I believe all of us has taken this trip before – a guilt trip – probably more often than we like. The feeling of guilt comes when we do something we know is wrong.
• It need not be a serious crime. It can be something careless, unethical, rude or immoral.
• Yet this thing call GUILT latches onto our heart after it happens. We may look alright on the outside, but then we know something has change on the inside.
Guilt messes with our feelings and with our mind. We feel lousy, remorseful and sometimes, fearful - afraid of being found out. We feel alienated and judged by God.
• We want to undo the past but that’s impossible, so we make the second mistake of just leaving it untouched. We bury it hoping that it will go away over time.
• It won’t. Guilt has a way of keeping you stuck in the past. It surfaces at any time.
The truth is, God wants you to live a guilt-free life. He knows you and your sin, and He is eager and willing to forgive you.
• How am I so sure? Jesus Christ is proof of that. God is willing to sacrifice His Son in order to free us from the guilt of sin.
• The very first words that Jesus uttered on the cross was: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
• In the midst of all the torture and pain, He made the most important cry, which echoed the Father’s heart – forgiveness!
The people mocked him then and said, “Let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.” (Luke 23:35)
• That is precisely what He does NOT WANT to do – save Himself. He is here to SAVE YOU AND ME. He stayed to make forgiveness possible.
• The guilt of sin is not in God’s plan for our lives. He has done all He needs to do to eradicate it. Therefore we must not allow guilt to linger.
Be quick to confess. Forgiveness is available to all who turns to God.
• King David knows the forgiveness of God. He confesses his sin and struggles, quite openly in a couple of the psalms – psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143.
• He was a great King and walked with God for much of his life, but he did also commit adultery and murder. When he writes, he does so as a sinner who has been forgiven.
We want to look at one of these psalms - Psalm 32, and understand God’s forgiveness.
GOD’S FORGIVENESS UNLOCKS HIS BLESSINGS
The first word in this psalm is BLESSED. This is the 2nd psalm that begins with this word. The first one is Psalm 1.
• Note the contrast. Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.”
• If you sin not, that’s a blessing. You ought to be congratulated. That’s obvious.
Yet Psalm 32 says even if you do sin and mess up your life, you can still be BLESSED.
• Your failure is not the end of you. Your fall into sin need not condemn you for life. There can still be blessing after you sin, David found out.
• Turn to God and confess our sin. You will receive His forgiveness.
• 32:1-2 “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him….”
Sin is to be forgiven! There is nothing you can do about it, except to bring it to God.
• You cannot undo it. You cannot eradicate it. You cannot make yourself righteous.
• But God can restore you, David says, and bless you again, when “your transgressions are forgiven”, your “sins are covered” and when God does not hold them against you.
David uses 3 different lines to express the same result – you can be restored completely.
No matter what we’ve done, no matter how big our sin, there is forgiveness in God.
David ends the line by saying God does all this for the one in “whose spirit is no deceit”.
• In other words, come honestly before God. Don’t pretend, don’t hide. Be real and authentic before God. He is not going to judge you.
• When we repent, we will surely receive His forgiveness. Blessings flow when sin is dwelt with.
David speaks from experience. He tasted the blessings of a forgiven soul.
• And the sense here is, he wants us to confess them before God quickly.
• He did made the mistake of keeping it quiet. Psalm 32:3-3 “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”
• It is like living everyday with the feeling of God’s judgement ‘hanging’ over your head. We are emotionally and physically drained because of disobedience.
Until he made the wise decision in verse 5: “Then I acknowledged MY SIN to you and did not cover up MY INIQUITY. I said, "I will confess MY TRANSGRESSIONS to the LORD" - and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
• David harboured his sin and struggled for a period of time. It was unnecessary. He came to realise it when he confessed.
• The moment he confesses, God forgives. God is quick to forgive. God is willing to forgive. God is waiting to forgive us.
Sin is to be confessed! GOD’S FORGIVENESS NEEDS TO BE CLAIMED
We are the ones who wants to let sin hang around for a while. We let the guilt lingers in our heart.
• David probably regretted not doing it early. The moment he confessed, the Lord forgave him.
• We are slow to admit guilt, while God is quick to forgive sin. Not on the basis of our confession, but on the basis of the sacrifice of Jesus.
• Jesus has already paid the price for our forgiveness. It is a gift waiting to be seized. It is a blessing waiting to be enjoyed.
BUT WHY THE DELAY? It happens to us too? Why do we not confess and repent as quickly as God is willing to forgive us?
• I felt it has to do with our human PRIDE (or ego). We want to show that we are not that bad. The “mistake” was just a momentary lapse of judgment.
• We rationalise our sin, we minimise it, we make excuses, and we bury it.
• We blame the circumstances and people, and Satan! (We’ve already learnt from GIC lesson 3 about temptations, that Satan cannot force us into sin; he can only tempt us at best. God gives us the strength in Christ to overcome.)
When David finally confessed, he said it openly – it’s MY sin, MY iniquity, MY transgressions. No mincing of words.
• It is a humbling experience to confess. It is admirable that he pens his experience down into psalms as reminders for his people.
Confessing to God is the WISEST thing we can do.
• We don’t have to prove anything to God. We have nothing to prove. We are sinners in need of salvation. We are in need of God’s grace.
• We cannot earn forgiveness from God. We can’t pay for our forgiveness.
• We can only receive it, by faith, through God’s grace. Our forgiveness has already been paid for in full by Christ.
• We just need to receive it as a gift from God, when we come humbly before Him and confess your sin. That turning to Him is called repentance.
Keep short accounts with God. Each time you sin, bring it to the Lord quickly.
• Confession is telling God what is already obvious to Him. It is not like He doesn’t know. It is not like I am going to surprise Him when I ask for forgiveness.
• He knows it all along. So it is not for His benefit that I confess; it is for my benefit. I need His forgiveness and I want to get it off my chest, because I need His help.
Sometimes, the devil will come to you and deepen that guilt. You have been doing this so often and you just come to God and simply confess, what a hypocrite you are. You call yourself a Christian? The weight of guilt gets heavier and heavier.
• Don’t be fooled by him. Let me ask you, if you are not taking your sin to God, where are you taking them to? If you are not going to come back to Jesus, who are you turning to?
• Don’t let the devil fools us into distancing ourselves from God because of our sin. It is precisely because I sinned that I need to come back to Him! Where else can I go?
God’s forgiveness does not change the past, but it guarantees to change our future.
• Only God can set us free from the guilt of sin. By His grace!
• There may be temporal consequences for sin – like David suffered the death of his son because of his sin with Bathsheba.
• But don’t let such painful experiences drive a wedge between you and God.
David says in 32:6-7 “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. 7You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
• God has not changed. He loves you and cares much about you.
• You don’t have to BEG God to forgive you because He wants to forgive more than we want to be forgiven. He is more willing to forgive than we are willing to come to Him.
GOD’S FORGIVENESS IS TO BE SHARED
You have to let go and let forgiveness flow.
Col 3:13 “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
• We forgive because we have been forgiven. We are most like Christ when we forgive someone.
• If God did not withhold his forgiveness from me, why should I withhold my forgiveness from another?
• We are able to forgive, because we first experienced God’s forgiveness. I am not saying it’s easy, but we can.
I have found one way that helps is to PRAY for the person who has wronged you.
• When I begin to pray for that person, God gives me new eyes to see and a new heart to care for that person.
• As I pray, I start to see that person as God sees them, and realise how he is as precious to the Lord as I am.
[OPTIONAL: Play videoclip FORGIVENESS – 8mins]
Prayer: We thank you, dear Father, for Your forgiveness of all our sin, past, present and future. Thank You for loving us enough to send Your one and only son to die as a sacrifice for our sins. We know we can do nothing to deserve what You did for us. We accept your gift and pledge Lord to live just like You, full of mercy and grace. Help us show Your kindness to those who have wronged us. Let Your forgiving love flow through our lives. This we pray, in Jesus’ Name we pray, AMEN.
