True Confessions Part 1

Psalm 32 "True Confessions"

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 would seem to be a very important question for two reasons. First is because the consequences of failing God, and committing sin are significant. They consequences include: Guilt, Judgment, Separation, Depression, Physical Infirmities, A Void and Emptiness in one’s life. There is a loss of peace, joy and intimacy and confident prayer when our relationship with God is damaged and in need of restoration. Just like in a marriage relationship in which unfaithfulness has occurred, you can’t simply ignore the issue but their must be some process of restoration. Until that restoration takes place the marriage relationship suffers considerably. The same is true of our relationship with God! The question of "How can we be fully restored to a right relationship with God after we have sinned?" is an important question because of the significant consequences of a broken relationship.

The answer to this question is also important because we will fail God. We will sometimes disobey and do the wrong thing, sometimes repeatedly. The Christian life is not one of continued steady upward progress into righteous living! Many ups and downs - like the stock market. There will be great highs in the Christian’s life, but there will also be great lows. Therefore we need to know not only how to live a successful Christian life, but also "How we can be fully restored into a right relationship with God after we have sinned ." What do we do when we have failed? The answer to this vital question is found in Psalm 32.

Read Psalm 32

I’ve entitled this Psalm "True Confessions" for reasons that will become obvious as we proceed. This Psalm was written by King David. A man who wrote many of the Psalms and whose life was especially pleasing to God. Yet even this man had his failures, his sins. He sometime blew it as we do also. Sometimes they were real doozies. For instance David committed adultery with a soldier’s wife and then had the soldier murdered to cover it up! David was a man who knew what I was like to need restoration.

David probably wrote this Psalm after that incident with the intent of helping others know how a person could be fully restored even after committing such terrible things. In fact this Psalm in ancient Hebrew had a superscription that was called a "maskil" A word which probably means "Instructions for Godliness." The basic format of the Psalm is to remind us of the blessing of being restored into a right relationship with God, along with motivation and instruction on the process of full restoration.

Read Verse 1,2

In these verses David encourages us to seek restoration after we have "blown it" by reminding us of the joy, peace and favor that belongs to those who have been forgiven. The word "blessed" includes all these ideas. David is saying that his heart was relieved and filled with joy when he was forgiven and restored. His guilt, fear, and his heavy burden were taken away.

Illustration: Imagine if you were a criminal who had committed murder and were standing before the Judge who was ready to pronounce sentence on you. You might not be able to stand, you would certainly be under a heavy load because you would be facing the loss of your freedom, separation from all the joys of life, separated from your spouse and children and eventually you might have to pay for your crime, your debt to society, with your very life. This would be a great burden to you as you awaited the sentencing. Then imagine that the Judge begins to speak He looks right at you and says "Let this man go he is forgiven - he is free!" Blessed? Joyful? I would say so!

In a similar sense that is what restoration to a right relationship with God does for us. It is a blessed, joyful condition that is certainly worth pursuing. In verses 1 and 2 the psalmist uses three different Hebrew words for wrongdoing. They are translated in English as "Transgressions, Sins, and Sin." They basically mean to rebel against God, to miss the mark or goal, and to pervert or twist God’s good way. The point is using these three different words is more than literary style or interest. This usage reminds us that ALL types of sin or wrongdoing can be forgiven, and need to be forgiven. What we consider "little sins" still "miss the mark" and offend God. There needs to be restoration. The things we consider "big sins", acts of rebellion or perversion, are not so big that we can not be fully restored to a right relationship with God. Little sins are not to be ignored because they are little, and seeking restoration for big sins is not to be avoided because we feel they are too big. All sin makes us sinners and all sinners are in need of restoration. Restoration is available and joyful!