Guilty Feelings

Psalm 32: 1 – 11

Guilty Feelings

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 6 For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. 7 You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. 9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; But he who trusts in the LORD, mercy shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Guilt can be real or imagined and the results of this emotion can cause some significant problems for us. You were disobedient to your parents. This act as you know is in violation against one of God’s commandments regarding the honoring of our parents. So, to get a guilty feeling is something that is expected. On another occasion you ate a hamburger during lent. This is a rule put in by the church which has later been withdrawn yet you still feel guilty because this was something you remember as a kid. Thus, this emotion is a false guilt.

As a child if we did something wrong we were punished. For some of us we had to undergo a spanking. However, once we received this discipline we felt that our crime was paid, and we then could go on our merry way. But there are many people today who have done some things that they have never let go and guilt consumes them.

Many people turn to counselors or medicine to elevate them. I have not found yet one person who took this route find peace. In fact, I have labeled what these people go through as overriding symptoms. They do not get any better in fact in most cases they get worse both physical and mentally.

Our Great God has a way to eliminate this problem. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has gone through the punishment for us (He took the spanking that we were to get).

So, as we begin to go through the verses in this Psalm I want to point you to a healing verse. It is in the book of 1 John chapter 1, “5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. “9 If we confess our sins, He Is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

This Psalm was probably written by David some time after his sin with Bathsheba. It describes the agonies of conscience that he went through before finally confessing his sin to God, and the subsequent relief that he experienced once he had done so and had found forgiveness. Intermingled with it are words spoken to him by YHWH promising that He will in future act as his guide if he will be responsive to the reins (verses 8-9). For the principle behind it compare Proverbs 28.13; 1 John 1.7-10.

A Psalm of David. A Contemplation.

Thirteen Psalms are called Maschils, but we do not know precisely why. It could relate to the idea of instruction (compare the use of the cognate verb in 32.8, ‘I will instruct you’) or it could refer to having ‘understanding’ or indicate that it is a meditation (Contemplation). Thus, we may see it as instructing us so that we gain an understanding of God and His ways. Or it may indicate a particularly tricky musical rendering. The fact that some are described as ‘a Maschil of David’ might tend to counter the last suggestion.