************ Sermon on Psalm 32:1-5 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on August 5, 2004
Psalm 32
Psalm 32:1-5
"Confess Your Sins"
Preparatory for the Lord's Supper
Introduction
Gary Gilmore was a man that was executed in the state of Utah. Prior to his execution he wrote his girlfriend. In his letter he said, "It seems that I know evil more intimately than I know goodness and that's not a good thing either. I want to get even, to be made even, whole, my debts paid for (whatever it may take!), to have no blemish, no reason to feel guilt or fear ... I'd like to stand in the sight of God, to know that I'm just and right and clean. When you're this way, you know it. And when you're not, you know that, too."
Gary Gilmore, we would have to say, wanted the joy of forgiveness.
Perhaps you remember Karla Faye Tucker. Her crime was hideous: She and her boyfriend (who was sentenced to death and died in prison) killed a man and a woman with a pickax. Tucker told friends she had a sexual experience each time she struck the victims with the pick, which was found embedded in the body of Deborah Thornton. She was executed on February 3, 1998 – the first woman to be executed in Texas in over a century. Most surprisingly, she died with the name of Jesus on her lips. She died in the joy of forgiveness.
As we prepare for the Lord's Supper we need to ask how we get this joy? How does it become ours? And, what happens if this joy is not ours? We find the answers in Psalm 32.
The main point of Psalm 32 is that if we confess our sins, God – out of grace – will forgive us our sins.
I The Agony of Not Confessing
A Do you remember John Gacey? During the day he worked as a clown, bringing joy and laughter into the lives of hundreds of children around Chicago. At night he was a cold-blooded killer of 32 teen-aged boys. One day there was a knock on the door. It was the police. When Gacey opened the door his first comment was, "Thank God you have come." You see, Gacey couldn't bear to live with the dark secrets of his life anymore. For him it was a relief to confess.
May times a pastor has gone to the bed of a dying person to hear that person confess something that has been bothering them for years. They want to unburden themselves so they can die in peace and in the joy of forgiveness.
For most people here I presume the same thing would happen if you did not live up to and confess your sins. You see, it has been proven over and over again that we just cannot cover up our sins and forget about them. Sins have an annoying tendency to nag our mind and bother our conscience.
I'm reminded of a letter received by the I.R.S. a number of years ago from a guilt-ridden taxpayer:Gentlemen:
Enclosed you will find a check for $150. I cheated on my income tax return last year and have not been able to sleep ever since.
Sincerely,
A Taxpayer
P.S. If I still have trouble sleeping I will send you the rest!
Unconfessed sin leads to a troubled heart.
According to Psalm 32, this certainly was David's experience. Unconfessed sin led to a troubled heart.
At one time David thought he could escape the scrutiny of God; he thought it was possible to sin without God knowing it. David tried to cover up his sin. We read in verse 3, "... I kept silent ..." We are not entirely sure what sin he was talking about. It is very well possible he was talking in this psalm about his affair with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband, Uriah. Whatever the sin was, David did not confess it to God right away. He tried to cover it up. He tried to forget about it.
B David's cover up was not at all successful. In fact, as with John Gacey, it only produced pain and agony. Listen to what David says:(Ps 32:3-4) When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. (4) ... my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
What happened? David's conscience started to bother him. He lost weight. Inwardly he groaned under the agony of his sin. Physically, mentally, and spiritually David was wasting away because of his unconfessed sin. His strength was sapped – it was sucked up and gone like water in the summer desert. Because David tried to cover up his sin, because he did not confess his sin, he went into a state of severe depression. He lost all vitality and vigor of life. He became an empty living shell. He was a man with no peace in his heart. His soul was eaten up with worry. His conscience was being seared by a burning heat. Because David did not confess his sin his life turned into utter misery.
Unconfessed sin lodges in our conscience and festers there. Like blood under a banged up finger nail, unconfessed sin creates terrible pressure. Karl Menninger, the famous psychologist, once said that if he could convince the patients in his psychiatric hospital that their sins were forgiven, 75% of them could walk out the next day.
Unconfessed sin causes sickness, especially in our souls. Are you filled with pain? Is there a sin in your life you have not confessed? Ask yourself that as you prepare for the Lord's Supper during the coming week.
C David lets us know in verse 4 that the hand of God was behind his misery: "For day and night your hand was heavy upon me ..." God was tormenting David's soul as long as he had unconfessed sin in his life. You need to know that God sees and knows everything – including our sins. So God, so to speak, was tapping David on the shoulder and telling him, "I know what you did; it is no use covering it up; I will torment you until you confess your sins to me." David admits here we cannot escape from or hide from God.
How does God do this? How does God torment people with their sins? God uses our conscience, His Law, His Word, His Spirit, His people. All of these work together to make us feel bad, to feel guilty, when we do wrong.
Why does God lay His hand upon His people in such a way? Why does He make our sins bother us? He does this so we will fall on our knees before Him and confess our sins.
Do you feel the hand of God on you? As you prepare for the Lord's Supper this coming week take the time to confess your sin to God.
II The Confession
A By not confessing his sin, David was needlessly tormenting and torturing himself. So he finally confessed his sin to God. We read his confession in verse 5:(Ps 32:5) 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.
Notice what happened: David confessed and he was forgiven; David admitted his guilt and he was pardoned.
We aren't told the sin or the nature of the sin. But David has a specific sin and a specific incident in mind. Or perhaps a series of sins and a series of incidents. It is not something vague and indefinite that he is confessing to. This is not a quick "Forgive me my sins" appended to the end of a prayer like we often do. David poured out to the throne of God his sin and his sinful nature. And he was pardoned.
Let's make sure we understand this. David was not forgiven just because he confessed. There is nothing automatic or cheap about forgiveness. We cannot simply get down on our knees before God and expect forgiveness. Forgiveness, says Paul in Romans 4 (which quotes Psalm 32), is by grace and through faith. We, with David, are forgiven only when we have faith in Christ.
We see two very important principles here. First, we are forgiven by grace and through faith. Second, God wants us to confess our sins to Him so we can live in the joy of forgiveness.
The point here is not to lay awake at night wondering and agonizing about whether you have confessed every single sin. Martin Luther was that way. He would lay awake in the middle of the night because some little sin he had forgotten to confess came to mind. He would scurry off to a fellow priest to make confession. His fellow priests became very exasperated with him and finally one told him to stop bothering him or to commit a real sin.
The point is not the confession itself but the theology or the attitude or the mindset behind the confession – namely, an awareness that I am a sinner, that I have sinned against God, that I cannot save myself, that I need the forgiveness and salvation that only God gives only through Jesus Christ.
Within this framework, we have to say that confessed sin is – by grace – forgiven sin. There is no need to doubt that. And, there is no reason to be worried or torn apart by sins that you have forgotten to confess. At the same time, we have to say that within this framework unconfessed sin is unforgiven sin.
B Confessed sin is forgiven sin. Unconfessed sin is unforgiven sin. For this reason David makes an appeal in verse 6:(Ps 32:6) 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.
Pray to God, says David. Confess your sins to Him. Do so now while you are still able to. Do so now before Jesus returns as the Judge of the living and the dead. Do so as you prepare for the Lord's Supper this coming week.
III The Joy of Forgiveness
A As I already indicated, the main point of this psalm is not to tell us about confession or about sin but to tell us about the joy of forgiveness. Notice how David expresses this in verse 1:(Ps 32:1) Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
David had been suffering the torments of an inner hell, he had been wasting away, his mood had been one of despair and sorrow. But now that he has confessed his sin his mood is one of elation and joy and gladness. I am "blessed," says David. I am at peace. I have been set free. My transgressions are forgiven – they have been taken away. My sins are covered – God's grace has hid them under the blood of Jesus. David, by not confessing, was in the dumps. After confession David soared to the heights.Topic: Forgiveness
Subtopic: Examples of Human
Index: 1316
Date: 9/1991.23
Title:
An officer in the army of Russian Czar Peter the Great was involved in a plot against the ruler. But though tortured terribly, the officer refused to confess. Realizing that pain would not break him, Peter went up to the man, kissed him, and promised him that if he confessed he would receive not only a full pardon but a promotion to colonel. The officer was so unnerved by Peter's tactic that he embraced the czar and made a full confession. True to his word, Peter forgave the man and made him a colonel!
Although this example is certainly an imperfect one, the ending is worth noting: full confession, full pardon – and a promotion! That's just what God – in Christ – has done for us. We are so blessed to have forgiveness. Keep that in mind as you prepare for the Lord's Supper.
B We notice in verse 2 that David has learned his lesson. He knows not to cover up his own sin. He knows it is best to be open and truthful.(Ps 32:2) Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
"I am blessed," says David, only when there is "no deceit" in me. By deceit David means his attempt to cover up his sin, his refusal to confess. "He is blessed," says David, "who is honest with God. He is blessed who confessed the truth to God, who tells God his sins."
C David ends the psalm with a note of praise to the God Who heard his confession and forgave his sin:(Ps 32:11) Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Of course he praises God. God deserves all of the praise and the honor and the glory. God has delivered him from the burden of sin.
Conclusion
Congregation, confess your sins to God and by grace and through faith you will experience the joy of forgiveness. Not only that, but you can finally concentrate again on serving God. You see, when David was so desperately trying to hide his sin and hide from his sin he was not able to do the work of the Lord. But once he confessed, once he had been forgiven, he was open to God's leading and to God's teaching (see verses 8-9).
Spend time this week, congregation, looking over your life. Realize you are a sinner. Realize you have sins that need confessing. Realize you need salvation. And then come – come to the Lord's Table in the joy of forgiveness.
You can e-mail our pastor at: Pastor, Trinity United Reformed Church
Back to Index of Sermons Page
Back to Trinity United Reformed Church Home Page