Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 32:1-2 and following. Indeed, the more the soul has first groaned under the weight of its sins, the more it then tastes the happiness that we are told about in verses 1 and 2. Are you one of those blesseds? Otherwise verse 5 shows you the way to becoming one (Luke 15:18). “I have not covered…, in other words confessing everything is the indispensable means for God to cover my sin. On the contrary, if I try to hide it, sooner or later God will have to bring it to light (Mat 10:26). It is through the awakening of consciousness that God’s work begins. He lay his hand until the sinner was brought to repentance, immediately followed by forgiveness. The latter is presented to us in these verses in three aspects: the removal of a burden, the recovery of filth, the cancellation of a debt.
Then comes the walk. Let’s not look like beasts of burden without intelligence and which must therefore be driven by external constraints. The bridle and the bit are the image of the painful means that God is obliged to use when we do not want to approach Him (Pr 26:3). How much better it is to let ourselves be instructed, taught, advised directly by the Word and in communion with the Lord. For this psalm is of great value to the soul: A forgiven sinner passes back into his heart the experience he has made; and a most precious truth is expressed in this form. This psalm can be called the language of a sinner who passes through the spiritual resurrection, just as the previous one was the language of Jesus in his effective resurrection. The sinner celebrates the happiness of being delivered from the pit, from the guilt of sin, and from the empire of a heart full of pride and fraud. Even the temptation of fraud has disappeared – the soul renounces wanting to hide anything.
As someone said: “Pride, hitherto guardian of the secret perversions of the soul, loses all credibility for the sinner, and all things are left uncovered before the scrutinizing gaze of God. This time is when everything is brought to light and judged; and the result is that peace and confidence, that rest of mind which cannot be tasted until man’s heart has taken care of itself with righteousness.” This is what we have here – the fruit of a spirit of confession, and the application to the conscience, by faith, of the value of the blood of Jesus. Then burst the joy and confidence of a soul thus resurrected. Then the voice of the Lord is heard for a moment, introducing a rich promise; and at the end of the psalm, the risen sinner addresses words of warning to others, just as the risen Jesus did at the end of the previous psalm.
This is the experience – and the language – proper to every forgiven soul, and it was undoubtedly, and to a very high degree, that of David. Romans 4 gives it all its importance. “Every pious man” whose religion is according to God, finds the source of his trust in the truth expressed by this experience of David. For the “absence of fraud” of a Nathanael was the one referred to in this psalm, and did not come from a simple natural disposition (John 1:48): He had stood under the fig tree in the spirit of this psalm, as if convinced of sin, pouring out his heart, which had delivered his mind from fraud, for we learn here that a spirit of confession is a spirit without fraud. The Lord, seeing Nathanael, recognizes this character, and Nathanael does not refuse this greeting. Jesus had known the secret of his soul when he was under the fig tree (as he had known the secret of Zacchaeus’ soul when he was on the sycamore), and they meet, as the Lord and the one who invokes him meet in this wonderful psalm.
This is how we can still meet Jesus: He knew this Israelite without fraud without needing Philip to present it to him; and in spirit, Jesus always converses with the one who discovers the depth of his misery in the solitary one-on-one, or under the distant shadow (like that of Nathanael’s fig tree) where the feeling of his state has brought him. Then, in Ps. 32, we come to what Israel lacks, even more than this deliverance, namely the remission of sins. The weight of affliction turns his soul to god’s law and through it to the awareness that he has violated it. How in this respect would he invoke justice? It is forgiveness that he needs, and that Jehovah does not impute to him his iniquity of which he is now aware. For a long time he had struggled against this feeling, but Jehovah did not give him rest: he confesses his sin and fraud is taken out of his heart. It is impossible for the heart to be otherwise: until then we keep our iniquity hidden from it.
For forgiveness by grace draws pious man to God; in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him; the Lord is the asylum of his soul; He guards, blesses and leads. Only the faithful are exhorted to be intelligent by being obedient, instead of being without intelligence and having to be led by God’s providence. Notice here that while forgiveness is celebrated, and the residue will need it profoundly, the great distinguishing feature that separates the residue of the mass from the people is clearly maintained, namely trust, justice and integrity of heart while several pains will reach the wicked. This is why these Psalms speak of the character of jehovah, as revealed to the inspired authors; in principle, and often literally towards Christ, – in order to produce trust in the day of distress and to strengthen every restless soul; that is why we also see the celebration of full deliverance mixed with the request for such deliverance; for all this is prophetic and has had fulfillments. Before going any further, notice how the absence of fraud, produced in the heart by a complete forgiveness, brings the soul to that intimacy with God who makes it enjoy the direction through his eye. We have the same thought with him, and this in the perfection of his own nature.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The happiness of being forgiven:
· Forgiveness of sin, general references
Mt 26:28 for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. Luke 3:3 And he went to the whole land around Jordan, preaching baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins, Luke 24:47, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem. Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Hb 9:22 And almost everything, according to the law, is purified with blood, and without bloodshed there is no forgiveness.
· Divine hand on men, to punish and discipline them
Ex 7:5 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I extend my hand over Egypt and bring the children of Israel out of their midst. Dt 2:15 The hand of Jehovah was also upon them to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they had disappeared. Rt 1.13 Would you wait for this until they had grown up, would you refuse to marry? No, my daughters! for because of you I am in great affliction that the hand of jehovah has extended against me. 1 Sam 5:6 The hand of the Lord dwelled upon the Asdodians, and he put desolation among them; he struck them with hemorrhoids in Asdod and in his territory. Ps 32:4 For night and day your hand was resting over me, My vigor was no more than dryness, like that of summer. Acts 13:11 Now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, you will be blind, and for a time you will not see the sun. Immediately darkness and darkness fell on him, and he groped for people to guide him.
· Examples of Divine Instruction
-For the young Ps 71:17 I will say your mighty works, Lord Eternal! I will recall your justice, yours alone.
-Given with great sorrow Jr 32:33 They turned their backs on me, they did not look at me; They were taught, they were taught in the morning; But they did not listen to receive instruction.
-Foretold John 6:45 It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God. So whoever has heard the Father and received His teaching comes to me.
Christ, the Great Teacher Eph 4:21 if at least you have heard him, and if, in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus, it is in him that you have been instructed to strip yourself,
-The great lesson of love 1 Thess 4:9 As for brotherly love, you do not need to be written about it; for you yourselves have learned from God to love one another,
· Promises of Divine Mercy
Ex 34:7 who retains his love for up to a thousand generations, who forgives iniquity, rebellion and sin, but who does not hold the guilty person innocent, and who punishes the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the children of children up to the third and fourth generation! 2 Sam 22:26 With him who is good you show yourself good, With the righteous man you act according to your righteousness, Ps 89:29 I will always keep my goodness to him, and my covenant will be faithful to him; Ps 103:8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and rich in goodness; Isa 54:7 For a few moments I had forsaken you, but with great affection I will welcome you; Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; May he return to the Lord, who will have mercy on him, to our God, who never tires of forgiving. Jer 3:12 Go, cry these words out to the north, and say, Come, unfaithful Israel!” said the Lord. I will not cast a stern glance at you; For I am merciful, says the Lord, I do not keep my anger forever.
From all the above, we note that this Psalm is of a very extensive application, God be blessed: For the residue, it’s prophetic, in order to produce the truth in the heart and to encourage the faithful, by grace, to this confession of sin in which only God can bless, here, as always, because forgiveness and fraud do not go together. The remnant will know full acceptance before God only when he looks “to the One whom they have pierced” (Zac 12:10) and who comes, like Jehovah, to deliver. But let us go further and look at the great principle of which this Psalm is the expression: Complete, absolute forgiveness, the complete non-imputation of sin, this is what removes fraud from the heart. Outside of there we flee God, we apologize, we make up for evil if we do not dare to justify it. But with forgiveness in front of one’s eyes, one has the courage to be true at heart. Who will not say all his debts when it is only a question of seeing them paid by another? Who will not declare his evil for an assured cure? Grace brings the truth into the heart, leads it to confess its transgressions, and all the burden of sin is removed. The debonair and pious man is encouraged to approach a God known in this way. “But there is forgiveness with you, that ye may be feared” (Ps. 130:4). Our Psalm thus wants to bring the residue to a true confession: when it has become a fact, the residue will be introduced into the full blessing that awaits it. This Psalm is therefore a prophetic preparation and school for the saints; he places before them what will not be fully accomplished when they are led to turn to the Lord, but with the certainty that all their needs will be met. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER FOR ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the good after the Lord delivered the righteous from their distresses.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.