1. Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
Psalms in the Summer

2. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself,
“I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Selah Ps 32.5
Psalms in the Summer

3. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
In [Jesus] we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
in accordance with the riches of God’s grace Ephesians 1.7
Psalms in the Summer

4. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
Psalms surveys the landscape of our soul, including the dark valleys
of blame, shame, guilt and fear.
Four Penitential Psalms (38, 6, 51, 32)
catalog David’s story of sin, cover-up,
soul agony and confession.
Psalms in the Summer

5. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness David’s Story
The sordid story (2 Samuel 11) starts with King David, a powerful leader, taking sexual advantage of a married woman.
She becomes pregnant, but David cunningly solves the problem. Only hitch: But the Lord was displeased with what David had done. (v 27b)
Psalms in the Summer

6. Psalm 6 details David’s inner turmoil
Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
David’s Story
Psalm 6 details David’s inner turmoil
of remorse and shame:
I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. (v 6).
Psalm 38, his debilitating guilt: Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear. (vv 3-4)
Psalms in the Summer

7. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness David’s Story
Enter his courageous friend Nathan:
Thou art the man! (2 Sam 12)
Result is Psalm 51, David’s gut-wrenching, brokenhearted confession:
Against thee, thee only have I sinned (v 1)
and the joyful retrospective, Psalm 32.
Psalms in the Summer

8. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Joy of Forgiveness (vv 1-2)
David starts with joy: Oh, what joy [how blessed] for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight [covered]! (v 1)
The forgiven one is envied by everyone.
Psalms in the Summer

9. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Joy of Forgiveness (vv 1-2)
He ends with exuberant shouts: So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! (v 11)
He knows the ecstasy of being forgiven,
but not how God will do it.
Psalms in the Summer

10. Sin damages us emotionally, spiritually and even physically.
Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cancer of Sin (vv 3-4)
Sin damages us emotionally,
spiritually and even physically.
When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude (vv 3-4)
Psalms in the Summer

11. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cancer of Sin (vv 3-4)
Two terms for sin (v 1)
1) transgression is rebellious self-assertion,
the attitude that
nobody tells me how to live my life
Psalms in the Summer

12. You get lost, trapped, wander in the dark,
Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cancer of Sin (vv 3-4)
Two terms for sin (v 1)
2 Sin is going off the path, away from God’s dream and destination for you.
You get lost, trapped, wander in the dark,
fall off cliffs.
Psalms in the Summer

13. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cancer of Sin (vv 3-4)
We all experience sin firsthand.
We all go rogue from God. We all go astray.
We all cover our sin up.
We all get fatally ruined by it.
Psalms in the Summer

14. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cure for Sin (v 5)
Agree with God: I confessed…
Open your hand, uncover the sin.
Go to God directly: …all my sins to you.
Have a personal audience.
Psalms in the Summer

15. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cure for Sin (v 5)
Take responsibility: I will confess my rebellion… Don’t blame others.
Accept forgiveness And you forgave me!
Stop beating yourself up.
Psalms in the Summer

16. Heed David’s warning, do it today. Like Noah’s generation,
Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cure for Sin (v 5)
Heed David’s warning, do it today.
Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. (v 6)
Like Noah’s generation,
at some point time’s up.
Psalms in the Summer

17. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Cure for Sin (v 5)
Let God train you to obey from the heart:
Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control. (v 9)
Stubbornness brings more trouble.
David knows from experience
Psalms in the Summer

18. A spectacle to the crowd. Totally vulnerable before his enemies.
Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Covering of Sin (v 1)
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! (v 1 NASB)
We cover sin to hide it. Jesus was uncovered by our sin. Stripped. Open to the elements.
A spectacle to the crowd.
Totally vulnerable before his enemies.
Psalms in the Summer

19. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Covering of Sin (v 1)
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! (v 1 NASB)
His love was also uncovered for all to see.
God uncovered, so we could be forever
covered by his righteousness.
Psalms in the Summer

20. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Covering of Sin (v 1)
The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. Jerry Bridges
Psalms in the Summer

21. Psalms in the Summer Ps 32: Confession and Forgiveness
The Covering of Sin (v 1)
We know what David didn’t,
how God can forgive sin:
the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
(1 Jn 1.7b)
Psalms in the Summer