Text: Psalm 32, Title: The Joy of Spilling Your Guts, Date/Place: NRBC, 2/20/11, AM
A. Opening illustration: Driver: Yeah, I’ll bet he told you I was speeding, too. Commentators two reasons for the absence of “confession” 1) Independence and privacy 2) Perfectionism and guilt b/c we should’ve overcome, Pilgrim’s Progress, the relief Pilgrim felt when his burden was loosed from his back at the cross, and it rolled down into the open sepulchre not to be seen again
B. Background to passage: How many of us long for a guiltless, God-approved, healthy, spiritually vibrant, holy, forgiven life? How many of you can recall a time this week where you confessed a sin to another believer in order to achieve this end? A teaching psalm regarding the forgiveness of sin that comes through confession. David speaks of a time when he initially didn’t want to confess/repent, and the guilt was tremendous; and the freedom, release, and blessings that came once he submitted to it. In fact the main thrust of the entire psalm is vv. 3-5. Note the close relationship b/t confession and repentance.
C. Main thought: with all these benefits, we should revive the practice of confession
A. Theological Joys (v. 1-2)
1. David mentions three theological (things between you and God) results from confession of sin: 1) forgiveness, 2) propitiation, 3) and justification. He says that you will be blessed, or “happy” or “joyful” if you have your sin (3 words for it here) forgiven. The punishment that would be due you because of sin is no longer required of you. It is closely linked to propitiation which means anger is appeased, spent, and satisfied. This comes from the word “covered,” which came from the covering of blood on the mercy seat that was between the presence of God above the ark and His law in the ark. God is no longer angry anymore; His wrath has been spent (on Christ on the Christ for all the sin of the world for all time). And finally David says that God will not impute, or count, or credit sin toward a person’s ledger against them. Believers who confess and repent will receive a clean slate, instantly! Fair? No, but righteous, because of Christ! We are justified by God as He pronounces us “righteous” or “not guilty” because of Christ!
2. 1 John 1:8-10, Pro 28:13, Jer 3:12-16,
3. Illustration: The king turned to the guard and ordered, "Set this guilty man free. I don't want him corrupting all these other innocent people." in the movie Braveheart, as they tortured and killed William Wallace, they told him if he would just confess, they would have mercy on him and just kill him; but God’s mercy is absolute forgiveness, propitiation, and justification, Who is Ed Hochuli? He is a veteran NFL referee who made a terrible call in a Chargers - Broncos game. Instead of hiding or covering up his mistake, he fully admitted it and apologized. Matthew J. Darnell on Yahoo Sports said, "It's hard to hate a guy who knows he screwed up and feels bad about it."
4. If you desire a right relationship with God, you must enter into the kingdom on the vehicle of confession of sin. You must agree with God that He is holy, you are not, and in and of yourself, there is no hope of eternal life for you. You must have a knowledge of how you have offended God and others. You must name your sin before God, identify it as sin, be genuinely sorry that you have offended an absolutely holy Being, and be willing to turn from it; only then can you be forgiven; and only then because of Christ. But along with that comes the fact that God is not angry at you anymore, and your account is cleared, paid in full, and your sin will never be “imputed” to you. If you already a genuine believer, confession is also needed to maintain a close fellowship with God, as He is continually revealing areas that we fall short. Been forgiven? Born again? Saved? Confessed?
B. Physiological Joys (v. 3-4)
1. David knew that the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him. This is the disciplinary hand of the Lord. In his state of unconfessed sin, God was convicting him, his conscience was afflicting him, and possibly God was allowing adversity into his life to bring him to a fresh humility and contrition. The discipline of God is always for our good and to make us partakers in His holiness. And thus all this spiritual pressure was building up, and David was unyielding, and his physical body began to feel the results of it all. He was exhausted (no energy), he was in distress as his body groaned for relief from the stress. He spoke of his life as drying up. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically drained. Long term guilt is nearly intolerable for your body and mind.
2. Ps 38:3-4, 8, James 5:16, Hos 6:1,
3. Illustration: one writer described it as a river that has been dammed up, Las Vegas now has a call-in “Connection Confession” line where people can call and confess their sins to a recording. America’s first confession line makes it possible, for a fee of $9 per three minutes, to record your sin and if you want to pay a little more you can listen to other people’s sins. Apparently the service is being bombarded by calls. One of the originators said, "It’s a technological way to get something off your chest without the embarrassment that comes from confessing one on one." During Sunday school I was trying to teach the children that we all need God’s forgiveness. After the Bible story I asked on of the girls, "Lisa, when is a time you might need God’s forgiveness?" Her blank stare prompted a response from my son. "It’s okay, Lisa. You don’t have to tell her." Then he turned to me and said, "We don’t have to tell you our problems. This isn’t the Oprah Winfrey Show."
4. Sin wreaks havoc upon us physically. We may chalk it up to “depression” or “stress” or “burnout,” but usually those things have causes. If you have been harsh with your spouses, neighbors, or bosses and have made things tense/stressful. If you are harboring secret sin that nobody knows. If you are being unwise financially and bringing hopelessness. And you can take meds for it, not against that categorically, but you need to let the medication, or vacation, or alone time, or whatever you are doing to ease the stress, let it help, but deal with the root! It could be selfishness, pride, anger, self-sufficiency, but God is bringing adversity to help you be conformed to the likeness of Christ. How are you doing? Confess sin, be healed.
C. Spiritual Joys (v. 4-5)
1. Spiritually speaking the blessings spoken about with regard to confession are many. The opposite of all the pitfalls are true; guilt will be “lifted,” (literal meaning of “forgave” in v. 5); body will be healthier, etc. The spiritual vitality of a believer who is walking with a clean slate will be light years ahead. Another is that God will be his hiding place, preservation in trials, and songs of deliverance. Believers will a clean slate will have better direction from God that if they have unconfessed sin. Confessed up believers will have greater understanding because the Spirit of Holiness will have freer operation to prune, teach, and instruct. Clean believers will have mercy in troubles and sorrows unlike those that harbor sin. Also those upright in heart will have deep seated spiritual joy. Unconfessed sin leads to joylessness, which leads most to ensure that others around them are miserable too. So those with unconfessed sin may become picky, bitter, self-absorbed, concerned with minor things, because their joy is hindered.
2. Ps 69:5, 38:18, Luke 15:17-21
3. Illustration: Four preachers met for a friendly gathering. During the conversation one preacher said, "Our people come to us and pour out their hearts, confess certain sins and needs. Let's do the same. Confession is good for the soul." In due time all agreed. One confessed he liked to go to movies (the story is just a little dated) and would sneak off when away from his church. The second confessed to liking to smoke cigars and the third one confessed to liking to play cards. When it came to the fourth one, he wouldn't confess. The others pressed him saying, "Come now, we confessed ours. What is your secret or vice?" Finally he answered, "It is gossiping and I can hardly wait to get out of here." There you have it, CONFESSION--admission but no intent to change. He said he didn't want the money, but she finally persuaded him to take it, and came back with a joy and peace that made her face radiant. She became a magnificent worker for souls, and led many into the light.
4. Guilt lifted, body healthy, your spiritual life will be revived! Maybe discipleship in your life will be restored when you are quick to confess your sin. Sin will be overcome easier with accountability and support from other believers. Don’t you want God to be your hiding place, preserver, and singer of songs of deliverance over you? Doesn’t everyone want clearer direction from God, greater understanding, mercy in times of trouble, deep seated spiritual joy? Of course! But pastor, I don’t have any unconfessed sin? Is it something that you have asked God? We are not perfect, so that means flaws! But flaws aren’t sin. Laziness is a sin; poor stewardship is a sin; worry is a sin; not loving God with all heart, mind, soul, strength is a sin; watching something that you are watching on TV or the internet might be a sin to you. And all these things hinder your walk with Him. And we have become so used to most of them, that we are not even feeling the conviction because our hearts have become hardened and insensitive; but they are still holding us back. Confess sin, weep, wail, hate your sin.
**And the main thing, the most important thing, the foundational reason, the greatest treasure that we can obtain is Him! He is the greatest, highest, and best, and He died for you, so that you will no longer live for sin, but desire and live in Him. So even if you can’t see all these other spiritual blessings in your life when you confess, know that you will have Him more clearly and powerfully, and He is worth it!**
Closing illustration: "But," said he, "I cannot go to my boss and tell him what I have done or offer to pay for those I have used and return the rest. If I do he will think I am just a hypocrite. And yet those copper nails are digging into my conscience and I know I shall never have peace until I put this matter right." For weeks the struggle went on. Then one night he came to Dr. Marsh and exclaimed, "Pastor, I've settled for the copper nails and my conscience is relieved at last." “What happened when you confessed to your employer what you had done?" asked the pastor. "Oh," he answered, "he looked queerly at me, then exclaimed, 'George, I always did think you were just a hypocrite, but now I begin to feel there's something in this Christianity after all. Any religion that would make a dishonest workman come back and confess that he had been stealing copper nails and offer to settle for them, must be worth having.'"
So let’s get back to confession, start today, right here, you know the plaguing sins that have you. Then work on it in your home, be open, hones, transparent. Do it here at church, share where your struggles are. But pastor, what will everyone think? What will Jesus think? But if we were to embrace this, we would have to adjust our attitude about those who confess, AND about those who hear!
Additional Notes
• Confession
o Commitment to honesty
o Public and private
o Reform our attitudes about those who confess, and those who listen
