Thank you very much, Sam. And, brethren and sisters, it's been a joy this past month to enjoy fellowship with you around the Word of the Lord. And I appreciate the invitation to be back with you again on the Lord's Day. Thank you for the welcome. It's good to be here with you. Now, we're turning this morning, please, to the Psalms and Psalm number 32. Psalm number 32. Psalm number 32. It's warm up here. But the fellowship's warm, that's the most important thing. Amen, Bert. Psalm number 32, and I'm sure this Psalm will be a familiar one to most of us, so we'll read from verse one. Psalm 32, and commencing from verse one. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer, Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and thine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin, Selah. For this, everyone that is godly shall pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with thine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. May the Lord bless the reading of his precious word to our hearts this morning for his name's sake. I wish to speak very simply this morning on the nature of true godliness. the nature of true godliness and really the message I believe the Lord has laid upon my heart is essentially a devotional message but I trust also a very practical one for each one of us this morning. No doubt David has in view here godly individuals whose sins are forgiven. And of course this is the overriding subject and theme of Psalm 32. It's remarkable to note that being godly and being forgiven are inextricably linked here. They both go hand in hand. And really the immediate application is to the believer here. A person forgiven of all their sins through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will naturally desire to be godly. There will be that natural desire to live a godly life and to do those things which are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. What does it mean to be godly? Well godliness is a word that is often found in the scriptures. In the New Testament it's translated from the Greek word Eusebia and our brother Burton sure will be familiar with this as a Greek scholar. To be devout means to have piety characterized by Godward attitude, doing that which is well-pleasing to him. That's according to W.E. Vine, that's according to his definition, Eusebius, devout. It also speaks of a reverential fear of God. I believe that same meaning is found here in Psalm 32 and the context would confirm that devotion to the Lord and that fear of the Lord that David had. I used to understand godly to mean somehow to be like God reverently speaking. But the meaning here in scripture carries more the idea of walking before God. constantly aware of his presence and watchful eye, looking toward him, as in Hebrews 12 and verse 2, looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. It also follows that a person that is godly will be given to prayer. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. Verse six. And really that is my text for this morning. Everyone that is godly. Everyone that is godliness. So godliness not only goes hand in hand with forgiveness, but with prayer also in this psalm. And what a perfect combination of unity we have here. Forgiveness, godliness, and prayer in perfect harmony and union. A picture of a life, of a believer, spiritually mature in their walk with the Lord, walking in fellowship and obedience to the word of God. It's only natural, surely, that the believer who has experienced forgiveness, both at the point of repentance and conversion, and then following conversion when they feel and when they falter, will become more obedient. And this is where instruction comes into view here. Verse 8 tells us, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go. And that is evidently the purpose of the psalm because above it we have the title, a psalm of David, Maskel, which is the Hebrew word for instruction or giving instruction. And I meant to say earlier, the word Yeshiva, I think I, uh, I think I translated, I think I got the reference from W.E.Vine as being a Greek word, Eusebia, but obviously here we're in the Old Testament, so it's in the Hebrew, but nevertheless, the meaning here, mascul, at the beginning of Psalm 32, means instruction or giving instruction. And there's a beautiful picture here of a loving but holy God as a father correcting and chastening his son. And then when he has forgiven him, teaching him in the way that he should go. So for the believer, forgiveness has an objective. It has a purpose. It has an end in view. It's to make that child of God more obedient and submissive to the will of God and to the word of God. It is what follows forgiveness. Forgiveness of sins is not simply a letting off, reverently speaking. Like a police officer would sometimes let you off with a caution for speeding or something similar. I dare say our brother Sam probably wouldn't let me off if I was caught speeding when he was in the police. No, this is the forgiveness of a thrice holy God. It's not to be taken lightly. It ought to make us fear him more and reverence him as an infinitely wise and holy heavenly father. It's a completely different forgiveness that we have in view here this morning. And with that in mind, we come to the first of seven things, which I believe the psalm brings before us as we consider this subject, the nature of true godliness. First of all, we have consolation. Notice simply how verse one begins. Blessed. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed. And so there's a promise of blessing here. Just as in the very first Psalm, Psalm number one, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, and so on, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. This is consolation here. It's a comfort to our hearts that God is promising a particular blessing. And it's not some kind of vague or general blessing. It is promised to an individual here. That makes it more specific. Blessed is he. And so we're going to learn the very nature and recipient of this blessing. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Now that was marvelous. Here we have an outstanding statement because clearly this is a man who has transgressed. Our brother Bert was referring to 1 John this morning, chapters two and also in chapter three as well. And sin we know from 1 John chapter three and verse four is the transgression of the law. All of us have sinned, Romans three and verse 23, for there is no difference For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You know, there's much talk about equality today. It's a word we hear nearly every single day in the media. Well, my Bible's definition of equality is Romans 3 and verse 23. Every single one of us, without exception, myself included, have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yet here is a man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. And so two methods are used to describe what has taken place here and what this man has experienced. First of all, his transgression. That is the charge. The offense against the law is forgiven. In other words, it's taken away by another. In much the same way that a person's debt is written off or taken off the record. But then secondly, his sin, that is the act itself, what he actually did is covered, not covered up as in the sense of being concealed or hidden, but rather cleansed, atoned for. Now when we come to the word atonement in scripture, it's very important to make this distinction because The word atonement occurs, from my reading anyway, and from my counting from Strong's Concordance, it occurs 45 times in the book of Leviticus. It occurs mostly in the book of Leviticus, and it comes from the Hebrew word kapar, which means to cover, to cover. But when we come into the New Testament, so far as I can read, the word atonement only occurs once. in the book of Romans. And the emphasis in the New Testament is not upon the word atonement at all. That is why when we sing the hymn and we come to the line that says, who yielded his life in atonement for sin, we change it and we say, who yielded his life for redemption for sin. Because the emphasis in the New Testament is on the words redemption and also propitiation as our brother Bert was reminding us this morning from 1 John. Redemption, propitiation, that is where the emphasis is in the New Testament. You see, atonement was something that was temporary. It was something that the priest would do for the person who had sinned when they brought their offering to the tabernacle. It was only a temporary thing, but redemption is something that is permanent. And when our Lord made propitiation, And He is the propitiation for our sins and for the whole world. When He made propitiation, He satisfied the righteous demands of God permanently and eternally. But here we see something that is remarkable in this psalm, something that is miraculous here, something that is divine. It's something that man cannot even begin to do himself. What could you or I do to ever take away our sin? Forgiveness is one thing. You know, forgiveness must be done by another. That is, the person against whom the offense was committed. Only they're in a position to forgive if they choose to do so. We cannot forgive ourselves an offense against another person. We are indebted to them. But to cover That's something different. To cover means to put over the sin, something that will take away and blot out the sin itself. That is only something that God can do. And here we see a wonderful foreshadowing of the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we know 1 John 1 and verse 7 so well, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. And can you see the pattern here? There is a pathway to experiencing that forgiveness. In 1 John 1 and verse 7, we must walk in the light first, What is the light? Well, God is light, 1 John 1 and verse 5, so it's not so much the question, what is the light, but rather, who is the light? God is light. And then his word is light, Psalm 119 and verse 105. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And the light of God's word will expose any darkness within me, and it will reveal any sin. Our Lord knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. And if my thoughts and intents and motives are not pure this morning, no one else may see into my heart, but God can. And that's why we need the light of the word to shine into our hearts. And then we must walk in fellowship with one another in the light of God's truth. Also, and in the light of his word, You see, there can be no true fellowship outside of the truth of the Word of God. Our brother Jordy was just sharing with me this morning that if I have a grudge, and I'm speaking to myself here, against anyone, well the scriptures say, grudge not one another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the judge standeth at the door. And may God search each one of our hearts on my own this morning. Reproof is one thing, that's scriptural and correct. But grudging is quite another. God forbid that any of us, myself included, should have a grudge against another brother or sister in Christ. Really, 1 John 1 and verse 7 speaks of keeping short accounts with God. Sin will keep us from the Word of God, and sin will take us away from the fellowship of God's people. But if we let the Word of God shine into our hearts and into our lives to expose and to expel sin, then we can fellowship one with another with a clean conscience. as we claim that promised cleansing, which of course comes with confession also to the Lord. 1 John 1 and verse 9. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that is the consolation that is being spoken of here in Psalm 32. Notice that verse two also begins with the word blessed. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit there is no guile. Blessed. And then two further things, as we've read, are declared with regard to this man's state and standing before God. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Now to me, that speaks of justification in the sight of God. But then secondly, we read in verse two, and in whose spirit there is no guy. That speaks to me of his condition. The word iniquity carries the meaning of guilt. And so there's no guilt imputed onto this man and he has no guilty conscience before God. And you'll note that it is the Lord who imputes no iniquity upon him. And that is an amazing place to be before a God who is infinitely holy. Before the God who is a consuming fire, imputing no iniquity. upon this man. But then when we come to the word guile, the word guile is found also in John chapter 1 and verse 47 concerning the disciple Nathanael. You remember our Lord declared concerning Nathanael, behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile. Guile speaks of deceit, craftiness or a snare. It comes from the Greek word dolos, a snare, and it means that there's nothing in this man's spirit now that witnesses against his conscience. He's not lying to himself. He is clear before God, and the fact that his spirit is mentioned here tells us that he has that perfect peace in his heart, and he is completely at peace in his spirit. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5 and verse 1. You know, iniquity really is the outward state before God. And because God imputes upon this man no iniquity, that speaks of his justification. But the word guile speaks of something that is inward. And of course, we know that guile is where we get our word guilty from. It speaks of the inward conscience witnessing against us if we have sinned. And this man has none of that. Justification and his condition. He's right with God. And he's right with his own heart. And he's right with his fellow man. But really the psalmist is looking back here. Because we see now in the verses following what needed to take place before that consolation could be experienced. And before the blessing of God could be obtained. In verses three to four we see conviction. Conviction. Verse three tells us, when I kept silence, My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. And so he's looking back here now, before he was forgiven. It seems that there was a delay here before he faced up to the reality of his sin. As long as he kept silent and said nothing to the Lord concerning his transgression, he was prolonging the agony, as it were. And it continued through the day. And though he kept silence, he said that he was roaring all the day long. And so it must have been an inward thing. It must have been an internal agonizing, groaning and wailing over a sin in the depths of his heart. Not only did he continue in this state through the day, and remember, we're going back in time previous to the experience spoken of in the opening two verses. Not only did he experience this agony through the day, but into the night as well. Because verse four tells us, for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. And so now it is God who is dealing with him. First of all in verse 3 it was his own sufferings on account of the consequences of his sin and we see it both physically with his bones waxing old and spiritually with his roaring. That was the man himself seeing the immediate effects of his transgression upon himself. But now in verse 4 it is the turn of the Lord to chasten him. His hand is heavy upon him. He's beginning to experience the reality of his sin, having been committed in the sight of God, before whom all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. God has seen the transgression. He knows everything there is to know about it, and he's letting the man suffer for a time, in order to punish and to chasten him, that he might know and understand the awful gravity of his sin. And when we get an understanding, brethren and sisters, of just how serious and grave our sin is, I'm speaking to my own heart this morning, never mind the consequences, we begin to understand the magnitude of the grace of God. That it is not to be taken lightly. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah, verse four. And the word selah there means consider it. Here the agony is increasing in intensity and that of course is foreshadowing the thirst that our Lord experienced on the cross and prior to that the agony of Gethsemane though our Lord Jesus Christ himself knew no sin. And in this intervening time, between the transgression itself and his acknowledgement of it before God, there was this awful burden of guilt, and it needed to be so, or he would not have sought the Lord's mercy. And the trouble with today's generation is summed up in Romans 3 in verse 18, that there is no fear of God before their eyes. Men and women in general no longer have a sense of the awful nature of sin when measured against the absolute holiness of God, in spite of their consciences. And instead, they're content to decide for themselves what their moral standards should be, if they have any at all. And that is why the law in scripture is needed. To show us our sin, Galatians tells us that the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. But this man knew his sin. He knew that he had offended God and his holy law. But there was a delay here before he owned up to it. We know that this was the case with David following his sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel chapter 11. That is until Nathan confronted him. And then David said in 2 Samuel 12 in verse 13, I have sinned against the Lord. And we could think also of Psalm 51 in reference to that confession. And this is where we come to the third truth and view here. Not only do we see conviction, but we see confession in verse five. Verse five tells us, I acknowledged my sin unto thee. And that word acknowledged is vitally significant. This was the very essence of his confession. He accepted and confirmed its presence by the word of his mouth. He made no attempt to cover it up. He made no excuses for it. He made no attempt to justify it or to make light of it. He simply acknowledged it unto God. He stated it exactly as it was to God and that is the meaning of true confession. To agree precisely with what God says about that particular transgression in his word. When you acknowledge someone, a brother or sister in the Lord, what do you do? You greet them. And we're continually exhorted in the New Testament, the epistles, to do this. At the end of most of the epistles in the New Testament we're exhorted to greet one another. And that shows how much it matters to the Lord that His Spirit instructs us to do it regularly as a confirmation of our love one to another in Christ. And the same principle applies with confession of sin. When you acknowledge someone or something, what are you not doing? Well, you're not ignoring them. And when a person acknowledges their sin unto God, they're deciding not to ignore it. Mine iniquity have I not hid, he said. I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and now he speaks directly to God, and thou forgivest the iniquity of my sin. and note the assurance with which he speaks there. There was no doubt in his mind that he was forgiven. Then, as before, he says selah, meaning considerate. He would not say that if he didn't believe in the mercy and forgiveness of God. After the punishment and chastisement, which no doubt God used to show him the weight and the magnitude of his sin, after that came the relief of a burden lifted. And that reminds us that burdens indeed are lifted at Calvary. Jesus is very near. And without this confession, there could be no hope of forgiveness. Proverbs 28 and verse 13 tells us, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. And that is a promise. And David, by faith, believed in that promise when he made his confession. Ah, but there had to be a forsaking of the sin as well. There's no good making confession and then returning to the sin. As Peter warns in his epistle, like a dog to his own vomit, or a sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. No, there has to be that shame that repels the repentant sinner from returning to that sin again. And that is why no true believer in the Lord Jesus could ever be content when they stumble and sin. Because I hate the sins that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breast. And now we come to the fourth principle in view this morning. Not only do we see confession, but we see supplication here. Supplication. And here we come to our text in verse 6. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee. For what? It must refer back to verse 5. the forgiveness of God. And I believe also that it speaks of purpose and reason for godly prayer. The purpose of confession is to keep short accounts with the Lord. Now a believer cannot hope to attain to the godliness spoken of here without keeping short accounts of confession before the Lord. Mine iniquity have I not hid. Everyone that is godly, when they pray to the Lord, will hide nothing from him. In a time when thou mayest be found. Verse six. And that shows us that God will hear the genuine prayer of confession. Both the prayer of the sinner who turns to Christ and the prayer of the believer who sins. And yes, believers will sin. Not as they did before they were saved, when there was no remorse and no repentance, but believers, and I name myself as one of them, can and do sin. But the difference is now that they grieve and sorrow when they do. Read through the first epistle of John as our brother Bert was reminding us this morning and the distinction between believers who on the one hand can claim the promise of 1 John 1 verses 7 to 9 and unbelievers on the other hand who continue in sin and do not know God in 1 John chapter 3 is very clear. Now it can be troubling at first, and it used to trouble me years ago when I read through 1 John and I couldn't make sense of it at all, I have to confess. I'm going back perhaps 15 years ago when I first began to study the scriptures and I read through 1 John and I couldn't understand. Because one could easily conclude that if I as a believer sin, then I must be of the devil and not saved at all. Because 1 John chapter 3 and verse 8 tells us, he that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. Ah, but we must finish the verse. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. A person who genuinely believes in the Lord Jesus Christ and is trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ is not of the devil. And a careful reading of John's epistle as a whole will show that to be true. It says he that commiteth sin. The word commiteth there is not found in chapter 1. If you're committed to something, you'll do it continuously with no confession, no turning, and no repentance. It's a picture of someone who's committed to sin, committed to a life of sin. That's not a picture of the true believer in Christ when it comes to sin. There will be that desire to continually forsake sin rather than to follow after it. Someone once said, it is not that we become sinless, but rather that we sin less because we hate those sins that made the Lord mourn. Just like Job, a man that feared God and escheweth evil, he shunned evil. That will be the mark of a true believer. They will hate evil, they will hate sin, and they will hate their own sin when they do stumble and fall. And that is the example followed by the man in Psalm 32. And in the floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him. You know, my mind's just thinking about David Brainerd, the missionary of the 1700s who went out. Now, he was very reformed in his doctrine, just like many others at that particular time. But it was said of David Brainerd, and he only saw a few souls saved under his ministry, but he went out to the mission field. He went out to a part of America, if my memory serves me right, just on his own. And it was said of David Brainerd that he was extremely hard on himself. His journal entries, his journal notes were published after his death. They were never intended for publication, but they showed a man who was continually on his knees, bewailing his own faults and failures and sins before the Lord, insomuch that he doubted whether he was even saved, because he was so conscious of the old man, which was corrupt according to deceitful lusts and the power of temptation. And yet that man was mightily used of the Lord, and those journal notes, I understand, have become a great blessing and source of encouragement to many believers. You see, there is an example of a man who hated the old sin nature. He wasn't content in it, and a true believer will never be content in their sin. And that is the example here followed by the man in Psalm 32. And in the floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh unto him. In prayer, you know, there's a tremendous refuge from fear and from evil, and from danger. And with a conscience void of offense toward God, having confessed one's sin, prayer can be made to the Lord without that hindrance that David speaks of in a later psalm when he says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, thou wilt not hear me. But when God has forgiven the iniquity of sin, then prayer is wont to be made and will be heard. And so we see supplication, but then fifthly this morning, we see preservation. Preservation in verse seven. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. I cannot imagine a better place to be, reverently speaking, because David describes the Lord himself as being that place. It speaks of his presence. where there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures evermore. Who is at his right hand? Our Lord Jesus Christ. And this causes us to look forward to being absent from the body and present with the Lord, to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Three things are spoken of here. First of all, we see shelter. Thou art my hiding place. There is no true perfect hiding place anywhere in this world. Literally any location on the face of the earth could become a danger zone in a moment of time if there's a war, or a crime, or a disaster, or some tragedy. Ah, but Proverbs 1 in verse 33 tells us, but whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet. from fear of evil. The Lord himself, his presence, experienced by prayer and obedience to his word, that is the hiding place. He is that hiding place. Proverbs 29 and verse 25 tells us that the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. But then secondly, we see safety. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, verse seven again. There is no true preservation from trouble in this world, but there is with God. And with iniquity forgiven, and with sin cleansed, that preservation can be experienced. A preservative, you know, does not take a substance away from the source of harm, but it does protect and keep it during the time of harm or danger. And when God preserves from trouble, that preservation does not take the trouble away, but rather it forms a barrier around the believer from the Lord, provided by the Lord in the midst of the trouble. Safety. And then thirdly, we have singing. Thou shalt compass me about. with songs of deliverance. Selah. Here we have the promise of an unspeakable joy from the Lord on account of his deliverance from trouble that brings the sound of joyful songs. He wants us to rejoice in his deliverance. He desires that we experience this joy and the peace of God which passeth all understanding. Selah, consider it. Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs in the midst of trial and trouble. Here we have New Testament promises in Christ, which we know in this dispensation, foreshadowed in the Psalms and spoken of by David. Preservation. But the sixth truth this morning, and this is where the Lord, I believe, wanted to bring David, and the believer also, is instruction. And we see this in verse eight. Look at verse eight for a moment, please. Verse eight. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. And if David was left to his own devices on how to proceed, following the experience of forgiveness and deliverance, he would utterly fail, and he would utterly falter and fall, and so would we. But again in verse 6, he speaks of everyone that is godly. No one can be godly without the instruction of God. No believer in Christ can go on with the Lord and grow in grace without feeding daily upon the sincere milk of the Word of God. And it begins with earnestly desiring that sincere milk of the Word. There has to be the desire for it first of all. And then there should be that moving on to the strong meat of the word, having their senses exercised to discern between good and evil. And that is how God instructs and teaches the believer in Christ in the way in which they should go. Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. If we walk in the light of his word and obey it, then we'll not be deceived. And then we have the promise that I will guide thee with mine eye, in verse eight. And that tells us that he will watch over the believer, as he would over David, as the good shepherd, watching and looking after the sheep. It speaks of oversight. It speaks of tremendous care and compassion, that our heavenly teacher not only tells us what to do in his word, but guides us with his eye. He watches us. He looks upon us continually to direct our paths. What is it Proverbs chapter three tells us? Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. And this is demonstrated here in verse 9, which warns us about the poor example of the horse or mule which have no understanding but must be controlled by force. Why? Because their nature is to be a law unto themselves. Notice verse 9, be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. There's no compassion there. But with the good shepherd watching over us, there is compassion. Yes, there must be that correction and chastening at times, but it will be administered in love. And that is how God instructs and teaches the believer in Christ. And he's giving us an example here not to follow in verse nine. And this instruction continues in verse 10, foretelling the psalmist that many sorrows shall be unto the wicked. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, verse 10, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. That is speaking of sinners. who remain stubborn and steadfast in their sin with no repentance toward God. And here we find a wonderful contrast presented between the wicked who remain wicked on the one hand and he that trusteth in the Lord, the one whose sin is forgiven. Mercy shall compass him about preservation. But then finally this morning, we have the exhortation in verse 11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart. Ye righteous, consider the journey the psalmist has come along throughout the course of this psalm. He begins it in retrospect, from his present position having been forgiven, and then he looks back to the time before he was forgiven, the time of his transgression when he had sinned, And then he describes how the wonderful mercy of God delivered him when he openly confessed his sin to the Lord and the Lord forgave him his iniquity. And then finally, he brings the reader all the way forward to his present position and it's a time of rejoicing in the mercy of God. You see, now he talks about those who are righteous. He talks about the righteous and the upright in heart and exhorts them to rejoice also. Now he can take his place among them because he is forgiven and not only forgiven but he has been taught of God and instructed in the way he should go and he exhorts his readers to come into that same experience, that same knowledge of forgiveness and that same leading and guiding of the Lord. And here we see God's wonderful purpose in showing mercy and forgiveness. Here we see that God expects something in return, and rightly so. Now we're not speaking of works here, but rather the fruits of righteousness. A forgiven sinner becoming a faithful, studious servant, learning the way of the Lord, learning the word of God, and learning how to walk with God. Brethren, sisters, may that be the experience for each and every one of us this morning by his grace. May he bless his word to our hearts, shall we pray. Our Father in heaven, we return thanks to thee this morning for thy precious word of truth. We thank thee for this forgiveness of which the psalmist speaks, this pardoning of iniquity, this cleansing of sin. And Father, we acknowledge afresh this morning that that is only our experience through faith in our Lord and our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, outside of whom there is no salvation, no redemption, no forgiveness, but we praise thee, our Father, for that redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. We would confess to thee this morning, Father afresh, that we fall far short of thy holy standard, and we ask thee to forgive us for wherein we have grieved the Holy Spirit, even this past week. Yea, even today, Father, forgive us and cleanse us afresh, and grant our Father that we might not grieve the Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed onto the day of redemption. Grant our Father that we might continue in that instruction that we find in thy precious word of truth, that we might be more daily conformed into the image of Christ. Take our thanks for our time together this morning, And in thy will, Father, we pray that you would bring us back this evening to wait upon thee in prayer, to seek thy face in prayer, and to seek thy blessing upon our gospel meeting later this evening. Our Father, forgive us if anything that has been said this morning has been of the flesh or been of man or myself. Take it away, Father, and let only The words of sound doctrine remain from thy precious word. So Father, take of our thanks, bless each one of us, and make each one of us a blessing to one another, and help us to be faithful in these days of great wickedness and unfaithfulness. So take our thanks, bless us as we part, in our Savior's precious and worthy name. Amen.