The Focus of the Forgiven

BIG IDEA: Confess your sins and experience the life-changing power of forgiveness

Introduction

He should have known better. He never should have stayed at home alone while his army was fighting in the field. He never should have lingered late at night on his rooftop. He never should have set his eyes on that beautiful lady. He never should have inquired about who she was, nor should he have sent for her, nor should he have slept with her. He should have known better. But King David sinned and Bathsheba conceived.

He should have known better. He never should have tried to force Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to sleep with her, hoping that he would think the child was his own. He never should have arranged for Uriah’s death. He should have known better. But King David sinned and Uriah died.

He should have known better. Having committed adultery with Bathsheba he should have acknowledged his sin to the Lord. But he didn’t. Having conspired to kill Uriah, her husband, he should have confessed his transgression. But he didn’t.

He kept quiet about his sin. He suppressed it. He shoved it deep down inside, thinking it gone for good. He ignored the tug on his heart. He denied the pain in his conscience. He numbed his soul to the persistent pangs of conviction.

Then one day the prophet Nathan told David a story. It was all about a rich man who stole the one little ewe lamb of a poor man rather than taking a sheep from his own huge flock. “Surely this man deserves to die,” shouted an enraged David.

With a bony finger pointed at David’s nose, Nathan calmly declared, “You are the man!… Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; have taken his wife to be your wife...” (2 Samuel 12:7, 9).

David should have known better.

Adultery and murder make for a sensational story. Many a TV mini-series have rocketed to the top of the Nielsen ratings on the wings of those two sins. Rarely, though, does Hollywood portray the anguish and turmoil they inflict. Listen to what David says in Psalm 32 about the impact of his sin as it festered unconfessed and unforgiven in his heart. Then listen more closely still to the song of God’s forgiving love.

Read the Psalm.

BIG IDEA: Confess your sins and experience the life-changing power of forgiveness

1. Sin Brings Misery

Psalm 32:1–2 NKJV

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

What Sin is

Transgression: revolt against God's authority, treason. 19:13 Isa. 53:6

Sin: missing the mark: falling short of God's standard.

Not a matter of meeting society's expectations.

Nor merely being true to yourself.

Psalm 51:4 NKJV

Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

Iniquity: moral perversion, twistedness.

Deceit (guile): trying to fool yourself and God.

What Sin does

Psalm 32:3–4 NKJV

When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

Sin is physically and psychologically devastating

Physical wretchedness.

1 Corinthians 11:30 NKJV

For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

Sin affects your body directly.

The link between spiritual condition and physical health: Indirect effects of sin.

Not all physical problems are the direct result of personal sin. John 9:1ff

Mental misery.

Psalm 22:15 NKJV

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.

Job 23:2 NKJV

“Even today my complaint is bitter; My hand is listless because of my groaning.

Spiritual depression. Sin is never worth it!

God brings trouble upon you (for your good). v. 4a,9 94:12 139:23-24 Heb. 12:5f

Where Sin Leads

Psalm 32:10 NKJV

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him.

2. Confession Brings Forgiveness

Psalm 32:5 NKJV

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Romans 4:6–8 NKJV

just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

1 Peter 2:22–24 NKJV

“Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

3. Forgiveness Brings Joy

Psalm 32:6–7 NKJV

For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters They shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

4. Forgiveness Brings Focus

After a man is forgiven, a desire is awakened within them: “how can I avoid this sin in the future?”

God removes more than guilt;

Psalm 32:8–9 NKJV

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.

Seek God’s Instruction

vs. 8

Avoid Stubbornness

vs. 9

Trust in the Lord

vs. 10

Rejoice in Obedience

vs. 11

Proverbs 28:13 NKJV

He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

Conclusion

Our Own Hymn Book: A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Public, Social and Private Worship Hymn #649

Holy Principles desired. C. M.

1 I WANT a principle within

Of jealous, godly fear;

A sensibility of sin,

A pain to feel it near.

2 I want the first approach to feel

Of pride, or fond desire;

To catch the wandering of my will,

And quench the kindling fire.

3 That I from Thee no more may part,

No more Thy goodness grieve,

The filial awe, the fleshy heart,

The tender conscience, give.

4 Quick as the apple of an eye,

O God, my conscience make!

Awake, my soul, when sin is nigh,

And keep it still awake.

5 If to the right or left I stray,

That moment, Lord, reprove;

And let me weep my life away,

For having grieved Thy love.

6 Oh may the least omission pain

My well-instructed soul;

And drive me to the blood again,

Which makes the wounded whole!

Charles Wesley, 1749.