Psalm 32 "True Confessions" Part 2
Introduction: Read Psalm 32.
What do you do when you fail God? How can or should we respond to those times when we do something wrong? How can you get back on track? How can we be fully restored into a right relationship with God after we have sinned?
This is the question that Psalm 32 answers. We began to look at the message that God has for all of us in this Psalm last week. When we looked at verses one and two we saw that restoration is something worth seeking with all our hearts. David says "Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven." Blessed because all types of sin can be forgiven. Blessed because when that restoration takes place it is complete. Restoration is complete because our sins are "forgiven" which means the weight or burden of them is removed. Restoration is complete because our sins are "covered" which means the shame of the ugliness of sin before God’s eyes is now hidden. Restoration is complete because our sins are "not counted against us" which means they have been expunged, totally and eternally removed from the record book. Then we got to that important phrase in verse two which says that this blessed, totally restored relationship with God belongs to the one "in whose spirit is no deceit." They do not deny, excuse, ignore or hide their sin but they admit it.
They are honest with God and themselves about their wrongdoing and guilt. These are those who confess their personal and particular sins to God without any reservations. True confession brings restoration. This is the main message of this psalm. The first and final step in the process of restoration is to go to God and fully admit our sin, fully acknowledge our guilt, and fully accept the blame. The blessing and freedom of restoration only belongs to those confess.
Illustration: The banner headline across the top of one Chicago Tribune read, "Guilty Plea Sets Inmate Free." The picture showed the freed man embracing his sister, and the article told how a man imprisoned for eight years cut a deal with the state’s attorney’s office in which the time served satisfied his sentence if he would admit his guilt.
Illustration: When I was a telephone operator, a customer talked overtime on a long-distance call from a pay telephone booth. Even with my friendly reminders, he refused to deposit his overtime coins or admit responsibility for the charges. Instead he slammed down the phone, irate and verbally abusive. A few seconds later, he was back on my line--somewhat calmer. "Operator, please let me out of the phone booth--I’ll pay, I’ll pay, just let me out!"
The customer mistakenly thought I had control of the phone booth’s doors and had locked him in! He gladly paid the overtime charge and with my advice gave the booth door a hefty kick to free himself.
We can be freed by confession or locked in by denial. The choice is ours. There is a part of us that finds it very difficult to go to God and honestly admit wrongdoing with full culpability. It’s been that way since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. They tried to hide from God and when that didn’t work they tried to shift some of the blame for their sin. That continues today. We see it throughout our society: politics, sports, schools, etc. We certainly see this denial in our prisons where nearly every prisoner refuses to acknowledge responsibility.
As I was preparing this very part of the sermon I got a call from a prisoner at the Martin County Jail requesting that I begin a church service at the jail. In our conversation he told me that he had been an elder at various churches in the community and he noted that he knew various pastors personally. I then asked why he was in jail and he told me it was because he talked with his wife and she didn’t like it. That was obviously not true. And I confronted him on that. The truth is that he had violated a restraining order against him, but he refused to acknowledge one ounce of responsibility or guilt for his act. It was everyone else’s fault! I couldn’t help that man because the only ones who can be restored are those who admit their sin and accept responsibility. True confession brings restoration.
Read 1 John 1:8,9
Read Proverbs 28:13
Read Verses 3,4
Illustration: Cartoon Caption Man to clerk in Hallmark store: "Do you have a card that stops short of saying ‘I’m sorry’ yet vaguely hints of some wrongdoing.?"
It’s hard to admit when we’ve done wrong so in these verses the Psalmist gives us further motivation to admit our faults and be restored. He encourages us to come clean with God by verbally acknowledging our sins because he personally knows the heartache and trouble bought about by not going to God immediately with his sin. He tells us how troubling it was for him when he "kept silent" about his sin. He was reluctant to take his sin to God as we often are. He foolishly let his guilt, pride, or maybe even fear keep him from quickly making things right. Are you doing like David did and keeping silent about your sin? Are you allowing pride, shame or guilt keep you from being restored to God? Don’t do like David did by acting as if nothing was wrong. He tried to ignore that sense of conviction. He fooled all of his friends but God knew! Time does not heal the wounds of sin! When our relationship with God is broken by sin, ONLY confession will bring restoration.
Failure to be honest with God and yourself about your willful wrongdoing will result in some seriously adverse consequences. The Psalmist using poetic language describes the consequences of being silent about your sin. They are described as being under God’s "heavy hand" , "strength sapped", "bones wasted away", "groaning day and night." There is a heavy burden to bear for unresolved conflict with God. Your still in a relationship with God but the joy, peace, and many of the benefits are put on hold. These poetic descriptions remind us that when we don’t fully confess we can expect emotional distress such as guilt, depression, fear and despair. Sometimes there may even be physical distress such as sickness or infirmities. Come clean with God because it’s just not worth it to hide, ignore, or excuse your sin. When we don’t fully confess the guilt remains and certainly unresolved guilt can be an overwhelming thing.
Illustration: Dr. Karl Menninger, the famed psychiatrist, once said that if he "could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, 75 percent of them could walk out the next day."
When we grieve the Holy Spirit by our sins, we bring grief to ourselves. Only full confession will bring full restoration. Until then the guilt, the shame and the loving discipline will remain. It is not going away, as it says it verses 3,4 it will remain: "all day long", and "day and night." Who wants to leave the garbage of sin inside of one’s heart. The problem will only worsen. It’s just not worth it to continue to hide our sins.
Illustration: After I graduated from Dallas Seminary, waiting on my first ministry, I went home to live with my mother. My mom gave me chores. She said, "One of your jobs is to take out the trash, Son." So every week I put out the garbage. One week I forgot to put out the garbage. Garbage has a way of making itself known. It began to smell. Every day we kept piling more garbage onto it. It even began to spill over, and it was right where you came into the back of the house. Every time we went into the house we would get a whiff of it. The aroma began to seep into the house and infected the atmosphere. Then it started to infect my mom’s relationship with me. Every time she looked at me, it was as if she were saying, "Why don’t you take out the garbage?" The next week, I took out the garbage. The atmosphere cleaned up. Our relationship was better. Everything was okay. My brothers and sisters, if you don’t take out the garbage on a daily basis, it piles up. It begins to stink. It can pollute your relationships and cause you to move further away from people. So if we want to be cleansed by God, we must confess to God and put out the garbage on a daily basis. Citation: Rod Cooper, "Beholding the King," Preaching Today, Tape No. 150.
Read Verse 5
In verse 5 the David comes to his senses and decides to make things right with God. In many ways he is like the prodigal son who has grown tired of living with the pigs and says "I’ll go back to my Father where good things await." David realizes that the way back to God is full and honest confession so he "acknowledges his sin" He does not shift the blame to his parent’s sin nor does he give a bunch of excuses. He does not "cover up" his iniquities at all. I want you to notice his personal acceptance of responsibility in his confession by his use of personal pronouns: "my sin, my iniquity, my transgression, the guilt of my sin"
Who knows what David expected when he made his personal confession? Verse 5 tells us what David received: "You forgave the guilt of my sin." This is the central verse and expresses the central theme Psalm 32. If we will go to God rather than run from Him, He will restore us! If we will and our personal sin, rather than deny it, He will always forgive us!!! "How can we be fully restored to a right relationship with God after we have sinned?" Confession brings restoration. We do not need to fear going to God honestly. He will not reject us but He will restore us because of His unfailing love.
Illustration: Early in 1993 British police accused two ten-year-old boys of the brutal murder of two-year-old James Bulger. The two boys pleaded innocence. The young defendants responded to police questioning with noticeable inconsistency. The climax came when the parents of one of the boys assured him that they would always love him. Confronted with the assurance of his parents’ love, the boy confessed in a soft voice, "I killed James."
The miracle of God’s love is that he knows how evil we are, yet he loves us. We can confess our worst sins to him, confident that his love will not diminish. When we go to God and confess we will not find Him demanding penance or taking a "wait and see" approach. He immediately and lovingly restores us to a full and right relationship with Him. There is no probation period. The barrier that sin had erected between us and God’s goodness is immediately and eternally removed. If we would but remember and believe that the only thing waiting for us when we fully acknowledge our faults is the open arms of a loving Father, we wouldn’t hesitate to confess and be restored. Just like in the story of the Prodigal Son, the Father can’t wait for us to begin to return home, not so He can punish us but so He can throw a welcome home party! Confession brings Restoration.
Read Verse 6
In this verse the Psalmist reflects upon the results of his confession and forgiveness and in so doing finds more reasons to encourage us to confess our sins and be restored. In verse 6 David says "let everyone who is godly to pray to you while you may be found." He is saying that that since God forgave me, He’ll do the same for you. Just go to Him in a prayer of confession. Confess your sins now, "while He may be found." Don’t wait! Seek Him today before the "mighty waters" of disciplinary judgment overtake you tomorrow. Confession is never easy, but delaying only makes it more difficult and costly to you. David found this out when he experienced the discipline of God, described in verses 3 and 4. David knows that such "mighty waters" of discipline would not have been necessary if he had went to God immediately. God is willing to forgive right away and so David exhorts us to "pray to God while He may be found" so that the waters of judgment will not reach us.
Read Verse 7
David knows that he will make future mistakes but he has learned his lesson. No longer will he try and hide from God like he did in verse 3. Now when he falls short he will not hide himself from God but in God’s merciful arms. "You are my hiding place." He no longer expects that God will reject him, rather he knows that in His merciful arms he is safe from trouble. God will hide us in His arms so that we will not be overwhelmed by our own sins, rather we will be surrounded by "songs of deliverance." Confession bring restoration so that we can sing of being delivered from the guilt and shame of sin, sing of God’s great mercy, sing songs of joy and freedom. God fills our hearts with joyful songs when we don’t conceal our sins but rather confess them honestly.
Read Verses 8,9
Verse 8 could be God or David speaking but the point is the same either way. This is a psalm of instruction, guidance and counsel to teach the way we should go when we break fellowship with God through sin. Verse 8 is basically telling us to listen and learn our lesson from these wise words of instruction. God’s desire is that we would heed these words and not be stubborn like a mule or stupid like a rebellious horse which both have to be forced to go in the right direction. God is saying "don’t make me force you to come and confess." That’s what He had to do with David but he desires that we would come to Him without the coercion of His "heavy hand."
Read Verses 10,11
As the Psalmist concludes the Psalm he reminds us that "many are the woes of the wicked." The wicked being those who conceal their sin, but "the man that trust in the Lord" that is the man who trust in God’s mercy to forgive will experience His "unfailing love." In other words those who show their trust in God by confessing their sins honestly will always be restored because His love never fails to forgive no matter what the sin. As verse 11 says this is great reason to "rejoice", "be glad" and "sing." For He has made us to be "righteous" and "upright in heart."
Conclusion:
Illustration: In The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson, the cartoon character Calvin says to his tiger friend, Hobbes, "I feel bad that I called Susie names and hurt her feelings. I’m sorry I did it." "Maybe you should apologize to her," Hobbes suggests. Calvin ponders this for a moment and replies, "I keep hoping there’s a less obvious solution."
When we want to restore our relationship with God, we need to remember that he has a liking for the obvious solution. How can we be fully restored into a right relationship with God after we have sinned? Answer: Full Confession Brings Restoration
