The Psalter is one of the pinnacles of the Old Testament.
So when we read the Psalter, it's like seeing different photos of the majestic picture of God's glory.
The majestic collage of God's glory.
So Psalm 1 and 2 is a singular song in the Hebrew.
It serves as an introduction to the Psalter, an interpretive lens on how we read the rest of the Psalms.
Psalm 1 depicts this ideal man, this representative.
And Psalm 2 puts a face to the ideal man, applying Psalm 1 to Psalm 2.
So read verse 1 with me.
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.
The word blessed is the man, the word for man there, Adam, is in the singular and portrays a representative.
It could be interpreted the blessed man or the blessings of the man.
So Psalm 1 can be understood as that way.
The blessed man in Psalm 1 thinks on God's word day and night, as we read in verse 2.
He thinks it in such a way that it affects his thoughts, his affections, and his actions, so that they would be in line with God's.
This man knows God, and he will stand in the congregation of the righteous.
Now the second man in Psalm 1 is the wicked man who turns away from God and revels in his own counsel.
Those who do not heed his counsel, scorn.
Those who do not heed the counsel of the wicked, he scorns and scoffs at.
This man will be like the chaff that gets blown away.
And he will not know God, and he will fall on the day of judgment and perish.
The blessed man of Psalm 1 is revealed as the righteous king of Psalm 2, as we go into Psalm 2.
The righteous king takes counsel with Yahweh himself.
The wicked of Psalm 1 are identified as the wicked rulers of Psalm 2.
The wicked rulers take counsel together, and they scoff at the blessed man.
Therefore, there is a warning to the wicked kings that they should not take counsel together and scoff the authority of the righteous king.
And the warning is that if they do not submit to them, they will be crushed.
Read Psalm 2.12 with me.
Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way.
For his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
In Psalm 1.2, we see the blessed man of Psalm 1 as the messianic king of Psalm 2.
The audience of Psalm 1 who are listening and reading and seeing this are being warned that unless they take refuge in the messianic king,
they will be crushed like the wicked rulers of Psalm 2.
And we see his point further in Psalm 3.8.
It says,
Salvation belongs to the Lord.
Your blessing be on your people.
Do you see the connection that blessed the man of Psalm 1 as the royal son?
And that all who take refuge in him are blessed and will be blessed.
And then in Psalm 3, it says that salvation belongs to the Lord.
Blessing be on your people.
Those who are finding refuge in the son.
So, as we come to the Psalm 32, this understanding of Psalm 1 and 2 sets up an interpretive paradigm, a way for us to understand the rest of the Psalms.
This understanding of Psalm 1 and 2 shows that those who submit to the blessed king find forgiveness, refuge, comfort, loving kindness, faithfulness, and eternal life.
But those who do not submit to the righteous king will receive justice, the righteousness of God, recompense, cursing, and everlasting sorrow.
With this understanding, turn with me to Psalm 32.
Before we begin the Psalm, I'd like to introduce it briefly by discussing a central theme of verses 1-5.
David is describing his experience of wrestling with guilt and unrepentant sin.
He explicitly describes the effect that this has on the state of his heart and how that is affecting his physical condition.
While he loved God and desired him deeply, he wrestled with sin in this body of death.
He was lured by lust.
He was murdered.
He murdered a man.
He committed adultery.
When his children sinned, he had been passive.
He got angry.
He manipulated circumstances in his favor.
He is one who has experienced the consequences of his sin, as we see through the narrative.
David was familiar with the grief of his own sin.
What about you today?
Are there sins you've committed that you feel the weight of upon your shoulders?
Are there things that you are shameful for?
I'm not sure if any one of you that are in here today are currently experiencing shame or guilt,
or experiencing regarding things you've done in the past.
But Psalm 32 is a passage of scripture that is like a wonderful salve for our soul,
and rich food for the needy.
It's a passage that provides relief from this massive burden of guilt and helps rid our stains of sin.
So today, in Psalm 32, we will see the godly should be the happiest of people
because they have been forgiven and received the blessings of forgiveness.
We will also see that the one who is unrepentant, bearing his guilt,
should heed the lesson of the psalm, do not be a mule.
We'll see this through four points.
The first point we'll see this through is point number one, the happy state of the forgiven.
Second point, the divine blessings of the forgiven.
The third point, do not be a mule.
Seek God in prayer.
And the fourth point, sorrow for the wicked and joy for the righteous.
Now I'll repeat these points again.
Point number one, the happy state of the forgiven.
Point number two, the divine blessings of the forgiven.
Point number three, do not be a mule.
Seek God in prayer.
And point number four, sorrow for the wicked and joy for the righteous.
Read Psalm 32 with me.
A masculine of David, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept quiet, my bones wasted away,
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Selah.
I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity.
I said I'll confess my transgression to the Lord,
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Selah.
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.
You are a hiding place for me.
You preserve me from trouble.
You surround me with shouts of deliverance.
Selah.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like the horse or a mule without understanding.
You must be curved with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 32 offers a remark under the heading.
It does not have a verse number.
So if you look into the text, you see the heading says,
Blessed are the forgiven.
Under it, there is a phrase that has no number one.
It's a masculine of David.
This is what we call the superscription.
It does not appear in every psalm, but when it does, it helps us understand the context of the psalm.
Oftentimes, this will give you an understanding of what the meaning of the psalm is.
So often this provides an author, an event, a genre.
The heading of the psalm is not in the Hebrew-inspired.
The superscription is in the Hebrew, and it is inspired.
So it's wise for us to see what it says and to understand how that influences the text.
Here it is a genre.
We see that's a masculine of David.
A masculine is a word in the Hebrew that means to instruct or to consider.
So this psalm is a piece of poetic wisdom.
It helps provide us understanding and wisdom in our relationship with God.
So with this in mind, let us learn from God's eternal word in Psalm 32 and apply it to our hearts.
Number one, the happy state of the forgiven.
As we begin to explore Psalm 32, keep in mind that Psalm 1 and 2 are lens by which we see the psalms.
So in this passage, the blessed are those who find refuge in the royal son for his forgiveness.
This makes us, so as we see that, we'll see that the blessed are those who find refuge in the son for his forgiveness, his protection, and his instruction.
The wicked are those who do not heed the counsel of the Lord and follow the way of the mule, the way of the foolish.
So Psalm 31, 2.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
The one whose experience forgiven is blessed in the text.
We will come back to what it means to be blessed after we survey this text.
But let's talk about why they are blessed.
Here we see that they are blessed because they are forgiven.
So it makes me ask, what does it mean to be forgiven?
And the way that I've found helpful to break this down is, what is one forgiven from?
And what does it mean to be forgiven?
So we're going to survey that in two points.
What is one forgiven from in the text?
And what does it mean to be forgiven?
So in the text, there's this blessed individual who's forgiven from their transgressions.
To transgress is one who has decisively rebelled against the authority of God.
Their trespass is against God who created the heavens and the earth.
He is the creator and we are the creatures.
He has every right to establish what is right and what is wrong.
When one transgresses, they reject his authority.
So this person in Psalm 32 is forgiven from the countless times they have rejected God's authority over them
and decided their understanding, their counsel, their feelings are superior to God.
The text also says that their sin is covered.
Sin is missing the mark.
You're aiming at a target and the mark that's missed is what God has commanded.
But sin is also disobedience against God when they do not do what God has said.
But sin is more than that.
Sin is not just one disobedience.
It's a condition.
Before one is saved and experiences the healing salve of forgiveness,
they have a heart issue.
A sin issue in which they delight in their sin and transgressions against God.
In fact, they hate God before they are saved.
This heart condition of one before they are forgiven
is one of the wicked who will not stand in the judgment of God.
So with that said, one is forgiven from their transgressions.
What does it mean to be forgiven?
The Hebrew root here for forgiven in the text is to lift or carry.
To forgive someone from their transgressions,
for their transgressions to be lifted and carried away.
We see this language used throughout Scripture
and it gives us an understanding of the liberating and precious doctrine of forgiveness.
Bear with me while I belabor this point for a second.
In Leviticus, when one would sin,
they would bear the weight of their sin.
As if having it on their back.
Instead of their sin being carried, they're carrying it.
Therefore, when one sins, they have to deal with it.
And to deal with it, they would have to go and sacrifice a female goat.
And they would bring this female goat before the priest.
They would put their hand on the head and kill the goat.
And then the priest would take it and make propitiation for that individual.
But this act was like an act of transferring one's sin,
one's iniquity to this goat.
And then it would provide forgiveness.
In Leviticus 16, on the National Festival Day of Atonement,
people of Israel would gather before the priest and they would bring two goats.
And the priest would take one goat and offer it as a sin offering before God and make propitiation.
Then the priest would take the other goat, this goat called the scapegoat.
And he would confess over it all the iniquities of the people,
all their transgressions, all their sins.
And this scapegoat we sent away from the camp,
bearing the weight of iniquity and sins,
and it would be no more.
These practices were important for the people of Israel to seek forgiveness.
When they sinned, they looked to God by faith in the sacrifices.
And the prophets made clear that sacrifices themselves do not save.
There is no works that will save us.
But it is the faith itself is what is accounted to them as righteous,
as we see in Genesis 15.
For the audience of this psalm,
they would understand that salvation belongs to the Lord.
And for them to be saved would be for them to sacrifice
and by faith look to God and look to his promises.
So after David passed away,
during the reign of King Uzziah,
Isaiah began his prophetic ministry.
He began prophesying and ministering to the people.
Isaiah picks up on the language of Leviticus
and the imagery we see in Leviticus in Isaiah 53.
And he applies this to the servant of the Lord.
So if you will, take your copy of God's Word
and turn with me to Isaiah 53.
Actually, I want to remind you,
when they would bring the animal,
the idea was you're taking your iniquity and your sin
and you're putting it on the scapegoat
and the scapegoat would go into the wilderness.
So now we have the same language used in Isaiah 53,
prophesying of the Messiah who would come.
Starting in verse 4, we see,
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.
He was pierced for our transgressions.
He was crushed for our iniquities.
Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace.
And with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
So as the goats would bear the sins of the people,
this servant of the Lord will come one day,
in this context,
and bear the weight and iniquities and sins of God's people.
So the later Jews have this to look forward to.
They're looking to this blessed king who they can find refuge in.
And they're looking to this servant
who would bear the weight of all their sins and iniquities.
And this bearing, this weight that would be bore,
would not be a constant sacrifice they'd have to bring.
It would not be an annual day of atonement
that they would have to bring two goats,
one to be killed as a sin offering,
one to be sent away as a scapegoat.
This one will do one work
in which all sin will be forgiven for those who believe.
So as we read Isaiah 53 and Psalm 32,
we see a greater and grander picture.
As they had faith in God's promises to come,
we have faith in the God-man who came.
Jesus Christ is the servant of the Lord,
prophesied in Isaiah 53.
He is the blessed son of Psalm 2.
He is the son of Abraham and the son of David,
of Matthew 1.
He is the Lamb of God who bore the weight
of the sins of the world,
and the Lion of Judah who will make a quick end to his enemies.
He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end.
And it is in him that the Hebrew believers
and us today place our faith.
But just like the Hebrew believers of Psalm 32,
we are in the same boat.
We have sinned.
And when we sin,
we bear the weight of our sin.
If you are here today
and you do not believe in Jesus Christ,
know that you are bearing the weight of your sin.
There is a record of debt over you for all the wrongs you have committed.
Good works and happy attitude and forgetfulness will not save you.
Romans 6.23 says,
For the wages of sin is death.
This death is not just an end of life,
but an everlasting pain and suffering in hell.
Therefore,
as the Hebrews would look to the royal son and serve the Lord,
today,
while you can look,
look to Jesus Christ.
Romans 5.8 says,
God shows his love for us
and that while we're sinned,
Christ died for us.
Christ has taken every sin,
every treacherous trespass,
the load of iniquity,
which we should be bearing,
and bore it before the wrath of God.
He is the high priest and the scapegoat,
the Lamb of God,
who took away our sins.
Therefore,
today,
turn from your sins
and believe in Jesus Christ.
Romans 6.23 says
that the gift of God is eternal life.
For those who have been saved and forgiven,
there is something that awaits them,
something beautiful,
something wonderful,
an eternal inheritance
of everlasting joy
awaits those who have been forgiven,
those who find refuge
in the Messianic King.
Turn back with me to Psalm 32, please.
Great.
Let's read verses 1 and 2 together.
A masculine of David,
blessed is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man
against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and whose spirit there is no deceit.
So in Psalm 1 and 2,
we see this blessed man is blessed
because they have no transgressions
held against them.
Their transgressions have been cast
as far as the east is
from the west
and is no more.
They've been cast away and are gone.
This verse goes on to explain
two other ways
in which our sin has been dealt with.
In verse 1,
we see that our sin has been covered.
Sin brings shame and exposes us.
Jesus has bore our sin
and he has covered it
through his sacrifice.
Here, the person is blessed
because their sin
is covered in Christ.
The third way we see
that sin is discussed
is that the blessed man
will have no iniquity
accounted against him.
This word,
iniquity accounted against him,
is an accounting term.
As if you're taking an account
for everything that's ever happened.
So all the sins
that you've once done
no longer is accounted against you
if you find refuge
in the Son
and in Christ Jesus.
The record of debt is gone.
So now let's go back
to the word blessed.
So in the Hebrew scriptures,
the word blessing
is used an abundant amount of times.
Genesis is used 76 times.
In Deuteronomy,
it's used 40 times.
In the Psalms,
it's used 76 times.
The first word
is in the idea of giving
and receiving blessing.
And the second word
is usually used
in the state of being blessed.
It's a state of receiving
this blessing
and being blessed.
The word is also translated
to mean happiness.
So this person
who has been saved
by the gospel of Jesus Christ
and does not bear
the weight of sin
should be
the happiest person alive.
They have nothing
to worry about
in their eternal destiny
because God has covered
their sin for them.
Their iniquities have been bore
and their transgression
is no more.
So therefore,
we should rejoice today
in our Lord Jesus Christ
in his life, death,
and resurrection
because truly,
as saints of Christ,
we are in a happy place.
We have a happy state.
Point number two,
the divine blessings
of the forgiven.
As we move on
to verses three and four,
we'll see the divine blessings
David has experienced
from God.
The first blessing
we see in Psalm 32
is the blessing
of divine forgiveness.
Verses three through four say,
For when I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning
all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me.
My strength was dried up
as by the heat of summer.
Say law.
Prior to repenting of sin,
sin weighed him down.
David felt the weight
of his conviction
and he describes this weight
as his bones wasting away.
He describes this as groaning
all the day long.
His condition is that
he is grieved deeply
and miserable over sin.
Therefore,
does David
just stop thinking about it?
Does he,
does he,
in a sense,
just not tell anybody?
That,
that's not what brought him
healing in this text.
What brought him healing
is verses,
verse five.
I acknowledge my sin to you
and I did not cover
my iniquity.
I said,
I'll confess my transgression
to the Lord
and he forgave
the iniquity of my sin.
Say law.
For the believer,
we have this beautiful truth
that should cause our hearts
to leap with joy.
Should cause the spring
of gladness
when we think
that the sin
that we committed yesterday,
maybe the sin you committed
this morning,
if you seek forgiveness from,
has been forgiven.
And you do not have
to be miserable over it.
You do not have to be
in shame over this sin
because Jesus has covered it
for you.
But,
the opposite truth
is still there.
If you do not believe
in Jesus,
you do not know Jesus,
this weight of sin
is still upon you
and you will be held
accountable for it.
We see that this blessing
is followed up by a command
in Psalm 32, 6.
It 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.
The command is following
the confession of David
and then beseeching
the audience of the song.
It's saying,
Brothers and sisters,
do not conceal
your iniquity.
Do not cover up your sin.
Do not forget about it,
but bring it to the Lord
in prayer.
And if you're here
struggling today
with sin and shame,
bring the Lord in prayer
and grab a brother
and a sister
and ask them to help you
wrestle through
the struggle together.
But look at the statements
used in this text.
It helps us understand it better.
It says,
Let everyone who is godly
offer prayer.
So,
the godly in this text
offer prayer to God,
but it's also a command
to unbelievers
that they have an opportunity
to offer prayer to God.
They have an opportunity
to repent of their sins
now
as it is today.
And look at the imagery here.
The command has a clear
picture to it.
The reference says,
Seek him
while he may be found.
Into many waters
is a clear reference
to the flood.
And what happened
in the flood?
God was going to judge sin.
And he gave his promises
to Noah
to build the ark.
And those who entered the ark
were saved
from their sin.
And saved
from the wrath of God.
And those who were not
in the ark,
the wrath of God
was poured out
and the waters crushed
the people.
So here we see
this clear picture
that God hates sin
and he will punish it.
This command
to seek God in prayer
is an invitation
to sinners
to get on the ark
while they can.
To get in the ark
before the doors
are closed
and the floodwaters
come pouring down.
Therefore,
the application
is very clear.
If you are not
a follower of Christ,
now is your chance
to become one.
Now is your chance
to get on the ark
by the blood
of Jesus Christ
and save yourselves.
The next blessing
we see,
second blessing
of Psalm 32
is the blessing
of divine protection.
Psalm 32, 7
says,
You are a hiding place
for me.
You preserve me
from trouble.
You surround me
with shouts
of deliverance.
Selah.
The godly did not
just receive
the forgiveness
of sins,
but the protection
from God.
The refuge
of the messianic king
is not a shack
on the side of the road,
but an impregnable
fortress.
As Francis made clear
last week,
our security
on this earth
is not from
our vocation,
our riches,
our possessions,
or what we do,
but it's from God
and his gifts
to us.
God is the one
who is the Jehovah-Jireh.
He is the one
who has purposely
provided for all
our needs.
So when things
get hard,
we do not have
to be afraid
of the trials
that come our way,
but we,
like Habakkuk,
could come to the Lord.
Habakkuk 3 says,
Though the fig tree
should not blossom,
nor the fruit
be on the vines,
the produce
of the olive fail,
and the fields
yield no fruit.
The flock
shall be cut off
from the fold,
and there be no herds
in the stall.
Yet I will rejoice
in the Lord.
So his rejoicing
is in all my possessions.
The food I'm growing,
the animals I have
for security,
everything is gone.
I have no security.
I'm wide open,
and the only thing
I have right now,
the Lord,
is to trust in you.
And listen to the rest
of the verse.
I will take joy
in God
of my salvation.
God,
the Lord,
is my strength.
He makes my feet
like the deers.
He makes me
tread on the high places.
So we see
that the blessings
that we receive
from God
are his divine forgiveness,
his divine protection.
The third blessing
is his divine direction.
In verse 8,
God now takes
the pen from David
and shares his instruction.
It says,
I will instruct you
and teach you
in the way you should go.
I will counsel you
with my eye upon you.
There are only two ways
one can go,
as we've seen
from Psalm 1 and 2.
There is the way
of the wicked,
and there is the way
of the righteous.
Let us take the instruction
and follow the way
of the blessed son
of Psalm 2
and find refuge in him
and learn from him.
Let us follow the way
and let us be those
who are forgiven
and meditate on the Lord
day and night.
Those who know
and have experienced
the living God.
The divine blessing
of Psalm 32
finishes with a lesson.
So we talked about
the happy state
of the forgiven,
the blessings of the forgiven,
and now we're at point 3.
Do not be a mule.
Seek God.
The command of verse 9
is a negative way
of saying the command
of verse 6.
The first command
possibly commanded
the people
to seek God in prayer.
Verse 9 says,
Be not like a horse
or a mule
without understanding,
which must be curbed
with bit and bridle,
bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
Here are the pictures
of a farm.
You have the animals
that the farm person
would come and call,
and they would come
and come to the farm
be put in.
But there's the one
or two animals
that don't come
when they're called.
We see the horse
and the mule
as the example here.
And instead of them
being called and coming,
the person goes
and puts a bit
in his mouth
and has to drag him
or get him over
to the farm
to get him in there.
And what it's saying is,
don't be like the donkey.
Don't be foolish.
But seek God now
while he is found.
Seek him in prayer.
Be like the sheep
who listen to the voice
of the good shepherd
who seeks to lead
his people
by still waters.
Do not remain
in the valley of death.
Do not let sin consume you,
but seek the living God
while he is found.
He is a good shepherd
and king
who is kind
and will lead our souls
to still waters.
Truly in Jesus,
there is rest
for the forgiven.
So, point three,
do not be a meal.
Finally, point four,
sorrow for the wicked
and joy for the righteous.
As David finishes sharing
the blessings
and the lesson,
he summarizes
the result of their lives.
Verses 10 and 11 say,
Many are the sorrows
of the wicked,
but steadfast love
surrounds the one
who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord
and rejoice,
O righteous,
and shout for joy,
all you,
upright in heart.
Those who do not turn to God
and remain in their sin
will continue to follow
the way of the wicked.
They will remain meal-like
and they will receive
great sorrow.
And this sorrow is so great
that it's not momentary,
it's an everlasting sorrow.
The result of the wicked
is that they will experience
the wrath of God
and they will be crushed
on the day of judgment.
The righteous are not so.
The righteous have received
divine forgiveness,
divine protection,
and divine direction.
They have been forgiven
and will not be condemned
for their trespasses.
They have been,
and because of that,
their transgressions,
their sins,
their iniquities
are no more.
According to verse 10,
they are surrounded
with steadfast love.
They have placed their faith
in the sin-bearing
servant king of God
and they will find
refuge in him.
In conclusion,
Christian,
we have so much
to rejoice in.
Christians should be
the happiest of people.
We have so many reasons
for joy that we have
God's divine forgiveness,
divine protection,
divine direction
in our lives.
Not only have we placed
our faith in the Lamb,
Jesus Christ,
in the Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God,
and the resurrected king,
but we are now co-heirs
with Jesus
and we'll receive
a heavenly inheritance
and we will be
welcomed into heaven
receiving this everlasting
joy as co-heirs
with Christ.
So we're forgiven now
and we have a beautiful
future that awaits us.
So application,
go to God,
seek his face,
and repent of
any sins you may have.
Second application is
rejoice.
Consider how you spend
your mornings,
your family time,
your time in your marriage.
Are you cultivating
these times
that you're rejoiced in?
Are you cultivating
your heart religious affection
for you,
for your spouse,
for your family,
for your church?
And then in preparation
for the gatherings,
are we preparing for joy?
Because going to church,
singing songs together,
and hearing God
in his word
should be an act of joy.
It should fill us
with complete joy
in these moments.
So let us be
a joyful people
who have experienced God
and praise him
as he so duly deserves.
Pray with me.