I'm Blessed!

I’m Blessed!

 

Psalm 32:1-2 (NIV)

 

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit"

 

Reading through the Psalms is a wonderful journey through Hebrew poetry.  Full of emotions of every kind, we see into the hearts of the writers, many ascribed to the great Hebrew poet and king David.  There is an incredible amount of transparency and honesty in the Psalms and the writers are not afraid to voice their fears, sorrows or feelings of overwhelming defeat.  But there is also a great amount of declaration of and dependence on God, the deliverer, the source of strength and the shield.  And while there is a basic old covenant understanding in regards to sin and punishment and righteousness and favor, there are the hidden messianic jewels as well as the clear pictures of God’s amazing grace.

 

The thirty second Psalm is thought to be written by King David some time not too distant from the time of repentance and restoration after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah.  The message of the Gospel was realized so wonderfully in David’s life it is no wonder he was inspired to write this psalm.  In fact, the true GOOD NEWS of God’s GRACE and forgiveness so overshadows the simple accounting of how his sin affected him that before he could focus on and recount his pre-forgiven state he explodes with joy and jubilant celebration: “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

 

Only after this outburst can David begin to teach through poetry the goodness of God in relation to sinful men.  From the beginning of the psalm there is a presupposition of sin.  In this case it may have very well been the Bathsheba incident but it could just as well been any other.  The ugly truth is that there is ALWAYS the presence of sin in someone’s life “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)” Knowing and experiencing God’s GRACE the way that he had made him unable to keep the good news shut up inside himself, but in order to get to the “good news”, we must first understand the “bad news.”  Man needs to know that they are sinners and that the wages of sin are indeed death.  Sin is a reality and it should grieve us.  It should weigh heavy upon our hearts as we recognize our sinfulness.  This was accomplished through the law and the commandments for the nation of Israel and for us through their examples and the revelation of God through the Scriptures, “I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law (Romans 7:7)”.  While this is an important truth to communicate, it is NOT the Gospel!  The Gospel is GOOD NEWS!  This is horrible news.  It is the truth that we are helplessly, hopelessly and utterly lost with no remedy that we can obtain on our own.  It is a shame that so many “churches” concentrate so much on sin and guilt along with the endless call to “holiness” which is too often a demand for works righteousness and performance based perfection.  Their “gospel” becomes, “you’re a sinner so you have to STOP! Repent of your sin or face God’s wrath!”  Friends, this is not good news.  It is the bad news.  So what is to be done and how do we get to the “Good News”?  We’ll get back to that in a moment.

 

David recognizes two problems concerning sin at the end of verse two and at the beginning of verse three.  First let’s address what we see in verse three “when I kept silent”.  Unconfessed sin is a real issue.  If a problem is not admitted to, it cannot be resolved.  The secrets of sin, the guilt and condemnation that comes from knowing that we are in the wrong, whether we admit it or not will eat away at a person who is awakened to any sense of right or wrong at all.  David tried to ignore the feelings of guilt, he tried to hide his wrongdoing deep in his heart assuming that he could get away with it.  So too we often, knowing that we are wrong, keep silent hiding from the very presence of the one who can bring us relief for fear of punishment.  While we hide in our shame and silence, our minds, hearts and even our bodies pay the price as David expressed in verses three through four.

 

Another problem that is not so readily recognized is at the end of verse two, “in whose spirit is no deceit.”  This has to do with HONESTY.  There is a necessity to be real, transparent and honest with themselves, with others and certainly with God who sees and knows all anyway.  Self-deception is another real problem as is hypocritical lying to others in order to make them think there is no sin in you.  In some circles that assume that the sin nature can be eradicated, there remains “deceit in their spirit” assuming, presuming or attempting to convince others that there is no sin in them.  The reality of the sin nature and the struggle between the flesh and the spirit does not go away while we remain in these vessels of clay.  To deny that fact simply because one wants to believe it or because their theology will unravel if they admit it is setting oneself up for unnecessary pain and failure when the bottom of their “entirely sanctified” life falls out—and it will.  Sin will come because we are mere men.  While we certainly grow in GRACE and maturity, we do not arrive to a place of “sinless perfection” in this life.  Also, calling SIN a mistake or not a willful transgression to a known law of God does not make it anything different than what it is—SIN!  Why do we need so desperately to have the sin nature eradicated anyway?  If eradicated then there is no longer any sin at all in a person and no longer a need for a savior or our advocate “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1).      

 

David explains the way to forgiveness in verse 5 and encourages others to never fear to enter into the way of GRACE from verses 6-10.  Simply CONFESS, which is to agree with God of the reality of your sinfulness.  He acknowledged his sin to God not attempting to cover it up.  It is fear, pride or simple deceit (whether to self or to other) that keeps men from coming to the storehouse of GRACE that is already prepared to open up and pour over them.  David said, “I acknowledged, I did not cover up, I confessed…and YOU FORGAVE!  Wonderful GRACE!  THIS is why he could not contain his joy in the first two verses.   “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them” Notice he did not say the man who stops sinning, who has put his sin aside and learned how to walk in righteousness.  Neither did he say that a man will be blessed if they turn from sin and walk in holiness.  That would be wages for right behavior and not grace (see Romans 4:4 & 11:6).  GRACE is undeserved, unmerited, unearned favor while we are yet sinners.  Blessed is the man whose transgressions (while still there) are forgiven!  Whose sins (which remain) are covered.  And whose sin the Lord does not count against him!  This is the NEW COVENANT, not getting what we deserve because Jesus took it for us on the cross.  And then getting what we do not deserve—this is the Blessed part, in Christ, we are righteous!  We are sanctified completely!  Not because we are perfect but because HE is perfect, not because of what we do or who we are but because of what HE HAS done and WHOSE we are.  The work of the cross was a PERFECT and FINISHED work.  He died once and for all for all.  There is nothing incomplete about His work and no second work necessary.  All that we need and will ever be, we will be IN HIM.  He is our sanctification.  He is our righteousness.  We are partakers of His Glory as a free gift obtained by FAITH alone.  It is a reality and a mystery that we cannot fully comprehend but PRAISE GOD it’s true!  Blessed we truly are!  GRACE, GRACE WONDERFUL GRACE!

 

With a short encouragement in verses 8-10 for people to not be stiff-necked about receiving such a wonderful gift when the love and GRACE surrounds them and is so easily and readily available David breaks into praise once again calling other partakers of this wonderful GRACE to join him in praise.  By GRACE…through FAITH alone in Christ you are made righteous and upright in heart.  And that’s something to sing and rejoice about!

 

 

 

Grace to you,

 

Pastor Tony

Freedom Church, USA