There are some things you just can’t throw away in the garbage. They have to be disposed of properly because they contain hazardous materials such as chemicals that harm the environment when buried. Aerosol containers, paint thinners, old paint cans, chemical bottles, medications, batteries. These are things we can’t just throw in the garbage. They can’t be buried. There is a proper way to dispose of them. Usually you have to take them specifically to a hazardous waste drop off facility in your area. Since this is so cumbersome and because sometimes these facilities are only open certain times of the year, these hazardous waste materials often accumulate in our garage.
Dealing with sin in our lives is very much like dealing with hazardous waste. We can’t just cover up and bury our sins to dispose of them as we would like to. They require special handling, special disposal and there is only one place we can get rid of them and that is through giving them to Jesus, confessing them to God and receiving forgiveness and his special covering over our sins that seals them away forever from us and others so they have no future hazardous effects on our lives and the lives of others.
Psalm 32 is a Psalm where David recounts how he had attempted to cover up his own sin in the past and how hazardous this was to his own mental, emotional, physical, spiritual health. He was under extreme mental anguish due to unconfessed sin in his life that he had attempted to cover up. It was eating him up on the inside like acid. It was almost lethal to him, but God came to his rescue and uncovered his sin to be dealt with properly when he was unable to uncover it himself and deal with it properly.
In this lesson, we are going to see how the grace of God confronts us in our sins, and how we are to properly dispose of our sins by praying to God in a time when he may be found.
BACKGROUND
Some commenters believe this Psalm was written after Psalm 51 and is tied to the same event. Psalm 51 tells the story of when Nathan the prophet went to David, after David had gone to Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 & 12. In Psalm 51, David confesses his sin to God, stating, “against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. (51:4)” In Psalm 51, David asks God to create in him a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within him (51:10). The language in Psalm 51 is written in present tense. It would have been written very closely after Nathan had confronted David with his sin which David had attempted to hide and cover up by having Uriah the Hittite killed after David had slept with Bathsheba and she had become pregnant. After Uriah was dead, and after a reasonable period had passed four mourning, David married Bathsheba and they had a son. This child later dies as prophesied by Nathan the prophet as open judgment against David’s sin. We don’t know how old this child was when he died. We know that at least a year had passed, maybe more before Nathan the prophet had come to him. During this time, David had put his sinful actions out of his mind. No one knew. He probably tried not to think about it himself much. He had gotten away with it or so he thought.
“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.” Ecclesiastes 8:11
The wages of sin, is always death. However, many times the consequences of our sin are not felt until years later. Many times the consequence of sin is not the result of one action or decisions, but is the result of multiple, repeated actions and decisions over an extended period of time. It was a small thing the first time, nothing happened. So we repeat it. Then we repeat it again, and again and again and it builds up and becomes extremely dangerous to us. Pretty soon our conscious is so dulled by our repetition that it no longer bothers us as it did the first few times. Now we hardly think about it. However, God will not be mocked, weeks, months, years later it catches up with us and we have a debt to pay, a very large one to be dealt with that overwhelms us because it is much bigger than the original “small sins” that have accumulated over the years.
“For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17)
The lies have built up and are much worse now to deal with and face, the debt financially is higher, the neglect, everything we once denied and rationalized can no longer be denied or rationalized away.
That is the nature of sin. Sins deadly effects are not always immediate but they are imminent. They are on the way, coming down the pike, just over the horizon, always threatening us with their possible appearance.
“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:7)
This is essentially, the law of the harvest. We can expect to reap whatever we so diligently sow. There is always a time lapse between sowing and reaping. But it is a sure reward. This is important to remember especially when it comes to why the wicked seem to sometimes thrive and prosper in life and the righteous seem to suffer. It just doesn’t seem fair many have complained. A Psalm of Asaph addresses this in Psalms 73 when he reminds of God’s impending judgment against sin. Asaph says:
Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
God will put an end to all who are unfaithful to him. It’s by God’s grace now that He intervenes in our life with discipline when we sin. Not allowing us to continue in it to our own determent. Instead, he pursues it and brings us back to his straight path, through inflicting our conscience with his word, through sending others to confront us, through adversity or circumstances that are narrow and direct us no other way but his. Our Good Shepherd knows how to get us back to where we need to be on his straight path when we have wandered from his ways.
“That sin is worse than affliction is evident because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control” – Thomas Watson.
Unlike Psalms 51, Psalms 32 is David looking back and is almost a Psalm of Remembrance as David remembers what it was like to live his life in the midst of unconfessed sin. It was a most miserable place to be no matter how hard he had tried to hide it and make it look outwardly as if everything was well with him. Inwardly he faced a raging storm that continually tossed him day and night and left him tired and groaning.
David is now writing from the blessed position of forgiveness. He is like a blessed man who miraculously survived a ship wreck by the power of God’s saving grace. David knew he should have been dead. He made a ship wreck of his life of his faith and through God’s forgiveness, David found the solid rock of peace through confessing his sin.
David thought he could obtain peace through staying silent and hiding his sin. This is the deceitfulness of sin. It screams about the idea of being brought into the light. It rationalizes that it will be much worse now if you bring it into the light but in truth it is so much better. How sweet and precious God’s forgiveness is to him! It’s peace of mind. Health to his bones. Joy in his heart. David exhorts the whole congregation to pray to God at a time when He may be found in order to find forgiveness.
A Psalm of David, Maschil
According to the title of this song it was written by David. Did you know the name David itself means loving? It comes from the Hebrew word dowd, or dod for short.
David was known as a man after God’s own heart.
Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
This is another great reason why to study the Psalms. By studying the Psalms, we have an opportunity to study the heart of a man who loved God. He reminds me of John, the Beloved Disciple who was also known for the way he loved and calls us to love one another because it is by our love for God and our love for one another, especially the brothers and even including our enemies that we are known.
1 Cor. 16:14 Let all that you do be done in love
A Maschil
The meaning of this word Maschil is a bit grey. Some say Maschil refers to an instrument or perhaps a tune that this song was played on or played to. Other commentators say this word means instructive. The root meaning of this word means to be circumspect, or to be heedful of potential consequences.
This meaning goes along with the nature of the Psalm which most commentators identify the type as a Didactic Poem or Psalm of Wisdom since David seek seeks to impart wisdom to his listeners. David is warning his listeners against the dangers of unconfessed sin in their lives.
This is also a Psalm of Thanksgiving. David’s intention is to praise God. He speaks of the blessed life. He bears witness to God’s great work in his life. He restates his lament (his complaint), his unconfessed sin that was eating him up on the inside and how the Lord has forgiven him. He calls on the rest the congregation to pray to the Lord and to rejoice in Him. Psalm 32 is an account of God’s salvation.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Similar to Psalm one, Psalm 32 also gives a description of the blessed man, the blessed life. The Hebrew word for the word blessed is esher which means “happy” or “contentment”. The Hebrew root meaning of the word esher comes from their word ashar, which means “to be straight,” “to be level, right, and happy”. Figuratively it meant, “to go forward, to be honest, proper”
The idea of being blessed represents one who is happy and one whose life is lived straightly, they are always moving forward, they are maturing and growing in the Lord. They follow the straight path of the Lord which the bible speaks much off.
Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Psalms 5:8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
Proverbs 11:5 “The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.”
Proverbs 9 gives a chilling description of two women in the town center calling out to people who pass by. One’s named Wisdom and the other’s named Folly and Folly is described as being loud, seductive and knowing nothing and she continually calls out to those who pass by her who are going straight on their way to stop and turn into her place for water and bread.
Sin always calls us away from God’s straight path when we are going along our own way. It always calls us to listen to its voice, its counsel as we are walking along, then it calls us to stop moving forward and listen to it more intently. We slow down our stride, we take our eyes and focus off God and look at the distraction on the side. Before we know it, we have paused and came to a full stop. At this time we are not moving in any direction, we are just standing still; standing in the way of sinners as addressed in Psalms 1 and then Folly invites us inside her house and we pull up a chair and sit among the scoffers. We enter in her house not knowing the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. (Proverbs 9:18)
Proverbs 4:14-15 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
The word blessed, esher is also in plural form in the Hebrew meaning multiple blessings, you could begin this verse and Psalms 1 with, “how very, very happy is the one whose transgressions are covered.” They are not just happy, they are very, very happy.
When we live our lives crookedly we find very little happiness, very little lasting peace and very little contentment. Scoffers are never happy. I have never met a happy scoffer. They are the most miserable and depressing people to be around. They are usually very disagreeable and unpleasant to be around. They have not found happiness and they would stand in the way of others finding happiness, contentment and enjoying the blessed life.
So who is blessed? The one whose transgressions are forgiven, the one whose sins are covered, the one who the Lord does not count iniquity against and whose spirit is no deceit. This is a picture of the blessed man. This is a synonymous parallelism. David uses synonymous repetition and parallelism to emphasize and strength this truth in our minds and expand upon the blessedness of the forgiven life.
TRANSGRESSION
The word transgression in Hebrew is pasha, (paw-shah) which means to break away from just authority, rebellion, apostatize, revolt and quarrel. The idea is that we are breaking away from submitting to God’s authority when we sin. We are breaking loose like a horse snapping its cords and bolting. Our union to God is dissolved, our yoke is thrown to the side and we live in rebellion and apostasy. We become deserters and refuse the discipline of God in our lives.
FORGIVEN
The Hebrew word for forgiven is “nasa.” It means to lift up, to bear up, to carry away, to ease. Sin is a burden that we must bear and it is an extremely heavy burden that we often have to carry our entire lives with no hope of ever laying it down, or of ever being rid of it, or ever having someone else carry it for us. It is something that have to carry alone in our conscious.
When our sins are forgiven, it is like a weight being lifted off of us.
Psalm 38:4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Jesus bears away our burden. He is the reality of the scapegoat in the Old Testament, all our sins are placed upon him and carried off into the wilderness never to be seen again.
Psalms 103:12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
1Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him ; for he careth for you.
Matt 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light
Do you remember what it was like to be weighed down with the shame, guilt, the anxiety and the suffering of your sin before Jesus lifted it?
Isn’t it ironic, that the word transgression means to break loose, to break away from and is very much like breaking our yoke with God and running wild. Many picture this as freedom, as God’s discipline and yoke was too heavy to bear, too restraining on us, and so we break loose of it expecting to have our burden lifted but only to find sin’s yoke mercilessly around our necks and ready to crush us.
David could have had that moment, that still small whisper restraining his heart telling him to turn away from watching Bathsheba bath on the roof, but David broke loose from this blessed yoke that would restrain him from himself, his wild ways and preserve his life. David found himself in a world of heart ache afterward. Aching to get back to that blessed yoke of being in union with God, being led by God and gladly willingly following Him instead of following himself which led him into so much troublehear.
SIN
The Hebrew word for sin here is chataah (khat-aw-aw), it means offense, measure, cord. In ancient history, cords were once used for binding as well as measuring. A cord was also used as measuring tool. Knots were placed in it incrementally to divide the cord. The cord was then stretched between the two points to measure and the knots were counted. When one shot an arrow or other object in a distance at a target, the distance that one missed was measured with a cord. To miss the target, was to miss the goal that was aimed for.
Sin means to miss the mark, it means literally to error and fall short of the goal that is aimed for. Most of us studying Psalms know that to sin is to fall short of the perfect righteousness of God. Wong actions can only be measured against right actions. God Himself defines right actions.
Our efforts to be “good”, are measured against God’s perfect goodness. Many would like to move that target back a bit and measure their goodness against the goodness of the person standing beside them, or perhaps look behind them, instead of looking all the way to God and make His righteous their aim. Aiming for the righteousness of God, is a bit like shooting an arrow at the moon. Some men just might be able to shoot a little bit further than others in their own strength and ability, but all men fall short.
“No one is righteous, no not one. All have fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:10,23)
The righteousness of God is too far away, God’s law and moral standard is too high and holy for us to obtain in our greatest efforts. In 6,000 years, no man has been able to keep God’s law perfectly, not even the best Jew or Israelite, but one man, Jesus Christ. He was able to accomplish what the law could not do, make us righteous through his efforts.
SIN IS TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW
Sin is transgression of the law. The law makes us aware of sin but it cannot keep us from sinning. The law cannot make anyone righteous. The law is righteous but we are sinners. We can’t stop breaking it no matter how hard we try. You only have to break it once to become a law breaker. So we see the law can’t save us, it just stands in condemnation of us. We need something else if we would be righteous and be able to keep the law. We need a savior and a change of heart.
God’s righteous law is holy, good and righteous. The problem is with us not the law. We couldn’t live up to its high standards. The law will never pass away because it is holy and just. But that means God would have to get rid of us because we are the problem and can’t keep the law. We are hopeless, the entire world. God didn’t want to get rid of us. He loved us even though we broke his law. And He would never get rid of the law. There isn’t anything wrong with it. In order for man to be saved, the problem of man has to be fixed, man’s sin nature has to be dealt with without killing man so the righteous requirements of the law could be satisfied.
So God instead sent and his one and only beloved Son. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin. Jesus’ death silenced the accusations of the law. It can no longer stand before us and show us our faults and short comings. The holy requirements of the law were satisfied. Jesus died for us so we don’t have to. We can instead enjoy eternal life. God solved man’s deepest problem and kept the righteous requirements of the law at the same time. Man doesn’t have to die, there is another way to salvation through faith and belief in Jesus as your substitute.
God’s spirit now dwells in us. His spirit of truth and of love. His love inside us now compels us to keep the righteous requirements of the law and it is love that constrains us, not fear of punishment or the law itself. There is a deep love for God and for others that grows inside of us that we can’t any longer steal. We can’t hurt others any more. We can’t deny God any longer. The very idea hurts our hearts. We have a new heart. God’s love floods through us.
This love surpasses the requirements of the law and is the principle behind the law. We don’t steal because we love. We don’t lie because we love others. I don’t need the law to tell me not to do these things and threatening to punish me if I don’t because I don’t want to hurt another person. I don’t want to steal from them. I don’t need a law for that. The law is for law breakers not for the law keepers, we keep the law naturally because we love the ways of righteousness and we seek to love others. When you live to love God and others you automatically fulfill the requirements of the law. You don’t have to worry about it or think about it much because that was the goal of the law in the first place.
Jesus because of his efforts and work, now holds heaven’s door open for us; he is heaven’s door to us so that any man who would enter through his finished work might be saved through his perfect righteousness. Because of our sin, there is no other way into heaven but through him.
By grace we are saved through faith, and this is not of ourselves, but is a gift of God, not by our works so no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
COVERED
The Hebrew word for covered is plump, to fill up the hollows. It implies to conceal, clothe, to cover, for clothing or secrecy. It gives you the idea of spackling. When you ever done any home repairs for a dent or hole in your wall, you first have to deal with filling up the hole before you can paint over it. If it is a small whole, you use spackling for those dents and crevices to make the wall smooth. There is also now a spackling crème from Mary Kay for wrinkles. I don’t think that is what it is actually called but it is the name Carolyn came up with. It plumps and fills in the wrinkles.
God fills in our holes that are left by sin. Sins wound us. They wound others. Why is it that sometimes we can’t see that the consequences of sin is our own harm? It’s often self-inflicted pain. Sometimes it’s pain inflicted by others. Either way, sin wounds us deeply, does it not? Think of those hurtful, unloving words or actions that were spoken to you in your past that still wound you today. Think about those hurtful words or actions that you have wounded others with. Think how they have wounded God’s own hurt. It hurts to see others hurting.
The word evil means to injure and to harm, to hurt. You cannot separate the ideas of sin, offense, transgression, guilt, burden, injury, hurt, death from one another. Sin is not only harmful it’s hurtful. We often see sin as harmless. That is Satan’s mask to make it appear harmless, beneficial, attractive so that we would desire it. However, sin is odious to God and the closer we come to share God’s heart the more sin becomes odious and detestable to us also.
Think of a child being hurt and how absolutely odious this is. Think of the beheadings that are taking place, the kidnappings, the beatings and how odious these sins are. These may seem like larger sins but smaller sins are just as odious to God and to others, bad attitudes, snideness, pride, selfishness, arrogance, lying, cheating, stealing, etc… All of these are odious to God and to us.
What was once attractive to us now holds no attraction. Think of the jokes you once laughed at the expense of others. Think of the sarcasm and witty comments you were so proud to have come up with that stabbed others when you said them. What you once gloried in, now shames you.
“To the godly sin is a thorn in the eye, to the wicked as a crown on the head.” – Thomas Watson
There is a strong sense of knowing that our sin needs to be covered. It’s foul and anything foul needs to be covered because it’s an eye sore to us and to others. It brings us so much guilt and shame when it comes before our minds. We don’t want to remember our sins but we can’t forget them, we try our best to bury them.
People drink to bury their guilt and shame. People take drugs and even prescription pills to help them deal with the anxiety from it and from being discovered and found out. There is a huge disconnect between the person they want to be and the person they are or have been and there life feels distorted and twisted. People lose touch with reality through denial. They can’t deal with their past actions. They just can’t bring themselves to confess them to anyone and they live a life of denial. Many end up in mental hospitals because guilt and shame have driven them insane. I have heard it said that 80% of those in mental hospitals could probably be released if they could just find forgiveness for their guilt and shame they carry.
People know that sin needs to be buried and covered over but once again instead of covering our sins God’s way, we attempt to do it our way and it’s only a temporary covering. It’s like the movie Poltergeist. They just keep coming back to haunt us.
Blessed is he whose sins are covered. God wants to cover our sins. He wants to cover our wounds in such a way that they will be truly healed and plump. God wants to fill up the hollows in our heart with himself and make us full and plump once more. I love that picture of fullness. Sin has a habit of drying up our very bones. Our eyes sink in, we loose weight. We age quicker. We become tired and feeble/ Sin takes its toll on us.
I wrote a poem 8 or 9 years ago that I would like to share with you on this subject. It’s kind of my own personal testimony of God entering my heart and covering my sins and my wounds. I have been encouraging everyone to write their own Psalm and so I thought I would share this just to show my own vulnerability. I don’t know if I would call it a Psalm. Perhaps it is because its intent is to praise God and to bless him, and to bear witness to God’s great work in my life. It is an account of God’s salvation in my heart. It does have some of the elements of a Psalm of Thanksgiving. Perhaps it will encourage you that anything goes. Your Psalm is just intended to be between you and God but can be shared with others.
The Vase
You shine your light
on the walls of my heart
you illuminate the cracks and dust
from years of neglect
your light brings everything into sight
Nothing is hidden from your eyes
Not even my shame for the state my heart is in
You see all the cobwebs and mold that has flourished in the dark
All the fallen chips, collapses and fractures
You step over the weeds of anger and bitterness that threaten to choke me.
I hold my breath in fear,
But you say nothing about the condition my heart is in.
Instead you continue walking closer towards me,
shining your light and examining my heart
inch by inch, you come closer and closer to my core
I am filled with fear and shame
at the presence of my Lord
I am not worthy to be looked upon
by righteousness Himself
But that is no matter to you
You bought me
I am yours
You see every spot where my heart has thinned and weakened
All the gaps and crevices that were never filled
All my vain and futile attempts to fill and cover them on my own.
You silently examine it all.
All the nooks and crannies that I have memories tucked and hidden away in.
All the craters and depressions from where my heart was hit straight on.
You see it all.
All the noises, voices and negative thoughts that still echo through its chambers.
All the offhand remarks that stabbed my soul,
You hear it all.
I hold my breath
Your eyes turn to see my wounds.
All the wounds that I protected and kept hidden.
All my hurts that cause me to lash out and withdraw from others
to protect myself from ever being touched again.
Even now as you look at them, I flinch and draw away.
In fear and shame I just want to hide.
But gently you move my hands aside,
And you touch it all
You touch the very core of my heart
with your warm love
and tender grace
You stare lovingly down into my face
Your light poured into my cold, dark empty soul
Filling every crack with yourself
Until my heart burst and overflowed
I cannot contain you
The heavens, the highest of heavens cannot contain you
How much less this heart where you have came to dwell?
Once I was empty, broken and thrown away
As an unwanted castaway
But You have chosen me for yourself
And placed me in the heavens safe on your high shelf
You have given me a permanent place to stay
And filled me with the richness of yourself
Who ever knew that one day, I would hold such wealth?
INIQUITY
One additional word is used as a synonym for sin and transgression in this Psalm as repetition to build on this thought. The word iniquity. Blessed is the man who the Lord imputeth not, or counts no iniquity. The Hebrew word for iniquity is avon (aw-vone). It means guilt, perversity, depravity. Its Hebrew etymology is that which comes from twisted actions. It means warped from a straight line. All sin is turning away from God’s straight path. It’s a life marked by crookedness and deformity from the image of God and the ways of God. His entire life is twisted. His emotional life is twisted. His mental life is twisted. His thinking and understanding are distorted by guilt and shame that causes him to deny and hide the truth from others instead of confessing it.
His spiritual life is twisted and deformed. His sexual life is twisted and perverted. His family life and marriage is often one of dysfunction to various degrees. All of this is often because of guilt and shame that weighs a person down, and they choose to live a life of denial and avoidance in order to hide from the truth and it’s implications of their being a sinner and not the good person they would believe themselves to be and have others believe them to be.
The meaning of iniquity is guilt from twisted actions. A man has wandered from the straight path of God’s way. Blessed is the man who the Lord counts no iniquity against him! How wonderful it is to be free from the guilt and the shame that we once so desperately tried to hide through even more twisted actions. How blessed it is not to live your life trying to hide the guilt and try to maneuver through our once twisted life!
Sometimes our guilt does have temporary consequences to be dealt with and faced and that is not easy. But we can praise the Lord they are not eternal. We can praise the Lord because we have the option to choose temporary judgment now or eternal judgment later when confessing our sins.
IMPUTETH/COUNTS
This man does not suffer the eternal consequence of his guilt, he is not punished for his guilt, it is not held against him. His account with God is completely clear and debt free and he has nothing to fear in facing God because Jesus paid his debt and took away his guilt. When God opens his great book, and when all men must stand before Him to give an account, this man has nothing to worry about. All his sins have been erased by the blood of Jesus. That is blessed!
IN WHOSE SPIRIT THERE IS NO DECEIT
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching him after Nathanael had been praying under a tree. Jesus said:
When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” (John 1:47)
We are not told what Nathanael had been praying about under that tree but I imagine he had been pouring out his heart to God, which is the essence of prayer. In that prayer, I am sure there was confession, Nathanael was probably a man who knew his own short comings and came to God with them. Jesus said Nathanael had no deceit in his heart.
God desires truth in our inward being.
Psalms 51:6 Behold, thou desires truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
If we are to walk the straight path and make it our aim to live Godly lives then we have to be straight with ourselves and it starts with telling ourselves the truth about ourselves, acknowledging the truth about ourselves, that we aren’t good, we say and do a lot of foolish things. We are human. We are fallible. We sin every day and would sin much worse than we do now if it were not for the grace of God.
It’s amazing how much anxiety begins to melt away, how much twisted thinking begins to untangle when we start with being honest about ourselves to ourselves.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
David tells us that he tried to cover his sin by keeping silent about it. This was his attempt to hide his sin. It was his attempt to find peace, by preventing anyone from finding out what he had done. He invited no fellowship into his heart on this.
Yet, instead of finding peace, David found great anxiety. His bones wasted away, or waxed old. In other words, he had no strength in his body. His very frame that was designed to be the strength and support of his body was weak and wasted away, worn out David’s energy was drained. He was continually tired.
Here we see David’s own soul groaning under the burden of his hidden sin. The Hebrew word shagah means a rumbling or moan. The KJV translates it as a roaring. David’s soul is anything but still and quiet being in a state of rest. Instead, it is in a state of continually churning within him like a constant rumbling or roaring waves that continually turn inside him.
“Affliction only reaches the body, but sin goes further: it poisons the fancy, disorders the affections. Affliction is but corrective; sin is destructive. Affliction can but take away the life; sin takes away the soul (Luke 12:20). A man that is afflicted may have his conscience quiet. When the ark was tossed on the waves, Noah could sing in the ark. When the body is afflicted and tossed, a Christian can ‘make melody in his heart to the Lord’ (Eph. 5:19) But when a man commits sin, conscience is terrified. – Thomas Watson
This anxiety is both day and night. Even at night, David tosses in his bed. He can find no rest and spends his nights restless. He feels the weight of God’s hand upon him. This is an Anthropomorphism, the portrayal of God in human terms. He feels the authoritative word of God weighing heavy on his conscience like the hand of God pressing him down.
Once again David emphasizes that his strength was dried up. Where is the man who was once portrayed as a tree, planted by streams of living water, whose leaf never withered? Here he is completely withered and dry as if planted in the heat of the desert with no cooling or refreshing influences. Sin has dried him up like a disease and caused him to wither and waste away.
Have you ever had unconfessed sin in your life that you tried to hide and your soul just burned within you? It’s the most horrible feeling in the world. That internal burning of conscious from guilt. It’s as if the fires of hell itself try to lick us with their burning. I’m not kidding. There is no relief from it day or night. I remember it well and I remember well the relief I found in confession and receiving forgiveness from the person I had hurt and offended. The Lord’s hand was heavy upon me, like a parent’s hand on a child not allowing him to run, hide or escape from his sin but forcing him to confess and make it right.
We don’t have parents over us now to make us confess and it may seem like we can get it away with it and we may rationalize that it was no big deal, but the Lord disciplines those he loves. God disciplines his own children and it is a genuine side of who you belong to when you feel the hand of God upon you to move and act and do the right thing when no human eye sees you or knows what you have truly done.
“That sin is worse than affliction is evident because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control” – Thomas Watson.
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
David says, he acknowledged his sin to God, he uncovered. He brought his sin into the light before God. This is what he does in Psalms 51. “Against you, against you only have I sinned and done what is grievous in your sight.” He no longer tries to hide it. He can’t hide it, he has been found out because God shed his own light on his sin by God’s grace.
God worked in David’s heart to confess his sin. Who knows how long David wrestled with staying silent. Who knows how long he could have lived that way. God would not let him. It was by God’s grace that God sent Nathan the prophet to David, to openly confront him and bring David’s sin to light, something in David’s own weakness, he was unable to do on his own. It was God’s love and grace that confronted David.
David confessed the transgressions to Yahweh. He confessed his rebellion, his breaking loose from the yoke of God to follow his own way. God forgave the iniquity, the guilt of his sin, his falling short of the righteousness of God. David’s guilt was nasa, forgiven, lifted away. He immediately felt relief. What sweet relief it must have been like being able to take a deep breath for the first time without it feeling heavy or hurting to breath. What joy and lightness flooded his soul again! The gravity of sin had been removed and lifted away.
“Such a visible change does repentance make in a person, as if another soul did lodge in the same body.” – Thomas Watson.
Selah is kind of a mysterious word but the most widely accepted meaning is pause. Meditate. Think about this. It’s kind of like a pause or a rest in a hymn or a song. You have long pauses and rests and short ones. This is a long pause. It’s weighty with its silence. It’s a holy silence that follows the truth giving it time to sink in. It’s a reminder to us to rest. Take a moment to find rest in this truth.
6 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.
David exhorts the whole congregation who is godly to offer prayer to God at a time when he may be found. This is a reminder to us that grace is temporary. It’s a very precious, temporary opportunity. God is offering forgiveness for sins for anyone who pleads guilty now. Plea bargains are temporary. Now is the time to come before God’s judgment throne and plead guilty and ask for His forgiveness that is being freely offered. Now, before you die, not afterwards. Plead guilty instead of righteous before God.
The KJV says the flood of great waters, the ESV says the rush of great waters, the idea is overwhelming great waters coming on a person. This is figurative language. Symbolism. Floods are symbols of great danger that can overwhelm you and sweep you away. David often refers to be an assaulted with waves going over him.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. 7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. (Psalms 88:6-7)
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. (Psalms 41:7)
These waves of affliction are what we referenced in Psalms 23, a series of sudden continuous events in our lives that occur rapidly and move you to great heights and great depths repeatedly. They feel overwhelming these rushing of great waters. The world was originally destroyed by a flood. Floods are dangerous situations that feel like they will overwhelm us and sweep us away. However, we have a rock to cling to in Jesus. They will not reach us. That’s not to say we won’t get wet and look a bit storm tossed at times. We may look like drowned rats from time to time but these waters will not be allowed to sweep us away. Instead we cling tighter to Christ.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
David once sought his refuge through hiding his sin, through covering it up. He saw sin as preserving him from trouble. See what kind of crooked, twisted, distorted thinking sin causes. That is how many people unfortunately see sin. Instead of seeing it as a deadly place to be, they see it as their place of refuge, a hiding place from the truth, their savior and deliverer from trouble. But what happens? They get in more and more trouble. Weeks turn into months and months turn into years and it gets harder and harder to free themselves from the tangled ways of sin and all her heavy yokes.
David found that hiding his sin, and hiding behind a lie is no refuge at all. David once hid his sin but now he hides his entire self in the Lord from sin and its deceitfulness.
There is only one sure hiding place for us and that is in God, hiding behind the truth of his word. God’s word is full of shout of rescue and promises of deliverance for those who wait and hope in Him and look for him. Anytime we are in a time of testing or trial, we only need to open our bible to any of God’s promises to provide for us, to lead us and guide us and they become our own shouts of deliverance. We may not see our deliverance yet, they may be just over the mountains but we can hear the shouts of his coming!
What a contrast and what a blessing to live in anticipation of the Lord’s deliverance of us instead of the dread of sins deadly effects and consequences that are just as imminent even though they delay their arrival as we discussed at the beginning of this lesson. They delay their arrival when judgment does not come speedily and loom over us and continually threaten us with their possible appearance at any moment. Looking forward to the Lord’s arrival and deliverance of us just over the horizon is a much better prospect!
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
Here David begins to speak God’s word. He hears the voice of God speaking to him directly, surrounding him with shouts of deliverance. God says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” God’s eye is always upon us, for some this will give them an overwhelming sense of peace. For others, this will give them an overwhelming sense of dread.
This is a reminder that our eyes should always be upon God in return, looking for his direction, looking to understand his will so that we can follow it. It is evidence of a teachable disposition before God. The contrast being drawn is one of being guided by God’s eye versus being guided or led about as an animal, requiring a bit and bridle before it will follow you and stay near you. Nothing but force keeps them on the right path. Instead of being led by understanding, they are led by impulse and their appetite.
Proverbs 26:3 “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back.
When I was a child, I was one of those kids who my mother had only need to look at when I did wrong and I would immediately start crying. My older sister who was much more outspoken and obstinate, on the other hand had a great deal many more switching’s she had to endure.
As a child is sensitive to their parent’s will, through seeing their father’s or mother’s eyes upon them, so we are to be sensitive to God’s will and His eye upon us. We should be attentive to God, able to move at a whisper, at a nudge of the Holy Spirit, at a glance, sensitive to his eye upon us to know his will and move according to it.
Instead, we often fight him, or play games about not hearing him, or understanding him. Instead of leading us with a glance, or a whisper, we are led by adversity, binding circumstances, inward terrors before we follow the will of God. We inflict ourselves with much needless pain and suffering that God would have spared us from.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
David is reminded of the many sorrows of the wicked, they are like a great flood. Sorrow upon sorrow is what they are continually surrounded by. They have no hope shouts of deliverance such as ours awaiting them and calling out to them in their sorrow to comfort them and to strengthen them in their times of darkness such as we have. Those without God are surrounded by sorrow without end.
In complete contrast, those who trust in God are surrounded by love without end. On every side God’s love revolves around them. Everything God does is out of His own loving nature and his children are the objects of His very great affection whom he has chosen to demonstrate and pour out his great love on. What a blessed position! God’s love encompasses around the righteous as ocean never ending.
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! David exhorts the congregation to be glad in the LORD and rejoice in him and praise Him with Him. I think this same invitation extends all the way to us to be glad in the LORD for all His great blessings and generosity.
“Let them be so transported with this holy joy as not be able to contain themselves; and let them affect others with it, that they also may see a better life of communion with God is the most pleasant and comfortable life which you live in this world. This is that present bliss which the upright in heart, and they are only, are entitled to and qualified for”. – Matthew Henry
