animal - a wild horse or a stubborn mule.

God wants us to be obedient and not unrestrained.

He wants to teach us His word and keep His eye upon us,

Surrounding us with mercy.

David talks about his love and joy in God. Vs. 11: He is glad “in the Lord.”

Jesus said that those who are forgiven much, love much.

Those who don’t love God much, it’s because they have never come to realize how much you’re been forgiven of.

You may say, “I don’t have passionate love for God, and I’d like to change that.”

The way to do that is to have God open your eyes to how much God has forgiven you of, how close you were to hell, how much he saved you from, what extravagant love he poured out on you … and then love for God will grow naturally in you.

Spurgeon: When we think too lightly of sin, we think too lightly of the Savior. “He who has stood before his God, convicted and condemned, with the rope about his neck, is the man to weep for joy when he is pardoned, to hate the evil which has been forgiven him, and to live to the honor of the Redeemer by whose blood he has been cleansed.”

In verse 10, David says, “faithful surrounds me.”

Assurance of the steadfast love of God for you produces steadfast love for God in you.

Applying This Psalm To Ourselves

Do you want joy or be happiness in your life?

It’s found in forgiveness, because happiness is found in God. It’s not that being “guilt-free” makes you happy; being reconciled to God makes you happy.

Forgiveness only says, “You may go.”

But reconciliation says, “Please come near.”

The gospel is about reconciliation: not just releasing your sin, but reconciling you to God!

And happiness is found in God.

People generally fall into 2 errors when it comes to God’s mercy:

Those who feel like they are good enough they don’t need deep forgiveness and

Those who feel like they are so bad they can’t obtain deep forgiveness.

For those who feel like you are good enough that you don’t need deep forgiveness,

I pray that God would open your eyes to how sinful you are; how much you are in need of mercy.

I pray you’ll stop covering your sin, both to yourself and others so that God can cover it.

And to those who think you are too bad to obtain deep forgiveness,

I pray that God will open your eyes to how wide, how high, how deep and how long is the love for God for you;

How extravagant was his grace in sending Jesus to the cross for you;

How sufficient his sacrifice was for your sins;

How powerful was his resurrection from the dead on your behalf;

How ready the Holy Spirit now stands to fill you with that power; and

How much mercy he now extends out to you.

Let’s pray!