Blessed Are the Forgiven

Many of the Psalms we have preached through have been words that are in the moment. We see Psalms of Praise to God, and we see Psalms of prayer for deliverance, help and hope. Psalm 32 is a psalm of David where recounts an experience he went through and wants to use it encourage and strengthen others. The form actually looks similar to that of a paper you would have wrote in school. David in his Intro, declares what is true, (v.1-2). In the body, he gives his supporting reasons, (v. 3-9). And at the end he restates and confirms what declared at the beginning, (v.10-11).

We will walk through 3 main questions about this Psalm. Here they are: 1) What is meant by a spirit with no deceit? in verse 2, 2) What is at stake? 3) Who are the Godly? Verse 1 and 2, gives a threefold description of those who are blessed. It ends with an extra phrase and a fourth description of the those who are blessed, and it is the foundation for the rest of the psalm. Let’s read verses 1 and 2 again.

Psalm 32:1-2

[1] “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

[2] Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

1. What is meant by a spirit with no deceit?

1. First define it within the text, if we jump too wide will will miss what it means

   1. “I acknowledged my sin to you” (v.5)
   2. “I did not cover my iniquity” (v.5)
   3. “I will confess my transgression to the LORD” (v.5) 4. They are forgiven by God (v.5,1,2)

2. So what does this mean? A spirit with no deceit, is a person who does not hide their sin from God but confess it. Sin is there, sin is in all of us, the question you try to hide it before God. Let’s look a little deeper at what this means.

1. It is not just honesty

John 1:43-47

[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”

1. Nathanael is being honest, being real, and is judgmental.

2. Jesus affirms that there is honesty in Nathanael words

1. he is just being, real, “genuine”, authentic
1. ex: I’m just super competitive, I just find people like that frustrating, I can

get a little carried away, I know I can be a little controlling...

1. the word just, may be a tip off here

1. “Being real” is often self-preservation, self-justification, and at the max is shamelessness, boasting in our shame and calling it “being real” or “who I am”

2. But Psalm 32, is speaking of deceit in a way that is more than being honest, it is speaking in a vertical direction of those that either hide/cover their sin, or expose their sin by confessing it. In Davids words, he was deceitful when “he kept silent” in verse 3. But his deceit was removed when he “did not cover [his] iniquity” in verse 5.

2. It is not just sorrow

1. v.10 “Many are the sorrows of the wicked”
1. Regret that sin cost you or had consequences is not repentance
2. The sorrow of being caught is not repentance
3. If your confession came as a knee-jerk reaction to being caught, it it might

not be repentance.

1. It may lead you to repentance, but is not repentance in itself

1. You can be wrecked by your sin and still try to hide it from God

In Psalm 32, those in whom there is no deceit, are those who confess their sin to God. Repentance is an acknowledgment of sin, that is it wrong, wicked. Repentances is a desire to turn from your error, not just because it had bad consequences, but because your error was rebellion against God good will.

2. What is at stake? (in repentance) Temporal and Eternal consequences 1. First, Temporal (David postures himself as the example)

1. Three interlinked examples (all flow from God’s word, and God’s world working in harmony)

   1. Physical - David said “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” and “[his] strength was dried up as by the heat of summer”

   2. Natural/Emotional -David said “Many are the sorrows of the wicked” We reap what we sow. Much of our grief is self inflicted.

   3. Spiritual -Here I specifically mean your conscience. This could be seen when David talks about wasting away. This might be seen in David acknowledging “[the LORD’s] hand was heavy upon him.”

2. By God’s grace, we have temporal struggles and consequences that can lead us back to him and away from our sin. The whole natural dashboard is lighting up

3. Does this only happen because of unrepentant sin?

   1. No, that was the error of Jobs friends, who said all his grief was caused by sin

      he was concealing

   2. But let’s not find ourselves in error on the other side saying it can’t be sin in my

      life. This I think is the side we are more likely to err on today.

4. If you are in the spot where the Lord’s hand feel heavy on you may be thinking, How do I know if it is my sin, or how do I know?

1. You may not know, but the Psalms are a perfect place to find words for your

grief, your pain, your confusion. Pray Psalms like:

• Psalm 139:23-24

  [23] Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!

  [24] And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

• Psalm 16:1-2

  [1] Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. [2] I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;

  I have no good apart from you.”

In David’s case here, he says his suffering was caused by unrepentant sin. The LORD hand was heavy on him day and night until he ended his silence and confessed his sin. And the relief was immense!

1. Temporal positives for the forgiven
   1. They confess and are forgiven of their sin (v.5)
   2. They are blessed (v.1-2)
   3. They are instructed, counseled and seen (v.8)
   4. They are marked with joy (v.11)
   5. They are preserved from trouble and surrounded with shouts of deliverance (v.7) 6. They are surrounded by the steadfast love of the LORD (v.10)

2. Second, Eternal

1. David here says God forgives sin!

Psalm 32:6 “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.”

1. We either attempt to cover our sins or can have them covered/removed by God.

2. We can confess to him and are surrounded by steadfast love and shouts of

   deliverance, or we will be judges, like those who were surrounded by great waters in the flood, but were not rescued like Noah and his family.

So David says, let the godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found. But, who are the godly?

3. Who are the Godly?

• The Godly are unrighteous people!

• Don’t miss this, to miss this is to miss everything! Really

• Who are the Godly, who are the righteous who rejoice and have joy in verse 11? Who are the upright in heart, in whose spirit there is no deceit?

• It is ungodly and unrighteous people who has confessed and repented of theirs sins. The Godly are not righteous, but have a righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.

• The righteous are righteous by grace through repentance in faith.

Paul quotes Psalm 32 in Romans 4:1-9a.

[1] What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? [2] For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. [3] For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” [4] Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. [5] And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [6] just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

[7] “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;

[8] blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

[9] Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?

1. Who is blessed by God in Psalm 32? It is not the law keepers, but law breakers!

2. And who is this blessing for? ALL! (circumcised and uncircumcised)

   1. therefore confess your sins. God is a forgiver. Receive his forgiveness and rejoice.

Pray with me. Not the rich that are blessed, not the young, or healthy, or smart. Not the

influencers, or the strong or the wise. The forgiven are the blessed of God.

The Table

When we come to the table, David’s experience is not irrelevant. The Apostle Paul when speaking of the Lord table wrote to the Corinthians:

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

To judge rightly is to judge yourself guilty, unrighteous

• If you judge yourself to be without sin, or if Jesus is not your refuge and rescuer, we ask that you let the bread and cup pass, lest you act in deceit by having participation with Jesus in a way you do not confess.

• But, if you see your sin, confess it to God and plead for his rescue, right now, maybe for the first time ever (come! eat and drink with us) The Lord’s righteous are those that are not righteous in themselves, but have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.