Please turn to your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 32. You'll notice in the bulletin the title of this sermon is The Blessing of Forgiveness. And I hope you see not only the blessing of forgiveness, but also motivation that flows out of that forgiveness. Psalm 32, this is the word of our God. A mascal of David, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is a man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 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. 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. You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 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. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. but the steadfast love, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. So we've been making our way through the Psalms, especially even as was noted earlier in the service, this first book of the Psalms, how there seems to be a general confrontation with the unrighteous. A war, if you will, between the righteous and the unrighteous. And then we come particularly to Psalm 32, and we see something rather interesting. There is all but an admission that he should be counted among the unrighteous. And indeed, that's really the case for all of us, except for the grace of God. We speak of being forgiven. Forgiven is not forgetting. You hear the expression, forgive and forget. Well, for one thing, God can't forget. It's not possible. But he can actively choose not to hold your sin against you. That's the beauty. That's really what forgiveness at its heart is all about. Not holding sin against you. Well, this is Psalm 32, as indicated here, a maskul, some sort of musical, or even as the footnote in the ESV has, musical or even liturgical term. It is written by David, and many connect this psalm to Psalm 51, which we'll see in roughly 19 weeks, give or take. Psalm 51, we know, is a psalm that David wrote right after Nathan confronted him with his sin with Bathsheba and murdering of her husband. Now, chronologically speaking, because of the nature of this psalm and the nature of Psalm 51, most believe that Psalm 32 is actually written after Psalm 51. There's more of the experience of forgiveness that is here, whereas Psalm 51 prays for forgiveness. The two are not mutually exclusive, mind you. Indeed, our life should be one of praying for forgiveness. We finally come to Psalm 32, a psalm that many like, A psalm that is even alluded to in the New Testament, particularly those first couple of verses, about not having our sin imputed to us. But it's more than just being covered. It's more than just God simply saying to you and to me, that's okay, wink wink, forget about it, all of those things. Not a big deal. Well, sin is a big deal. And because sin is a big deal, to be forgiven of our sins is also a big deal. What I hope to show this afternoon is simply this. The blessing of forgiveness from God should motivate us to a life of joyful obedience. The blessing of forgiveness from God should motivate us to a life of joyful obedience. We'll look at this under two headings. First of all, the joy of forgiveness. And then secondly, the encouragement to godliness. So first of all, the joy of forgiveness. Again, verse one, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Verse one and two actually are saying the same general thing, except maybe that last clause there in verse two. Not that it's unrelated. There are three very clear and very related words, with the fourth being a bit more specific. Three things, it's almost like a proverb. transgression, sin, iniquity, and then the fourth one, much more specific, deceit. All are given to express the comprehensiveness of sin, its nature, the heinousness of sin. Transgression, we think of just simply like trespassing, crossing the line that you shouldn't cross. Sin, just moral bankruptcy. And then iniquity, just not measuring up. You're supposed to do this, this is the standard, but you only are up to here. Or in the case of sin, maybe way down here. And then, of course, we know deceit, a very specific kind of sin. So we have these expressions here to show us the comprehensive nature of sin, to show us the heinousness of sin, yet at the same time, in the midst of these words, what David is telling us is that it's blessed to be forgiven of these things. And so while the use of these words, all synonymous with sin, tells us its comprehensiveness, David does this to show us the comprehensiveness of his forgiveness. You see, it's not as though, well, I'll forgive your iniquity because, you know, nobody can really measure up anyway, but your transgression over here, no, I can't, no. It's the totality of your sin that's forgiven. As heinous as sin is, how glorious is it to be forgiven. How blessed it is. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts or reckons no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. Now, as we look at that last clause in particular, in whose spirit there is no deceit, such a person who's been forgiven has been shown his need, has been shown the need to deal honestly with himself and with God and with others. So, of course, that would follow from the others. in whose spirit there is no deceit. One who has been forgiven is an individual who has reckoned himself a sinner because he really is. Who has confessed his sin before God, who can no longer hide it, and he has to be honest. You understand that confession of sin involves honesty? And it's more than just saying, I'm a sinner, please forgive me. Particular sins confessed particularly. But the beauty is those who do are forgiven. They're covered. It is no longer reckoned to your account. Sin is no longer imputed to you. That's the grace of God. Forgiveness from God, and it is ultimately in Christ. And as such, it is so very freeing. That's just not metaphorical language in scripture that speaks of being set free from the bondage of sin. You really are. To be forgiven is so freeing. More than that, that it's the Lord who forgives you. As Jesus said, he who is set free will be free indeed. That sin is no longer imputed or reckoned to you. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven. Now notice what happened. In contrast, David talks about when he wasn't being so honest. When I hid my sin. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away. David describes his life living in sin, living without forgiveness, living in that deceitfulness of, I'm okay. His bones wasted away through groaning. This is a rather graphic description of something that for David lasted all day. Notice that? Night and day. It's a solemn picture of what the feelings of real guilt can do. And note well how I worded that. The feelings of real guilt. It's not merely the feelings of guilt. It's feelings of real guilt. They can waste you away. Now, if the feelings of real guilt are not getting to your conscience, that's a different issue. And that's a scary situation. But at the same time, we need to understand that although it is real guilt, you're set free through the forgiveness that is offered in Christ Jesus. So objectively speaking, you who confess your sins, you who repent and turn, you're blessed because you're forgiven. Even if you don't feel it. Because God has declared it to be so. And honestly, brothers and sisters, who are we to argue with him? Though we deserve it not, he declares us forgiven. But until then, we see what happens with David. He wasted away. The real guilt. Sometimes we can feel guilty even though we're not. You ever experience that? Oh man, I really feel guilty for doing this. Well, you didn't do anything wrong. It's sort of like stop apologizing for what you didn't do. But in this case, David recognizes he's really guilty and he feels guilty. This time they go hand in hand. Brothers and sisters, when you are guilty and you're feeling guilty because of the real guilt, that's actually a grace. That the Lord is pressing upon your conscience so that you would turn from your sin and no longer hide. Because otherwise, you'll be like David. Your bones will waste away through the groaning. Day and night, notice, notice what David says here in verse four. Day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as by heat of summer. You see here that those feelings of guilt, that heaviness, was brought upon by the Lord himself. Christ reminds us, as we'll see when we get to it in John's gospel, that it is the spirit of the Lord that convicts us. convicts us of sin and righteousness and judgment, reminds us of these things, the Lord's hand heavy upon us. In one sense, truth is not determined by our feelings. But on the other hand, we shouldn't ignore them either. Because maybe those feelings of guilt have something behind them. Maybe we really are guilty. R.C. Sproul, in one of his sessions, I don't even remember what the topic was. He spoke of counseling somebody or talking with somebody that he was speaking with. And the person says, I just can't get rid of these feelings of guilt. And R.C., as subtle as he always was, said, that's because you are. And sometimes it's true. We feel guilty because we are, and God's hand is heavy upon us, weighing us down. But in verse five, we see the experiential letting go of it all. I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity. I acknowledged, or made known, probably brings it home a little bit better. You can see the root is the same. made known my sin. My sin actually is first in the clause. My sin I made known. It's in the emphatic position, as is my iniquity in the next clause. No longer did he cover his sin. Now isn't that fascinating? David just got done talking about how blessed it is to have sin forgiven. But he does not cover his sin, he lets God do it for him. You understand? You can't cover your sin. Only God can. But the beauty is, He does! He does, really and truly. You acknowledge your sin. You confess before him. And notice the reaction. David even retells his conversation with himself. It's somewhat reminiscent of the prodigal son. He's looking at those pigs' pods and looking and saying, boy, that looks tasty, because he's that desperate. And the text comes and tells us, Jesus telling the parable reminds us, he came to himself and he conversed with himself and he said he was gonna go home, he's gonna tell his father that he sinned, that he was gonna make himself a servant, et cetera, et cetera. That's really what David is doing here. I will say I sinned, I will confess my transgression to the Lord. And notice what happened. David just skips right to the end. You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Doesn't that seem so simple? I've got news for you. Good news. Gospel news. It is. And thanks be to God that it is, because what hope would we have without it being that simple? Confess your sin. He will forgive you. Acknowledge your sin. Acknowledge your sin and your sins. And he will forgive you. He will toss it aside. Yahweh forgave, and as such He received the blessing of no sin counted against Him." Now you may notice, this is actually in verse 5, the second silah there. Many think, and we can't be dogmatic about it, that it's some sort of musical pause to consider and think. Stop for a second. Some people will read it, I generally don't, because it's intended, if it's a pause, it's intended to pause, not be read. But at first, for day and night your hand was heavy upon me, in verse four, my strength was dried up as the heat of summer. Pause and think about that. I acknowledge my sin, I will confess and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Pause. Take a moment and let that sink in. All you do is confess your sin and He forgives you. Is that not worth taking a step back and just pausing? Reflecting on the reality that now You, who deserve nothing but God's wrath, have been forgiven. We don't pause to think about such things. We don't pause to consider what's just been said. But we need to. I confessed and God forgave. That's it. Faith in Christ, trusting in Christ, confessing sins penitently leads to forgiveness. But then, of course, David wishes to share this truth. And this leads us into our second point, the encouragement to godliness. Look now at verse six. 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. Now the word therefore is not technically there, it's more something like this. For this, let everyone who is godly. In other words, the for this is everything that David just talked about. Everything that I just explained to you and experienced in my lone life, you go now and seek it. Do the same thing I did. Confess and you know what will happen, you'll be forgiven too. You understand verse six is a gospel message? And so brothers and sisters, you want motivation to go out and share the gospel? It's your very own forgiveness that you've received. You should be the first in line. You should be at the gate like a racehorse, ready to go. And when the gun sounds, off they go. Because you've been forgiven. Now you can go and tell others. Seek the Lord while he may be found." He's saying, let the godly offer prayer while God may be found. David's experience leads to the exhortation toward others to experience the same forgiveness and the same pardon. Notice that David is just not keeping it to himself. I've got forgiveness. This is for me. You go over there. Because my friends, there's enough forgiveness to go around because we serve such a gracious God and a mighty Christ died for our sins. How can we not share that truth with others? What joyously good news. Seek the Lord while he may be found. You've experienced forgiveness, you have known this, you are blessed. Is it not, should it not then be natural to call upon others to pray to God while he may be found? And even in the rush of great waters, a metaphor for chaos in life, The chaos of life will not reach him because that person is now secure in God. He's free. He's forgiven. Verse 7, David returns to himself. You are a hiding place for me. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. In the midst of proclaiming the gospel, encouraging others, he takes a step back and offers thanksgiving to God. You see, he's so moved by the message itself, that even in the midst of encouraging others, he sort of has to take a step back to himself and just acknowledge God's greatness and love toward him. You are a hiding place for me. How fascinating it is, what a contrast, because it used to be that David hid his sin. Now, he hides himself in God. He hides himself in God. It's not like hide-and-go-seek. Sometimes I still want to play, to be honest. But the Lord is his hiding place. He is his safe place. where harm will no longer befall him, and it's precisely because he's forgiven. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. We live in modern technological ages, like going to the movies, and even we call them home theaters, where we sit and surround sound, where the sound just envelops you, and it's everywhere around you, and it's so cool. How much better is it that shouts of deliverance surround you? You talk about surround sound. The reality is, no matter where you turn, shouts of deliverance come from that direction. The truth and the reality that you have been set free in Christ. Now the unbeliever needs to be surrounded with shouts of deliverance, calling on them to heed that call. And so my question for all of us is, are we as a church surrounding the unbeliever with shouts of deliverance? Do they hear it? And shouldn't we be the ones proclaiming it? Precisely because we've experienced it. And those shouts surround us. And notice again a pause to reflect and think. As you come to verse 8, the ESV doesn't quite bring this out. There's a shift in the subject. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. Most commentators, and I'm inclined to agree, think that this is now the Lord speaking. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. It is the Lord who now speaks. It is the Lord who teaches. And notice again, multiplicity of words to drive home the point. I will instruct, that is, it has the emphasis on giving insight, almost illumination. Oh, I get it. Teach, of course, here is the idea of direction, direct. And then of course, counsel, advise. But notice also, these are being done in the midst of the Lord's eye upon you. Now as we think about that, the Lord's eye upon you, there are two ways to take this, and I think both are in view. We ought to pause and reflect on this. You would think this might be a place for that liturgical pause. But God's eye is upon you. You recognize that that is both a comfort and a warning. It's a comfort because you've been forgiven and the Lord is still instructing you. His eye is upon you. He'll be with you wherever you go. But it's also a warning because he sees everything you do. And so as a warning, it's also an encouragement not to sin. And we all know if certain people were around, we wouldn't do that thing. Kids are great with this when the parents come in the room. I'm not doing anything. And we'll do it also in the workplace when the boss comes in. Hide that solitaire window. But God is always watching, and we seem to think that because we don't see him physically, he's not there, but he is, his eye is on you. And that should also be a comfort. He instructs you, he directs you, he illumines your mind, he sends you along the way, and he counsels you. And he's watching you to see where you will go, so that if you start to drift, guess what he'll do? He'll kind of kick you back on the path again. And see, that's a comfort, because if you really think about it, you and me, we will quickly go off and drift. But his eye is upon you. His loving, gracious, forgiving eye is upon you. And it's remarkable to me that the Lord will instruct. He doesn't just forgive. He instructs us. He teaches us. You see, the gospel message is more than just about getting saved. It's living out of that salvation. And thus, we need God's instruction. We need God's guidance. We need His commands. His statutes, His judgments, to teach us, to direct us. The Lord doesn't simply forgive, as wonderful as that is. He teaches you righteous living. He teaches you godliness. He guides you and directs you. I don't know what to do in this situation. He teaches you. I don't know where to find it. Yes you do. And of course this becomes once again another one of my favorite passages to jump on the soapbox of the importance of corporate worship. To go to the place in which he gives that instruction. To sit under it. You feel lost and aimless, no direction in your life. Have you been under the preached word? Of course, that means the one preaching needs to be true to the Word. That's certainly true. But we need to be guided by Him. But it's interesting because David continues. He goes in verse nine with further instruction from the Lord. 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. You can lead a horse to water, but, right? You've heard the expression, and you've also heard the other expression, stubborn as a mule, That's us. We have to be honest. I know we don't like to hear it, but it is true. That's you, that's me, constantly. And we're being encouraged, don't be like that. You see, the horse and the mule are picked here because they don't speak. And in order to be led, they need bit and bridle. Otherwise, you're just gonna wander off. But see, God is trying to tell us that his law is actually freeing. It's not a bit, and it's not a bridle, and you don't need to be yanked. Instead, his law is gracious. It is a way of life. It is a way to stay on the path. It is his instruction. He tells you. With the horse, you can tell the horse as much as you want, it's not gonna do anything. Yank the rope, that'll get him to turn. I fear that too often, the way we live our lives, we become more like the horse that need that rope to yank us back. So this encouragement from the Lord, don't be like that. Then you also have some more instruction, this time about the wicked in verse 10. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. So we have a parallelism that's antithetical. We've got the wicked and then the righteous, the wicked and those who love the Lord. There's the contrast, and you see the sorrows of the wicked. Now you may be taking a step back and realize, hey, we're in the book of Psalms. Elsewhere, the psalmist complains about the prosperity of the wicked. But the truth of the matter is, they really are in a sorry state. Elsewhere, we see how David himself speaks of, he sees their ease. Then he goes into the house of the Lord and he knows their end. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. And a lot of time, the prosperity and the fun that the wicked seem to have is just a cover to hide. There are good times, there are seats of power and position and popularity. It's all just something behind which they hide from God. But contrast that with God's steadfast love that surrounds those who trust in him. Remember earlier what surrounds David, shouts of deliverance. Here it is God's steadfast love, his chesed covenant love for his people, his loving kindness, his mercy. The wicked have sorrows. You who trust in the Lord have his steadfast love. And it's not something that's just something you grab and hold on in your pocket or stick in your backpack. It surrounds you. If anything, you're in its pocket. You are completely enveloped by God's steadfast love. And this leads then to some imperatives in verse 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. And that first portion, be glad and rejoice, they're synonymous words, they're different in Hebrew. And you legitimately could just simply translate that as rejoice and rejoice. In other words, rejoice. But notice it's rejoice in the Lord, because it's the Lord who grants forgiveness. It's the Lord to whom we tend to turn and acknowledge our sin, and He forgives the iniquity of your sin. It's like what Jesus had to teach all those around him. When he had the woman washing his feet with that perfume and her tears and her hair, and people were thinking, you know, if you knew what kind of a woman this was, you wouldn't be allowing this. And Jesus uses her as an object lesson. Who's going to love more? The one forgiven little or the one forgiven much? Well, it was an obvious answer. This woman had been forgiven much and couldn't help but show love to her Savior. Do you understand what you've been forgiven from? When you do, how can your heart not burst forth in joyous song to Him? You also understand that your life of obedience is one long, joyous act of worship. Yes, we gather corporately. We must, we have to, we're commanded to, but it's a joyous privilege. But even as you are blessed upon leaving here, your life is one of worship, joyous acknowledgement of what God has done for you in forgiving your sins. forgiven much. And here's the beauty of verse 11. The command to be glad, the command to rejoice, the command to shout for joy, all synonymous, but notice who he's addressing. Oh righteous. And also you upright in heart. How can that be? It's because you've been forgiven. More than that, the sin's been removed and the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ now clothes you. Is that not reason enough to shout for joy? You need motivation to clean living. You've been forgiven. You've been made clean. Live that way now. Be joyful in your obedience because you've been forgiven. This is such a wonderful gospel psalm. In the midst of the confrontation of the righteous and the wicked, David comes to a realization, and as we should, in addition to him, I should be among the wicked. But because of His grace, you're called righteous. You're described as upright. And when you fail, and you will, we struggle with sin, the Lord is there to instruct you, to guide you, to direct you, so that you may again give shouts of joy. This is our God. Blessed indeed is the man whose sin is forgiven. Amen.