Psalm 32.
I'm just going to start by reading the whole psalm for us this morning.
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them,
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledge my sin to you.
And did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.
And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore, let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found.
Surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.
You are my hiding place.
You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle,
or they will not come to you.
Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.
Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous.
Sing all you who are upright in heart.
Many of the psalms that we have in our Bibles are songs, poems, prayers,
or some, a combination of all those things.
And this one is no exception.
The superscription at the top says,
of David, a masculine.
So we know for sure that it was David who wrote this.
As for the precise meaning of a masculine,
that's something that we're uncertain about today.
There's a related word in the original language,
and some suggest it may mean a song that imparts wisdom,
or a skillfully or well-written song.
3,000 years later, with an English translation of this song,
it's really difficult to imagine just how these words might have been sung in the Hebrew language.
Much of the poetic beauty and rhythm is lost to us today
because of this gap in time and language and culture.
Was part of this song the chorus, or the refrain?
And if so, which part?
All these centuries later, we don't really know.
But that doesn't mean that all the truth and beauty in this psalm is lost to us.
On the contrary, these words have been treasured by many through the centuries,
in many different languages, and in many different ways.
Behind these words is a gripping story.
It's the true story of a man whose sin and guilt became so overwhelming to him.
Look at verse 3.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
Now this is obviously metaphor.
My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
David is describing how things were for him at a particular time in his life.
Something was eating away at him from the inside out.
Slowly killing him.
This wasn't just a one-moment thing.
It was an all-day-long thing.
Day and night thing, as we see in the next verse, verse 4.
And it's difficult to translate the metaphor here of groaning.
It's the same word, apparently, that was used for the roaring of a lion.
And that still kind of leaves us wondering what this means.
But probably it's a metaphor for some kind of constant inner growling or groaning,
an expression of stress, and in this case, guilt, coming from deep inside.
Look at verse 4.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
So David attributes his inner turmoil to God.
And we aren't given a lot of detail here,
but it would seem that in some sense,
God's hand has brought this affliction on David.
This is a poetic and it's a figurative way of David expressing how he feels.
He says,
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
In other words, he felt weak.
Think of the hottest days of summer that you've experienced.
Maybe you've been outside in the heat doing some work,
and you know how that heat just sort of sucks the life out of you.
You've got no energy.
You find yourself slow and lethargic, weak,
as the heat of the sun just beats down on you relentlessly.
This is how David felt.
But it was not a thing that just lifted off when evening came.
Day and night.
Day after day is the sense we get.
Sucking the life and energy out of him.
And he saw God as the one doing this to him.
Why?
We see up in the beginning at verse 3.
Because David was keeping silent.
When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
David was keeping a secret.
David was not saying anything
when he should have been saying something.
In verse 5, the next verse makes us a little more clear
just what David's referring to.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.
So this deep turmoil and affliction
that David is experiencing is somewhat self-inflicted.
There is a sin that he has been refusing
to acknowledge to God.
There's a wrong that he has done
that he has covered up.
And this is why God's hand is heavy on him.
This is why he's in this state of great turmoil.
And he has been silent.
He hasn't said a word to God
or to others.
But it's killing him inside.
He's been groaning.
He's been roaring inwardly
and it's sucking the life out of him.
Now at this point,
if you know the story of David,
King David from the Bible,
you're probably wondering,
what is the sin that David is talking about here?
What did he do?
And before we speculate a little bit here,
let's just be clear
that David does not say right here in this psalm
what it was that he had done.
And that's probably intentional.
Now I don't think David omitted the details
to cover it up some more
or to save face,
but perhaps because this song
he hopes will be a song
that others can sing too,
even if they've sinned in a different way
than he did.
There are, in my estimation,
about two clear and obvious times
where we read about how David sinned
in the Bible.
But that doesn't mean
that he was less of a sinner
than the average person
who had faith in God in his days.
He would have faced
the daily temptations
that all people face.
We see moments in his story
where his anger flared up,
where he was almost going to take revenge,
but was prevented from doing so.
We see some questionable decisions at times
where we kind of wonder
if David did the right thing.
Was he acting in faith?
So David was a man just like we are,
and he was a sinner just like we are.
He could be talking about a sin
that was not recorded in the Bible.
But that being said,
David's words here seem to fit
really, really, really well
with the biggest and most glaring
moral failure that he had
as Israel's king.
If you know the story of King David,
you know that there was a time in his life
when he gave into temptation,
he gave himself to lust
after the wife of another man,
and he committed adultery with that woman.
And then,
when he found out that the woman
had become pregnant,
he murdered her husband
to cover it up
and took her to be his own wife.
There are certain elements of this psalm
that seem to fit this description
very well here in Psalm 32.
We know from the story
in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12
that this was a drawn-out thing.
David's sin was in the works
over a period of time
as he tried to cover things up.
And so that fits with David's words here
about being in great turmoil
all day long,
day and night,
while he kept silent.
And then when David finally did come
to confess his sin,
he says here in the psalm,
I acknowledge my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
And so it almost seems implied
in the way he phrases it
that up till this point
when David confesses
he has been covering it up.
The sense we get in 2 Samuel
is that David might have got away
with this from a human perspective,
but eventually God sent
the prophet Nathan to David
to convict David of his sin.
And what did David do
when he realized
that God was not going to simply
allow him to hide
this sinful thing he had done?
David confessed
to the Lord.
He admitted what he had done
in the presence of Nathan the prophet.
We also read words
of his confession in Psalm 51.
But here in Psalm 32,
we read,
Then I acknowledge my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said,
I will confess
my transgressions
to the Lord.
So just as we read
in 2 Samuel
about David's moment
of confession
before Nathan the prophet,
Nathan says there,
The Lord has taken away your sin
and you are not going to die.
Here we read
the simple truth
of what God did to David
after he confessed.
I will confess
my transgressions
to the Lord
and you forgave
the guilt
of my sin.
Now we might in this moment
have feelings of anger
about what David did
to Bathsheba
and to her husband Uriah.
And what about Uriah?
There are truly
two dimensions
to our sin.
Our sin is
against other people.
Yes,
there's that
horizontal dimension.
But there's also
the vertical dimension.
Our sin is
against God.
He is the ultimate ruler.
He is the judge
of all the earth.
It wasn't just Uriah
that David sinned against,
but it was also
the good
and righteous God
who made them both.
God has given us
his commands
as to how
we should live.
And David knew
those commands.
Thou shalt not
commit adultery.
Thou shalt not
murder.
Thou shalt not
covet
thy neighbor's wife.
And David
defied
these very
commands of God
and then
tried
to cover it up.
And so we don't
want to minimize
for a moment
what David did
to Bathsheba
and Uriah
as we read
of the outcome
of this.
But we do
want to see
the horizontal
dimension
that David
was guilty
before God
for what he did.
he had broken
God's
holy law.
And
you know
going back
into verses
three and four
a little bit
we see the effect
that this had
on David
while he was
in this
place of
going against
God
keeping silent.
We can read
here about how
and just see
how tormented
he was
how burdened
he was
to the core
by his guilt.
Now there's a sense
in which
all sins
are equal
in that
they all
make us
liable
to punishment
before God.
That's a clear
teaching in the
Bible.
But there's also
a sense
in which
some sins
are worse
than others.
Consider the
words of Solomon
in Proverbs
chapter 28
verse 17.
This is what
Solomon,
David's son,
came to write.
He said,
anyone tormented
by the guilt
of murder
will seek
refuge
in the grave.
Let no one
hold him
back.
We can never
undo
the wrong
things that we
have done
or said
but in many
cases we can
admit what
we've done
to others.
We can repent.
We can seek
to be reconciled.
We can make
restitution.
We can sometimes
find forgiveness
from the one
that we've
wronged
but that's
never the
case
when it
comes to
murder.
That person
is gone
and should
you take
a life
you will
have to
live with
what you've
done for
the rest
of your
life.
There can
be no
restitution
with that
person,
no reconciliation,
no forgiveness
from that
person because
they're dead.
you killed
them.
Solomon
suggests that
this guilt
often torments
a person so
deeply that
they may
seriously
contemplate
finding relief
from that
guilt through
suicide.
This is
probably why
David's words
in verses
three and
four are so
serious.
it was
killing me
what I
had done.
My strength
was sapped.
It was the
guilt of
adultery
and murder
which tormented
David as
God brought
conviction
upon him.
But finally
David confessed
to God.
He admitted
what he had
done and
in that moment
what did
David deserve?
Think about
this.
Because God
is just
and David
had done
something
utterly
wicked.
Instantaneous
death
was really
what he
deserved.
That was
the punishment
that fit
his crime.
As God
said long
ago,
Genesis
chapter 9
verse 6,
whoever sheds
the blood
of man,
by man
shall his
blood be
shed.
David knew
well the
law which
God had
given through
Moses.
Leviticus
24,
17,
anyone who
takes the
life of
a human
being is
to be put
to death.
Life
for life.
David knew
what he
deserved for
his sins
but amazingly,
astoundingly,
David says,
you forgave
the guilt
of my sins.
this is
amazing.
God
forgave
David
for committing
adultery
and committing
murder.
And we
might wonder
at this point,
how can God
really do
that?
Can he
just
forgive
our guilt
and still
be just?
Still
be righteous?
This is one
of the most
important questions
that the Bible
brings us to
again and
again.
And the
answer is
yes.
In fact,
the Bible
all together
is the story
of how the
answer is
yes,
he can.
And we're
going to look
at how
in a moment.
But in the
meantime,
look at how
this wonderful
forgiveness of
God changes
David's
life.
Look at the
difference in
David's
life between
verses 1
and 2
and verses
3 and 4.
In verses
3 and 4,
David refuses
to utter a
word.
He's tormented
by the guilt
of his sin.
It's killing
him.
It's sucking
the life out
of him.
He confesses
to God.
God forgives
him.
And now
verses 1 and
2, right at
the top,
describe
David now.
In verses
1 and 2,
David can't
keep quiet.
He can't
help but
declare his
own happiness
and gratefulness
to be blessed
and favored
by God
in this way,
to have
his sins
forgiven.
This is an
exclamation
of joy.
Blessed
is the one
whose transgressions
are forgiven.
blessed
is the one
whose sin
the Lord
does not
count
against
them.
This word
blessed
could also
rightly be
translated
happy.
It's kind
of a
dual meaning
to that
word.
Blessed
describes the
good favor
of God
bestowed upon
a person.
Happy
describes the
feeling that
always goes
with it
and this
is where
David is
living now
in this
joy
because God
has forgiven
him of what
he has done.
What a change
from inner
torment
and silence
to outward
joy
and can't
keep quiet
about God
and his
grace
and his
mercy.
That burden
of sin,
that crushing
weight of
David's guilt
is gone.
God
has
forgiven.
Why?
Because God,
the judge
himself,
has said,
your sins
are forgiven.
I will not
count this
thing that
you've done
against you.
And so
David is just
glad with the
deepest of
joys.
He's so
deeply touched
and changed
by God's
forgiveness
that he
calls out
to everyone
in verse 6.
He says,
therefore let
all the
faithful pray
to you
while you
may be
found.
Surely the
rising of
the mighty
waters will
not reach
them.
It's like
David is
saying,
this is the
way.
God really
is merciful.
He really
does forgive.
To all of
you who
believe in
his name,
call out
to him,
pray to
him,
confess your
sins to
him like
I did,
and you'll
see,
ask for
deliverance
in whatever
troubles you
may find
yourself in.
Even if it
seems like
the water is
up to your
neck or
the wave
is coming
for you,
pray to
God.
Call out
to him.
Surely the
rising of
the mighty
waters will
not reach
you,
if you
do.
He goes
on,
speaking
directly to
God.
He says,
you are
my hiding
place.
You will
protect me
from trouble
and surround
me with
songs of
deliverance.
I love
these words.
Could it
be that the
righteous judge
over all of
us, the
one we
should fear,
the one who
will not let
us get away
with our
sins against
others or
against him?
Could it
be that he
is also the
one that we
run to for
safety?
Could it
be that he
is also our
protector,
our refuge,
our savior,
our deliverer,
even from the
things that we've
done against
him and the
guilt that we've
got from that?
This is the
good news.
God is a
saving judge.
this is by
far not a
perfect analogy,
but can you
imagine a
scene in a
human courtroom?
A man gets
caught committing
a crime for
which his fine
will amount to
$50,000.
To most of us,
that's a lot of
money.
Can you imagine
the judge presiding
over this case in
such a way that no
matter what the
man does, he
cannot escape this
just verdict?
$50,000.
And then can you
imagine this judge
saying, come here
son, calling him
up to the bench and
then writing a check
from his own bank
account and showing
it to him and
saying, you're free
to go.
your debt is paid.
God is a
saving judge.
If we are in
danger because of
the sins that we
have committed
against him, and
we are, the Bible
tells us we are, he
is the place of
safety to run to,
to get out of that
danger.
You are my
hiding place.
you will protect
me from trouble.
You will surround
me with songs of
deliverance.
As we come a
little further down
to verse 8, there
are differences of
opinion over whether
verse 8 is God
speaking directly to
David, or whether
it's God speaking
through David, and
David kind of now
sharing this wisdom
that he has
learned with us.
It says, I will
instruct you and
teach you in the
way you should go.
I will counsel you
with my loving eye
on you.
Do not be like the
horse or the
mule, which have
no understanding,
but must be
controlled by bit
and bridle, or
they will not come
to you.
What is it that God
wanted of David all
those days when he
was silent, trying to
cover up what he
had done?
He wanted David not
to be stubborn, but
to come to him
willingly, and admit
and confess and
find his mercy, his
forgiveness.
All too often, we can
be like this toward
God.
We have our own way
that we want to go,
just like David
tried, and sometimes
we can be really
stubborn, but we
need to surrender.
We need to submit to
the God who loves us.
We need to come to
him willingly and just
yield.
God loves us so much.
Think about this.
Had David simply
trusted in God's
commands and been
obedient right from
the start, just think
of all the heartache
and grief that could
have been avoided.
He could have been
spared all of it, if
you know the story of
David and what
happened as a result
of these sins.
And so David warns
us with the wisdom
that he had to learn
the hard way.
Many are the woes
of the wicked.
Don't go down the
path of the wicked
like I did, says
David.
The troubles were
multiplying so
quickly.
It was awful.
Put your trust in the
Lord.
Come to him.
Bring your troubles
to him.
Even your sin and
your guilt to him.
His unfailing love
surrounds those who
do.
But the Lord's
unfailing love
surrounds the one
who trusts in him.
Brings us to that
place where this
psalm ends in verse
11 of rejoicing and
gladness and singing.
I wonder how these
words hit you this
morning.
As you look at the
sections in your
Bible, the stanzas
of this psalm, which
of these stanzas
describes your
relationship with God
right now?
Perhaps you're living
in verses 3 and 4
right now.
You've been sinning
and sinning, sinning,
and like David, doing
as you please.
You know it's
wrong.
And maybe God's
hand is heavy on you
and you feel that.
It's taking a toll.
You know you should
confess your sins to
him.
You know you should
run to his loving
arms and ask for
forgiveness, but you've
been keeping silent.
I urge you, listen to
the words of God.
Do not be like the
horse or the mule, which
have no understanding, but
must be controlled by bit
and bridle, or they will
not come to you.
Come to him.
Confess.
Admit.
Repent.
Pray to him today
while he may be found.
We can all live in
verses 1 and 2.
This is the good news
of God.
God's forgiveness is
graciously offered to
all people.
All the wrong things
that we have done,
he will forgive
if we come to him
and confess to him.
We too
can know the joy
that David knew
after he had done
the unthinkable.
We can know with
certainty
just as he did
that we are off
the hook
with God
even if we've done
unthinkable things.
We can say
with David,
blessed is the one
whose transgressions
are forgiven.
We can know that
reality
personally.
Which of these
stanzas
describes your
relationship with
God
right now?
One final piece
to this wonderful
news that
we can be forgiven
by God
when we come to him
and confess our sins.
As I said earlier,
as we look at
David's sin
and God's
forgiveness,
we might wonder
how can God
forgive our sin?
How can he just
forgive our sin
what David did
and still be just
and righteous?
And the answer
both for David
and for us
is the same.
He can
and he did
make a way
for us to be forgiven
a way that does
not involve
just sweeping
our sins
under the rug
and pretending
that they
didn't happen.
God himself
made a way
for us to be
forgiven.
That is just.
He himself
decided to come
down
and live
among us
in the person
of Jesus.
He lived
and then he
died
for us
taking upon
himself
the punishment
that we deserve
for our sins
so that we
could be
forgiven
and justice
be done.
This is what
happened
when Jesus
died on the cross.
This is what
it's all about.
This is how
Paul describes
this in his
letter to the
church at Rome.
Romans 3,
25 and 26.
Paul says there,
God presented
Christ as a
sacrifice of
atonement
through the
shedding of
his blood
to be received
by faith.
He did this
to demonstrate
his righteousness
because in his
forbearance
he had left
the sins
committed
beforehand
unpunished.
That's what
David did.
he did this
to demonstrate
his righteousness
at the present
time
so as to be
just
and the one
who justifies
those who have
faith
in Jesus.
He is both
savior
and judge.
Christ suffered
and died
on the cross
to atone
for the lust
and adultery
and murder
committed by
David.
That's how
God was able
to say
your sins
are forgiven.
My son
is going
to take
the punishment
for that
when he
comes.
And Jesus
suffered
and died
on the cross
to atone
for our sins
as well
so that God
can say
to us
who believe
in him
who come
to him
and confess
to him
your sins
are forgiven.
Justice
has been
done
life
for life.
So this is
what we remember
this morning
as we once
again come
to
partake
of the Lord's
table.
We eat
from the bread
we drink
from the cup
just as Jesus
taught us to do
in remembrance
of him.
the cup
represents
his blood
which was
shed for us
when he died
on that cross
to atone
for us.
The bread
represents
his body
in place
of ours
suffering
bleeding
and dying
as we
deserve.
And so
this table
behind me
and partaking
of it
is a remembrance
of the forgiveness
of God
freely offered
through Jesus
sacrifice.
Have you
come
to acknowledge
your sins
to God?
Have you
come
to confess
your transgressions
to the Lord
as David
said?
Have you
put your
trust in
Jesus
the Savior?
And if so
this table
is for you
and I want
to invite
you to
partake
with us
to eat
and drink
with us
this morning
in remembrance
of Jesus.
And if you
haven't
I ask
that you
just let
the elements
pass you
by.
Let's
take a few
moments now
to be
quiet
before God
as we
reflect
on this
salvation
that is
ours
through
Jesus.
I want
to encourage
you to
pray to
God
in these
moments
confess
your sins
to him
and after
a few
minutes
Charles
and Nate
are going
to come
up
they're going
to pass
out the
elements
we'll
wait
until
everybody
who
wishes
to
partake
has
been
served
and
then
we'll
eat
and
drink
together
in
unison.
Lord
Jesus
we say
thank you
for your
sacrifice
for us.
Thank you
love
that we
truly
are
forgiven
we love
you so
much
to your
name be
the glory
amen
Amen.