Lord of My Guilt
Pastor Chad A. Miller
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 35:13
0 ratings
· 11 viewsGod’s heavy hand on our conscience, is a reminder that He loves us, and is using misery for our good. What will you do with your guilt? Hiding is results in callousness and corruption. Confession is the pathway to blessing.
Files
Notes
Transcript
Reflection Text: Psalm 86:5-7
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me.
Sermon Text: Psalm 32
A Maskil of David.
1 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
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
I don’t want to come off like a conspiracy theorist…but when a friend of ours posted this on Facebook, I was inclined to agree:
In the market for a product?
Do a Google search or an Amazon search and then just wait for all the options to show up in your news feed.
It is no secret that the companies with whom we do business and the technology and information superhighway that we depend on know a lot about us. It is increasingly difficult to get “off the grid”.
And yet, they don’t know everything. They only know what we allow them to know…what we publish, what we produce.
The Scriptures introduce us to the Magnificent, Majestic, All-Powerful, All-Present, and ALL-KNOWING Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
Google, Facebook, even the NSA don’t have an edge on the telescope of His all-seeing eye.
David knows he has sinned. He knows God knows it, too.
You may recall the incidents in David’s life that provide the background for this Psalm:
2 Samuel 11-12 While his armies went off to war, David stayed behind in Jerusalem and seduced an officer’s wife.
When she became pregnant, David arranged for her husband, Uriah, to be killed in battle.
David had coveting, adultery, murder, and lying on his hands.
He tried to hide his sin from God and others.
Nathan confronts him.
His confession is in Psalm 51
This Psalm is a Maskil…a teaching Psalm. There is good reason to think this flows out of David’s commitment in Psalm 51 to “teach transgressors your ways...”
When we first come to Jesus as Lord and Savior, it is in response to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in our lives…showing us the awfulness of our sin and rebellion and the sweetness of a Savior who knows everything about us and yet still loves us with His steadfast love!
God radically saves us - transferring us from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of His marvelous light. The very real challenge is: even though we sin less we are not sinless or perfect.
Even if we have been Christians for many years, all of us sin. As we grow and mature in Christ, we begin to understand that some of our deep feelings of sorrow arising from past events are actually from sin.
This realization, this guilt can either lead to true repentance or destructive bitterness and stone-cold callousness.
So, we appeal to the LORD Jesus Christ, knowing that God has provided a means of removing guilt, and opening the way for us believers to know the blessings of a right relationship with him.
This morning, I’ll endeavor to work the text in its purest form and application. I will give a care to how we might apply this text to our current plight before us as we are still reeling with the heinous sin of racism which strikes at the very core of God’s power as Creator and His reconciling role as High Priest.
If we let the text set the tone for the flow of the sermon this morning.
I think we’ll clearly see:
THE BLESSING of FORGIVENESS (vv 1-2)
THE PROCESS of FORGIVENESS (vv 3-9)
THE RESULTS of FORGIVENESS (vv 10-11)
THE BLESSING (1-2)
THE BLESSING (1-2)
1 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.
There is a blessing - a double blessing on those who are forgiven! This is better than anything you can imagine.
There is a joy, unspeakable and full of glory, to know that we know that we know that our sins have been forgiven - we have been washed clean - we are on the Lord’s side - God is for us…and He is kind and forgiving!
Of the roughly 6 different words used for “sin” in the Bible, David uses 3 of them right here.
Transgression - has to do with rebellion.
siding with the enemy - ruining our lives and those around us.
Sin - missing the mark.
it’s the pitcher whose form is perfect and follow through is excellent, but the ball bounces before it gets to home plate - and it’s OUTSIDE
it’s the archer whose arrow digs up the grass well ahead of her intended target
Iniquity - this is crookedness, perversion, or waywardness.
There’s no need to even unpack the other forms that aren’t mentioned here…these have pretty much nailed us.
It’s similar to a sample of an evangelistic conversation that uses the law as guide to guilt:
She says, “Do you think you’re a good person?”
He says, “Yep…I know I am.”
She says, “How do you know?”
He says, “Well, I follow the rules, don’t get into trouble. I treat people well and I’m nice.”
She says, “Do you think the 10 commandments are a good place to measure “goodness”? Let’s look at a couple of those.”
He says: “sure”
She says, “Ever told a lie…one little lie…something that you knew wasn’t true when you were saying it - but you said it?”
…ever stolen anything?...
…ever looked on a woman with lust?...
By your own admission, you’ve admitted to being a lying, thieving, adulterer…and we only made it through 3 of the 10.
Why would God let you into Heaven?
---
See, whether its transgression, sin, iniquity, or any other word used to describe it...
2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE…IS NOT THE NATURE OF SIN - it’s all these sins can be forgiven!
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
David…the Bible matches these 3 words for sin with 3 words of pardon.
Transgression is FORGIVEN - (“nah-suh”) literally to carry away
Sin is COVERED - (“kee-sah”) atoned for, hidden, concealed…with blood.
COUNTS no iniquity (“hosh-shob”) reckoned (accounting term)
(it’s the same word used to described how God “counted” Abraham as righteous in Gen 15)
BLESSED / HAPPY / JOYFUL! Who is blessed?…THE FORGIVEN!
The “deceit” mentioned in verse 2 is not concerned with lying to others - it’s more about lying to yourself or to God,
THE PROCESS (3-9)
THE PROCESS (3-9)
- THE BURDEN OF GUILT
- THE BURDEN OF GUILT
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
Opening Up Psalms Psalm 32
Some burdens are so heavy that they seem to consume all our strength. No burden is heavier than the burden of guilt, and perhaps no one has ever carried a heavier burden of guilt than King David.
What we have described here in verses 3-4 is a far cry from the happiness experienced by the comprehensive forgiveness in the first 2 verses. David’s stubborn silence has paved the way for agony…this is guilt doing a number on him.
So, what do YOU do with your guilt? Will you ask the Lord to show you your sin? Will you confess?
OR Will you hide? Someone said, trying to hide your sin is like gluing wallpaper over a moldy wall.
(The Process of Forgiveness) Notice the
- RELIEF OF CONFESSION
- RELIEF OF CONFESSION
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
Opening Up Psalms The Relief of Confession (v. 5)
What does it mean to confess our sins? It means to agree with God about them. Before David came to the point of confession, he and God were on opposite sides of the fence. God was condemning his sin, and he was defending himself by rationalizing and excusing his sin.
You stop fighting against God. You stop lying to yourself!
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(The Process of Forgiveness) Notice the
- WISDOM AND ADVICE FOR THE FORGIVEN (vv 6-7)
- WISDOM AND ADVICE FOR THE FORGIVEN (vv 6-7)
V6 - Don’t wait until the floodwaters come in to try and deal with your sin or problems then. When you are overwhelmed, you can easily be OVERCOME if you’re not walking in the Spirit.
The waters will still come (calamity, tribulation), but it doesn’t have to undermine your faith…IF YOU’LL DEAL WITH YOUR SIN!
You will set yourself up to steward that moment/suffering/tribulation as a PULPIT to proclaim the steadfast (hesed) LOVE of God - “His wonderful, Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love”
If you will surrender your Guilt to the Lord, when trouble comes, you can stand on that pulpit and proclaim instead of fall into the pit and be overtaken.
v7 - Remember the believer, the disciple, knows that the only hiding we need to be involved in…is what the Lord provides for us IN CHRIST!
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
The phrase “let everyone who is godly” (v. 6) tells us that David is thinking primarily of believers as he writes this psalm. Nonbelievers often do not have the slightest twinge of conscience when they sin. It’s entirely possible that they identify with the people of Nineveh, not knowing their right hand from their left, morally (Jonah 4:11).
(The Process of Forgiveness)
THE OFFER OF FORGIVENESS
THE OFFER OF FORGIVENESS
Look with me at how this bridges to the instruction in verses 8-9
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
Preaching the Word: The Psalms, Volume 1—Rejoice, the Lord Is King (Psalms 1 to 41) The Result of Forgiveness
The Holy Spirit will teach you to obey and walk in the way of the righteous. A horse or mule will not obey without a bit turning this way and that. In context that bit is the heavy hand of God that forced David to finally confess his sins. God wants you to understand his ways and walk in them by your own will.
David is thinking of godly people like him who fall into sin.
You are tempted to stay silent.
You are ashamed and angry with yourself.
You don’t want to face God and admit what you have done.
Like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, you run off and hide when you hear God coming, walking in the cool of the day.
YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH IT!
if not, you may not be able to deal with it tomorrow
Sin is tricky, slippery. Left unconfessed, it will harden your heart!
If you hide your sin, your conscience can be calloused, you will have an unbelieving heart, and you will fall away from God according to Hebrews 3.12-14
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
In the 14th century, Robert Bruce of Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England. Near the end of the conflict, the English wanted to capture Bruce to keep him from the Scottish crown. So they put his own bloodhounds on his trail.
When the bloodhounds got close, Bruce could hear their baying. His attendant said, “We are done for. They are on your trail, and they will reveal your hiding place.” Bruce replied, “It’s all right.” Then he headed for a stream that flowed through the forest. He plunged in and waded upstream a short distance. When he came out on the other bank, he was in the depths of the forest.
Within minutes, the hounds, tracing their master’s steps, came to the bank. They went no farther. The English soldiers urged them on, but the trail was broken. The stream had carried the scent away.
A short time later, the crown of Scotland rested on the head of Robert Bruce.
The memory of our sins, prodded on by Satan, can be like those baying dogs—but a stream flows, red with the blood of God’s own Son. By grace through faith we are safe. No sin-hound can touch us. The trail is broken by the precious blood of Christ.
WE COME FINALLY TO THE
RESULTS OF FORGIVENESS
RESULTS OF FORGIVENESS
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
BLESSED. FORGIVEN. CLEAN. ATTENTIVE. LOVED. GLAD. UPRIGHT!
This is God’s blessing for us! It’s from God’s hand - this Psalm is at the heart of the Gospel. God has counted us righteous in Christ!
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
This final verse is a LOUD VERSE!
Speaking of Father’s Day, our God’s steadfast, covenant, love…“His wonderful, Never Stopping, Never Giving up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love” is like the father waiting to welcome his prodigal son or daughter home.
Trust Him to forgive your sins. His love will surround you!
3 types of sin mentioned at the beginning.
3 types of forgiveness attached to them!
3 different expressive praises to the LORD of our Guilt!
Be glad in the Lord!
rejoice!
shout for joy!
The pardoned cannot stay silent about their current state of affairs - as we have been made righteous by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
RESPONSE:
LOST: Friend, are you struggling with guilt today. Is it crushing?
Are you bent to the point of breaking because of your sin today?
You don’t have to leave that way! God, in His kindness, may have His heavy hand on your conscience…this misery can be for your good.
What will you do with your guilt?
Hiding is results in callousness and corruption.
Confession is the pathway to blessing.
Surrender today to the LORD of your guilt!
Trust Him today! Repent of your sin…put your faith in Christ alone because of the finished work of Calvary. He can bring you the blessing of forgiveness...
SAVED: Now a word to my brother or sister in Christ today. You and I aren’t perfect. The Holy Spirit still convicts us - it’s a reminder that God loves us and cares for us and wants what’s best for us - which is death to self.
My prayer is that we will stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit, AND sensitive to SIN.
Someone said, “David was good as sinning, but he was better at repenting…that’s why the Lord measured him as a man after His own heart.”
Is there any unconfessed sin you need to deal with this morning? Any wrong you need to right?…first with God, then with someone?
Next week we’ll look at Psalm 139, which concludes with an invitation for this all-seeing, All-knowing, but loving Father, to bring to the surface anything needed. It’s a great place to conclude:
English Standard Version Psalm 139
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
POST - SERMON
THE REMOVAL OF GUILT...
is God’s work (Jer 2.22, Rom 8:33, Isa 6.1-6)
requires confession (2 Sa 24.10; Ps 51:14; 1 John 1:8-9)
OT sacrificial system was ultimately ineffective in removing guilt (Heb 10.1-4; 9.9)
Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross (Isa 53:10-12, Heb 9:14)
Jn 1:29 The point of John’s image is that Jesus Christ will be sacrificed, as lambs were, to remove people’s guilt; Ro 5:9The blood of Jesus Christ referred to here is his shed blood, and therefore speaks of his (sacrificial) death; 2 Co 5:21 Human guilt is transferred to Jesus Christ, in order that believers might become righteous before God; Tt 2:14; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:11–14; 1 Jn 1:7)
Results in
A clean conscience Heb 9:14; Heb 10:22
Peace with God Is 53:5; Ro 5:1; Col 1:19–20
Access into God’s presence Ro 5:1–2; Eph 2:18
Joy Ps 32:1–11; Ro 5:1–2
Hope Rom 5.1-2
A desire to worship God Psalm 51:14-15
A desire to serve God Is 6:6–8; Jn 21:15–20