Psalm 32

Psalm 32

“Blessednesses”

I. “Blessednesses” necessarily depend on forgiveness; so we must understand the nature of our sin and the magnitude of God’s forgiveness (Vv. 1-2)

a. After David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, and his subsequent orchestration of the events which resulted in the murder of her husband Uriah, David continued to try to cover up his transgressions. However, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David with his sin, and he made a full confession. After writing Psalm 51, confessing his sin, pleading for forgiveness, and vowing to teach other sinners the truth about sin and God’s forgiveness, David wrote this Psalm to do exactly what he promised. He begins joyful praise and a beatitude. The one who is blessed, or literally who has received “Blessednesses”, is the person who has known life separated from God by sin, but who understands the blessed joy of reconciliation with God through repentance. This degree of “blessednesses” is the result of truly understanding the magnitude of our sin, even the slightest of infractions, and understanding the magnitude of God’s forgiveness. So perhaps it’s for that reason that David’s description of the blessed joy of forgiveness contains both a four-word description of the magnitude of sin; transgression, sin, iniquity, and deceit, each word describing a different facet of sin more deeply. And a three-word description of God’s gracious restoration of the repentant; forgiven, covered, and not imputed, each one also describing the magnitude of God’s reconciliation more completely. David’s words work together to describe the overwhelming and intrinsic nature of our sin, and the absolute, complete, and immediate nature of God’s restoration by grace through faith in Christ. (Vv. 1-2; Gen. 15:6; Lev. 16:20-22; 2 Sam. 11-12; Ps. 51:4, 13; 103:12; Isa. 38:17; 43:25; Jer. 31:34; Matt. 5:3-4; John 1:29; Rom. 3:21-26; 4:1-8; 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 1:6; 2:8-9; Col. 2:13-14; Heb. 9:26; 1 John 1:7)

II. “Blessednesses” necessarily depend on forgiveness; so we must see that hiding from our sin, is hiding from God’s peace (Vv. 3-7)

a. David contrasts his joy in the forgiveness of the Lord, with a picture of the enormous weight and burden he bore as he attempted to conceal his sin. He said that as he hid his sin, he became physically sick, his peace and satisfaction in life was completely removed, and that trying to bear up under the weighty burden consumed all his strength. God put a burden of guilt and restlessness on David which completely eliminated any prospect of peace in his life apart from repenting and throwing himself on God’s mercy. It’s a shear act of God’s mercy, grace, and love, that He chastens us, weighs us down, and burdens us in our sinfulness, to turn to Him for peace. David finally relented, acknowledged that he had crossed God’s line, and God forgave him immediately. In fact, David declares, “I will confess…” and says that God forgave him immediately. Just like the prodigal son, who was crushed under the weight of his sin, professed his need to return to his father to confess his transgressions and beg for mercy and grace. But upon his return, his father met him before he could get to his house, and forgave and restored him fully before the son could even get the words out. To hide from our sin, and not confess it, is to hide from God’s peace, protection, and preservation. He desires to restore us, and put new song in our heart, but His forgiveness and restoration won’t be available forever, and He’ll be faithful to judge sin as He promises, so we must seek Him while He can be found. (Vv. 3-7; Gen. 3:7-13; Ps. 38:1-8; 39:10; 69:14; Prov. 1:24-33; 28:13; 29:1; Isa. 55:6-7; Luke 15:18-24; John 16:8-14; Acts. 17:30-31; 2 Cor. 6:2; 7:8-10; Gal. 5:17; Heb. 4:13; 12:6-12; 1 John 1:8-10; Rev. 3:19; 12:10-12)

III. “Blessednesses” necessarily depend on forgiveness; so we must trust and rejoice in God’s instruction (Vv. 8-11)

a. David, like all of us, thought he knew better than God, and thought he knew the way in which he should go. But God mercifully and graciously made David aware of his transgression, and David repented and turn towards God and experienced the joy of restoration. Now God assures David that as long as he continues in obedience, not being stubborn but willfully seeking God and following Him, God will watch over him and teach him the right way to go. In the same way, we must continually keep our eyes on Christ, assured that He has His eyes us; and we must continually seek God in His Word, to guide and direct our lives to be satisfied in Him. We can be confident that He’ll lead us into contentment and rejoicing in Him, that we might also share our joy in Him, teaching others with our words and lives. (Vv. 8-11; Ps. 23:6; 33:18; 34:15-18; 37:4-5, 23; 130:4; Prov. 3:5-8; 13:15; Isa. 30:20-21; Jer. 2:19; Phil. 4:4-7; Col. 3:1-4; Heb. 12:1-3)