Psalm 32 is an absolutely fascinating psalm. God has used it mightily in my past, and He currently is speaking it anew in my life. Two years ago, my pastor Jerry Wragg in West Palm Beach preached for nearly 2 months on the passage. Almost everything I know about this passage stems back to this time. I've actually been relistening to these sermons over this past week. So much of what I write is not me at all. I pray that God might use some regurgitated material to move and change you. (If anybody is interested to hear some preaching from one of my favorites, the website is http://www.gibcjupiter.org/index.php?p=archives, the mp3's for this series is near the bottom of the page.) I'll throw some quote marks up there for statements I just felt I couldn't really improve on.
This psalm is written by David and actually a follow up psalm to the well known 51st psalm. A few early things to note about this psalm is that it is written as a song and it is written as a song for Israel to use in its worship. Now having read the psalm already, can you imagine writing a song about your darkest sin for others not only to read but to sing for themselves?
David writes this psalm about the ordeal with his sin with Bathsheba for the purpose of rejoicing in the freedom of pardoned sin. His conscience is clear before God! Hidden sin is not attacking his heart and mind. Forgiveness and salvation is near to him. He is free to divulge his despicableness because he is confident in the complete pardon he has received from the Lord. 'David takes us through every dimension of his own experience before, during, and after his ordeal. We learn to treasure the beauty of God's pardoning nature.'
He writes because he desires Israel to become imitators of him and to grasp this same joy. He not only rejoices in this freedom in private. He desires others to have this treasure a reality in their lives.
And we can confidently say today, that David wrote that we too might might treasure the forgiveness of God in our lives. 'Do you know why sometimes our consciences are clouded? Because we do not treasure enough the beauty of God's pardon.' Maybe we're still stuck at verse 3 and 4 of this psalm. David writes this for us to see the joy and freedom that actual repentence brings to us. Honestly, that last sentence is incredible. I need to hear it and believe it. We are bombarded by Satan that this just cannot be true. However, David writes about his experiences to draw us near to our need to treasure the beauty of God's forgiveness. We are 'incited to do the same thing he has done in order to experience the same thing he has experience.'
There is some awesome structure to Psalm 32 also. It truly is a beautifully written song. The psalm divides into five nicely-packed units: vs 1-2, 3-5, 6-7 center of the psalm, 8-9, 10-11. The psalm can be comparable to a hill top. Vs 1-2 is like being at the base of the hill, vs 3-4 is like climbing the hill, the pinnacle of the hill is vs 5-7, then vs 8-9 is like coming down the hill, and finally vs 10-11 is at the bottom of the hill. Each of these units have a specific lesson to be taught.
I'm not sure that I could really improve on the way Pastor Wragg entitled each of these section so I'll let his titles speak for themselves. I encourage you to write each of these in your Bible to help you understand the passage. Overall, he sees the psalm as describing 'five incentives for seizing the treasure of God's forgiveness.'
Vs 1-2 The Freedom and Joy of Forgiven Sin
Vs 3-4 The Folly of Hidden Sin
Vs 5-7 The Fortune of Timely Repentence
Vs 8-9 The Fidelity of God's Watchcare
Vs 10-11 The Favored Life of the Pure in Heart
Even though I know this is already long, I want to make mention of some of the beautiful things in each of these incentives.
Vs 1-2 How blessed is the man... The man who's sin is forgiven and covered and whom there is no deceit is blessed! He is happy. He is satisfied and assured. Is this the way we speak in our times of accountability with each other?
Vs 3-4 Truly, it is pure folly for us to hide our sin. For believers, we must profess Christ as the bearer of our sin and guilt and we must trust God's pardon over us. Notice vs 4 describes how the heavy hand of the Lord was upon David for his sin. We may be able to hide from each other, but don't be so naive to think that we can hide from God. Remember good ol' Jonah as an example.
Vs 5-7 This is the center of the psalm and the pinnacle of the song. David describes the fortune of timely repentance. Oh allow the Lord to surround you with songs of deliverance! If you are a godly one today, pray and repent to the Lord today.
Vs 8-9 Another incentive to treasure God's forgiveness is that God faithfully watches over all who are His. For the obedient and repentful, God instructs, teaches, and counsels. Notice David says the Lord counsels "with My eyes upon you." This means, God counsels us in light of having our whole life in view. God knows us intimately. God directs us in the right paths, not as one who is blind to where that path might lead, but as one who is actively moving and guiding us to His intended purpose for us.
Next check out how vs 9 too is among an incentive stemming from God's watchcare over us. Believers cannot escape God's guidance, even by their own folly. God will put a bit in your mouth and lead you like a horse or mule if He must. This is David's experience. If one is stubborn and acting like an animal, God will use experiences and events to steer us into the direction He plans for us. Unfortunately, there are times where the wise words of counsel in vs 8 will do us no good because we have become like brutes before Him. Fortunately, God is resolved to save us even if this means throwing a harness of discipline over you for a time.
Finally, vs 10-11 describes the favored life of the pure in heart. Can you joyously proclaim along with David these lines of Scripture? Or have your senses been dulled and your consciences clouded by the folly of hidden guilt. Imitate David today by fully acknowledging and repenting of your sin before the Lord. Treasure the beauty of God's pardon and experience the freedom of His forgivenss. Do not hide the work of Christ in your life, but rather put the saving work of Christ up on display by showing yourself to be a sinner. Remember Christ didn't come to heal the healthy. He came to seek out, heal, and save the sick.
I love you all in Christ.
Grace and Peace,
John Michael
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment