Nobody likes admitting that they messed up.    Here is a picture of Natalie when she was a little kid.

One night for dinner, Lara gave each one of the kids a little bit of cooked spinach to eat as their vegetable.  They were instructed that they were not going to be able to get up from the table until they had finished the small little dollop of spinach on their plates.

While we weren’t looking, Natalie stuffed all her spinach under the edge of her plate.  When Lara asked if she had eaten all her vegetables, she said “Yep.”  So, Lara told her to take her plate and put it into the sink.  “Uh Oh..”  She had been found out.  As soon as she lifted up her plate, it was pretty obvious to us that she had lied and then she tried to cover up the truth from us.

She was so cute that it was hard for us to discipline her, but we did and as far as I know, that was the last time she tried lying to us.  It would have gone better for her had she not tried to cover up the truth.  No one likes admitting that they messed up.

Psalm 32 is counterintuitive.  Whereas we often think that we will be happier when we try to hide the truth when we mess up, David wrote that when he confessed his mistakes to God, he found that he was much happier.  Confession led to God’s blessing and last week we defined God’s blessing as an increasing satisfaction in our relationship with God.

If God is our most valuable treasure, then we are happier when we are closer to him.  But…there is nothing that drives a wedge more deeply between us and God than unconfessed sin.  In today’s passage, we’ll come to understand that God is merciful.  In his mercy, he has made a provision in Christ Jesus to forgive our sins.  When we confess our sins, God freely forgives those sins and extends to us multiplied blessings.

Proposition:  The Main Idea… Because God is merciful, those who confess their sins find forgiveness and multiplied blessings

Martin Luther was once asked which of the Psalms were the best.  (I think that’s like asking what kind of $100 bill is the best… they are all valuable!)  He responded with a Latin phrase that meant, “the Pauline Psalms.”

When asked to explain what he meant (since Paul didn’t write the Psalms), Luther said that he felt that Psalms 32 and 51, along with a few others, were the best psalms because they clearly teach that God’s forgiveness of sins comes without works, but by God’s grace alone. 

No man can boast of their own righteousness, but we are saved because of God’s forgiveness.  The biblical fact that salvation is by “grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone” can be seen clearly in the OT in a passage like Psalm 32.

In a very similar passage about the confession of sin, Jesus said in Matthew 5:4, “⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  The question that is immediately raised in our minds and hearts is, “How can a person be blessed if they are mourning?”  Isn’t blessing the opposite of mourning?  Only the people of God understand the answer to the paradox in question here.

What Jesus meant was, ‘Blessed are those who mourn over their sin, confess it to God and turn away from it in order to find more satisfaction in God than they would find in the pleasures of worldliness.’ Jesus’ words are remarkably similar to David’s words in Psalm 32 when David says,

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

Today we’ll see in Psalm 32 that confession leads to blessing, protection and instruction from the Lord.  Let’s break it down one piece at a time:

Confession leads to multiplied blessings from God

The Hebrews word at the beginning of Psalm 32 for “Blessed” (Esher) is the exact same word that was used at the beginning of Psalm 1– the psalm we looked at last week.

Blessedness, coming out of mourning and confession, seems to be totally opposed to both the world’s logic and our own rationality.  Throughout the ages, we have always assumed that the people who have been the most “happy” have been the ones with the most success, but both David and Jesus make an outrageous statement that those who are “blessed” are the ones who reveal their sin and mourn over it.

Some people say, “Well, they must mean that when you cry, you feel a lot better.”  But… that’s not at all what the Bible is talking about here.

Last week, I explained that believers in the Bible were blessed because their satisfaction didn’t come from their friends, family, money, health or circumstances, but their blessing came from being satisfied in the Lord.  I have been making the argument that we should define blessing this way: Blessedness is an increasing satisfaction in God.

When we define “blessedness” as an increasing satisfaction in God, then the blessing of confession begins to make a little more sense.  A love affair with the world drives a wedge between us and God.  When we remove the wedge and draw closer to Him, then we can find increasing satisfaction in Him.

• In Matthew 5, Jesus was specifically targeting one type of mourning: a mourning over sin that comes from being “poor in spirit.” Jesus calls us to grieve over anything that would drive a wedge between us and God.
• In Psalm 32, David was confessing an open rebellion against God and he said that the result of that confession led to “shouts of deliverance.”

The confession and celebration that David is speaking about in the psalm is referring to the spiritual reality that we are happiest when we are right with God and growing in our satisfaction with Him .  This passage is referring to a type of confession that realizes God’s holiness and then begins to consider whether or not we have revolted against God.  In our hearts, do we love worldliness more than godliness?

Psalm 32 refers to a confession that felt the full weight of despair without the forgiveness of sin.  The psalmist realized the huge gap that develops between God’s people and their God when they try to hide their offences from Him.

He also recognized the futility of trying to hide anything from an all knowing God.  Like Natalie trying to hide her vegetables, we can’t hide any area of deception from the all-seeing eyes of our God.  In verse 8, the psalmist says that God ‘counsels us with His eye upon us.’  Worldliness doesn’t escape his notice

It is impossible to be blessed by God and know an increasing satisfaction in Him when we are always trying to hide a guilty conscience.  God knows what you’ve done and what I’ve done and He blesses us when we come clean of anything that rebels against His commands.

Psalm 32 was probably written in response to David’s sin with Bathsheba and it fits that context perfectly well.  Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 12 while I recall the history behind this great passage of Scripture.

OT Background

As we begin to set the scene, we have to begin by looking at the man, King David, who was sitting on the throne over Israel.  David had been divinely chosen by God and anointed for the task of being King over God’s chosen people.  He had become the nation’s spiritual leader as well as their political leader.  He had set up the worship of God in the land and was even the writer of many of the songs they used during their corporate worship gatherings.

Up to this point, David had been morally clean and he had proven himself to be a capable leader.  God had promised him that his house would be established forever.  Even the Messiah would be a descendant of David’s house.  Additionally, many of his enemies had been defeated and neighboring kingdoms were forced to submit to his overpowering rule.

In the midst of all his luxury and victory, he began having some wandering thoughts.  From his position in the palace, he could observe a certain woman bathing on her rooftop.  Her name was Bathsheba and she was already married to a man, named Uriah, who faithfully served in David’s army.

When David saw the woman, he wanted her for his own.  He called for her.  She was brought to King David and that night she became pregnant.  So in order to save face (and hide his sin), David saw to it that her husband, Uriah, died in the next battle.  After he died, David married Bathsheba and tried to cover up the whole affair.

If David had been a secular king, he could have killed any man and taken any women he wanted into his harem without any legal consequences.  BUT… David was not a secular King.  David was God’s anointed King and he was held to a much higher standard.  This adultery and murder kept David in a state of bondage and darkness.

“Transgression,” “Sin,” and “Iniquity” are rarely used words in our language and culture.  Let me take a minute to define them as they would have been understood in the Hebrew:

• Transgression: Refers to a revolt or rebellion
• Sin: means to miss the mark or to not live up to a standard.
• Iniquity: (probably the most archaic term of the 3 words) refers not just to sin, but to inner perversity – especially the guilt associated with a depraved mind.

For almost a year, David tried to hide his transgression, sin and iniquity.  Psalm 32 expressed what he felt like as he was trying to his guilt from God.  Verses 3-4 say,

“³ For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up^[b] as by the heat of summer.”

David’s conscience was accusing him.  In the original language it can be literally translated with this very descriptive language: “My moisture was overthrown by the drought of summer.”  God’s hand was so heavy on his conscience, that he felt like he was shriveling up like a raisin.  He may have been looking for some kind of reassurance that his behavior with Bathsheba was justifiable for a king.  Maybe, he was trying to put on a façade of holiness while living with unrepentant sin, but he knew that inside, he was drying up because of his rebellion against God.

He lived with this unconfessed sin until the day when the fearless prophet Nathan came into the king’s presence and told this story.  Look at 2 Samuel 12, starting at verse 1:

And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor.

² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him.

⁴ Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, ⁶ and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man!…”

Those words cut David to the core.  It was clear that Nathan was confronting David on his sin with Bathsheba.  David’s response to Nathan’s accusation in verse 13 was simply, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

• No effort could help David
• No self-improvement plan was going to make any difference
• David was a wealthy man, but no amount of wealth could purchase a remedy for his guilt.

Only God could help him.  Turn back to Psalm 32.  This was the most tragic moment in David’s life.  Psalm 32 says that his ‘bones were wasting away,’ and that he was ‘groaning all day long,’ as he felt the ‘heavy hand of the Lord’ upon Him.  Spurgeon once said, “God does not permit His children to sin successfully.”

Skipping down to Psalm 32:6, it explains that the waters of God’s discipline were increasing so he’s going to prayer and asking for relief.  He says in Psalm 32:6

“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, (figurative for a strong danger associated with God’s discipline)
they shall not reach him.” (because of a prayer of confession)

David had been trying to hide from sin and all that concealing lead to trouble.  However, God is merciful and those who confess their sins will always find forgiveness and blessings and protection instead of more danger.  David recognized that he needed to exchange the hiding of sin for a hiding place in the Lord.  Verse 7 says,

“You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”

He was in a very dark place.  The tempter had won.  David had given in to a terrible sin and had been trapped, bound and ruined by it.  The leader of God’s chosen people was temporarily out of the fight.  He was sidelined by sin.  Now it was time for him to run back to the Lord.

David didn’t make any excuses:

• He didn’t blame the temptation for being too enticing
• He didn’t blame his wife’s imperfections
• He didn’t blame God for making him that way
• He didn’t point out that other kings do the same thing without consequence

David simply admited his iniquity and embraced what he had done.  He took full responsibility for it and pleaded for God’s mercy.  Do you know what happened next?  David experienced the mercy of God because those who confess their sins find forgiveness and blessing!

1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (more on this verse on Wednesday!)

Confession leads to God’s cleansing and protection.

In Psalm 32:5, David makes this exclamation:

I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

This last line is like a shout!

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

(‘Selah’ is probably a dramatic pause in the music for emphasis and contemplation).  When David confessed his sin:

• Verse 1 says that “The burden of his transgression was forgiven.” The consequences for his rebellion against God were carried away by the Savior!
• Then verse 1 goes on to say that his “sin was covered.” His offense (missing the mark) against God was concealed by the righteousness of Christ.
• Verse 2 says that the Lord ‘no longer counted his iniquity against him.’  The twisted up depravity of his own mind was made straight again and his perversity was no longer held against him.
• Finally, verse 2 ends by expressing the fact that we learned last week: the God who radically saves people, also radically changes them. The deceit and lawlessness in David’s spirit were beginning to be transformed so that he was once again more satisfied in God than he was in the pleasures of worldliness.

Turn over a few pages to Psalm 51. In Psalm 51 we’ll see this situation from a slightly different angle.  Psalm 51 is another psalm where David expresses his sorrow over his sin with Bathsheba.  Again in Psalm 51, David explained that his secret life had created a wedge between him and God.  David longed to be restored.  Look at verse 7:

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Hyssop has some cleaning and medicinal qualities.  It was a plant often used religiously in Hebrew purification ceremonies.  David knew that no religious ceremony will cleanse him from what he has done.  He didn’t want to just go through the motions and hope for the best.  David wanted to be right with God.  He longed for the reality that the ceremony symbolized.

Nothing but the blood of the promised Messiah would be enough to purge his wrongdoings.  This passage can be read as a proclamation of faith as well as a prayer.  When David said, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean,” he was looking forward to the power of divine propitiation.

Propitiation, in the Bible, means to satisfy the demands of God’s wrath.  The simplest way to explain propitiation is that instead of punishing his people for their sins, God punished His Son for their sins.  Jesus paid the consequences for our sins on the cross so that we could be forgiven and free to pursue a relationship with God.  In Romans 3:25. Paul talks about Jesus…

²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

God could have chosen to rightly pour out His wrath on David for his mistakes.  He could have destroyed David and sent him off to be rightly and eternally punished for his offenses he committed against God.

But instead, God promised to pour out his wrath on the Messiah, Jesus and offered David forgiveness instead of wrath.  David was looking forward to and depending on this exchange.  Although it had not happened yet, the cross would provide real spiritual perfection and infinite purity to all who asked for forgiveness.

So, in that way, the verse that says, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean,” can be read as a proclamation of faith as well as a prayer.  It is pointing forward to the finished work of Jesus on the cross.  Jesus would be the reality of what the atonement ceremonies symbolized.

Although David’s wrong thinking had gotten him into some serious trouble, this would be a new season for David with the Lord.  Turn back to Psalm 32.  In this new season, the Lord would be instructing him in the ways of blessing and godliness while keeping a close watch on David’s soul.  In verse 8, God is now talking and He says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Confession invites God’s instruction into our lives

God doesn’t forgive us so that we can march right back to the bondage of worldliness.  (Like the song: “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” God doesn’t intend for us to turn back)  When David saw Bathsheba and put together a plan to kill her husband so he could have her, David thought his actions would make his life better.  God thought David was acting like a farm animal.  He said to David in verse 9, “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.”

• Like a horse, David rushed ahead without thinking through the consequences of his actions.
• Like a mule, he was too stubborn to uncover his sins.

The only way to control a farm animal is to break it and harness it.  God didn’t want to break and harness David.  David was created to be able to make moral judgements based on God’s Word.  God had given David a moral compass and he intended for David to use it!  So, the Lord would teach David, keep his eye on David and surround David with mercy.

Now he closes the psalm with one last warning to the wicked and with a celebration of joy for those who have known the forgiveness of the Lord.  Verses 10-11 say,

“¹⁰ Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”

Application:

 We saw today that God is merciful and those who confess their sins to the Lord find forgiveness and multiplied blessings.

David had lost the joy that was once His because of his righteousness.  Worldliness often promises pleasure and great reward, but it always comes up short.  Many church going people who once found indescribable joy in the worship and service of the Lord have since walked away from it all and pursued worldly pleasures instead.

God is calling us all back to find our greatest satisfaction in Him – The pursuit of our God doesn’t just give a temporary thrill, but it produces lasting comfort and joy.  None but God can restore joy to a soul that has been robbed of it.  He can do it and will do it if we are ready to confess our sins and ask Him to restore us again.  Gladness and blessedness and joy follow confession…

• Is there a sin in your life that you are trying to hide from God?
• Have you stalled out in your spiritual growth because you don’t want God or anyone else to know that you have a secret sin?
• As we’ve been discussing David’s sin, has the Holy Spirit been revealing a sin in your life that is keeping you from enjoying all the joy and blessing the Lord wants to pour out onto you?

Perhaps this morning is a time to uncover that area of sin and ask him to restore joy that only comes from a whole-hearted pursuit of Him.

God’s Blessing on Confession | Psalm 32

The Main Idea: Because God is merciful, those who confess their sins find forgiveness and multiplied blessings

Confession leads to multiplied blessings from God – Matthew 5:4, Psalm 32:1-7, 2 Samuel 12

Confession leads to God’s cleansing and protection – Psalm 32:1-2, 5, 51:7, Romans 3:25

Confession invites God’s instruction into our lives – Psalm 32:8-11

Application:

God is calling us all back to find our greatest satisfaction in Him

Perhaps this morning is a time to uncover that area of sin and ask him to restore joy that only comes from a whole hearted pursuit of Him.

Sidebar: Blessedness is an increasing satisfaction in God.