Blessed!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you are blessed!

The Psalm appointed for today is Psalm 32:1-7. It is on the insert there in your bulletin, if you would take a look at it. It says:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
    and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

³ For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

⁵ I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
⁷ You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

Notice how the Psalm starts with this proclamation: You are blessed! Everyone living under God’s grace – the grace you received in baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, in the proclamation of God’s Word – everyone under that grace that God gives us through faith in Jesus is blessed.

David, who wrote the Psalm, says we’re blessed when we’re forgiven, our sins are covered, and the Lord does not count our iniquity against us. This is an important message for us as we walk through this life. It’s far easier to focus on our failures, our shortcomings, and our sin. But you are not just a sinner! You are also a saint, washed in Jesus’ blood, which covers your sin!

That helps us to understand what David says next, he says we’re blessed when there is not deceit in our hearts. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am able to deceive myself in a hundred different ways, but there is one thing that is perfectly clear to me: I am a sinner who needs to be redeemed by Jesus, and there is no hope apart from Him. To say there is no deceit in your heart is to say we know who we are. It is also to say we know our Savior.

The Gospel of Mark, chapter 2, records a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. They’re confused by what Jesus was doing. He was eating with tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees felt that they were morally superior, and that they were not sinners – at least not like these people Jesus dined with. Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

We know our sin-sick souls – we are not deceived on that point, we are not kidding ourselves thinking we’re better than anyone. We’ve felt the weight of our sin and the guilt and shame it brings into our lives. That’s where David turns our attention next.

He says, ³ For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

Notice how he describes a guilty conscience. It wears us out. It consumes our thoughts. It makes us feel like our bones are wasting away inside of us. In other words, we feel like the very structure of our self is rotten and untrustworthy. It’s a feeling that makes us groan and cry out in distress.

Why? Because we feel God’s judgment against our sin.  

Have you ever had to confront someone – maybe a poor performance review, maybe you caught someone stealing or cheating, maybe you caught someone in a lie. How did they respond to the confrontation? It’s not unusual for people to become hostile and argumentative in that kind of a situation.

Well, God confront us! And we don’t like it when we’re confronted with our sin. No one likes to be judged, but God judges justly. He proclaims that sin is sin, and it is damnable. And we can wrestle against Him all you want, but when God gets you in His grip, you’re not getting free! There is no technicality, loophole, or strategy you can employ against Him. There is only Christ who offers forgiveness and salvation!

You might feel tough and independent. We like to think we are masters of our own destiny. We proclaim: This is my life, my body, my decision. But when a person fights against God, all you do is wear yourself out. You strength is dried up as by the summer heat!

If you’ve felt that futility, if you’ve fought God and known how broken it leaves you, as David knew, you will be quick to confess your sin.

⁵ I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Now listen to v. 1 again. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
    whose sin is covered.

Now, v. 5. ⁵ I acknowledged my sin to you,
    and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
    and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Notice how David talks about sins being covered and forgiven.

It is tempting to try to cover our sin – to keep anyone from seeing the wrong we’ve done. That makes sense, it can be embarrassing, and sometimes we are ashamed of what we do. We want to cover that up and keep it secret, but David tells us, don’t do that! Confess it! Call out to God and confess your sins, because God will cover it. God’s desire is to forgive your sins for Jesus’ sake, to cover it in Jesus’ blood.

This is God’s blessing! He gives you salvation in His Son! He gives you forgiveness for Jesus’ sake! He covers your sin! Because of Jesus, He counts no iniquity against you!

So when you deal with God, let there be not deceit. You can’t fool God anyhow! Confess and receive what God has promised. That’s what David urges us to do in v. 6-7.

⁶ Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
⁷ You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah

He says to pray while God may be found. He’s saying to pray right away; don’t wait to call for forgiveness! Your God is a savior – THE Savior! When the troubles of sin rise like a flood against you, but you are in Christ, it can’t reach you. God is your hiding place. He covers you and protects you from sin’s accusations and from those horrible consequences it brings. He preserves you and gives you everlasting life because Jesus died and rose for you!

He also surrounds you with shouts of deliverance. These are the cries of people who have been freed: freed from sin, freed from guilt, freed from death. That’s you – this congregation and all our brothers and sisters in Christ. You are blessed.

Go! Live in this blessing! Amen.