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Ernest Hemingway, the war correspondent and novelist, lived a fast-paced but tragic life. He couldn’t keep his marriages together. He struggled with depression. Toward the end of his life he had numerous electroshock treatments. Shortly after his last treatment, at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning, July 2, 1961, he ended his life with a shotgun. I fear Mr. Hemingway lived and died without knowing the joy of God’s forgiveness.
In one of Hemingway’s short stories he writes about a Spanish father and his estranged son, Paco. Paco ran away from home and his father began a long search to find him. Finally he put an ad in a Madrid newspaper: Dear Paco, please meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon Tuesday. All is forgiven. Love, Father. On Tuesday at noon 800 Pacos showed up seeking forgiveness from their father.
Though this is a fictional story, forgiveness is one of the sweetest graces of life, whether between an estranged son and his father or between a sinner and his God. Psalm 32 teaches us how to know God’s forgiveness. David wrote it and most probably it was after his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his deceptive cover up, including arranging the murder of her husband Uriah in battle. After some time, maybe a year, God sent Nathan to confront David about his sins. Psalm 51 details his confession and Psalm 32 describes his testimony as a forgiven soul and the joy he experienced. He treasured God as his forgiver. We’ll look at five important parts of Psalm 32 which speak of knowing the joy of God’s forgiveness.
YOU NEED FORGIVENESS
Psalm 32:1-2, How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! [2] How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
Psalm 32 was Augustine’s favorite Psalm. He had it posted by his bed as he approached his death. This is the reason he gave for treasuring it: “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner.” And you and I are sinners and need forgiveness. God never designed for us to live with a guilty conscience. He designed for us to know His forgiveness and to live in the freedom and joy of a forgiven spirit. That’s why this Psalm starts out ringing the bells of the joy and happiness of the forgiven soul. That word “blessed” means “complete joy and full delight.” James Boice wrote, “There is nothing that can so motivate us as God’s forgiveness.”
David uses four words for sin: Transgression (rebelling against God), Sin (coming short of the target, failing to measure up, and condemned for it), Iniquity (corrupted, twisted or crooked), and Deceit (describes the hypocrite who lies or denies his sin).
But David also includes, “Blessed is the person whose sin is forgiven.” The Hebrew word for forgiveness is “Nasa,” or lifted, carried off. I think of NASA’s rockets lifting off from Cape Canaveral. When God forgives us, He lifts the burden of guilt from our souls. In Pilgrim’s Progress Christian labored with a heavy burden on his back until he came to the cross and received forgiveness. It was then that the burden of guilt on his back rolled off and tumbled into the sepulcher and was seen no more. Bunyan adds. “Then was Christian glad and lightsome.”
When David uncovered his sin, God covered his sin. Paul uses these verses in Romans 4:6-8, where he explains David as speaking of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Justification by faith alone is through the imputation (placing) of our sin to Christ’s account and Christ’s righteousness to our account. And the most wonderful thing about the gospel is that God offers forgiveness to all kinds of rebels, people who have totally messed up their lives. That thief on the cross, that street woman washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, that woman caught in adultery and millions more sinners have been assured, “Your sins are forgiven, go in peace.” It didn’t matter what their record was. God forgives sins through His Son Jesus Christ and He does it freely and immediately for all who come. No waiting to see the priest, no works of penance, no “Our Father’s,” no “Hail Mary’s,” no working off the guilt. God removes our sin as far as the east is from the west and buried in the deepest sea (Psalm 103:12; Micah 7:19). No one earns this forgiveness; it is a sweet mercy of pure, free, sovereign grace flowing from the throne of God. Can you put your name in these two verses? Are you that blessed person whose transgressions are forgiven? No matter who you are, you need God’s forgiveness.
BEWARE OF CONCEALING YOUR SIN
Psalm 32:3-4, When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. [4] For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
In verse 2 David speaks of the sin of deceit or guile, meaning lying or denying. Here’s our first thought when we sin: I’ll hide it. That’s what David did. He tried to cover his tracks. We hide it or deny it. Achan concealed his sin in his tent. Elisha’s servant Gehazi disobeyed Elisha when he ran after Naaman the Syrian to get some gifts. Then when he returned, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” Gehazi replied, “Your servant went nowhere.” Ah, but Elisha knew what he’d done. The result: Gehazi turned leprous for the rest of his life (2 Kings 5:25). When we sin we follow Adam and Eve’s devious example: we run, hide, cover, and blame. Our sin is embarrassing. We try to justify ourselves – maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. I couldn’t help it. I know people who do worse. If you knew my circumstances you wouldn’t blame me. My parents mistreated me. I was tired. I’m a sinner; what do you expect?
Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”
There’s one thing about sin. Unless you have dealt with it God’s way, it just won’t go away. Moses wrote in Numbers 32:23, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” Wicked Jezebel and King Ahab stole Naboth’s vineyard through lies and murder, but they found out there’s Pay Day Some Day, as pastor R. G. Lee famously preached. The philosopher Rousseau talked about stealing a worthless ribbon from an estate when a youth. When asked about it, he lied and accused an innocent young girl of having stolen it. Years later he was still plagued by this petty crime.
Until we confess our sins before God, they are still there. Even when we don’t feel guilty, our guilt is still there before God. David kept silent, and he suffered dearly for it. “God’s hand was heavy upon me.” God created us with a conscience, which serves as a judge and jury in our souls. David describes the bodily effects of his sin and guilt in Psalm 38.
Psalm 38:2-8, For Your arrows have sunk deep into me, And Your hand has pressed down on me. [3] There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin. [4] For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. [5] My wounds grow foul and fester Because of my folly. [6] I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long. [7] For my loins are filled with burning, And there is no soundness in my flesh. [8] I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.
Have you ever not been able to sleep because of your sin? I remember as a young boy stealing a pencil box at a place called the Mart. I couldn’t sleep that night, so I woke got my mom, confessed, and we planned to go back and pay for it. You might say, “I can tell people off or keep the wrong change from the cashier and never even worry about it.” Or like the guy who felt guilty because he cheated on his income taxes so he sent the IRS a check with a letter admitting he had cheated. “Enclosed find a check for $150. If I still can’t sleep I’ll send the rest.”
You may be trying to live without dealing with your sin before God, and now possibly your guilt, your irritation, anger, and bitterness is creating some physical issues like David’s silence and deception did for him. God sent Nathan to David to face his sin and guilt (2 Samuel 12).
YOU NEED FULL, FREE DISCLOSURE OF YOUR SINS TO GOD
Psalm 32:5, I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
This is the longest verse and the heart of David’s testimony. Each word for sin is repeated and David fully owns his sin: my sin, my iniquity, my transgression, the guilt of my sin. David confessed it all and God immediately forgave it all. This is true confession from a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). No more hiding, no more running, no more blaming, no more excusing. When Nathan the prophet brought the finger of God onto David’s guilty conscience, David’s response was so good: “I have sinned against the Lord,” (2 Samuel 12:7-9). When God comes looking for you in the woods, make a full, free confession.
And David didn’t do this just to feel better. This isn’t some kind of feel-good psychotherapy. Sin is personal, an affront against a holy God, a spitting in the face of the most loving Person in the universe. And now you’re coming totally clean. You’re not hiding anything. It’s a full confession like the Prodigal Son. After going his own way he came back to the Father with a full, total disclosure, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.”
And what did God Almighty do when David confessed? “You forgave the guilt of my sin” (vs.5). Period. God lifted the guilt right off David’s soul. Instantly. The Prodigal’s Father immediately said to his servants, “Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on Him.” God forgives instantly, freely, fully, without qualifications. God knew David’s heart was no longer hiding sin. No more guile or deceit. In Psalm 86:5 God is “ready to forgive.” In Jeremiah 31:34 God promises, “I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12 says the same thing as part of the New Covenant, “I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” He won’t hold our sins against us. And it’s all because of Jesus our Redeemer. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Why does God forgive? For the glory of His grace.
Jonathan Edwards has a wonderful sermon on Psalm 25:11, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” Not because it is small but because it is great. God is able to forgive the greatest sin, the greatest sinner, because His mercy in and through His Son Jesus is great, even infinite. Edwards says, “It is the honor of Christ to save the greatest sinners when they come to Him, as it is the honor of a physician to cure the most desperate diseases or wounds.”
GOD’S FORGIVEN PEOPLE BECOME EFFECTIVE COUNSELORS
Psalm 32:6-9, Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. [7] You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. [8] I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. [9] Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, Otherwise they will not come near to you.
Verse 6 tells us that forgiven people urge others to seek the Lord and His forgiveness today, now. The day may come when you won’t be able to find the Lord. Isaiah 55:6 says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” The flood of great waters speaks of God’s judgment. Forgiveness assures you there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
Verse 7 – Forgiven people know the repentant sinner can hide in God’s mercy, trust God to keep him from sinful trouble, and bring great joy and songs of deliverance around his life. Spurgeon calls these songs of deliverance “dancing mercies” which proclaim the triumphs of grace. “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh, my soul.”
Verses 8-9 may be referring to God instructing the confessing sinner – David, us, and anyone else who has been forgiven. Those He has forgiven know the way to forgiveness and will give good counsel including how to live as a forgiven child of God. God guides us with His eye. His eye is always on us. And He doesn’t scold His forgiven child. Just the look of His eye and His counsel in His Word will guide His children in the right way.
Verse 9 includes a warning and plea. Don’t act like a wild horse who wants to run away or a stubborn mule who refuses to move forward. Forgiven people are no longer arguing, excusing, lying, denying, hiding, running, blaming. They have tender, broken, contrite, and humble spirits. Remember that woman pouring out her tears on Jesus’ feet with a broken, tender heart. Jesus said, “She loved much because she was forgiven much.” If you are forgiven, then you can point people to the same loving, merciful, forgiving God who has forgiven you. John Newton in his later years found his memory fading but he remembered two things: ”I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”
FORGIVENESS OPENS THE FLOODGATES OF TRUE JOY AND TREASURING GOD
Psalm 32:10-11, Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. [11] Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Isn’t this good! Treasure God as your Forgiver. He surrounds us with songs of deliverance (vs. 8). Lovingkindness surrounds God’s child! Be glad, rejoice, shout for joy! You are forgiven! Right back to verses 1-2 knowing the joy of being forgiven! Forgiven people are free to enjoy their God, to rejoice before Him and live their lives freely, confessing their sins and being totally honest before Him in the name of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the sweetest words anyone could hear are, “I forgive you.” Especially if those words come from God. And it is this kind of people, forgiven people, who will be most ready to forgive others (which we’ll talk about next week).
SO WHAT?
Do you know the joy of forgiveness? Have you made full disclosure to your God about your sin? Have you heard those melting words from God, “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.” And like the Prodigal’s Father, “Quickly, get the best robe and sandals, put a ring on his hand, and let’s have a party.” That’s the attitude of God toward a repenting, confessing sinner. Maybe you need to find a quiet place today, somewhere to pour out your heart to God and freely confess your sin and trust Him for forgiveness through His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and enjoy the songs of deliverance He promises to forgiven sinners.
Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone.
Now my soul is free and in my heart’s a song.
Buried in the deepest sea,
Yes that’s good enough for me.
I shall live eternally.
Praise God, my sins are G-O-N-E, GONE!