Grosey's Messages

Psalm 32

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up  as by the heat of summer.
— Selah

 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
— Selah

 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;

surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble;

you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
— Selah

 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
 9  Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle,

or it will not stay near you.

 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.
 11  Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

In Edgar Allan Poe's story, "The Tell-Tale Heart" the main character committed murder. He buried his victim in the basement of his house. Unable to escape the haunting guilt of his deed, he begins to hear the heartbeat of the victim he has buried in his basement. A cold sweat covers him as he hears the beat-beat-beat of a heart that goes on relentlessly. And it is drawing  nearer each night ascending the stairs towards his bedroom where he lay restlessly awake, hearing this beating heart. Ultimately the heartbeat drives the man absolutely mad. He assumed that the beat –beat –beat of the heart was creeping up the stairs from the body in the basement. He heard it drawing nearer and nearer to his bedroom door. It was the noise of his own heart within his own chest. And that's why the beating was louder. So it is with a guilt ridden, unforgiving conscience.  You may not be consciously aware of your sin, but hour by hour it seems to beat louder within your own chest as the Day of Judgment draws daily nearer. We try to ignore our guilt. But we cannot. We are daily aware that our judgment is closer each day. Home or Away!

Sin will take you further than you want to go.

It will keep you longer than you want to stay.

It will cost you more than you want to pay.

It will require of you more than you want to give.

David was guilty of a horrible sin, a heinous sin, and a hellish sin.   David had taken another man's wife. We are familiar with the story. David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. But David was not only of taking another man's wife, but on top of that, David was guilty of taking another man's life. David had Uriah put in a position on the battlefield that guaranteed he would be killed. David was guilty of shameful sin of adultery and the sinister sin of murder.

Austrian Psychiatrist Victor Frankl who was imprisoned in a Nazi prison camp has pointed out that "no animal except man experiences guilt." Mark Twain said the same thing in a more homely way when he declared, "Man is the only animal who blushes --or needs to." The reason we feel shame is because we have within us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. The Apostle Paul declared in Romans that where there is no law, there is no sin -- but that each one of us has God's moral law engraved upon our hearts. Philosopher Immanuel Kant observed, "Two things astound me -- the starry heavens above and the moral law beneath." Authentic guilt is described by one writer as "a negative emotion experienced by a conscious mind that passes a personal moral judgment upon itself." And that moral law writte within pronounces condemnation upon us.

Psalm 32 is the Psalm that takes us from the depths of our sin to the realization and joy that comes from knowing God's pardon.

Sometimes that journey takes a life time.

The great theologian Augustine said that the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner. It is no surprise then that Psalm 32 was the favorite of this brilliant man. As he lay dying, he had it posted next to his bed, so he could constantly remind himself not only of his need to admit his sin, but be reminded of God's forgiveness. Knowing that we are sinners in need of forgiveness and that God offers His mercy to those who confess their sin should be the greatest delight of every person. God's provision of forgiveness is the theme of Psalm 32.

1.    The Folly of Deceitfulness

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up  as by the heat of summer.
— Selah

Sin is Disobedience (v. 1)  "Transgression" The sinner rebels and disobeys God.  "Transgression" depicts a defiant disobedience toward God, a revolt against the Almighty.   It means rebellion against authority and disloyalty.  A child says "No" to a parental command.

"Sin" is missing the mark, often intentionality—God's expressed and revealed will.  One misses out on the true goal of life and is marked by crookedness of character.  "Sin" means to miss the mark of God's perfection either through acts of commission or omission.

Merciful Father,  we have strayed from your ways like lost sheep.  We have followed too much the schemes and desires of our own hearts and have broken your holy laws.  We have left undone what we ought to have done,  and we have done what we ought not to have done. ..

2.  Deceit (v. 2)  "In whose spirit there is no guile (deceit)"Iniquity is a moral impurity.  It means "twisted" for this is what is within.  The image is of a tree that is gnarled and twisted.  "Guile" is the same word as deceit and means fraudulent—insincerity.  The words here do not necessarily signify four distinct kinds of sin, because the synonyms overlap.  The Psalmist declares that the forgiveness of sin, of whatever kind—whether against God or man, whether great or small, whether conscientious or inadvertent or whether by omission or commission--is to be found in God.

"There is more evil in a drop of sin than in a sea of affliction."

3.  Despair (v. 3)  "My bones grow old...my groaning all the day"—The description of the anguish of suffering is compared to the wasting away of "bones" (cf. 6:2) and the sapping of strength (cf. 22:15; Prov. 17:22).  In hopelessness and meaninglessness of life apart from the grace of God.  Before I humbled myself, and confessed my sin, my soul was under the deepest horror, "I roared all the day long:" and felt the hand of God heavy upon my soul.    "Sin is not only always wrong, it is also never worth while."

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,  you made all things,  and you call everyone to account.

With shame we confess  the sins we have committed against you,  in thought, word and deed.

We rightly deserve your condemnation.  We turn from our sins  and are truly sorry for them;  they are a burden we cannot bear.

4.  Drought (v. 4)  "My vitality was turned into the drought of  summer"—David tried to deny the truth for a period of time, but it only made him miserable.  He complained that his strength "was sapped as in the heat of summer."  David found that out the hard way.  God's discipline weighted so heavily that the Psalmist nearly succumbed under its pressure.  It was also continuous (""all day long," "day and night," vvs. 304). 

Psalm 32:3  "When I kept silence." David was saying that he had kept his mouth shut about his sin. In other words, he was admitting that he has said nothing about his sin and done nothing about his sin. He had committed sin and concealed that sin. And he had tried to cover up his sin. But the guilt of that sin lay heavily upon him.

William Wordsworth said, "From the body of one guilty deed a thousand ghostly fears and haunting thoughts proceed."

There are many that are haunted by the ghost of guilt. There was some sin that was committed. There is some past failure that haunts them and harasses them.

Seneca said, "Every guilty person is his own hangman."  What you did, how you failed, when you sinned, puts a noose around your neck every day of your life. Your sin and failure takes you to the gallows each day. The memory of your sin makes you your own hangman.

The British author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, was known as a practical joker. On one occasion, as a practical joke, he sent a telegram to 12 of his best friends. He sent it as anonymous. The telegram read, "Flee at once, all has been discovered." In 24 hours all 12 had left the country.

Rather than hide your sin and cover it, the Lord calls us to confess it.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sns and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2.    The Duty of Disclosure

5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
— Selah

There's a funny song by Anna Russell that satirizes the influence of Freudian psychology today. It says: "I went to my psychiatrist to be psychoanalyzed, / To find out why I kicked my cat and blackened my friend's eye. / He laid me on a comfy couch to see what he could find, / And here's what he delivered up from my subconscious mind. / When I was five my mommy locked my dolly in a trunk, / And so it follows naturally that I am always drunk. / When I was eight I saw my father kiss the maid one day, / And that is why I feel the urge to have things my own way. / At nine I felt resentment toward my older brothers, / And so it follows naturally I've poisoned all my lovers. / But I'm so happy now to see the lesson this has taught, / Everything I do that's wrong is someone else's fault!" True repentance says, "I am guilty, and I take responsibility for my sin." Repentance begins when you admit you're responsible for your sin, but there is more than just admitting it mentally.

The Lord chastened David for almost a year and made him miserable until he stopped lying, humbled himself before God, and confessed his sins. Chastening isn't a judge punishing a criminal; it's a loving Father dealing with His disobedient children to bring them willingly to the place of surrender.

The Alcoholic needs to see he has a problem he cannot control, so that he seeks complete help for his problem. Covering up doesn't work.

The Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David to confront him with his sins and bring him God's word of forgiveness (2 Sam. 12). David's confession "I have sinned against the Lord"21 was answered with, "The Lord also has put away your sin" (2 Sam. 12:13 nkjv). The king didn't have to do penance or go on probation; all he had to do was sincerely confess his sins, and the Lord forgave him (1 John 1:9). The burden of transgression had been carried away, the debt was canceled, the twisted was made straight, and the Lord didn't put David's sins on the record. Instead of imputing our sins, the Lord puts the righteousness of Christ on our account, and we are accepted in Him (see Rom. 4:3ff.; 5:13; 2 Cor. 5:19–21; Gal. 3:6). David offered no excuses; he admitted that he had sinned and was guilty before God. Guilt is to the conscience what pain is to the body: it tells us that something is wrong and must be made right, or things will get worse. The promise is for everybody ("godly" = chosen ones, God's people; 4:3), and we must confess our sins immediately, when we find them out and while God may be found (69:14; Isa. 55:9; Prov. 1:24–33). The waters of chastening will only get deeper and the storm increase, so don't tempt the Lord!

"He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy" (Prov. 28:13 nkjv).

Be sorry about your failure:

This involves your emotions

Jeremiah wrote about his sorrow over sin, "After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth." (Jeremiah 31:19)

To be sorry for your sin doesn't mean you are sorry you got caught. It means your heart is broken over your sin and rebellion against a loving God. This step affects us emotionally. It's what Jesus meant when He said, "Blessed are those who mourn." (Matthew 5:4). When we see our sin the way God sees our sin, you'll experience Godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Notice these first two steps—you can realize mentally that your action or attitude is sinful, but until you experience Godly sorrow over it, you're not on the pathway to repentance.  A.W. Tozer understood repentance. He wrote: "We have reduced repentance to a change of mind. It is a mental act, indeed, but I point out that repentance is not likely to do us much good until it ceases to be a change of mind only and becomes a wound within our spirit. No man has truly repented until his sin has wounded him near to death, and he sees himself as the one who nailed his Saviour on the tree. Until we allow the consciousness of sin to wound us, we will never develop a fear of evil. Do a thorough job of repenting. Do not hurry to get it over with. Let godly sorrow do her healing work. (Man: The Dwelling Place of God).

3.    The Glory of Deliverance

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;

surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. — Selah

It is an unpurchasable blessing

"How can I be pardoned?"

"I will seek to amend my ways. In the virtue of the future I will endeavor to atone for the follies of the past."

That doesn't work. Who will atone for all the past sins?

Who will atone for all the present failures?

"By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight."

"I will seek to humble myself before God. I will cry and lament and I hope, by deep penitence, heart-felt contrition and by perpetual floods of tears, God may be induced to pardon me." O man, your tears will not blot out a single sin! Your sins are engraved as in brass and your tears are not a liquid strong enough to burn out what God has thus inscribed.

"Could your tears forever flow, Could your zeal no respite know, All for sin could not atone. Christ must save, and Christ alone."

You might weep till your very eyes were wept away and until your heart was all distilled in drops and yet not remove one single stain frm the broken commandments! There is no atonement in tears or repentance! God has not said, "I will forgive you for the sake of your penitence." What is there in your penitence that can make you deserve forgiveness?  You have no claim upon God.

What, then, can be done? "If God does not damn me, He ought to."

Man cannot help us. Angels cannot help us—the greatest archangel can do nothing for us. Where shall we find forgiveness?

But from the very Throne of God, I hear it said, "I am the Substitute." And looking up there, I see, sitting on the Throne, a God and yet a Man— a Man who once was slain! I see His scarred hands and His pierced side. But He is also God and He says, "I have forgiveness, I have pardon—I purchased it with My heart's blood. I had to die— 'the Just for the unjust.'

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered"?

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven."—

"Happy the man to whom his God No more imputes his sin But, washed in the Redeemer's blood, Has made his garments clean!"

We need to go often to Mount Calvary and see your Saviour with His hair plucked by the persecutors, with His cheeks made moist with the spittle of His enemies, with His back lacerated by the deep furrows of knotted whips and Himself in agony, emaciated, tormented—then if you would stand at Calvary and watch Him dying, "the Just for the unjust"—and having seen these bitter torments, remember that these were but little compared with His inward soul-anguish, then you would come away and say, "Blessed, yes blessed is the man who has been loved by Jesus and purchased with His blood! 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.'"

It is immense. 1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

It is instantaneous. The moment God gives me faith, I become justified and, being justified by faith, I have peace with God! It takes no time to accomplish this miracle of mercy. Sanctification is a lifelong work, continuously effected by the Holy Spirit, but justification is done in an instant! It is as complete the moment a sinner believes as when he stands before the Eternal! Freed from its damning power, delivered from all his guilt and iniquity in one single instant! It is a marvelous thing beyond our comprehension! God pardons the man and he goes away that same instant perfectly justified—as the publican did when he prayed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner," and received the mercy for which he prayed.

it is irreversible.   We are justified and pardoned, but then the mercy is that we can never be unpardoned—we can never again be condemned!

"Here's pardon for transgressions past, It matters not how black their cast! And, O my Soul! With wonder view, For sins to come here's pardon too!"

It is complete pardon that Jesus gives—for that which is to come, as well as for that which is past—

"The moment a sinner believes, And trusts in his crucified God, His pardon at once he receives, Redemption in full through His blood!"

Full atonement can it be? Hallelujah, what a Saviour!

We believe that if He did pay the penalty for our sin, God cannot by any means exact payment for the same debt twice! "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect," if God has justified and Christ has died? When He justifies, He justifies forever and nothing can separate us from His love!

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!   My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, & I bear it no more,  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!   It is well, with my soul,  It is well, with my soul,  It is well, it is well, with my soul.

God will cover our sin. 32:1

GOD HAS COVERED MY SHAME. Adam and Eve first felt the shame of their nakedness after they had sinned. They made garments of fig leaves, but that wasn't adequate. God had to shed blood to cover their shame with an animal skin. In the same way, there's nothing we can do ourselves to cover our shame. But through the death of Jesus, God covers our shame. He doesn't just cover it like someone throwing a tarp over a pile of dirt. He covers our shame by giving us a robe of righteousness.

Listen to how the apostle Paul quotes this passage in Psalm 32 in Romans 4:4-8:

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven,

And whose sins have been covered. 8 "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account."

The prophet Isaiah describes forgiveness with these words: "I rejoice greatly in the Lord, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness." (Isaiah 61:10 CSB) On the cross, Jesus exchanged His perfect righteousness for our sin. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." There on the cross, Jesus traded garments with us. He took our soiled and stained garment of sin and placed on our shoulders a perfect garment of His perfect sinless righteousness. And today, when God looks at you, He doesn't see your sin; He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son.

God Will Cleanse Us From Our Sins.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
 9  Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle,

or it will not stay near you.

God not only covers our sin;

God cleanses our sin.

GOD'S GRACE EDUCATES

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,14 who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

What to Leave (A Life of Separation)

"Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should …" (2:12a).

How to Live (A Life of Dedication)

1. "We should live soberly."

2. "We should live righteously."

3. "We should live godly lives."

 4. We should love rejoicing.

Oh happy day that fixed my choice on Thee my Saviour and my God.

Where to Look (A Life of Expectation)

"Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (2:13)

Full and total forgiveness is a sweet experience and a precious gift.

1) Trust in the Lord. 32:10

Sorrows, many sorrows, is the life and destiny of the wicked.

In stark contrast, the one who trust in the Lord, "mercy (NIV, "unfailing love) shall surround him." The word is hesed, noting the unfailing covenant love and loyalty Jehovah showers on His children.

2) Be glad in the Lord. 32:11

Three commands of praise are set before us: 1) Be glad, 2) rejoice and 3) shout for joy. (cf. "songs of deliverance in v. 7).

Conclusion: Psalm 32 was Augustine's favorite psalm. It is reported that he had it inscribed on the wall next to his bed before he died that he might meditate on it better. Why did he like this psalm so much? Because he said, "the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner." Yes that is the beginning, but it need not be the end. In Christ you can be a forgiven sinner.

There's within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low:

Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,  in all of life's ebb and flow.

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, discord filled my heart with pain; Jesus swept across the broken strings, stirred the slumbering chords again.   Refrain: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go.

Reverend Benjamin Carvosso, a Methodist clergyman at the Tasmanian Port Arthur convict prison wrote in his journal in 1826:

Within the last thirty hours I have attended on the scaffold the execution of fourteen fellow men! .. Blessed be the God of mercy, I have seen ... [revival] here in a common prison ... when I looked around me under these circumstances no less gracious than singular, I could not but join with the Revd Mr Bedford (a laborious and honoured instrument in this good work) and gratefully exclaim, 'What hath God wrought!' [The convicts'] sense of sin was strong, their cries for mercy piercing, and their peace and joy in believing abundant.