Joy in Forgiveness from a Sovereign God.

 By: Dr. Dale Weckbacher

 

Text: Psalm 32-33

Psalm 32:1-2

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
² Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

(NKJV)

 

Our salvation comes by the grace of a sovereign God and not by our own efforts, no matter how good we may be (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is what separates Christianity from other religions. With other religions, one must obey a set of rules and hope their efforts are sufficient to gain their god's favor. Christianity teaches the gospel with God doing the legal work of restoring one to right standing with God, giving people an opportunity to believe and receive eternal life (John 3:16). This does not mean one can continue in sin after expressing this belief because God paid a great price for our salvation, the death of God’s son so one obeys out of gratitude for God’s grace.

 

Psalm 32 begins with a declaration that one is blessed whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is covered with the Lord not imputing iniquity upon him or her (Psalm 32:1-2). David then tells of how his bones grew old when he kept silent through his groaning all day long (Psalm 32:3). David tells of how the hand of the Lord weighed heavily upon him until he acknowledged his sin before the Lord and was forgiven (Psalm 32:4-5). Forgiveness is the cause for which we should pray so that the flood, the great waters of God’s wrath, do not come upon us (Psalm 32:6). The Lord is David’s hiding place, the one who shall preserve him from trouble, and surround him with songs of deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

 

It is the Lord who instructs David in the way he should go and it is the Lord’s eye that guides him (Psalm 32:8). David uses the illustration of a horse or mule which must be guided by bit and bridle because they lack understanding (Psalm 32:9). The wicked have many sorrows but those trusting in the Lord receive mercy (Psalm 32:10). The righteous can be glad in the Lord and rejoice, shouting for joy from an upright heart (Psalm 32:11).

 

The author of Psalm 33 is unknown, but like many of David’s psalms, it begins with a call for the upright to praise the Lord with the harp and ten-stringed instrument, singing and playing skillfully with joy (Psalm 33:1-3). The word of the Lord is right with all the work of the Lord done in truth (Psalm 33:4). The Lord loves righteousness and justice with the earth full of the Lord’s goodness (Psalm 33:5). It is the word of the Lord that created the hosts of the heavens and gathered the waters of the sea together (Psalm 33:6-7). Because of the power of the spoken word of the Lord at creation, all the earth should fear the Lord, and its inhabitants should stand in awe of Him (Psalm 33:8-9).

 

The counsel of the Lord stands forever, and the plans of His heart are for all generations, but the counsel of the nations will come to nothing with the plans of the people having no effect (Psalm 33:10-11). A nation chosen as the Lord’s inheritance, whose God is the Lord, is blessed (Psalm 33:12). The Lord looks down from on high and sees all the sons of men and individually fashions their hearts, considering all their works (Psalm 33:13-15). A king is not saved by the multitude of an army, nor is a mighty man delivered by great strength, even the great strength of a horse is insufficient to deliver (Psalm 33:16-17).

 

The eye of the Lord is on those who fear him and hope in His mercy for deliverance from death and life in famine (Psalm 33:18-19). The souls of those choosing to fear the Lord wait for Him because He is their help and shield (Psalm 33:20). Because they trusted in the Lord, their hearts rejoice (Psalm 33:21). The psalmist asks for the mercy of the Lord to be upon the people as they hope in Him (Psalm 33:22).

 

The Psalms are emotional expressions to the Lord. In Psalm 32, David rejoices in the Lord's forgiveness. While David did not have the benefit of the gospels recording the historical ministry of Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection pointing to our salvation from sins by the grace of God, he had faith in the promises that a savior would come (Genesis 3:15). While David needed faith to look forward to the coming Messiah, we need faith to believe the message of the Gospel because none of us has personally seen Jesus. Even those who walked with Jesus needed to have faith that He was who He claimed to be (John 8:12). The bottom line is that no one can please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

 

In Psalm 33, an unidentified psalmist praises the Lord’s sovereignty in both His creation and throughout history. All people are without excuse when it comes to seeing the sovereignty of God, for it is present in all creation (Romans 1:20). Unfortunately, this is not enough for some, as Paul observed in the Roman and Greek worship of many gods, worshipping at temples built by men worshipping idols made by men (Romans 1:21-23). However, if this is not enough to point to the sovereignty of God, we must look at history. Joseph was preserved in Egyptian captivity to be used of God to deliver his family from famine (Genesis 50:20). This same God would later deliver the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery in a demonstration of his power as recorded in the book of Exodus. However, the greatest historical demonstration of the sovereignty of God is his conquest of death by resurrecting Jesus from the dead.

 

Jesus said that true worshippers of God do so in Spirit and truth (John 4:24). Unfortunately, in many churches, there is truth but no Spirit, and in other churches, there is worship in Spirit with little or no truth. Total emphasis on truth presents biblical truth but lacks the transformative power of the Holy Spirit to change lives. Total emphasis on worship in the Spirit can lead to people worshipping to receive an emotional experience instead of a heart transformation based on biblical truth. What Jesus is saying in John 4:24 is to have a balance of worship in Spirit and truth, experiencing heart transformation (Romans 12:2).

 

If you are reading this and have never prayed to receive God’s free gift of salvation by confessing your belief in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection or have drifted away in your relationship with God, I invite you to pray with me now.

 

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, spent three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

 

May God challenge, bless, and encourage everyone reading this post.