{"id":771,"date":"2018-07-22T20:44:04","date_gmt":"2018-07-22T19:44:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=771"},"modified":"2018-07-22T20:44:04","modified_gmt":"2018-07-22T19:44:04","slug":"blessed-is-the-one-whose-transgressions-are-forgiven-psalm-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=771","title":{"rendered":"Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven Psalm 32"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago at our weekly prayer meeting Draw Near to God we looked at Paul\u2019s wonderful hymn to love in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. I asked which verse struck you most, and different people chose different verses. I then shared with you that I had asked the same question that morning in our group of new Christians. Their answer was very clear. Verse 5. \u201cLove keeps no record of wrongs.\u201d When we have been Christians for a long time we can come to take that amazing truth for granted. God\u2019s love keeps no record of wrong. When we become a Christian all our sins are forgiven. There\u2019s an old song we used to sing.<\/p>\n

I get so excited, Lord Every time I realise
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven
\nJesus, Lord, You’ve done it all You’ve paid the price
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven<\/p>\n

Living in Your presence, Lord Is life itself
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven
\nWith the past behind, grace for today And a hope to come
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven<\/p>\n

Hallelujah, Lord My heart just fills with praise
\nMy feet start dancing, my hands rise up
\nAnd my lips they bless Your name
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven, I’m forgiven
\nI’m forgiven, I’m forgiven, I’m forgiven<\/p>\n

There is the glorious truth. If we are Christians, we have been forgiven! That\u2019s the good news first announced a thousand years before Jesus in Psalm 32.
\n1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
\n2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them
\nand in whose spirit is no deceit.
\nWithout God\u2019s love every human being wrestles with the same problem as the Psalm writer did.
\nGUILT
\n3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
\n4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped
\nas in the heat of summer.<\/p>\n

Psalm 31 7\tI will be glad and rejoice in your love,
\nfor you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul.
\n8\tYou have not handed me over to the enemy
\nbut have set my feet in a spacious place.
\n9\tBe merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
\nmy eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and my body with grief.
\n10\tMy life is consumed by anguish and my years by groaning;
\nmy strength fails because of my affliction, and my bones grow weak.<\/p>\n

Psalm 38 1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
\nor discipline me in your wrath.
\n2\tFor your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.
\n3\tBecause of your wrath there is no health in my body;
\nmy bones have no soundness because of my sin.
\n4\tMy guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
\n5\tMy wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.
\n6\tI am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
\n7\tMy back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.
\n8\tI am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.<\/p>\n

\u2026. 17\tFor I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
\n18\tI confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
\nThe psalm writer explains it so well. When we have done wrong, we are morally guilty for our sins before God, as well as potentially legally guilty for crimes against human law. We are created with consciences so that we will feel guilty, and be brought to repentance for our actions. Guilt feelings are both rational and emotional. The answer to guilt is forgiveness. We must seek God\u2019s forgiveness, we must seek to be reconciled to any persons we have wronged, and we must also come to forgive ourselves. People who are feeling guilty because they have sinned should be encouraged to confession and repentance.
\nSin makes a barrier between us and the God who created us and wants to redeem us.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 59 59\tSurely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
\nyour sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
\n3\tFor your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt.
\nYour lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.<\/p>\n

Sin separates us from God and we have been given consciences so that we feel guilty, and that drives us to seek forgiveness. GUILT is like the engine warning light on the dashboard of the car. Sensible people stop and fix the problem. Some people just put a sticker over the light and drive on.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 7 8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it\u2014I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while\u2014 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.
\nGod\u2019s way out of the overwhelming feelings of guilt is confession
\nCONFESSION
\n5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
\nI said, \u2018I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.\u2019
\nAnd you forgave the guilt of my sin.
\nThe background to this psalm may well be the events of David\u2019s sin of adultery with Bathsheba and all that followed afterwards. Nathan the prophet confronted great King David with the parable of the rich man who had very many sheep and cattle and the poor man who had just one ewe lamb which shared his food, drank from his cup and slept in his arms \u2013 it was like a daughter to him. But when a traveler came the rich man took the poor man\u2019s lamb to serve to his guest.
\n2 Samuel 12 5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, \u201cAs surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.\u201d
\n7 Then Nathan said to David, \u201cYou are the man!
\nDavid had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah murdered. When he was confronted with his sin:
\n2 Samuel 12 13 Then David said to Nathan, \u201cI have sinned against the LORD.\u201d
\nNathan replied, \u201cThe LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
\nWe cannot be sure of the occasion of Psalm 32. But we do know that when Nathan came to David after he sinned with Bathsheba Psalm 51 records his prayer of confession.
\nPsalm 51 gives us a model for confession.
\n1\tHave mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;
\naccording to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
\n2\tWash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
\n3\tFor I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
\n4\tAgainst you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
\nso that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
\n5\tSurely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
\n6\tSurely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
\n7\tCleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
\n8\tLet me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
\n9\tHide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
\n10\tCreate in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
\nConfessing our sins is important.
\n1 John 1 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
\nSometimes not just confessing our sins to God but also confessing to another Christian can bring us an assurance of forgiveness.
\nJames 5 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.<\/p>\n

Of course our confession must be sincere and wholehearted. The story is told of the man who wrote a letter to HMRC which said this. \u201cI used to cheat on my taxes. But since I have become a Christian my conscience has been troubling me. Please accept this cheque for \u00a3400 of unpaid tax. If my conscience continues to bother me I will send the rest.<\/p>\n

If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.<\/p>\n

FORGIVENESS
\n5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
\nI said, \u2018I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.\u2019
\nAnd you forgave the guilt of my sin. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s just make one thing clear. We are not forgiven because we are sorry. We are not forgiven because we confess our sins. We are forgiven because Christ died!<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners\u201d (1 Timothy 1:15).
\nWe don\u2019t earn or deserve forgiveness because we feel sorry for our sins or because we confess our sins. We are forgiven because Jesus died in our place so that we can receive God\u2019s love instead of God\u2019s judgment.
\nPsalm 103 8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
\n9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
\n10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
\n11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
\n12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
\n13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
\nOur God is the loving Father who forgives those who truly repent.
\n1 Blessed is the one
\nwhose transgressions are forgiven,
\nwhose sins are covered.
\n2 Blessed is the one
\nwhose sin the LORD does not count against them
\nand in whose spirit is no deceit.
\nPsalm 103 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
\n2\tPraise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits\u2014
\n3\twho forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
\n4\twho redeems your life from the pit<\/p>\n

Proverbs 28 13\tHe who conceals his sins does not prosper,
\nbut whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
\nPaul quotes Psalm 32 in
\nRomans 4 4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
\n7\t\u201cBlessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
\n8\tBlessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

We all need that wonderful forgiveness! Not everybody admits it. Shortly before she died, one of the best-known secular humanists and novelists, Marghanita Laski, said on television, \u201cWhat I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n

God forgives all our sins. I read the true story of a priest in the Philippines, a much-loved man of God who carried the burden of a secret sin he had committed many years before. He had repented but still had no peace, no sense of God\u2019s forgiveness.
\nIn his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and he with her. The priest, however, was skeptical. To test her said, \u201cThe next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.\u201d The woman agreed.
\nA few days later the priest asked., \u201cWell, did Christ visit you in your dreams?\u201d
\n\u201cYes, he did,\u201d she replied.
\n\u201cAnd did you ask him what sin I committed in seminary?\u201d
\n\u201cYes.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, what did he say?\u201d
\n\u201cHe said, \u2018I don\u2019t remember\u2019\u201c
\nWhat God forgives, He forgets.
\n1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
\n2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them
\nand in whose spirit is no deceit.
\n5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
\nI said, \u2018I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.\u2019
\nAnd you forgave the guilt of my sin.
\n6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found!
\n11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago at our weekly prayer meeting Draw Near to God we looked at Paul\u2019s wonderful hymn to love in 1 Corinthians…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/771\/revisions\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}