You’re Peace of Mind
Psalms 32:1/11
Have you ever thought about how Job must have felt when he was stripped of his family, home, barns, cattle, crops his land and even his wife said to him, “Why don’t you just curse the Lord and die?”
Now Job was a perfect and upright, and one that feared God and hated evil. There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord that Satan came also among them. The Lord said unto Satan have you considered my servant Job? It seems that after this conversation Job was given a knockout blow, yet he kept his peace, and said, “I know that my redeemer lives.”
Sometimes life gives us a knockout punch and we wonder what’s going on. It is in times like these, we need peace of mind, and the Word of God shows us how to find it right here in Psalms 32.
The first key to peace of mind is confession. We must confess our sins to God. After becoming a Christian it would be nice to never sins again. It would be wonderful! But that’s just not the case.
With all the trouble that David found himself in, he was able to say, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sins is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputed not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
David by faith was looking ahead to salvation that God would provide through the promised Messiah. Now, on the resurrection side of the cross, we know that the Messiah has come. His name is Jesus Christ, and the only thing that can truly remove our sins is the shed blood of the Son of God.
David was a man of faith, but he was also a sinful man. That’s why he lost his peace. Most of us are familiar with the dark story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba and his cover-up conspiracy to murder her husband. We may say I would never do that, but a smug attitude doesn’t get us off the hook. We are all sinners, saved by the grace of God, and there are many ways to sin.
As a matter of fact, we are pretty good when it comes to committing sin. There are fifteen different words in the Old Testament to describe our sins. David used four of those words in the first two verses of chapter thirty-two.
The first was transgression, “That’s defiance, revolt, and open rebellion against God. “Get out of my face! I’m going do what I want to do! That’s transgression.
Then sin, that’s falling short, missing the mark, this is the person who is really trying their best, but just can’t seem to make it. Think about the man who walked across the desert, but could not crawl the last ten feet to the waterhole. That’s the idea behind the word sin; we can’t make it on our own.
Then there is iniquity, something warped, bent, crooked, twisted or perverse. It could be a warped outlook on life, a spirit of jealousy or something much worse, so we need God’s forgiveness.
The last thing David mentions was guile. That’s dishonestly, lying to others and lying to self. Unfortunately, there are many ways for us to sin, and sometimes we will. The devil knows just where to hit us. He knows where we live and he knows our weakness.
David showed us that covering our sin brings pain and sorrow. He said, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night God’s hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer.”
God’s hand was heavy on David, because the Lord was leading David to repent and confess his sins. God will convict His people of their sins according to Proverbs chapter three and verses eleven and twelve.
“My son do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” If you can sin freely without a sense of guilt and shame, then you need to carefully consider if your faith is real. I say that because our loving Heavenly Father will discipline all of His children, and covering sins brings pain.
John tells us that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I am not promoting that we sin, but I am saying if we do sin we have an advocate with the Father.
One of the keys to peace of mind is confessing our sins. Another key is confidence in the Lord. David trusted in the Lord, but where did He get his faith? Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. Paul tells us that faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit.
In the book of Romans chapter ten, verse seventeen tells us faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Paul made this statement, “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you hear from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which also effectively works in you who believe.”
David mentioned songs of deliverance. No doubt he had heard the songs of deliverance sung by the Children of Israel.
If we are to keep our peace, we must continually call on the Lord. “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 you.”
The Apostle stated “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let you requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The last key for continued peace is our character. How are we going to Live? Who are we going to follow? Are we going to be stubborn or submissive to the Lord? Verse eight says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with my eye.”
Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle. Are we going to be stubborn like a mule or submissive to the Lord?
If we will follow the instructions of the Lord, He will instruct us and teach us the ways we should go. God said I will guide you with my eye. “Great peace have they who love my Law and nothing shall offend them”
The Lord truly wants us to have His peace, but we have a part in the process. Confessing our sins, Confidence in the Lord, Calling on the Lord in prayer is our part of the process.
Living with Godly character, as we go to the Lord in prayer, we seek the peace that God wants us to have.
