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Finding Forgiveness (Psalm 32)
55 Plays3 years ago
Finding Forgiveness (Psalm 32)
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Growing in Grace' Ministry
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milan Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
The Role of Penitential Psalms in Forgiveness
00:00:44
Speaker
The early church used seven psalms to help guide one another to forgiveness and cleansing. You ever need to have experienced forgiveness? You ever need to experience cleansing? Well, they used seven psalms called penitential psalms. This doesn't have anything with going to prison. This is about being penitent. And so these psalms would help them know where to go, where to turn to.
00:01:11
Speaker
So hopefully, what we're gonna look at today in Psalm 32 will help you to know where to go in God's word to find forgiveness. Those seven Psalms, by the way, are Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.
Anecdotes on Forgiveness in Personal Relationships
00:01:33
Speaker
You know, it's hard to find forgiveness sometimes out there in real life, isn't it?
00:01:39
Speaker
I think that many people hold to a grudge rather than holding to grace. Some, it seems, prefer bitterness over forgiveness. I saw a cartoon where an exasperated father was yelling at his downcast, prodigal son, who was standing there once again in rags, and he says to him, this is the fourth time that we've killed the fatted calf.
00:02:07
Speaker
Sometimes it's just hard to forgive again, isn't it? As the Civil War came to an end, a Northern lawmaker asked Lincoln, what you gonna do with these Southern rebels now that it's over? And Lincoln replied, I'll treat them as if they had never been away. There's something about God that once He forgives us, that's the way it feels.
00:02:35
Speaker
as though we had never been away.
King David's Path to Forgiveness through Psalm 32
00:02:37
Speaker
The Holy Spirit led David to draw a treasure map so that sinners like me, like you, like all of us could find mercy and grace and forgiveness.
00:02:50
Speaker
Now the reason that David was looking for forgiveness is because he had looked upon something that was forbidden. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tells us that really, on that fateful day, David should have left Bathsheba in the bathtub and looked away, but he didn't. There was lust, it wound up being adultery, then deception about it, then murder.
00:03:17
Speaker
The whole nightmare must have lasted, scholars tell us, between six months to a year. When God sent Nathan the prophet into David's world, he learned that God knew all about his sins, and God was calling him to repentance. And David came through. David humbled himself. And you know what he found? He found forgiveness. He found cleansing.
00:03:44
Speaker
We still have to face, though, some tough circumstances. Let's call them consequences, even after we're forgiven. After David wrote two penitential psalms after this grave mistake that he made with Bathsheba,
00:04:04
Speaker
Psalm 51 came first. It seems that when he wrote Psalm 51, he was describing his personal experience of forgiveness. But when he wrote Psalm 32 that we're going to look at today,
00:04:19
Speaker
It wasn't so much the experience of forgiveness as it was the explanation of forgiveness. I want to read this passage and then give you just a few major principles from here about forgiveness that I feel will really help you when you need to find it.
Principles of Forgiveness from Psalm 32
00:04:38
Speaker
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and 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,
00:05:03
Speaker
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.
00:05:24
Speaker
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.
00:05:49
Speaker
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
00:05:58
Speaker
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 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.
00:06:29
Speaker
Allow me to give you some principles that I feel like stood out to me when I was reading through Psalm 32. First, I want to share a few things about the burden of sin.
00:06:42
Speaker
I realize that Hebrews 11, 24 and 25 says that when it came to Moses's life, he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. I know that sin has a passing pleasure, but friend, it doesn't last. The joy the Lord gives, it lasts.
00:07:06
Speaker
But sin's pleasures, well, it may be fun for a while, but it quickly burns off. And there's a reason for that. I want us to consider verses three and four and verses nine and 10 and think about the burden of sin, the burden of sin. Listen to David as he describes from his own life what he went through. He's trying to explain something, to teach something to us. Verse three, for example,
00:07:36
Speaker
tells us two things. One is, I'm going to call it the graying of the body, the graying of the body. Do you think that sin makes you seem older than you really are? Well, the ESV says, David writes, my bones wasted away. But the New King James translation says, my bones grew old.
00:08:03
Speaker
I've wondered sometimes if there could be like some connection between those who experience youthfulness. I wonder if the reason we experience youthfulness is because we've experienced forgiveness. I think somehow they go hand in hand. Whereas those that are burdened down by sin, it's almost as though they're way older than what they really are.
00:08:29
Speaker
There's also the groaning of the soul. For he says, for when I kept silent, so he's not going to talk about his sin to God for a while, but then he says, for when I kept silent,
00:08:41
Speaker
I was groaning all day long, groaning of the soul. I think that happens. As a matter of fact, if you read in the book of Romans in the New Testament, in Romans 8, 22 and 23, it may be shocking, but get this, it says that all creation groans right now in such a broken and fallen world with humanity choosing to rebel against God. I'm telling you,
00:09:10
Speaker
It doesn't feel good, it feels bad. So that's why people are groaning and they're graying. But there's another thing, there's the goading of the will. You see verse nine tells us that part of the burden of sin is what is God going to do whenever I'm sinning? Is He going to allow me to get away with it?
00:09:33
Speaker
Well, he says here, don't be like the horse or the mule without understanding which must be curved with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. Wow.
00:09:48
Speaker
So what he's saying is, don't make me have to use a bit and bridle on your life. I think sometimes people are wondering, if God loves me, why do I feel so miserable? It could be because you've not surrendered to Him yet. You've not just come to Him. He loves you, you know? Even though you sin, He still loves you. He wants you to come to Him.
00:10:11
Speaker
You know, I think verse 10 tells us there's something else. Something happens in our hearts. Grieving of the heart, verse 10. Verse 10 says, many are the sorrows of the wicked. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. Why was David experiencing such heaviness? Well,
00:10:34
Speaker
Psalm 32 and verse 4 says, your hand was heavy upon me. Psalm 38 verse 2 says, your hand has come down on me. That's a different Psalm, Psalm 38 verse 2. Psalm 39 verse 10 says, I'm consumed by the blow of your hand.
00:10:55
Speaker
the stroke of your hand. And in a different book of the Bible, 1 Samuel 5, 6, it says, but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he ravaged them and struck them with tumors. Oh my goodness, sounds so harsh. You know what God's trying to say? I love you too much. And so there's like conviction whenever we're trying to conceal our sin.
00:11:23
Speaker
We're experiencing misery because we won't come to God for mercy. So friend, my encouragement is go to God. I love a song from many years ago now, but it was by one of my favorite Christian groups called Phillips, Craig and Dean. It talks about mercy in that song. And here's what it says about mercy. Mercy came running like a prisoner set free.
00:11:52
Speaker
passed all my failures to the point of my need, when the sin that I carried was all I could see, and when I could not reach mercy, mercy came running to me." Man, that's beautiful. If you've never heard that song, you're to Google, Phillips, Craig, and Dean, about when mercy came running. It's a great song based on a great truth.
00:12:19
Speaker
Listen, if you will turn to God in your brokenness and repentance, I guarantee you, mercy is gonna come running to you. But let me go to something else, not just the burden of sin, but also the bridge to cleansing. The bridge to cleansing, I think, begins in verse five, but then it extends in verses 10 and 11 as well.
00:12:43
Speaker
You know the biggest drawback about sin is that it separates us from God. You see, friend, if you are an unbeliever listening to this, then you're separated from a personal relationship with God. It doesn't have to stay that way, but if you're still choosing to resist Christ,
00:13:04
Speaker
That's the way it is. There's a separation between you and the Father. But if you're a believer and you feel like, wait, I feel the separation, I am a Christian, there's also a separation from fellowship with God. Oh, it's true. You're still his child. You're still his son. You're still his daughter.
00:13:25
Speaker
But if you're a believer and you're permitting sin in your life, then it's going to interrupt that intimate fellowship that the Lord wants with you. And so what you need, you need a bridge to reconnect you with a holy God. For the unbeliever, you know what the bridge is?
00:13:44
Speaker
It's great, the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ. But if you're a believer, then the bridge is simply confession. Just confess your sins. The Bible says if you will confess your sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
00:14:03
Speaker
So I wanted to walk you through some of these principles that are on the bridge. The first one is to simply admit or acknowledge your sin. Verse five says, I acknowledged my sin to you and I did not cover my iniquity. I love that. So I'm going to acknowledge my sin that I've committed to God. He knows it already. So why don't I just own up to it and be honest with him about it?
00:14:33
Speaker
and say, OK, Lord, I'm not going to try to hide this any longer. He says, I did not cover my iniquity. Are you still trying to conceal it? Just open it up to God. God's going to surprise you with His mercy.
00:14:49
Speaker
Once you admit your sin, go ahead and confess it to Him. Verse five goes on to say, I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. Guess what God does when you do that? He says, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Man, that's good news. That is such good news.
00:15:12
Speaker
Proverbs 28, 13 says that if someone will simply confess their transgressions, then they're going to obtain mercy. That's the way to find it. So you have to put your trust somewhere. Where will you place it?
00:15:27
Speaker
Well, verse 10 tells us where David placed his trust. He placed his trust in the Lord. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. David said, you know, I'm gonna trust in the Lord. And when he did that, mercy surrounded him. Steadfast love surrounded him. I love this promise that's written in the New Testament in Romans 9-1.
00:15:56
Speaker
It says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So the key thing is I've got to be in Christ Jesus, but if I am in Christ Jesus, then there's no condemnation. And so what I have to do is I have to trust that. Sometimes we carry around unnecessary guilt that God's already forgiven.
00:16:21
Speaker
which leads me to verse 11, the joy. Yeah, man, there's so much joy waiting on you if you'll just go to God. Verse 11 says, be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy all you upright in heart. Did you catch those words, glad, rejoice, shout, joy? Man, those are all, all four of those terms are about
00:16:48
Speaker
expression, expression of something really positive that's going down inside of your heart deep within.
00:16:56
Speaker
Let's move to a third principle that I think is very important about forgiveness, the blessing of forgiveness.
Metaphors and Biblical Insights on Forgiveness
00:17:04
Speaker
Now I want to direct your attention back to verses one and two. For those of you that are listening to this while you're driving, don't bother looking this up in the Bible. Just focus on the road, okay? Here's what I want you to know from verses one and two.
00:17:19
Speaker
We're going to line up with David and we're going to be on shouting ground. He's saying, I'm blessed. I'm forgiven. I'm free. Yeah, he wasn't the only one. There was a blind man in the gospels. There was another man in the book of Acts named Paul.
00:17:35
Speaker
There was Mary Magdalene. There was a woman called an adultery. Oh, listen, it'll work anywhere. I'll never forget in Japan, one of my best friends, a man named Mr. Omura, he just couldn't understand how God could forgive him until we looked at John chapter 8, verses 1 through 11.
00:17:56
Speaker
John chapter eight verses one through 11 was a woman caught in adultery and Jesus said, neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more. Wow, we can have that kind of forgiveness if we live in America, if you live in Japan, if you live in Ethiopia, no matter where you live, God can certainly give you the blessing of forgiveness. But what kind of
00:18:24
Speaker
blessing is it? What are we forgiving here? Sin is so radical to a holy God, it's hard for us to understand it from his perspective. As a matter of fact, do you know that in the Bible there are 15 different words in the Old Testament
00:18:41
Speaker
that we're in Hebrew for just that one concept of disobedience to God, sin against God. So four of those words are used here in verses one and two. It says, blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven. Transgression is one.
00:18:58
Speaker
whose sin, that's the second word for sin, whose sin is covered, blesses the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." So there they are.
00:19:14
Speaker
transgression, sin, iniquity, deceit. Do you know that when God looks at it, he just sees it in all these different dimensions that we've never even thought about? When he used the word transgression, it literally means crossing over the line. It's a revolt against lawful authority. It's like when you tell your child, don't do that, don't play with that electrical outlet.
00:19:40
Speaker
It's like rebellion. But when he uses the word sin, it's like someone who's shooting a bow and arrow, and they miss the mark. You miss the target. You fall short. Have you ever felt like there's something missing? It could be that sin is in your life. And then there's this iniquity. That word means
00:20:01
Speaker
twisted, crooked, bent, warped. It's perversion. God's saying, no, not that. That's not what I meant. You see, that's what iniquity is. It's a distortion of God's very best that he has for us. And then, of course, deceit is pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? It's duplicity. It's insincerity. It's being cunning, having guile. You see, God wants us to be truthful, honest, transparent on the level.
00:20:31
Speaker
Well, see, knowing all of that about sin, doesn't it just really mean something when God can say, you know what? It's forgiven. Forgiven, you see, means to take it away. It means to remove the burden. I love that. You know, in Psalm 103 and verse 12, it says that God removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. I love that.
00:20:59
Speaker
in Micah 7.19, he says he casts all of our sins into the depths of the sea. Isaiah 38 verse 17 says he casts our sins behind his back.
00:21:13
Speaker
Isn't that great? Well, you know, he says in Isaiah 43.25 that he blots out sin and get this, God himself says, I will remember your sin no more. Whoa, Isaiah 43.25 is a great verse. And that's exactly what David is celebrating on a personal level. Blessed is the man whose transgression
00:21:40
Speaker
is forgiven. Whose sin? It's covered. Wow. And then he says, blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit. So he does not impute iniquity. It means to count it. It's kind of like a bookkeeping term. See, our church has a bookkeeper on our staff, but the bookkeeper keeps a ledger. And so everything is written down in the ledger.
00:22:10
Speaker
Isn't it amazing that when Jesus died on the cross, it's like he said, I know how much you owe, but I'm going to completely clear it off. I'm going to pay all your debts so that now the ledger says you have no debt.
00:22:26
Speaker
Man, that's great news. And so I just thought, lastly, about the principle of the benefits of repentance.
Repentance and Alignment with God's Will
00:22:34
Speaker
I mean, once your life is completely clean and you come to the Lord in honesty and repentance and asking Him for forgiveness, you know what life is like after that? You're going to like this.
00:22:46
Speaker
five quick things on the benefits. Verse six, you stay in sync with God's timing. Yeah, that's pretty cool because sometimes our biggest struggle is with God's timing. But he says, therefore, let everyone who's godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.
00:23:06
Speaker
You know, God's got a timing for you, friend. So just know that when you come clean with Him, you'll be in sync with His timing. Secondly, you'll also stay inside of God's protection. You know, He talks about how the rush of great waters shall not reach Him in verse 6. He talks about in verse 7 that God's like a hiding place to preserve Him from trouble.
00:23:31
Speaker
you'll stay inside of God's protective hedge. There was a man named Job. Satan was saying, look how much you've blessed Job. And God was saying, I know he loves me. And then Satan was saying, he's got to love you. You put a hedge of protection all around him. I can't even get to him.
00:23:49
Speaker
You know, God will watch over you if you'll just simply go to Him and say, Lord, I'm sorry for my sins. Would you forgive me? Mercy will come running. God will place you in that protective hedge. God will keep you on time. But there's another thing, a third benefit.
00:24:05
Speaker
Guidance, verse eight, I will instruct you in the way you should go. These are promises that are made to the person who's come clean with God, who's cleansed and forgiven. You'll stay alert to God's guidance. You'll hear his voice again.
00:24:23
Speaker
I like what verse nine says. You'll stay clear from God's correction. Remember when we were reading earlier in verse nine about not being like a horse or a mule, gotta have, well, a bit and a bridle, the rains and so forth? You don't want that. God doesn't want that for you either.
00:24:42
Speaker
I believe that we can experience incredible freedom whenever we're forgiven and cleansed. And God shows us, this is the way I want you to go. And you say, yes, Lord, that's the way I want to go too. So God says, you know what? You don't even need that bit and bridle anymore. So he takes that off. Verse 11.
00:25:03
Speaker
stay full of God's joy. Cleansing brings a renewal of joy. I wonder if it was so exciting for David when he no longer had all of that guilt over Bathsheba, over all that guilt of what he had done wrong against the Lord, all the deception. He'd even had one of his key soldiers named Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, he had him killed. Can you imagine?
00:25:31
Speaker
Yet God forgave David for plotting Uriah's murder. He forgave him for the deception. He forgave him for the adultery. He forgave him for the lust. Listen, if God can forgive David of those things that he mentions here, Psalm 32, don't you know that when Jesus died on the cross, he died to forgive you as well? Is God up there waiting with a big stick? He's just ready to wear you out because of all you've done.
00:26:00
Speaker
No, you know what he did? The big stick is what they nailed him to. They nailed him to a cross. He took the nails that my sins deserve. He took the nails that your sins deserve. We deserve the punishment. And Jesus said, I'll take it so that they can have pardon, so that they can be forgiven.
00:26:23
Speaker
I can't really think of anything better. That's why I wanted you to know, where can you go the next time that you need forgiveness?
Encouragement to Seek Forgiveness
00:26:33
Speaker
Because at one time or another in your life, you're gonna need forgiveness. You know, this morning in Vacation Bible School, I was trying to get across the point of that all of us are sinners and we fall short of the glory of God.
00:26:48
Speaker
So I had the kids line up on one side of the rim, and I said, I want you to stand here and do a standing broad jump to the other end of the rim. They were 15, 20 feet away. I knew they weren't going to be able to do it. So I went ahead and told them. I said, don't worry, kids. You're not going to be able to do this. So they gave it their best shot.
00:27:07
Speaker
And they all tried. Some of them were saying, oh, yeah, I got this. You know what? They couldn't jump 20 feet like that. And they gave it. And so we celebrated when they jumped as far as they could. But I told them, I said, you didn't make it, did you? I said, you know, if we're going to go to heaven without Jesus,
00:27:24
Speaker
then we're gonna have to be perfect. And the truth is we can't make it. So then I had this other idea and I thought, we've got so many baseball pitchers in the room, why don't we have a small little basket on the other room? I'm gonna give all the kids in the room a beanbag. And I said, I'm gonna prove that you cannot make it by yourself because this is impossible. You'll never get it in the basket.
00:27:50
Speaker
So you know what they did? Four of them got it in the basket. So after it was over, there were like 38 kids in the room. Out of 38, four of them got it. So you know what they said to me? They said, ha ha ha, you said it was impossible. We weren't going to be able to do it. And I said, you know what I thought about last night?
00:28:11
Speaker
I thought, what if the kids, somebody actually makes it? There's so many good baseball players here in Columbus. You made it in the basket. So I celebrate that. But I thought about it last night. And you know what I thought?
00:28:25
Speaker
You see, that's great that you can throw it with your right hand in the basket. But can you throw it with your left hand in the basket? If you threw it with your left hand and you got it in the basket, then I challenge you, can you make it with your right hand in the basket if it's not your primary arm? You know it would have been a different story, wouldn't it? Here's the deal. You may have some right-handed days
00:28:50
Speaker
but you're gonna have left-handed days, hard times, and those hard times are gonna bring out the worst in you. So maybe on a given day you'd say, I'm not selfish, I'm not prideful, I'm not angry, I'm not saying something ugly. I know, all of us have those right-handed days. But what about when something comes at you from left field? What about suddenly now,
00:29:17
Speaker
You're saying ugly things to people. You're being upset and angry. All you can see is everything from your own perspective. You know what I said to the kids? I think it fits even for adults as well. I said to them, how do you spell sin anyway? So they spelt it. Some said S, some said I, some said N. So I said, if we take the S off and we take the N off, what's the heart of sin?
00:29:47
Speaker
There's only one letter left, the letter I. Sin is whenever I say to God, I'm gonna do it my way. I want it my way. I don't wanna do things your way. Please, when you come to that point in your life, when you've done it your way and now you feel bad about it, would you go to Psalm 32? God will be waiting on you. He wants to forgive you and he wants you to know where to find forgiveness. Let's pray together.
00:30:17
Speaker
Lord, I don't know the situations that are represented by those who are listening today, but I know this, that the Bible does say, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So I know that there may be some who are unbelievers that are listening and they've not come to the cross yet for forgiveness. Others would be believers, they're forgiven, they're going to heaven, they're in your family.
00:30:41
Speaker
but yet they haven't turned from sin. They're sin in their lives. Help them be willing to come to you in confession. So whichever it is, for those that don't know yet Christ personally, I pray they would go to you in repentance and say, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins. For those that have already received you, I pray that they would say, Lord, I'm sorry.
00:31:04
Speaker
I confess my sin. I agree with you about my sin. Please forgive me. Once again, Lord, I come to you for mercy. I know you'll love on them today. So give them your best today. Thank you again for mercy. I needed it. I needed this song. I'm glad you gave it to me. In Jesus' name, amen. Have a great day out there. God bless.
00:31:29
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.