04 August 2024 // Psalm 32
SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION: Psalm 32
SERMON REVIEW:
Blessed when sin is forgiven vs. 1-2
Forgiven-
Blessed
Covered -
Corrected –
Burdened when sin is concealed vs. 3-4
Affected his Health -
Affected his Happiness -
Affected his Heart –
Pardoned when sin is confessed vs. 5
Sin-
Transgressions –
Iniquity –
Path when sin is conquered vs. 6 -11
Timely prayer –
Peaceful retreat
Continued counsel (God speaking 6-11) –
Willing spirit –
Horse –
Mule –
Loving spirit –
Joyful heart –
QUESTIONS:
1. What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
2. What did the message teach me about the human condition?
3. Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
4. How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
5. How can I encourage others with this passage?
BACKGROUND
If one really wants to know the intricacies of a subject the best thing is to find an expert, someone who has had wide experience of it. Ask him! David is such a help to us in this prevalent and personal matter of sin because he, himself, was such a great sinner. For although David was one of the greatest saints of Scripture and one of the greatest sages of Scripture and one of the greatest sovereigns of Scripture, he was also one of the greatest sinners of Scripture. He sinned with a highhanded rebellion and with a depth of cunning and duplicity which would astonish us did we not know the wickedness of our own hearts.
Three times he uses that significant word, selah! “There! what do you think of that?” “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old … my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.” “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” “Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Conviction! Confession! Confidence! Think about that!
David was a haunted man after he had seduced the wife of his most loyal soldier, and arranged with Joab for the murder of the man himself. For the best part of a year David put up a bold front and tried to brazen it, haunted at night, haughty by day. Then God sent Nathan the prophet to publicly accuse and condemn the king—and then to promise forgiveness when he saw the tears of repentance flow. Like the lancing of a boil it brought immediate relief At once David wrote Psalm 51 in which he promised he would teach transgressors God’s ways. He did so by writing Psalm 32. This is a maschil psalm, the first of thirteen such teaching psalms in the Hebrew hymnbook. From his own bitter experience David intends in Psalm 32 to set forth a sermon in song on the nature of sin, what happens when it is concealed, and what happens when it is confessed, cleansed, and conquered. So then Psalm 32 is both a sermon and a song. If, as Augustine said, “The beginning of knowledge is to know thyself to be a sinner,” then here we have the place where all true knowledge begins.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
32:1–2. Sin forgiven
‘Happy’, a more exuberant word than Blessed, is the proper opening to both these beatitudes (see on Ps. 1:1). In case we over-press any one metaphor for atonement, two distinct pictures occupy verse 1: lifting or removing (forgiven), and concealing from sight (covered). The first of these corrects any idea that ‘covered’ means hiding what is still present and unresolved (a notion which the same verb alludes to in 5a, ‘hide’).
2. Leaving figures of speech aside, we now learn of being reckoned righteous and of practising the truth. Romans 4:6–8 quotes this to show that the important word imputes (or ‘reckons’) implies that, when God treats us as righteous, it is his gift to us apart from our deserts; and the rest of that chapter uses the context of this same word in Genesis 15:6 to teach that the gift is received by faith alone. Any idea, however, that we are free to ‘continue in sin that grace may abound’ is firmly excluded by the emphasis on sincerity at the close of our verse.[2]
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How does David describe the state of the person whose sin is forgiven? How does that make you feel about God's forgiveness?
2. Reflect on a time when you kept silent about a sin. How did that affect you physically and emotionally, akin to David's description in verses 3-4?
3. In verse 5, what actions does David take to receive God's forgiveness? What steps can you take to replicate this in your own life?
4. In verses 6-7, David talks about God being his "hiding place." What does this metaphor mean to you personally? How has God been a "hiding place" for you?
5. Verse 8 sees God promising guidance and instruction. How have you experienced God's guidance in your life?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 32.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 151.
SERMON REVIEW:
Blessed when sin is forgiven vs. 1-2
Forgiven-
Blessed
Covered -
Corrected –
Burdened when sin is concealed vs. 3-4
Affected his Health -
Affected his Happiness -
Affected his Heart –
Pardoned when sin is confessed vs. 5
Sin-
Transgressions –
Iniquity –
Path when sin is conquered vs. 6 -11
Timely prayer –
Peaceful retreat
Continued counsel (God speaking 6-11) –
Willing spirit –
Horse –
Mule –
Loving spirit –
Joyful heart –
QUESTIONS:
1. What did the message teach me about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit?
2. What did the message teach me about the human condition?
3. Is there anything I need to confess, repent, or be grateful for, because of this passage?
4. How do I need help in believing and applying this scripture to my life?
5. How can I encourage others with this passage?
BACKGROUND
If one really wants to know the intricacies of a subject the best thing is to find an expert, someone who has had wide experience of it. Ask him! David is such a help to us in this prevalent and personal matter of sin because he, himself, was such a great sinner. For although David was one of the greatest saints of Scripture and one of the greatest sages of Scripture and one of the greatest sovereigns of Scripture, he was also one of the greatest sinners of Scripture. He sinned with a highhanded rebellion and with a depth of cunning and duplicity which would astonish us did we not know the wickedness of our own hearts.
Three times he uses that significant word, selah! “There! what do you think of that?” “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old … my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.” “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” “Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Conviction! Confession! Confidence! Think about that!
David was a haunted man after he had seduced the wife of his most loyal soldier, and arranged with Joab for the murder of the man himself. For the best part of a year David put up a bold front and tried to brazen it, haunted at night, haughty by day. Then God sent Nathan the prophet to publicly accuse and condemn the king—and then to promise forgiveness when he saw the tears of repentance flow. Like the lancing of a boil it brought immediate relief At once David wrote Psalm 51 in which he promised he would teach transgressors God’s ways. He did so by writing Psalm 32. This is a maschil psalm, the first of thirteen such teaching psalms in the Hebrew hymnbook. From his own bitter experience David intends in Psalm 32 to set forth a sermon in song on the nature of sin, what happens when it is concealed, and what happens when it is confessed, cleansed, and conquered. So then Psalm 32 is both a sermon and a song. If, as Augustine said, “The beginning of knowledge is to know thyself to be a sinner,” then here we have the place where all true knowledge begins.[1]
DIGGING DEEPER:
32:1–2. Sin forgiven
‘Happy’, a more exuberant word than Blessed, is the proper opening to both these beatitudes (see on Ps. 1:1). In case we over-press any one metaphor for atonement, two distinct pictures occupy verse 1: lifting or removing (forgiven), and concealing from sight (covered). The first of these corrects any idea that ‘covered’ means hiding what is still present and unresolved (a notion which the same verb alludes to in 5a, ‘hide’).
2. Leaving figures of speech aside, we now learn of being reckoned righteous and of practising the truth. Romans 4:6–8 quotes this to show that the important word imputes (or ‘reckons’) implies that, when God treats us as righteous, it is his gift to us apart from our deserts; and the rest of that chapter uses the context of this same word in Genesis 15:6 to teach that the gift is received by faith alone. Any idea, however, that we are free to ‘continue in sin that grace may abound’ is firmly excluded by the emphasis on sincerity at the close of our verse.[2]
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. How does David describe the state of the person whose sin is forgiven? How does that make you feel about God's forgiveness?
2. Reflect on a time when you kept silent about a sin. How did that affect you physically and emotionally, akin to David's description in verses 3-4?
3. In verse 5, what actions does David take to receive God's forgiveness? What steps can you take to replicate this in your own life?
4. In verses 6-7, David talks about God being his "hiding place." What does this metaphor mean to you personally? How has God been a "hiding place" for you?
5. Verse 8 sees God promising guidance and instruction. How have you experienced God's guidance in your life?
PRAYER:
[1] John Phillips, Exploring Psalms 1–88: An Expository Commentary, vol. 1, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel Publications; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Ps 32.
[2] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 151.