Blessed Are The Forgiven
By Machelle McDowell (Psalm 32)
March 13, 2023
Psalm 32:5- 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.
Let’s skate through Psalm 32 and take a peek at how refreshing and reassuring it is to experience the relief that confession of sin brings. The freedom from the imprisonment of guilt, shame, dishonor, bitterness, resentment, unworthiness, and all other arsenal that Satan uses to confine us in our sin.
David suffered the consequences of his sin many times throughout his life as do we. He came to understand fully the blessing of grace & forgiveness that pour into our lives when we confess our sin to God.
Grace & forgiveness stem from the beautiful act on the cross. Colossians 2:14 describes it so well. In summary, Jesus canceled our sin debt by nailing it to the cross!
We can envision Jesus hanging on the cross with pages upon pages filled with lists of sins from our lives nailed to the cross right alongside him!
The bad decisions from the past, the bad attitudes from last week, the faults that haunt us- the sin trap we find ourself entangled in right now…all of it was there on that day! All of it blotted out by his blood to be remembered no more! AMEN!
He knew the price we would pay for our sin…..death! He chose death to save us!
It is difficult for us to wrap our heads around the idea that when we confess and repent of sin, those mistakes are hidden in God’s sight! We are cleansed! Hallelujah! A new beginning is such a refreshing though, isn’t it?
Are you bogged down? Are you wallowing in past sin or maybe there is a sin pattern you are stuck in and can’t move beyond?
The blessing of forgiveness starts with confession. What happens when we keep sin silent? It kills us! It kills everything “good” in us and around us.
Psalm 32:3 points out that we think we can hide sin from God by keeping silent when in essence God can be our hiding place!
Take a look at Psalm 32:7-“You are a hiding place for me: you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” This is such a verse of comfort for us!
Don’t be like the stubborn horse or mule that Psalm 32:9 references. Our pride keeps us from humbling ourselves before God confessing our sin and repenting.
When I read Psalm 32:9, I was reminded of an old tale about a stubborn mule. The mule fell into an old abandoned well. An old farmer tried to save him but could not, so he decided to bury it alive filling in the well to prevent future mishaps.
All the while, the farmer pitched shovels of dirt into the well, the stubborn mule shook the dirt from his head and eventually, the dirt piled up high enough that the stubborn mule climbed to safety! Moral of the story: Don’t give in! Don’t be buried alive in your own sin!
We must learn to be pliable in His hands. We must be able to yield ourselves and not be stiff necked. Rejecting God will bring about his “bit and bridle” against us mentioned in Psalm 32:9.
We have all fallen in a hole that has been dug out by the sin in our lives at some point. The hole gets bigger and bigger and all at once, we find ourselves in it! Swallowed!
But, the question remains, How do you handle it when that happens? Do you repent? Do you remain? Are you stubborn enough to not let Satan have the victory? Fight.
Are you willing to reroute your stubborn nature enough to persevere and lean on the truths found in Psalm 32:10? “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trust in the Lord”
Trust the Lord today!
How can you be forgiven? It begins with admitting your sin and wanting to turn away from it. You have to choose to believe in Jesus and that He is the only way to come to God. He is God’s son who was born to be our Saviour. He took on the sin of the world by dying on the cross and paid our sin debt with his blood so that when we come to him in prayer and ask for his forgiveness, it is fully granted. He pours out his grace upon us and our sin is forgiven and we are promised eternity with him forever!
Check out these verses: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 9:10, & Romans 10:13……One of my favorites that summarize his grace is I John 1:9, “If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive our sin, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
That verse says it all, friend!