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Psalm 32
Our discussion last week left off with the David’s confession in verse 5 and God’s complete and immediate forgiveness. Notice David says “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”. This brings to remembrance an important parable of the Lord Jesus in Luke 15:17-24 the Prodigal Son says “I will arise and go back to my father…”.
Let us come to this great portion of God’s Word that we may find instruction and encouragement as to how God responds to the sin of those who are repentant!
This 32nd Psalm is a “celebration of forgiveness” and moves far beyond the assurance that God merely forgives our sins but boldly declares the many blessings associated with God’s pardon, our confession and the celebration of our restoration.
- The Invitation to a Celebration in Verses 6-7
- “Therefore”—Notice the connection being made here: “Therefore, because the Lord forgives sins, such forgiveness results in true happiness.”
- Application: When we celebrate God’s undeserved forgiveness in our lives we are witnessing in the purest sense. Do you invite people to celebrate what God has done for you? Do we encourage others to experience the complete and immediate forgiveness which God offers the penitent?
- Join the Celebration While You Can Because Our Time is Short-The phrase: “let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found”Verse 6. It was David’s son Solomon who would later write in Proverbs 1:2533— “Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me”. (SEE ALSO ISAIAH 55:6-7)
- While we live in a day of God’s good grace whereby He is not far from every one of us “…Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…”-Acts 17:27. This good day of God’s grace will not last forever.
- Application: Do not wait until it’s everlasting too late to trust in God and receive His complete and immediate forgiveness.
- A Celebration of God’s Protection of the Penitent. “surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”-Verses 6b-7.
- Celebrate God’s Protection Over You By Singing His Praises. “you shall surround me with shouts (songs) of deliverance” This references God’s protecting grace which He gives to those who come to Him in repentant faith. Hear Charles Wesley:
- Celebrate God’s Protection from the Penalty and Power of Sin. —The phrase “surely the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him…you are a hiding place…”
- In verses 3-4 we see David hiding from God
- In verse 7 we see David hiding in God.
- David hides in God from God’s final judgment—As one writer expressed “He who thus hides in Yahweh when he may be found shall not be swept away when His final judgments are let loose like a flood of waters upon the earth” Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in thee.
- David hides in God from the power of his own sins—Even as the waters of David’s own sins press hard against him, God will protect His people from drowning in them.
- Application: We are our own worst enemy. What is separating you from the vilest sinner the world has ever known? What is keeping you from being the next Adolph Hitler? —The Grace of God.
- “Therefore”—Notice the connection being made here: “Therefore, because the Lord forgives sins, such forgiveness results in true happiness.”
- The Critical Importance of Teaching Others in Verses 8-9
- This Great Psalm Speaks Directly to the Restored Individual by Showing God wants to do 4 things:
- Instruct
- Teach
- Counsel
- Watch Over
- This is the great end to which God is seeking to bring us—Teachability. Are we teachable, or are we like Verse 9 suggests? Because those who truly belong to the Lord deeply desire to NOT fall into sin again. This is why teaching is so important.
- The Beastly Nature of Unteachability— “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”-Verse 9
- Application: God says, through David, that when we do not submit ourselves to God’s teaching we are like unbridled beasts of the field.
- Unbridled beastly condemnation over personal sin-This happens to us when we do not believe God for the complete and immediate forgiveness which He promises in Psalm 32.
- Unbridled beastly unforgiveness-This happens to us when we do not forgive others even as our Heavenly Father forgave us.
- Unbridled beastly endangerment-We endanger ourselves and those around us when we do not submit to God’s teaching. Many wild beasts and wild people roam around seeking whom they may devour.
- This Great Psalm Speaks Directly to the Restored Individual by Showing God wants to do 4 things:
- The Call to All to Rejoice in Verses 10-11
- A Clear-Cut Choice—We can either be weighted down “by the sorrows of the wicked” or we can be “surrounded” by God’s steadfast love. The choice is easy.
- While God’s Forgiveness of us is “one and done” we need to be reminded of God’s radical forgiveness every day of our lives. —We are new creatures in Christ!
Conclusion: This psalm celebrates what is the very heart of the Christian tradition, God’s grace and forgiveness that allows for us to know true happiness. Yet amazingly, we rarely take the time to celebrate this pivotal act of daily grace. Psalm 32 gives us just that opportunity to be glad and rejoice and shout, for God does reckon us righteous!
