Help! I've Sinned

[0:00] well let's just say that you're a blood-bought follower of Jesus you know he has delivered you from sin you belong to him but you sin and you continue to sin and maybe just recently you've sinned maybe it was because you just vented on someone whom you love with a full vent of anger or maybe you in the spirit of catching up about someone you are actually gossiping about someone with your tongue or maybe you've been lingering on a person or an image in your lust sin is any thought any feeling any word or action that grieves God and though many of us in the room are blood-bought we still continue to sin how do you respond to your sin what happens in you when you sin against God maybe you become afraid that was me in high school

[1:29] I professed to be a follower of Jesus but I was a miserable wreck because every time I sinned and I sinned a lot in high school I thought Jesus would leave me I was afraid I was afraid every time I sinned I would lose my salvation or maybe you're not afraid maybe it's more like you're ashamed you're like Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned against God and they're just hiding they're hiding hoping that God is going to walk on by he's not going to notice maybe you're just trying to hide from God thinking that he doesn't notice your anger or your pride or your lust we need help we all need help we need help when we sin this morning God's word is holding out help for those Christians who are miserable because of their sin this summer we are doing a series called

[2:40] Psalms for the Helping and this morning we're in a psalm Psalm 32 that is designed to help us as followers of Jesus find help in the Lord when we sin against him so here's the point of this morning's sermon and the point of Psalm 32 for you to be happy in the Lord after you sin you must be honest with the Lord about your sin in order for you to be happy in the Lord after you sin you need to be honest with the Lord about your sin Psalm 32 has two sections the first section is a claim and we see this in verses 1 through 5 it's essentially David announcing good news there is happiness awaiting those who have sinned against the Lord blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven and not only is there a claim but the second half of Psalm 32 is a call a call to be honest with the Lord verses 6 through 11 a call to all the godly to offer a prayer of confession confession to God when he may be found so there's these two sections in order to be happy in the Lord after you sin you must be honest with the Lord about your sin so let's look at verses 1 through 5 and the first half of Psalm 32 this claim that there is true happiness for those who have sinned it's an announcement of good news and this announcement comes with a word of blessed see that in verse 1 blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered and then verse 2 blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit that word blessed simply means happy joyful glad hearted and actually if you look down at verse 11 in Psalm 32 we have the outworking of this blessedness be glad in the Lord and rejoice

[4:56] O righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart so what Psalm 32 is it begins with gladness and it ends with gladness and in the middle is how we're to find our joy in God after we sin this state of happiness is a personal happiness blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven blessed is the man or the woman against whom the Lord counts no iniquity this is an announcement of good news to us for those of us who are sinning regularly does anybody sin regularly in the building there's a lot more on this side than this side I saw the double hand brother we're all in need of this joy so let me ask the question what according to

[5:59] Psalm 32 is the source of this blessedness the cause of this happiness well before we go there what does our culture say is the source and cause of happiness all sorts of things the latest techno gadget entertainment the next hook up the next fix the next raise the next promotion the next book to be read the degree to be earned I'm not denying there's goodness in some of these things happiness but if you're looking for happiness on Amazon or on Instagram and Netflix you're going to find a temporary happiness what Psalm 32 is talking about is ultimate happiness ultimate joy and so if we were to ask

[7:01] David David please tell us what is the source of happiness ultimate true happiness he tells us he tells us he tells us in one and two blessed happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven blessed is the one whose sin is covered blessed is the man whose iniquity God does not count against him there are three ways of saying the same thing happy is the one in whom God has cleared of all wrongdoing against him there's where happiness is now you may be hearing me say that and you're thinking like okay I can get happy about that it's like a giant phew I am off the hook but let me just lay before you this

[8:04] God's gracious dealing with our sins the forgiveness he offers of our transgressions the covering over of our sin the not holding our iniquity against us that removing of sin that is not the end goal it's a means to an end because true happiness isn't just in being freed from your sin sin is removed so that you can enjoy God God removes our sin from our relationship so that we can experience a full and vibrant life giving relationship with the living God that's the blessedness that's the joy the greatest source of happiness that any human being can ever experience is a full and vibrant relationship with the living God and that only happens when God graciously takes our sin out of the way and he removes it as far as the east is from the west psalm 103

[9:21] God created us to be in a relationship with him in which we delight in him this is what I mean by true happiness is in the Lord just not having your sins forgiven it's being current with the living God of experiencing his loving presence to forgive and to convict and to protect and to lead now the question becomes how does one experience this kind of joy in the Lord how does one experience this blessedness or happiness this gladness rejoicing shouting for joy in the Lord how do you get a hold of that well maybe you didn't notice but look at the last line of verse 2 and in whose spirit there is no deceit it's a little kind of out of place

[10:26] I mean blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity okay those three things I get and then he kind of turns it a little different direction and in whose spirit there is no deceit what is that all about well what you need to understand is what he's describing is essential to experiencing the happiness that the Lord offers after we sin it's stating it negatively and in whose spirit there is no deceit what does that mean well to put it put it positively we're talking about blessed is the one in whose spirit one is completely honest with the Lord you see true happiness is not in deceiving yourself about your sin but being honest with yourself and God about your sin every blood bought

[11:30] Christian will experience some kind of distance with God when we have unconfessed sin in our life in order for you to be happy in the Lord you've got to be honest with the Lord you're not to have we're not to have any deceit in our inner beings now what's interesting is where David goes now in verse three four and five David shares with us a personal testimony he starts talking about hey let me let me show you what this spirit without deceit looks like but what's interesting is he shares with us a journey because he definitely doesn't start there look at verse three for when I kept silent that's not an example of what it means to in verse two in whose spirit there is no deceit keeping silent about something is to cover something it's not being honest so what

[12:47] David is about to share with us is his testimony of when he was withholding sin from God unconfessed sin and then he moves to confessing it and then experiences the joy in the Lord look at this with me for when I kept silent David is humbly admitting in this psalm a time he had sin but he kept silent about it we don't know if he's referring to his sin against God when he had an adulterous affair with Bathsheba and had a child and then covered up with murder we don't know if that's what he's actually talking about or he's talking about some other sin but what we do know is that he is humbly admitting that he did something against God and he didn't want to deal with it and he was deceiving himself he wasn't going to God there was deceit in his spirit let me ask you this have you ever sinned against

[13:54] God and kept silent about it didn't want to admit it to yourself you didn't want to admit your sin to someone else you definitely didn't want to admit your sin to God again you're like Adam and Eve in the garden covering yourself over hiding in the bushes hoping God just going to walk by what we're talking about here is unconfessed sin unconfessed sin is when we commit sin against God but we do not humbly acknowledge it to God and unconfessed sin encumbers our relationship with the living God let me give you an illustration at our house we have a patio in the backyard and we love sitting out on it during the summertime and having meals and just hanging out but I also have my trash barrels back there could you imagine what happens if I miss a couple weeks of the trash pickup what happens on that back patio the relationships that take place there when the trash is being put out regularly they happen there's sweetness there's no distraction but when you have a buildup of trash in the backyard on a hot summer days that's right it gets a little tinky and distracting the back patio doesn't get used relationships are encumbered by the trash buildup unconfessed sin is like trash building up in your backyard there's a provision

[15:43] God has made the trash truck is coming on Wednesday it's ready to be taken away it's as good as gone you just need to get it out there but if it's sitting there it's going to affect your relationship with God do you know who are the most miserable people I know the most miserable people I know are Christians who are unwilling to confess their sins to God a miserable Christian is an oxymoron there should be no misery among us when it comes to our sin some of the most miserable times of my own walk with the Lord have been times when I have kept silent about my sin I've just let the trash build up and it's been building up so much I just don't want to deal with it so I try to ignore it but God doesn't ignore our unconfessed sin let's look at three and four for when

[16:56] I kept silent God does something out of love for David there are three things that God does in response to David keeping silence he says David says my bones wasted away through my turmoil groaning all day long through my groaning all day long he's experiencing inner turmoil here as a result of him not confessing his sin and then we read day and night your hand was heavy on me God's holy hand of conviction on David as he kept silent about his sin there's an oppressive feel to that God not letting you move forward in peace because you need to get right with him and then we read my strength was dried up as by the heat of the summer we all know what it's like to be outside during the summertime you put a hard day in around the house and that night you just don't want to do anything because the heat of the summer has completely drained you unconfessed sin has a draining effect on your body on you we are symbiotic people we have a relationship between our bodies and spirits let me ask you inner turmoil bones wasting away

[18:31] God bringing the heavy his hand on you strength being dried up in the heat of summer this list listness do you think any of those describe someone who is happy in the Lord no these are descriptions of misery these are what result from us keeping silent about our sin with the Lord there's this interesting word at the end of verse four my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer you see the word selah most people think it means just to take a pause so let's just take a pause there are people in this room who are experiencing the weight of

[19:32] God's hand the loving pain of conviction God because you've been unwilling to be honest with God about your sin to come clean with him you feel like your inner life is wasting away you feel burdened you feel like you are just kind of listless and you know what it is it's God in his love bringing you to an end to yourself he loves you more than your comfort he wants you to experience the happiness of being in a right relationship with him to share in his holiness and so he's willing to cause you some discomfort to bring you to that point of being honest with him are you being honest with the

[20:35] Lord are you current with him about your sin when was the last time he took the trash out what's striking about this personal testimony is that David doesn't stay there in verse 3 and 4 he moves on it's good news for us in verse 5 David has come to an end to himself God's heavy hand has humbled him and he's reached a point now where he's finally saying I'm going to be honest with the Lord and in verse 5 you see three expressions of his honesty to God regarding his sin I acknowledge my sin to you notice it's to you Lord I did not cover my iniquity he's not covering it up I will confess

[21:37] I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord to the Lord he is coming clean all these three expressions are ways of describing of being open and honest with your sin to the Lord what's interesting is that these there are three words in verse five sin iniquity and transgressions it's the same three words that show up in verses one and two sin iniquity transgressions what's interesting is there's there's a difference and the difference is the word my I acknowledged my sin to you I did not cover my iniquity I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord do you see what's going on here God in his gracious mercy has brought David to an end to himself and now

[22:39] David is being honest with God and owning his sin taking full responsibility for it yes yes it was it was my my sin against you God I missed the mark yes it was it was my iniquity I willfully chose to go over the curb of your law and away from your path that's that's my doing I take responsibility for that it's I confess my transgression I rebelled against your authority it was my choice he's taking full responsibility to it he's being honest with the Lord about it you will not be happy in the Lord until you're completely honest with the Lord about your sin David is modeling for us a confession of sin he's modeling for us verse two this in whose spirit there is no deceit and you know what

[23:45] I find really encouraging about this it took him a while it took him some time and some pain to get to the point of him owning his sin and I think all of us in the room can identify with this delay of saying I've committed sin and then it takes some time to realize oh no I really did sin against God scholars believe that when it came to David sin against God by his adultery Bathsheba into finally confessing that it was about a year to when he said yes I have sinned to Nathan's rebuke a year what I love about verse 5 is that as soon as David owns his sin it's met with forgiveness I acknowledge my sin

[24:49] I did not cover my iniquity I will confess my transgressions and you forgave the iniquity of my sin you forgave me this is the testimony the claim there is happiness for us in the Lord after we sin and here's the testimony he didn't start happy but he ended happy when he confessed his sin to the Lord he forgave him and do you know what the basis of this forgiveness was for David he sins against the Lord and you know what he had to do according to the law at that time he had to sacrifice a goat or a bull as a goat as a guilt offering on the altar blood needed to be shed forgiveness promised brothers and sisters do you not realize we have a way better promise we have a way better sacrifice the lamb of

[25:50] God Jesus he sacrificed himself for our sin David confesses his sin and God forgives him based upon sacrifice and today 1st John 1 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness based on the sacrifice of Jesus what I'm hoping you're seeing so far is this unconfessed sin results in misery confession of sin results in happiness blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity do you know how you need to think about the cross of Jesus Christ the cross of

[26:50] Jesus Christ is the source of our forgiveness it is a fountain ever flowing with grace to forgive again and again and again it never gets old he never runs out at the end of verse five is another selah so let's just pause brother sister do you have unconfessed sin in your life if you do I know you're miserable because I've been there too you don't have to be this claim is true there's happiness blessedness waiting for you all you need to do is obey the call and we see that on the last half of Psalm 32 the call there's the claim there's happiness for those who have sinned and then there's the call so be honest with

[27:51] God about your sin in verse six we read the word therefore and if you're a student of the Bible you know that when you come across the word therefore you should ask a question what is the therefore therefore and this therefore is connecting it's connecting the claim verses one through five to the call of verses six through eleven the claim Christian you can be happy in the Lord after your sin and the call so be honest with the Lord about your sin in verse six we read therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found it's like David is in the middle of the congregation and he's praying to God for all to hear and he's saying let everyone who is godly in whose spirit there is no deceit let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found what kind of prayer contextually it's a prayer of confession that's what

[29:02] David just modeled let everyone in whose spirit is no deceit let them offer prayers of confession to God when he may be found what does that mean what David is getting at there is a timeliness in responding to being convicted by God's heavy hand and then confessing it to God don't delay if you're in the room this morning and you're becoming more and more aware as we've been praying that you are becoming more aware of sin that you've committed against God don't delay confess it to him don't ignore his proddings don't be like a mule or like a horse that doesn't have understanding and that just kind of resisting don't do that offer your prayers now confess to him find joy in his forgiveness what's interesting about this is where

[30:10] David goes David says let everyone offer prayers of confession while God while you may be found and then he aims us somewhere and it's kind of surprising look at verse at the end of verse six he says 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 what he's talking about is in the ancient near east there are these dry river beds well I guess in the near east now too there are these dry river beds called wadis w-a-d-i and when there's a torrential rain pour there is this flooding effect and if you're standing in a wadi when this torrential rain happens you're going to get rushed off by the rush of waters but what he's saying here is if you're godly if you belong to the lord if you're trusting in him you don't need to fear that kind of onslaught because god's a protector and then he goes into personal testimony again look what he says you are a hiding place for me verse seven cory ten boone you are my hiding place that's where this is from you preserve me from trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance three expressions of personal protection hiding place preserve me from trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance the walls of protection of around me are glad tidings of deliverance it's god protecting me so so david calls us to offer prayer to him of confession to god and then he says your god is a protector and then in verse eight he says it's god speaking this is god speaking to david god says you're my hiding place you preserve me you surround me god says to david i will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go i will counsel you with my eye upon you so not only is god a present protector he is a present guide so offer your prayers of confession to him do you know what this does it should assure you that when you confess your sin to the lord you don't need to be afraid of him he's not against you he's for you he's your protector and he's your guide a little side note that line that says i will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go what's interesting is that word iniquity that's showed up twice already that word means to purposefully deviate from

[33:12] God's path it's like you're driving over the curbs of God's law and here we have after one confesses God saying hey I will instruct you and teach you on the path that you need to go on my path the path of blessing the path where I am present and fullness of joy exists Psalm 16 the warning be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curbed with bitten bridle or it will not stay near to you have you ever seen a picture of a guy trying to lead a mule but that mule is sitting back on its haunches pulling back not willing to go don't respond that way don't resist God in your pride go to him offer prayers of confession while he may be found he is your protector he is your guide he will counsel you with his eye upon you it's a picture of intimacy and presence you know what the summary is you have no good reason to stay silent about your sin no good reason and you have multiple reasons to confess your sin to

[34:45] God he's a loving God who welcomes your confession wants you to share in the joy of knowing him real quick verse 10 we have a concluding summary the wicked and those who trust two ways to live the wicked don't trust in the Lord they persist in deceiving themselves and they're so surrounded by sorrow but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord the one in whom there's no deceit the one who is glad in the Lord the righteous the upright in heart those who are blessed because their sins have been forgiven they're surrounded by the steadfast love of the Lord and out of that experience comes gladness and rejoicing and shouts for joy because those of us who know we've been forgiven of our sin again are experiencing

[35:49] God's loving presence I'm going to wrap this up but I want you to say this godliness is not the absence of sin in your life godliness is honestly dealing with your sin to God to regularly confessing it to him and finding joy let me give you four words in conclusion how to apply this the application is go to the Lord and confess your sin go to him find happiness be honest with him here's how you can be honest with him ask God to search you Psalm 139 23 and 24 see if there be any grievous way in you that delights God what you're saying is God I want to share in your holiness I don't want there to be anything between us show me if there is and when he does because

[36:52] God is a living and loving God when he does show you your sin you confess it 1st John 1 9 if we confess our sins that word confess in Greek means same word you you call it what God calls it so instead of saying okay I'm just frustrated you say to God God I was sinfully angry instead of saying oh we were just catching up about Jim you say oh God I was gossiping about Jim instead of saying yeah I was unusually attracted to that woman you confess I was lusting after her you call it sin ask God to search you confess it call it what God calls it and when you do you call it forgiven if we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness forgiveness and that forgiveness is based upon the shed blood of

[37:59] Jesus the fountain that keeps giving keeps forgiving search confess call it forgiven and then rejoice Psalm 32 11 be glad in the Lord and rejoice O righteous and shout for joy all you upright in heart you need not fear God you need not be ashamed you just need to be honest with him and there you'll find joy for your soul we looked at Psalm 32 I hope it has helped you because you may sin this afternoon and when you do remember the claim and remember the call you can be happy in the Lord after your sin by being honest with the Lord about your sin let's pray God would you use Psalm 32 to press your will into our hearts and

[39:04] I pray now God that you would search us and know us that you would reveal any wicked way any grievous way in us so that we can confess it to you and experience the fullness of restoration of being in a life giving relationship with you God we ask that you would make us holy people and happy people we ask this in the name of Jesus Amen