This morning, the text for our sermon is Psalm 32, verse 5. I would like to read together that psalm, but also Psalm 51, as the two psalms are connected. So first of all, we read together Psalm 51, and then Psalm 32. As we give our attention to the reading of God's Word. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love, according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time My mother conceived Me. Surely You desire truth in the inner parts. You teach Me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse Me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash Me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let Me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from My sins and blot out all My iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways and sinners will turn back to You. Save me from blood guilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare Your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it. You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. In your good pleasure, make Zion prosper, build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you. Then bulls will be offered on your altar. And then Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, My strength was sap as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found. Surely when the mighty waters rise they will not reach him. You are my hiding place. You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in Him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous. Sing, all you who are upright in heart. Verse 5 once again, Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Dear people of God, once again this morning we have been called to self-examination as we prepare to come to the Lord's table next week, the Lord willing. Indeed, not something to be taken lightly. Woe be to us if we should walk into church next Sunday morning and see the table prepared and go, oops, I forgot. Now, the purpose of this self-examination, of course, is not to see if we are worthy to come to the Lord's table, because in and of ourselves, we are not worthy. But we are called, congregation, to examine our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Do we believe that He has prepared a place for us? Do we believe that He has made us worthy to come to His table through His perfect righteousness and His perfect sacrifice for our sins? Therefore, as the first part of the examination suggests, according to the preparatory form, we need to ask ourselves, do I know my sin before God? Have I rightly confessed my sin to God? and do I believe that God has forgiven my sin? You see, congregation, this is crucial because sin is the reason for our alienation and separation from God, but forgiven sin, forgiven sin on account of the person and work of Jesus Christ, forgiven sin is the reason for our reconciliation with God. Now, the table of the Lord is not for those who are perfect as we already considered in the preparatory form. It's not for those who think they can come to God on their own, on their own terms, in their own way. It is for those who are forgiven and who know that they own that forgiveness. They have it as a possession. David owned that forgiveness. He had the confidence and joy of the Lord's forgiveness. And as we engage in self-examination throughout this coming week, this morning David teaches us, and this includes everyone, boys and girls, even if you do not eat the bread and you do not yet drink the juice that we have at the Lord's table, even though you do not yet do that, David still has something to teach you as well. He teaches every one of us how we are to deal with our sin. What we are to do with it. How we are to treat it. Beloved, the Word of God before us this morning teaches us about the penitence path to the joy of forgiveness. And as we consider this path, we notice, first of all, the prelude to humble confession. Secondly, the practice of humble confession. And then finally, the prize for humble confession. I trust that you will agree with me after having read Psalm 32 together, that you will agree with me that it is truly a psalm of comfort. And in its entirety, this psalm describes, as Paul says in Romans 6 verse 4, it describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. And then Paul goes on in Romans 6 to quote Psalm 32 verses 1 and 2. Also, it is agreed that Psalm 32 and Psalm 51 go hand in hand and both have to do with that familiar episode between David and Bathsheba which we find recorded in 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. And we remember that story well. At the time of the year when the kings were out fighting, what was David doing? He was sitting home while his men were out fighting. And therefore, he commits adultery with Bathsheba. And because of that, she is expecting a child from that affair. And we know that all of David's attempts to bring Uriah into the picture, all of his attempts fail, and therefore, he sees no other choice but to take Uriah completely out of the picture. And the whole episode there is filled with the sins of lying and deceit and murder and adultery and selfishness. You recall then that the prophet Nathan comes to David with a story about the rich man taking the poor man's sheep. And David, without knowing it, pronounces judgment upon himself. And then, of course, there are Nathan's piercing words which have resounded throughout history, You are the man. In his anguish of soul congregation, David wrote Psalm 51, a prayer of confession and repentance. And after his deliverance, he wrote Psalm 32, a song of the joy of forgiveness. And in verses 1 and 2 of this song, he sings of the most precious treasure for the believer, which is the forgiveness that we need to stand once again before a holy God. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him, and in whose spirit is no deceit. And then our text, verse 5, is a stanza about the path that we are to follow to forgiveness, which is the sincere and unreserved confession of sins. David says, I acknowledge my sin to you. Now we must first understand that he acknowledged that which he became convicted of. You will never acknowledge something that you are not convicted of. If you are not convicted of your sin, if you do not know your sin, you will not acknowledge your sin. You will not confess it. But David became convicted of his unholiness before the holiness of God. Therefore, we consider first of all the prelude to humble confession. He was brought under the conviction of sin and he tells us how in verses 3 and 4. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Beloved, the presence of God, being in the presence of God, convicts one of sin, as we consider with the mirror of God's law. You recall as well what Isaiah said when he was brought into the presence of the holiness of God. When the seraphim were singing, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory. And Isaiah says, Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips. Or Peter, when he was brought to understand that Jesus is indeed the Christ, he said, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Now, it is thought that David engaged in cover-up for about a year. And here he talks about the painful result of that cover-up. I don't know if David felt sapped that whole year, but at some point throughout that time, he became convicted. Remember, David was a believer. This is very important. He was a born-again child of God. So, what we are being taught here is how one in whom the Holy Spirit has begun His good work, how that one is to deal with sin. Whether dealing with it for the first time or dealing with it for the umpteenth time. But David first tells us how he was brought under the conviction of his sin. He tried to ignore it. He kept silent about his sin as if it didn't happen. He forgot that although man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart. And I think it's interesting, isn't it, that that is exactly what the Lord said to Samuel when Samuel was sent to David when he was just a boy to anoint him king. This king, who was now hiding sin in his heart, was the same boy whose heart delighted the Lord before. David is talking here about what the guilt of sin does to the believer, to the one God is working to restore. God's chastening of the unrepentant can be felt in the physical body. He says, My bones wasted away. Other versions translate this, My body wasted away, or My bones grew old. In other words, guilt immobilizes and saps one of strength. physically, mentally, spiritually, psychologically. God's hand presses down upon a guilty conscience so that we feel the weakness as of a fever. We experience the aches of a conscience. And I remember, as I mentioned earlier this morning in the first service in an episode, I remember all too well an episode in my high school days when I was hiding a specific sin that I had committed. A sin that I had to tell my parents sooner or later, but I decided a little later wouldn't hurt. And I felt so guilty and so terrible that the way that I looked and the way that I felt, my mom thought that I was literally sick. And I had to work hard to convince her that I wasn't. And it was only after, by God's grace, that I had confessed that sin to God and confided in my parents that that heavy weight was lifted. And I felt good. Not about the sin, of course. But now I was ready to face the punishment. Of course, my parents did not feel good because I had hurt them seriously as well. Beloved, this prelude to humble confession is telling us that when you do not pour out your sin to God in humble confession, not only is God angered, but you only torture yourself. The more David kept silent and refused to confess, the louder his conscience shouted out. And the truth is, there is nothing worse than to be deprived of God's favor. And the grief of guilt is the deepest and the sharpest when we hold that guilt in, when we shut it up tight. David's drained vitality reminds us of Isaiah 40, verse 7, where we read, the grass withers and the flower fades because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Congregation, why is the guilt of sin so terrible? because sin is so terrible. Maybe you've already noticed that here in the text, David uses three different words for sin. And actually, he repeats the three words that he had used initially in verses 1 and 2. Sin, iniquity, and transgression. Sometimes we just use the blanket word, the general term sin, to cover all three. But these are not different interpretations for the same Hebrew word. David uses three different Hebrew words here. Sin is considered missing the mark, not hitting the target which God has set for us. Iniquity is talking about turning the wrong way, a distortion of the heart from the right way to the wrong way. In other words, it implies a twistedness and a perversity. And then transgressions points to willful rebellion and disobedience, to knowingly refuse subjection to rightful authority. And therefore, I believe it's safe and accurate to say that sin includes the head, the heart, and the hands. These are all specific actions included in the general nature of sin, and altogether, they point to man's full-orbed rebellion against God. And therefore, is it any wonder that the preparatory form says that the wrath of God against sin is so great? But you see, beloved, those brought under the convicting hand of the Holy Spirit of God will go through this prelude to humble confession. In fact, beloved, we must go through this prelude to humble confession. Believe it or not, it's a blessing to go through this, even though it hurts. This is a part of the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification. Therefore, I ask you, does your sin, does your unconfessed sin trouble you in this way? And I pray that it does. I pray that you are troubled by it because only then will it drive you and me to the necessary practice of humble confession. Unconfessed sin is like a festering sword that needs to be lanced so the poison can drain away and the lance of confession is to be practiced. David says again, Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Now, what is the solution to the agony of sin's guilt? It is to return to God in humble confession. And of course, humble confession is so difficult, isn't it? Because of pride. As well, in our society and the pressures put upon us to do our best and all those kinds of things. Confession can be a sign of weakness. A sign that one is not able to stand on their own two feet. As well, unbelievers, whether they will admit it or not, are also convicted of their sin. But it's not a conviction born of faith. And therefore, many are blinded because of some sense of false security with the result that they are either unaware of God's wrath pressing down hard upon them or their hearts are hardened against His wrath and instead of confessing their sin to God, they look for ways to blame others or something else for their sin? Yes, beloved, confession can be so difficult because of pride, yet it's so simple, isn't it? It's so simple. We can't purchase God's favor. We cannot justify ourselves by our good works. We cannot be reconciled to God by anything we have done. Yet it's so simple. You see, God doesn't ask us to swim the ocean and therefore your sins will be forgiven. He doesn't say, give me all of your savings account and therefore your sins will be forgiven. He doesn't even tell us to walk across the street and therefore your sins will be forgiven. He says, drop to your knees. Drop to your knees. All that is required of us is a broken spirit and a contrite heart of confession. Without faith, one will only continue to try to hide their sins and justify themselves, to try to prove that they are righteous in and of themselves. But David teaches us that the proper path includes opening ourselves wide open before God. Even as Joel says, as we considered last week, do not rend your garments, but rend your heart. Open it wide open before God. Cast your burdens upon the Lord, for He cares for you. Now, of course, does God need us to do this? No, not at all. He knows us better than we know ourselves. We don't need to inform Him about anything. But He requires this of us. In this life, if we want to achieve the favor of someone else, we try to earn it or we show that we are worthy of it. But David teaches us, congregation, that the ready way, the ready way of obtaining the favor of God is to tell the truth about Himself. It is David. And this includes condemning himself before God. It includes fleeing to God in humility. It includes craving God's forgiveness. He teaches us to turn and run to God and plead for pardon. David doesn't conceal anything. Boys and girls, he did not hide his sin. He made his sins known to God. That's what he means when he says, I acknowledge my sin to you. And in Psalm 51, we find that He didn't just simply make a general blanket confession of sin, but He was specific. In Psalm 51, verse 14, He says, Save me from blood guilt, O God. He was indeed guilty of shedding innocent blood. He did not hide His iniquity. That means He didn't try to cover it up. He didn't try to make it invisible to God. Have you ever tried to do that? Boys and girls? Young people? All of us? Have you ever tried to cover up something you have done wrong? If you have, maybe you did get by with it. Maybe your mom or dad doesn't know. Maybe your teacher didn't find out. Maybe your employer didn't find out. But you didn't get by with it with God. He saw every detail. David did not try to make it as though his sin had never taken place. Only God can do that, you see. Only God can make us as if we had never sinned. And He does this for His penitent people through His justification and forgiveness. David removed himself from all excuses. He didn't blame anyone else for his sin. He knew what fellowship with God was all about. He had enjoyed that for a long, long time. He had the assurance that God would hear him and that God would indeed pardon him and by the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit, He knew as Proverbs 28, verse 13 says, He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Remember that second part. Don't forget that. He who confesses and forsakes them. Remember, confession, contrition, and conversion. Being sorry enough to quit. And because of that assurance that David owned, The terror of coming before the Lord in confession was removed from Him. It was taken away. When we confess our sins that we have committed against each other, when we confess those to each other, we really don't know how the offended party is going to react, do we? In fact, that's often the reason why we don't confess our sins to each other that we have committed against each other, because we are afraid of how the offended party will react. We don't know how we will stand with them. Often, I believe, it's better than what we thought. But our Lord's promise is clear. Make no mistake about our comfort of where we stand with our God. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Humble confession brings sweet relief to the believer, not first of all because he or she got this off of his or her chest, But first of all, because of the prize of humble confession. And now, of course, we're not talking about a prize won by what you or I have done. By the work that we were able to do to win that prize. By our accomplishments. But we're talking about the reward that the Bible speaks of. The reward of God's grace as the catechism also speaks of. The prize that Paul speaks of. When Nathan told David about the rich man taking the poor man's lamb, David became angry and said that the rich man shall surely die and that he would restore fourfold. And indeed, David deserved to die. But God, in His amazing grace, forgave him. And David confesses, And you forgave the guilt of my sin. Now, we know that the results of David's sin stayed as the child's life was taken by the Lord and as there was adversity. The sword never departed from David's house. He had to live with the consequences of sin. But God forgave David. And the tense of the verb in the Hebrew there tells us that this forgiveness was permanent. Never end. There wasn't a run-out period, a time period, a warranty period. It was permanent. The idea here is that God took up or lifted off the guilt of David's sin from Him. It's a heavy weight that burdens us down. David was able to walk on air afterward. The practice of humble confession leads to the joy of forgiveness. David could confidently say elsewhere, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. David knew that one day when he stood before the Almighty Judge, that judge would remember his sins no more. Charles Spurgeon, in his devotional morning and evening, on one particular day, he considers a few words from Ecclesiastes, those familiar words, all is vanity. Everything is vanity. And he talks about the fact that the world offers no satisfaction. Absolutely none. And then listen to what he says. If you could have all the comforts of life, but lost your Savior, you would be wretched. If you have Christ and were to waste away in prison, you would find it a paradise. Should you live in obscurity or die in famine with Christ, you would be fully satisfied with favor and with goodness. A few years ago, shortly after I was diagnosed with the cancer that I dealt with, in my devotions, I came across Psalm 25, verse 18. And David had been talking about, just previous in the context, talking about his troubles and his afflictions, somewhat complaining to God, lamenting his difficulty. And then in verse 18, he says, Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. God, please notice what I am going through, but take away my sins. He knew that more important than having the affliction taken away, He needed His sins taken away. And at that time in my life, that was very comforting because I was brought to realize that I could die healthy, in a manner of speaking, at a ripe old age. But if my sins were not forgiven, so what? But my body could be riddled with cancer. But if my sins were forgiven, then I had absolutely everything. That's what we truly need. Beloved, we may be called upon to live with the consequences of our sin. But the forgiven child of God does not have to live with the guilt of sin. There's another important detail that we need to consider here. And that is when David says, I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the guilt of my sin. God's forgiveness was immediate. God didn't have to think about it. Not even for a minute. David's confession did not have to be considered an executive session and voted upon. God's forgiveness is simultaneous with a confession. In 2 Samuel 12, verse 13, we read, So David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has put away your sin. You shall not die. And one commentator said, God is more ready to pardon sin upon our repentance than we are ready to repent in order to obtain the pardon. Beloved, in the parable of the prodigal son, we also notice that no sooner did the son confess that he was not worthy to be called his father's son, and his father restored him to full sonship. Congregation, why does God forgive His penitent children? Not because we feel sorry for our sins. Not because we confessed them in prayer. These things are necessary as we have seen. Again, confession, contrition, and conversion. But He forgives because He is faithful and just. He is faithful to His promises to forgive those who confess. And He is just with reference to the cross of Jesus. God will not make us pay for that which Christ has already made payment. The burden of our sin is lifted off of our shoulders and has been placed upon the shoulders of Jesus Christ. And He has dealt with that burden completely. Beloved, the table of the Lord draws our eyes to that payment. And as we partake of the supper, That signifies the union, the relationship we now have with the Lord and with each other as His people through God's forgiving grace. Yes, every child of God, beloved, every child of God, every last one, must travel the penitent's path to the joy of forgiveness, but not to earn that forgiveness. God forgives you and me because Christ earned that forgiveness on the cross. But God bestows forgiveness to you and me through this path. It's ours by faith. This path is the manner in which we receive God's forgiving grace. Of course, we depend upon God to give us that forgiveness. Again, received by faith. What a prize. What a prize. Do you consider that a prize? David went from dire distress because of the guilt of his sin to being guilt-free. And what a beautiful truth is that this is what we will find each and every time we come before God's throne of mercy and grace. And of course, beloved, this is not then to make sinning easier for us because every forgiven sin makes committing the next sin more difficult. Because we understand by the grace of God what Jesus Christ suffered to pay for that sin. We are called to forsake our sin. If you are here this morning and you have not yet repented of your sin and confessed your sin to God, you must know that He will not turn away those who come to Him in true faith. Anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. He will hear you. And therefore, His call goes forth to turn to Him in repentance and in faith. And you will have the joy of forgiveness. But if you keep your back turned on Him, He will say to you one day, Depart from Me, for I never knew you. Beloved, this call to self-examination is the call to seek the Lord while He may be found. To call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the evil man His thoughts. Let him return to the Lord and He will have mercy on Him and to our God. For He will abundantly pardon. And this table which stands before us is for those who are forgiven. Forgiveness of our sins is indeed an amazing gift. It is our most precious treasure. And I pray that to you it is your most precious treasure that nothing is more precious. And the full blessing of God is ours only when we are reconciled to God through the forgiveness of sins. And you know, congregation, the thought, the very thought that God will forgive our sins is amazing. But the truth that God does forgive our sins for Jesus' sake is a joy and a blessing inexpressible. Yet a joy to be demonstrated through thankful living. Blessed is He whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. His is the blessing of life, congregation. Everlasting. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, again, as we bow in prayer before Your throne of grace, we stand amazed at what You have done for us as Your people. First of all, calling us to be Your people. Electing us from before the foundation of the world. Choosing when we would have fought against it. Choosing to rescue us from darkness. To live in your marvelous light. And Father, to consider what you have done for us through the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ is beyond that which we can comprehend. But Father, we pray that as your people you would cause us to grow in the joy of this gift of salvation, full and free. That we might understand more and more every day as we consider our sin, the sins of the day, that we would consider and understand what Jesus Christ did to pay for those sins. And therefore, that we would be led more and more by Your Spirit to fight against sin and the devil. Father, we thank You for being our God. We thank You for calling us to be our children. May we demonstrate that thanksgiving. Throughout the entirety of our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray these things. Amen.