The Joy Of Forgiveness 4-19-26 AM
I. The blessing of forgiveness (Ps. 32:1-2).
a. The word blessed is the idea of a deep happiness because of a right relationship with God.
i. We see this idea in the very first psalm (Psalm 1:1-2).
ii. We also see this in the beatitudes of our Lord (Matt. 5:1-12).
iii. It is not just being happy, but happiness based on knowing one is in the good graces of God.
b. David describes the way to this state of blessedness in three ways.
c. He first says, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven.
i. Transgression is a going beyond the line God has drawn.
ii. Forgiven carries the idea of being lifted up and carried away.
iii. David is saying the blessed, happy person is the one whose rebellion has been removed.
iv. This tells us that God is able to lift and remove the burden of confessed rebellion.
d. Secondly, David wrote that one is blessed when his sin is covered.
i. The idea of the word sin is to miss the mark.
ii. Covered does not mean swept under the rug, but dealt with in such a way that they are totally removed.
iii. This is a picture of God’s mercy – giving us what we do not deserve.
iv. God doesn’t ignore sin – He covers what He forgives.
e. Thirdly, David writes that one is blessed when God does not impute to sin to him.
i. The word iniquity carries the idea of guilt or crookedness.
ii. Impute means to count or charge to one’s account.
iii. Once a person is forgiven, God does not count that sin against him any longer or keep it on his record, or account.
iv. This is the point Paul makes in Romans 4:6-8.
v. Forgiveness means our guilt is no longer counted against us.
f. These three things are a result of the final statement of verse 2.
i. There is no deceit in this blessed person.
ii. It does not say the person is sinless.
iii. This person has been completely honest with God about his sin and opened up to God about it seeking forgiveness.
g. The joy of forgiveness belongs to those who stop hiding their sin and become honest with God about it.
II. The burden of hidden sin (Ps. 32:3-4).
a. Have you ever done something wrong to someone you love or respect but he or she didn’t know about it?
i. How did you feel emotionally around that person?
ii. Where you on edge and upset?
b. What about when you knew you had sin in your life that was coming between you and God?
i. How did you feel, or maybe, how do you feel right now if that is where you are at the moment with God?
ii. Do you feel good about it or is there some sense of being upset?
c. Notice how David feels.
i. One version says “my body wasted away.”
ii. Roaring is translated groaning in some versions.
iii. God’s hand was heavy on him and his strength was dried up.
d. The point is, concealed sin does not bring peace or happiness.
i. There is no feeling of being blessed when we are hiding sin from others.
ii. We aren’t hiding it from God because He knows all.
e. Hidden sin drains us.
i. We dwell on it and have a strong sense of guilt.
ii. If we hold it too long, we can become hardened to our sin (Heb. 3:13).
f. If we have properly trained the conscience, sin hurts us because we understand what it does to our relationship with God (Isa. 59:1-2).
i. David hurt because he knew he was not right with God.
ii. The same is true for us when we try to conceal our sin.
III. The breakthrough of confession (Ps. 32:5).
a. This is the point where Nathan told David, You are the man.
i. David had a decision to make.
ii. He could have Nathan put to death and go on trying to hide or he could confess the sin and make things right.
iii. Being a man after God’s heart, David made his confession.
b. This is the turning point of the psalm.
i. In verse 3-4, David is crushed.
ii. In verse 5, David is changed.
c. David acknowledged his sin.
i. He didn’t try to blame someone else or try to make things look better than they were.
ii. He stopped denying his sin and took ownership of it.
d. This is where repentance starts – relief begins at the same moment honesty does.
e. A lot of our spiritual problems continue because we discuss how we’ve been hurt, we are stressed, our past family problems, or how we’ve been disappointed by others, but we fail to admit we have sinned.
f. Healing only begins when we stop arguing with God about our sin.
g. David then says, my iniquity I have not hid.
i. This is a play on the second idea of verse 1.
ii. Only God can cover or hide sin properly because only He can forgive it.
h. This is a very powerful contrast between us and God.
i. We are terrible saviors.
ii. We cannot hide our sins, only sweep them under the rug.
iii. We can’t bury what God still sees.
i. People use filters and photoshop on social media all the time.
i. They do this make themselves look better.
ii. They try to hide some blemish or remove something out of the picture they don’t like.
j. There is no filter or photoshop for sin – God sees the real thing.
k. Either we can spend our lives trying to cover our sins, or we can bring our sins to God who can truly cover them with forgiveness.
l. As long as David tried to hide his sin, he lived in misery.
m. When he uncovered it before God, God covered it with mercy.
n. We have to stop hiding the sin that only God can heal.
o. David made his confession to the Lord.
i. David didn’t vent about his sin on a Facebook or social media post.
ii. David didn’t confess his sin to a priest or a friend.
iii. David confessed his sin to the only one who could do something about it – the Lord.
p. This is the majesty of grace: when sin is truly confessed, God is eager to forgive.
q. Some people in this room may be living in verses 3-4 right now.
i. The way forward is not hiding and covering sin.
ii. It is not better image management.
iii. The way forward is verse 5.
r. The doorway from misery to mercy is not marked “perfection” – it is marked “confession.”
IV. The benefit of seeking God (Ps. 32:6-7).
a. David has told us what he did about his sin and now begins to tell us what to do with ours.
b. David says “For this” in the KJV and that is “Therefore…” in the ESV.
i. Because of what has just been stated is the idea.
ii. Because God forgives and wants to forgive, sinners should seek Him.
c. David says to seek God now.
i. Don’t wait until sin hardens us.
ii. Don’t wait until our conscience is seared (1 Tim. 4:2).
d. The right time to seek God is when He can be found.
e. This doesn’t mean God is playing hide and seek with us.
i. It is teaching we may not always have the time to seek Him.
ii. Every opportunity to turn to Him should be treated with the utmost seriousness and sincerity.
f. The right time to seek God is right now (2 Co. 6:2).
g. When a person seeks God through repentance and confession, other times of temptation and distress are still going to come – there will be the rush of great waters.
h. When those times come, they don’t have to sweep us away from God.
i. If we have strengthened that relationship with God, we are much more difficult to be moved.
ii. This only comes by continually seeking God and strengthening our relationship with Him.
i. We need to trust God as a hiding place.
j. David had tried hiding his sin, but will now hide himself in God.
k. He had tried hiding from God, but now hides in God.
l. God provides continual care and deliverance.
i. God watches over us as David realized.
ii. David had been surrounded by guilt but now he is surrounded by songs of deliverance.
m. God not only forgives His people, He keeps surrounding them with grace and mercy.