What is the greatest blessing you and I have as a Christian? Could it not be the fact that we are forgiven? That we can live every minute of every day forgiven by the blood of Christ, ready to stand before God on judgment day – at any minute?
If we want to continue living in the forgiveness of God, we must live a transparent life that includes frequent, and sometimes public, confession of sin. That’s what we learn from David’s psalm 32.
THE BEATITUDES – 32:1-2:
We normally associate the “beatitudes” with Jesus’ sermon on the mount and Matthew 5. But beatitudes are scattered throughout the Bible. “Blessed” means to be “a recipient of divine favor.” So, we have two beatitudes here at the beginning of this psalm.
The first word, “forgiven,” means to “be lifted up,” as if sin is a burden that you are carrying. How long are you going to carry the burden of your sins before you finally realize its too heavy and that only one has the strength to carry that burden of sin? The other word is “covered.” Covered as in “hidden,” out of view, totally forgotten.
The word “impute” is an accounting term, a business term. There will be a day of reckoning, a day of judgment when we will have to give an account of our behavior. We will one day have to explain our behavior – if it has not been covered by the blood of Christ. The man is a recipient of divine favor if the Lord will not hold his sins against him.
“Genuine forgiveness permits freedom to get on with living” (Brueggemann, 96).
But David tried not to confess his sins. If he is talking here about his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah, her husband, he tried not to acknowledge that sin (at least until sometime after Bathsheba had her first child.) It takes humility and self-control to admit that we are wrong, that we sin, that we do not do things right in the eyes of God.
LIFE WITH NO CONFESSION: – 32:3-4:
This next stanza shows us what is going on in David’s head and heart as he tries not to acknowledge his sin. What it sounds like is that David’s conscience bothered him and he could not rest because of the burden he was carrying. It is one thing to choose to fast, to go without food. It is another thing to have lost your appetite because your heart is so weighed down.
Notice that David addresses God directly in this verse: “you made life harder.” David knew that he could never get away from God’s presence. His “vitality” had drained away as if he had a fever from the heat of summer. David is sick in sin and he needs forgiveness. The Lord, through David’s conscience, disciplined him for a year until David stopped lying to himself, humbled himself before God, and confessed his sin.
CONFESSION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL – 32:5:
David felt the hand of God on him in discipline, verse 4. Eventually, then, it led David to pray for forgiveness.
In the Hebrew, “my sin” is first in the sentence: “My sin I acknowledged to you.” He does the same in the next clause: “My iniquity, I did not hide.” David could not hide his sin (vs 5) but God could cover the sin (vs 1; the two verbs are the same). Only God can remove the burden of sin; only God can remove the guilt of sin.
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David finally came to his senses and recognized he needed to repent, confess, and ask God’s forgiveness. As always, when we are blessed by God, we must share that blessing with others…
THE CALL TO OTHERS – 32:6-7:
What do you do when you are blessed by God? You acknowledge that blessing in worship and you tell others about it. There is a close connection between worship and evangelism. We have been saved to save others. We worship God because we have been forgiven and we have to tell others so they can know the same joy.
Do not continue putting off obeying the Gospel or refusing to confess your sin lest your conscience become hard and you lose all sensibility to God’s word!
David found refuge in God, his hiding place. David still had to experience the consequences of his sin in this life; Bathsheba’s son died. David had to endure other family problems. But, God was with David through it all. God surrounded David with “songs of deliverance.” You see, when you are blessed by God, you can’t help but worship. You must worship; you must sing when God has forgiven you!
GOD’S BLESSING ON THE CONFESSED SINNER – 32:8-9:
Some interpret verses 8-9 as God speaking directly to David. Others interpret verses 8-9 as David speaking to these “godly” people from verses 6-7. The word “you” here is singular so I believe this is God speaking to David as he comes to God in prayer.
Notice all the first person pronouns – “I will teach you;” “I will guide you;” I will watch over you.” These are all blessings God will give to David because he has finally confessed his sin and prayed to God for forgiveness. As long as we have that sin in our lives, our hearts cannot be wholly devoted to God. Once that sin is removed, once the transgression is lifted, once the guilt is covered, then we can receive God’s instruction and be taught the way in which we should go and receive His counsel and guidance, with His eye on us.
THE BLESSINGS OF FORGIVENESS – 32:10-11:
So, we all sin. We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There are only two ways to handle that sin. 1.) Bear your own sins. Try to cover up your own sins but you will eventually realize that you have failed miserably. 2.) Receive the permanent, boundless, love of God, His love and kindness, found through confessing our sins and receiving His forgiveness.
Verses 1-2 began with beatitudes, blessings for those whose sins are forgiven. Once you realize your sins are forgiven, what do you do about it? The verbs in verse 11 are all plural. This is David addressing those who have come to God in prayer, from verse 6.
The apostle Paul quotes the first two verses of Psalm 32 in Romans 4:7-8. In the context of Romans, Paul teaches that Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins (3:21-26) and it is through immersion in water that the blood He sacrificed cleanses away our sins (6:1-7). Confess those sins and receive God’s forgiveness. You’ll be glad you did.
Live a transparent life, confessing and repenting of your sins as often as necessary.
–Paul Holland
