The Lord’s Message:  Summer of Psalms: The Joy of Forgiveness

The Lord’s Message:  Summer of Psalms: The Joy of Forgiveness
Date:  August 3, 2025
Where:  Tilghman Methodist Church
Scripture Reference:  Psalm 32

            The Lord, this morning, has led us to one of the seven Psalms of Confession.  The other six are Psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143.  Some of you maybe thinking is this done during Lent.  Yes, it is, but it should also be part of a Christian’s daily living.  Everyday, maybe before we go to sleep, we should take time and confess our sins before God, seek repentance, and ask God to forgive us of our sins.  What a wonderful way to fall asleep. 

            Let us pray.

            Most theologians have concluded that David wrote this psalm after confessing his sins to God for having an illicit affair with Bathsheba, murdering her husband and one of his best fighters, Uriah, and then marrying Bathsheba because she is pregnant with this son from that illicit affair.  On top of all this, David covered it up and thought that he had gotten away with it. For over a year, David had this guilt inside of him.  He was afraid that at some point someone would uncover what David had done.  Listen to what David says in Psalm 32: 3-4. 

            David thinks he has covered up his sin, but God knows everything.  Our sin is always in front of God.  Sin becomes a barrier in our relationship with God and with others.  How do you think the relationship was with David and Bathsheba after this or with David’s general, Joab who, by this time, has connected the dots?   I suspect there was much gossip in the palace between the servants.  Our most important relationship which suffers because of our sin is with God.  In 1 Samuel 13:13-14, God took away the kingdom from Saul because of his sin and gave it to David.  Samuel referred to David, as “a man after God’s own heart.”  God knows what David has done.  We are told this in 2 Samuel 11: 27b.  How do you think that David felt when he entered into the tabernacle to worship God?  I think this is one of the reasons people do not want to come to church,  they might have to confess their sins to God.  I was reading that a good many churches are celebrating Holy Communion without the Confession of Sin, because we might repulse someone.  We should be repulsed by our sin.  We should not want to live in the muck and mire of our sin, like a pig in the mud.  We should want to be cleansed of our sin.  Here David is living in his sins for over a year.  He is saying that his “bones wasted away… his strength was sapped.”  This is all because God loved David so much that God’s “hand was heavy upon me.” 

            I believe that God tried numerous ways for David to come clean, to confess his sins, to repent of his sins and seek forgiveness.  In the end, God used a friend to bring David to confession.  In 2 Samuel 12:1, Nathan is sent by the Lord to David.  God has not left David to wallow in his sins.  I believe God tells Nathan to tell David this story which appeals to David’s sense of judgement.  The story goes that there were two men in a town, one rich and one poor.  The poor man only had an ewe lamb while the rich man had many cattle and sheep.  The poor man treated the lamb as a one of his family.  He loved the lamb.  His children loved the lamb.  One day a traveler came to the rich man’s house.  The rich man not wanting to waste any of his cattle or sheep by feeding this traveler, went out and stole the poor man’s ewe lamb and slaughtered it.  David responded to this story in 2 Samuel 12:5-6.  God responded through Nathan in verses 7-12.  David could have made up excuses for his actions, but to his integrity, he does not do that.  He simply says in verse 13, “I have sinned against the Lord.”  I feel that this was a sense of relief to David. 

            Look what David writes about his feelings in Psalm 32:5. This is a great sense of relief to David and to all of us when we confess our sins to God.  This psalm begins with “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven.  Transgressions can not be forgiven without a confession of sin.  The Old and New Testaments agree with this.  Look at Proverbs 28:13.   Let us also look at 1 John 1:8-10.  We must confess our sins to God in order to live a blessed life. 

            Not only are our transgressions forgiven, but there are also covered.  Paul explains in Ephesians 1:7 who our sins are covered by.  They are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. 

            It gets even better.  Not only are our transgressions covered by the blood of Jesus, but they are remembered no more.  Look at verse 2.  This is confirmed in Psalm 103:11-12.

            Now if you find yourself in a state of unconfessed sin, David gives us some clear instructions to pass this into confession, repentance, and forgiveness.  In verses 6 & 7, the first is to pray to God.  You can not hide your sins from God.  The only choice we are left with is to pray to God and confess those sins to Him.  The second is in verses 8-10 to pray and read your Bible, asking God how to show you the path to overcoming your sin for you to repent of your sin.   Repentance is not saying simply, “God, I am sorry for what I did?” Repentance means to turn away from those sources that lead us into sin, such as selfishness, pride, weak human nature, and the influences of evil and temptation.  Turn to God who gives us the strength to overcome evil desires, to deny ourselves and follow Jesus, and to lift up our weak human nature.  This only happens when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives.  When temptations come upon us, we respond with “Come Holy Spirit, work in me to be more like Jesus.”  When you give yourself completely to the Holy Spirit, do not be surprised what sin the Holy Spirit is going to dredge up.  Do not be stubborn!  Allow the Holy Spirit to have His way with you. 

            David waited a year before he finally confessed his sins to God, repented of those sins, and was forgiven.  The sooner, we confess and repent, the quicker we will receive mercy, the sooner we will have joy and peace in our lives.  No one can have perfect peace without confession and repentance.  God is always ready to forgive when we come to him with a contrite heart.  How long is it going to be before you come before the Lord and confess and repent of your sins and receive forgiveness from God?  You will have that opportunity this morning.

There is joy in forgiveness of our sin, verse 11.

Let us continue to read the Bible, live the Bible, and be the Bible for others.  Amen.