Psalm 32: The Blessing of Total Forgiveness

Introduction

Augustine’s Confessions

In the very early Church there was an African man by the name of Augustine. Perhaps, outside of the Apostle he is the single most important person in Church history. Augustine, was not perfect, but he got a lot of things right. Augustine wrote a book that shocked the world, it was called ‘Confessions.’ The reason it shocked the world is because of his brutal, unrestrained, honesty about his own sin. When you read Augustine’s confessions you are brought on a journey of a young man struggling through pride, arrogance, lust, envy, idolatry. Augustine goes where nobody really wants to go. He takes you inside his mind. And in vivid details described his thought life. You almost feel voyeur reading it. The thing about reading Augustine’s confessions is that it would altogether embarrassing if his story was any different than any of ours. The difference between Augustine and you and me, is not that his life and his mind were any less sinful, it’s just that he understood of the power of the gospel and it made him unashamed to confess publicly what most of us just hide privately.

Personal

What I desire for this Church. Authentic bold Christianity. A people so intoxicated with Christ that love flows out of this room. A people so full of the pursuit of Gods word, the study of doctrine, the filling of the Holy Spirit, that everyone takes notice. Do you want that? Sin will stop you from experiencing that. Sin will numb you to God. It will make a church relationship less. sin will kill authentic Christianity. Augustine has the keys. But how many of us have ever gotten that real with God or that real with each other?

Context

Today, we continue our Sermon Series through the book of Psalms. Remember the Psalms were the Song Book of Jesus. These are poems and songs written by those in the Old Testament days that reveal all of the emotion and the fulness of life. These songs are designed to get us to feel the experiences of the writer of the Psalm, and in turn to reflect on our own life and begin to sing the same song. Today’s Psalm builds quite nicely off of last week’s Psalm 30. If you recall in that Psalm we particularly lazered in on the idea that ‘God will graciously destroy that which is destroying us.’ It was this idea that God loves us so much that he will do the difficult fatherly work of rooting sin our of your life through discipline, in order that sin won’t kill us. In a similar vein, David today celebrates God and praises God for the forgiveness of his sin. I think the Main idea for today’s message is something like this, “The Deeper You Confess, the Deeper You Will Experience the Fulness of the Christian Life.”

Psalm 30 “A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple. 1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. 2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. 3 O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. 4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. 5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. 6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” 7 By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed. 8 To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: 9 “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? 10 Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” 11 You have turned for me my mourning into dan…”

First: What is the Fulness of the Christian Life? (1-2)

The Psalmist begins with a loud and vibrant declaration of the truly blessed life. It is not hidden. It is not unattainable. No matter your story, your background, your intellect, your pedigree, the blessed life is yours for the taking. And it is found in something that only Jesus can offer you. The Blessed Life is the life that embraces total forgiveness.

Psalm 32:1-2 “1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Three Separate Words For Sin

Notice the repetition of verses 1-2. David uses three separate words to describe his sin and all three times he talks about his sin being removed. Verse 1 uses the term “transgression.” Again in verse 1 we have “sin.” Then in verse 2 he speaks of “iniquity.” Three separate words but when used in such quick sequence here in this Psalm they communicate one large truth. First let’s look at them individually.

Transgression (Departure or Rebellion)

The first word is “transgression.” You are blessed when your transgressions are forgiven. This word literally means something like “a departure,” or “a rebellion.” A transgression refers to something we do that is a direct rebellion against God. What Christians realize is that underneath every sin, every wrong attitude, every unjust action, there is fundamentally a transgression against God. This is why King David could cry out in another Psalm when consider all the sin in his life

Psalm 51:4 “4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight...”

Had David harmed others, wronged others? Yes of course. But he understood that all sin is first and foremost a rebellion against God, and that made David ache because he loved God.

Sin (Missing the Mark of God’s Law)

The second word is “sin.” This word has the literal idea of an arrow missing a target. We might say something like, “missing the mark.” The emphasis on this word is that of not living up to the law of God that has been revealed to us. We’ve missed the mark of the divine law

Iniquity (Twisting or Crookedness)

Iniquity has a rather literal meaning of “corruption” or “twistedness” or “crookedness.” This word really gets at the that sin in relation to ourselves. It is a corrupting of who we are supposed to be, of what we are supposed to be. This word paints almost an image of twistedness. You can imagine a Gollum-like figure that is twisted and its not right. Well that is what sin does to us, it twists us.

Illustration: 300 Car Pileup

See, most of us don’t get this. A few years ago I was reading a news article about a car crash that happened during a snow storm on a highway. The storm was so bad and one car spun out and caused a collision with the care behind them. But because it was icy, the car behind that car slammed on their breaks, skid on the ice, and slammed into the back of that car. This began a chain reaction that eventually involved 300 cars skidding into each other along the highway and serious injuries all the way back. 300 cars. Think about this. The person who caused that car crash, they had no idea how many people were effected by their fender bender. It was a blizzard outside, they probably could barely see 50 behind them. They knew a few cars were involved, but they couldn’t imagine 300. It was only once the blizzard cleared and the helicopters came out and provided greater vision on the extent of the damage. In the midst of our, no matter how private we believe it is, there are deep consequences that effect not only people around you, but generations after you. The Bible says, “I will visit the the iniquities of the Fathers to 3rd and 4th generation.”

Three Separate Actions By God

Sin is a rebellion against God. It’s a breaking of his law. And its a twisting of God’s design for us. But see how with each word used to describe sin, another words come alongside it. His transgressions are forgiven. This word means “lifted off.” When you come to God through Jesus Christ he lifts your sins off of you and you no longer carry them. The second word is “covered.” His sins are covered. They are seen no more. They are out of sight and in a sense buried. Lastly is the phrase that he counts your iniquity no more. The idea here is of a balance sheet with all of your sins listed on one side. He says that true blessing is knowing that your record has been wiped clean. Your debt is fully removed.

Connection to Psalm 1

The theme of “blessing” is not uncommon to the book of Psalms. In fact the very opening Psalm, Psalm 1, works this idea into the entire framework of the Psalter.

Psalm 1:1-2 “1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

Psalm 1 & Psalm 32 are intricately connected, but it is vital that we see how they are connected. Psalm 1 says, “You want the blessed life. You want the life that is right and good and true. Follow all of God’s commands. Don’t mess with sin. Stay away from it. Live honorably and righteously all of your life.” And that is true. But there is a problem that throughout the book of Psalms we continue to come across this notion that none of us live up to that standard. And so Psalm 32 functions as addendum to Psalm 1. Psalm 32 begins by saying, “I can’t live up to Psalm 1. I know I’ve failed. But I can have that blessed life. Yes! Blessing is not foreign to me. No—all of my sins are forgiven, and that is just blessed as if I had perfectly obeyed His commands the entire time.”

Have You Ever Experienced This

Church—the truly blessed life is available to anyone who wants it. It is not hidden beneath a mountain somewhere. It is available in Jesus Christ to you today. The world’s solutions to the problem of our heart cannot deal with the root of the issue. The best the world can offer is to either try harder or cover up your weakness. But in Christ, and in Christ alone, there is a different solution. In Christ, total forgiveness is offered, no string attached. What a freeing, blessed life that is!

Lesson 1: Concealed Guilt & Unconfessed Sin Will Physically Destroy You (3-4)

What I want to do now is walk through the rest of this Psalm and invite us into a more confessional lifestyle by revealing three lessons about confession that we learn from this text. First lesson, unconfessed sin will slowly destroy you. Now to my astute listeners you will remember last week’s message on sin. In that message we explored the way God loves us so much that he will graciously destroy that which is destroying us. In other words, God will discipline us in order to root sin out of life that is killing us. The point I’m trying to make now is an overlap with that point from last week. But it is also unique. Verses 3-4 read

Psalm 32:3-4 “3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah”

When I Kept Silent

David says, “When I kept silent my bones wasted away.” He describing the silence of bottling up your sin and trying to hide it. He is describing the silence of failing to confess. And he says that when I bottled my sin up inside and tried to pretend to everyone around me that I didn’t need forgiveness, that I could live up to the standard of Psalm 1, it weighed me down to the point of death. He says, “My bones wasted away.” “I groaned all the night long.” He’s describing physical illness.

Modern Psychology - Physical Health

Have you ever tried to bury a lie, or conceal something from someone else. This week I was researching secular psychology to see what they had to say on this topic. What does bottling up and failing to confess wrongdoing do to a person. Quite literally it can and does kill people. When you’re hiding something, it destroys your immune system, it can wreak havoc on the reproductive systems. It literally causes tears in the lining of your heart. It causes your stress levels to skyrocket. It causes distraction and a failure to complete work which in turn leads to other stresses. It can age you decades in a short period of time. It can cause heart attacks and lead to strokes.

Modern Psychology - Alternate Coping Mechanisms

But buried sin creates another problem. It leads to destructive coping mechanisms. The human body and the human mind were not made to suppress the truth. When people try to bury it, it leads to all sorts of dangerous and destructive behaviors that only increase the brokenness. People turn to relationships and destructive sexual behavior. People turn to increased use of alcohol. People to turn drugs to numb the feelings of guilt inside. People become consumed with their work in order to stay busy and not deal with the issue under the issue. It is an endless cycle that the world has no solution to

Many Of Us In the Room

Church—concealed sin and hidden guilt will slowly wreak havoc on your body, wreak havoc on your relationships and most importantly, wreak havoc on your walk with God. There is a solution to this, it’s confessions, and we’re going to get there. But hear this—this is an every Christian regular thing. If there is no real confession, no real examination, no real sharing with others our weaknesses, I’m not sure if we really understand the gospel. Tonight I am getting together with my two best friends and accountability partners. Paul said,

2 Corinthians 4:7 “7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”

The idea was that he wanted to boast in his weaknesses, because when others saw his weakness they were pointed to His savior. What will it take to create a culture of real/raw confession?

Lesson 2: Real Confession that Leads to Transformation Requires an Agony Over Sin (5-7)

Read verse 5 with me. David says

Psalm 32:5 “5 I acknowledged 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. Selah”

You cannot Confess What You Have Not Grieved

This short verse is packed with rich theology. First, notice how all three words that David used to describe his sin are reused here. He “acknowledges his sin.” He “did not cover his iniquity.” He “confesssed his transgressions.” The first principle of honest confession is that it does not hide anything. It looks at the filth of our sin in all of its fulness. Confession that is only partial is not confession. Confession that only owns a portion of the damage caused is not confession. Confession rightly sees and hates the reality that our sin is a twisted broken rebellion against God.

I Did Not Cover My Iniquity

He says, “I did not cover my iniquity.” This language is again taking us right back to verse 1 where he said, “Blessed is the man whose sin is covered.” When we cover our sin, we do it to hide it. When God covers our sin he does it to bury it. What does it mean to “cover our own sin.” It means that we do all we can to not deal with the issue. We don’t confess to God. We don’t confess to others. We know its there, but we cover it up and don’t let anybody in. In real confession, there is a turning of our hearts where say, “I’m done hiding it. It’s killing me.” There is such beauty in this moment, when a Christian finally realizes that the Christian life is not one of having it all together all the time. The Christian life is one of honest open vulnerability with God and with man.

You Cannot Confess What You Have Not Grieved

You cannot confess what you have not grieved. And you cannot grieve what you don’t truly see. Too often our confessions are surface level. Too often what we call “confession” is nothing more than a head nod to the cross. And the reason no real transformation is happening in our walk with God, is because we’ve become complacent to sin. Real confession sees sin in all of its fullness and agonizes over it, like Augustine. Do you cry out with the great Puritan Thomas Brooks,

“Oh! Sin is that which has hindered my prayers, and embittered my mercies, and put a sting into all my crosses; and therefore I can’t but disapprove of it, and disallow of it, and condemn it to death, indeed, to hell, from whence it came.” — Thomas Brooks

Lesson 3: Do Not Wait Until Tomorrow

This leads us to lesson three. Don’t Wait Until Tomorrow to Receive the Gift of Total Forgiveness. This is for every Christian and non Christian alike. Christians make the mistake of thinking that once we have started the journey of Christianity, the expectation is that we confess less and less. Oh far from it. The journey of growing in Christ is marked by confessing more and more as God continually reveals weaknesses and sins and vices.

Shouts of Deliverance

David says after his agonizing confession.

Psalm 32:6-7 “6 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. 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”

“At a time when you may be found.” That time is today. He’s saying don’t wait. Don’t linger on this. David is looking at his own story and he’s saying I lingered and I made a mistake. Don’t wait like I did. He says, God has become a “hiding place from him.” Where once he used to hide his sin from God, now he hides in God. He says he is surrounded by shouts of deliverance. Linger on that phrase. Let me tell you the picture I see in my mind when I hear that phrase:

Illustration: Christ Coming Towards us

I see David in agony over his sin. He’s confronted it. He’s meditated on it. He sees it all of its nastiness. He sees his lust for Bathsheba. And he’s looking at how much destruction came from that one sinful glance that led to that one sinful request. And he’s in agony. I see David carrying that burden of guilt upon his shoulders, stumbling under the weight, like a drunken man barely putting one foot in front of the other. And there in the distance comes the humble Savior, Jesus Christ. David is ashamed to be before the King of Kings. Just to see Jesus’ face is to know one’s sinfulness. David tries to flee, but he can’t, he’s pinned by the hold of the King. David looks down at the ground ashamed, but Jesus gently places a finger on his chin and looks him in the eye. And in that moment, you know you are perfectly loved. In that moment you know you were a fool for thinking you could hide anything from this man. And then Christ does something remarkable. He lifts that burden from your shoulders and he places it on his own. He says, “This is mine to carry. Let me have it.” As you stand there, and you say, “No, no. Its not yours. It’s mine. I’m sorry. It’s my debt. It’s my sin.” Christ looks back at you with those same eyes of love and says, “It is finished. You are delivered in full!”

This is the Gospel

This is the gospel. This is what you were made for. Christ has buried your sin on the cross. You carry it no more. The invitation of the Christian life is full freedom from sin. Shame is done away with at the cross. It’s done. Whatever you are carrying in here today. Whatever you are burying beneath underneath your skin. Whatever is keeping you up late at night. Whatever wrongs you have done. No matter how far you feel you have gone, find Christ today offering you what no one else can offer. Total forgiveness.

Closing & Application

I want to close by looking at verses 8-11. I feel like the Psalm could easily end after verse 7. But it doesn’t, it has this applicational ending.

Psalm 32:8-11 “8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 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. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

These verses are written by a man speaking to others, exhorting them to not be a fool. Only a fool would look at what Christ offers and walk away from it. Only a fool would not take this offer and own fully. He’s saying, “I want to instruct everyone I can on how good this Good News really is.” But if you get this love that Jesus offers, this unwavering, unfaltering, steadfast, perfect, Jesus love, it surrounds you. Then live into it. Make it a marked part of your identity. Make it a marked part of your communal identity.

Prayer and Worship Nights

I have realized as a Pastor that I have not created enough intentional spaces for us to truly “soak” in Christ. To “immerse ourselves” in Christ. we are a frantically busy non-stop culture, and I think I need to train us to slow down and to let God do what only God can do. Beginning in September we will be rolling our entire Church strategy to our Members. And part of that strategy is creating spaces to linger in prayer and confession. I’m aiming to do monthly nights of Worship. No fixed agenda. No rush. The aim is simply to experience this more fully. I’m hoping that maybe those become a vital part of your walk with God.

Moving Into a Time of Confession

But, we don’t need to wait for that in September, I want to create that space now. We are going to have a time of communal confession. The band is going to play behind me, and this is a chance to forget that anyone else is in the room. This is just you and God. This is the Holy Spirit moment. I want to give you permission to get up and go around the room if you need.

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