Blessed Are The Forgiven

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Psalms.

The book of Psalms in our chapter this morning is Psalm chapter 32.

Psalms 32 · chapter mention

! We're continuing our series this summer through the book of Psalms.

We've done that in the past, this is year four, right?

So ten at a time, and we're working our way through the thirties this summer.

So we've come to chapter 32.

And when you've found that, if you would please,

let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.

Psalm chapter 32.

Psalms 32 · chapter mention

David writes,

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

For 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 dried up as by the heat of summer.

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.

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.

You are a hiding place for me.

You preserve me from trouble.

You surround me with shouts of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

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.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,

but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,

and shout for joy, O you upright in heart.

Grass withers and the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Would you bow and pray with me once more?

Father, we pray, God, would you empower the preaching of your word

by the power of your spirit for the good of your people.

Lord, would we grasp the depth and the glory of this great blessing

of having our sins forgiven.

Would we rejoice in what you've done for us in Christ this morning.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

There is a Viking legend of a man named Orm Sterolfsen that I read recently.

Orm made Viking history in Norway about a thousand years ago

when he and the Earl and several other Vikings went to cut down a large tree

in order to create the giant ship mast of the Viking ship.

If you can imagine a Viking ship in your mind,

you probably recognize that long protruding ship mast coming off the front of the ship.

That's called the Ormren Lange, which translated means the long serpent.

And it is a giant tree whittled down.

Apparently this tree was 32 feet long.

It weighed 1,433 pounds.

And so naturally the Earl wanted to see,

well, how many Viking men does it take to pick up this tree?

And he had 60 go.

And together they lifted it up and they put it on their shoulders.

But then two by two, they filtered off the edges

until only Orm was left right there in the middle,

bearing the entire weight all by himself.

And you can imagine how heavy that must have felt.

1,433 pounds on his shoulders.

It says that Orm was able to hold it for a minute,

which is impressive enough.

But then he decided that he was going to try and take some steps forward

and walk bearing this heavy burden on his back.

And so the legend says that Orm took three steps forward

holding this giant beam on his back

until finally after step number three,

the weight became too much.

And Orm broke his back under the burden

and was never the same again.

Would it surprise you if I told you this morning

that I have carried a heavier weight than that?

And that I've carried it for much longer than three steps,

four steps, five steps,

that in fact I have carried that weight for years of my life

going through trying to put one step in front of the next

and live my life carrying this burden on my back?

Would it surprise you if I told you that

probably some of you in this room this morning

are carrying this heavy burden right now?

You brought it into here with you this morning.

And of course the weight that I'm talking about,

the weight that Psalm chapter 32 is talking about this morning,

Psalms 32 · chapter mention

is the crushing heavy burden of our sin.

King David in our passage this morning,

he admits that even he has carried this heavy burden

on his back before.

And he tried to live with it.

He tried to put one step in front of the next.

He tried to keep walking forward

until by God's grace,

he realized that he's not strong enough

to bear this burden.

None of us are.

And so by God's grace,

he called out to the Lord

and experienced the blessing

of having that weight removed.

This is the main message of Psalm chapter 32 this morning.

Psalms 32 · chapter mention

It's this,

the greatest blessing in the world

is the forgiveness of sins.

The greatest blessing in the world

is the removal off of our back

of the great burden,

the great weight of our sin.

It's the transfer of that guilt

onto someone somewhere else.

And the good news of the gospel

is that this blessing is available

for any sinner,

for each and every one of us

in Jesus Christ.

So let's take a look at Psalm 32

together this morning.

And as we do,

we'll consider three parts this morning.

We're going to consider

the greatest blessing in the world

in three parts.

This will be our outline

if you're taking notes.

It'll help you follow along.

First,

we see true blessing explained.

True blessing explained.

Here in verses 1 and 2,

we get to see David's explanation

of true blessing.

Look there with me,

verses 1 and 2.

And the first thing

that we should notice here

is the good news

that David believes

real,

genuine,

lasting blessing

is possible.

Real,

genuine,

lasting blessing

is actually out there

for us to be,

to be,

for it to be experienced,

for it to be known,

for it to be received.

And we need to be reminded of this

because it doesn't always feel that way,

does it?

And we live in a world

where,

to put it simply,

right,

bad things happen,

right?

And we live in a world

where the world is not

as it should be.

You go out to enjoy the sun

and guess what?

It burns you.

And you go to sit out

on your front porch at night

and guess what?

The no-see-ums come

and they bite you.

But it's often more serious

than that,

right?

We live in a world

where sometimes

we struggle financially,

sometimes we struggle mentally,

sometimes we struggle emotionally.

We live in a world

where sickness is a thing

and loved ones get sick.

Sometimes we live in a world

where we experience

the grief and the loss

of loved ones.

And if we're not careful

as we look around

at all the hard things,

all the hardship

in the world that we live in,

we can easily let ourselves think

that real blessing

is not really possible.

That's just a pipe dream

that those religious people

talk about, right?

It's not real.

David here says,

yes, it is.

It is real.

In fact, he starts this psalm

with the word blessed.

And that word,

it can also be translated happy.

It's the first time

since Psalm 1

that that word

has appeared in the Psalter.

It's been 31 other psalms

until we finally return

to this idea of blessing.

And you'll notice

as we keep going,

that term,

that idea,

keeps coming up again

and again

and again

and again.

And here he repeats it twice.

He's doubling down here.

Blessed, happy

is the one

whose transgression

is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man

against whom the Lord

counts no iniquity.

He says,

that is where true blessing

can be found.

But that blessing,

here's the bad news.

It requires that we grasp

the depth of our sin.

Before we can get

to the good news

and really understand

what this blessing is,

we have to first grasp

the bad news.

I want you to look

at how David describes

our sin

here in the first two verses.

David uses three terms here

to give us a full picture

of our sin.

Look there with me.

He says,

we are guilty

of transgression.

What's that?

That's rebellion.

That is high treason

against God,

the King of Kings.

He says,

we are guilty,

all of us,

we are guilty

of sin.

We've all fallen short

of the glory of God.

He says,

all of us,

we're all guilty

of iniquity.

That's corruption.

We're corrupted.

Everything in us

is twisted up

and polluted.

We are not

as we ought to be.

These three terms

are the full picture here.

These three terms

are the most common

three terms

used in the Old Testament

for our sin.

In fact,

all three terms

show up together

in another place

in the Old Testament,

Leviticus 16,

Leviticus 16:21

verse 21,

which,

if you want me

to describe that to you,

this is where Aaron

is instructed

to lay both of his hands

on the head

of a live goat

and confess over it

all the iniquities

of the people of Israel

and all their transgressions,

all their sins,

and he shall put them

on the head of the goat

and send it away

into the wilderness.

This is what we call

expiation.

It's a big word,

but all it means

is the full wickedness

of the people

is placed upon this goat

and then he is sent out

and all of their full sinfulness,

all the fullness

of their wickedness

is sent out

with that goat

out of the camp

and into the wilderness.

I think David

has that picture in mind

here as he's writing

this psalm.

David uses

these same three terms

to give us

a full picture

of our depravity.

He says,

we are all guilty of sin,

we are all guilty

of iniquity,

we are all guilty

of transgression,

and so our greatest need

is for someone

to remove that from us

and get it as far away

as the east is

from the west.

Do you see that

as your greatest need?

when you read

these terms,

do you see

a reflection

of your own heart

here?

If not,

if you read this

and you're thinking

of someone else,

you may be guilty

of what David says

in verse 2

where he says,

in whose spirit

there is no deceit,

you may be guilty

of deceiving yourself

into thinking

that you're better off

than you really are.

1 John 1.8,

we just read it

this morning,

tells us,

if we say

we have no sin,

we deceive ourselves

and the truth

is not in us.

This is what David's

talking about here

in verse 2.

Again,

blessed is the man

against whom

the Lord counts

no iniquity

and in whose spirit

there is no deceit,

meaning,

we're not trying

to pretend

to God,

we're not trying

to pretend

to ourselves,

we're not trying

to pretend

to one another

that we're better off

than we really are.

David says

that there is

real and lasting

blessing available

for sinners

of all kinds,

transgressors,

sinners,

those who are

riddled with iniquity.

How?

Stop deceiving yourself.

Acknowledge your sin

before God,

confess your sin

to the Lord,

and experience

the grace

and blessing

of forgiveness.

forgiveness.

David has experienced

this incredible blessing.

David,

we know David

is a sinner,

right?

And we don't know

the full back story

of the exact sin

that led him

to write this psalm,

but we do know

just reading the story

of David,

David was a great sinner,

right?

I mean,

this is David

who stole

another man's wife

while he was off

fighting David's war,

who took her,

impregnated her,

and then had her husband

killed to cover it up.

And David knows

all about great sin,

but here,

in this psalm,

he's telling us

he knows all about

a great God

who forgives

great sinners.

In fact,

look at this.

This three-fold picture

of our sin

is met here

with a three-fold response

of God's grace.

I love this.

Look at this.

David's transgression,

forgiven.

David's sin,

covered.

David's iniquity

is not counted

against him.

This is a blessing

that David's describing

for us this morning.

The glorious good news

of the gospel

is this,

that as great

and as deep

as our sin is,

and it is great,

our God

and His grace

towards sinners

is even greater.

David knows

what it's like

to have all of his sin,

all of his transgression,

all of his iniquity

removed from off

of his shoulders.

I'll give you

another important term here.

This is what it means

to be justified.

To be justified.

Another weighty

theological term.

You know what it means?

Counted righteous

in the sight of God.

Every religion

seeks to answer

that question.

How can a sinner

be made right

with God?

And every other religion

gives you a ladder

to climb your way

up to Him.

Only the gospel

of God's grace

says,

you can't bear the weight,

I will take it off

your back for you.

In fact,

the Apostle Paul

quotes this psalm

in Romans chapter 4

Romans 4 · chapter mention

to prove that very point,

to prove his argument,

that there is

one way

for sinners

to be made right,

declared righteous,

justified before

the sight of a holy God.

One way.

And it's this.

Sinners can be

counted righteous

in the sight of God

simply by confessing

your sin

and putting your faith

in Jesus Christ.

This is King David's

explanation

of true blessing.

And church,

it is the greatest

blessing in the world.

Amen?

Do you grasp this?

Do you share

David's understanding

of true blessing?

I hope you do.

But you should know

that's only one aspect

of this.

And our second point,

we see that David

has personally

experienced

this great blessing.

Second,

we see true blessing

experienced.

And we see this

in verses 3 through 5.

Here in 3 through 5,

we see the king's

personal experience

of true blessing.

This is not just

theory for him.

It's not just

like classroom knowledge.

This is deeply

personal for David.

And we see this

personal experience

here in two parts.

There's a before

in verses 3 and 4

and then there's

an after

in verse 5.

You know,

it's interesting

when I read

about that

Viking legend,

I actually learned

that that record

was broken

in 2015.

About 11 years ago,

a guy named

Hafthor Bjornsson,

maybe you've heard

of him,

got up under

a 1,433 pound tree

and I watched

the video,

you can look it up,

pull it up on YouTube,

watch it later.

and Hafthor Bjornsson

took five baby steps

forward with this

incredible burden

on his back.

It's just incredibly

impressive.

But I watched the video

and I'm telling you,

as he did it,

that man looked

miserable.

He looked like

he was about to pop.

His face was red,

his neck was,

the veins were bulging,

he looked terrible

until the weight

came off

of his shoulders.

And then there was rejoicing

and celebrating

and cheering

and everyone

was rejoicing with him.

That's exactly

what's happening

here with David.

We see this clear

before and after

here in our psalm.

Verses 3 and 4

give us a picture

of the before.

This is David's agony

of not confessing

his sin.

This is David still

holding the weight

on his back.

David says,

when I kept silent,

my bones wasted

away.

He's falling apart.

Ironically,

because he's silent,

he says he's groaning

all day long.

He's miserable.

And we see a connection

here with a psalm

that was preached

last week.

Psalm 31,

Psalms 31:10

verse 10.

There he said,

his life is spent

in sorrow.

His strength fails

because of his iniquity.

His bones waste away.

Bones are like

his inner self.

It's not just physical.

This is all encompassing

for David.

He says his strength

was dried up

as by the heat

of summer.

I mean,

go outside.

My phone says

there's a heat advisory

today.

I told you about

my trip to Ghana

last month,

how hot it was there,

107 degrees.

You know,

every single day

in Ghana,

we would leave

the house

and drive by

this giant lake

right there,

right in the neighborhood,

except the thing was

there was no water.

It had been

entirely dried up.

You look at all

the animals

that walk by,

they looked

entirely dried up.

And by the end

of the day,

the long day

of working

and teaching there,

my strength

was entirely

dried up

as by the heat

of summer.

David says

that's what it's like

to hold on

to his sin.

All of his strength,

emotionally,

physically,

mentally,

especially spiritually,

is all dried up.

He's got nothing

left.

Why?

Because ultimately,

he says,

verse 4,

God's hand

was heavy

against him.

You see that

in verse 4?

Day and night,

your hand,

God,

your hand

was heavy

upon me.

Now stop right there

for a minute.

Isn't that mean

of God?

God?

Now I thought

God was supposed

to help you

when you're

spiritually dry,

right?

I thought God

was there

to be a help

and a lifeline

and get you

out of distress.

I mean,

isn't God

just supposed

to do nice

things for us,

right,

and help us

out when we need

them?

What in the world

is going on here?

David says

God's hand

was heavy

upon him.

Why

would he do this?

We need to know

that God

in his mercy

will sometimes

allow his people

to feel

the crushing

weight

of our sin.

That is

uncomfortable

and we

don't enjoy it.

But this is

mercy

from the Lord.

God

lets

David

tremble

and shake

under that heavy

weight.

He lets him

sweat.

He lets him

feel like

it's about

to fall down

and crush

him.

Why?

Why?

So that

he'll realize

this is far

too heavy

for me.

I can't

hold this

weight.

I'm not

strong enough

to hold it.

So that

he'll cry

out to the

Lord for

help because

the fact is

you will not

cry out for

help until

you've come

to the end

of your own

strength.

death.

You will

not cry

out to

the Lord

until you

realize that

only he

can remove

this burden

from you.

That's

exactly what

happens here

in verse 5.

Look there

with me.

This is the

after here

in verse 5.

He was

silent but

now finally

at last he

confesses his

sin to the

Lord and he

does so with

a threefold

confession.

Look there.

He says my

sin I

acknowledge my

sin to you.

My

iniquity I

did not

cover my

iniquity.

Why?

I can't

cover my

iniquity only

you can

cover it.

He says my

transgressions I

will confess my

transgressions to

the Lord.

This is a

full and

total complete

confession.

David's not

holding anything

back.

He lets God

hold all of

the weight and

I have to ask

you friend have

you ever spoken

with God like

this?

have you

ever confessed

your sin in

full to the

Lord?

And not just

broad strokes in

general.

I'm sorry let's

move on.

I mean have you

ever gotten

alone with God

taken full

inventory of all

the ways that

you've fallen

short as far as

your mind can

reach.

Asked him to

show you God

uncover even

hidden sins in

my heart that I

might bring them

before you.

Have you ever

given full

account of your

sin to the

Lord and

confessed the

fullness of your

sin, the

fullness of your

iniquity, the

fullness of your

transgressions to

him?

If not then

friend you are

missing out on

the greatest

blessing in the

world.

Maybe one reason

that we don't

do this is

because we

think in some

way maybe God

doesn't want to

hear it.

Maybe we just

think God in

some way he's

tired of dealing

with repeat

offenders like

me.

God doesn't

want to hear

that.

We tend to

think that

way don't

we?

But I would

argue if we

think that way

about God we're

not thinking

about the God

of the Bible.

And if we

think that way

about God if we

think that God

is harsh towards

sinners that he's

unforgiving that

he's reluctant

in any way to

hear us and to

cleanse us and to

forgive us guess

what?

We have created a

God after our

own image as a

figment of our

imagination.

The God of the

Bible praise God

is not like us.

Just notice what

happens here when

David confesses his

sin.

It's so simple

here but it's my

favorite part of

the song.

He says I will

confess my

transgressions to

the Lord and

build up.

I drum roll how

is God going to

respond?

Will he be angry?

Will he chide?

Will he give a

lecture here?

What's he going to

do?

And you forgave

the iniquity of

my sin.

What?

Just like that?

Is that easy

really?

Are you serious?

No terms and

conditions?

No delay?

No lecture?

No.

Just quick

immediate

prompt

forgiveness of

sins.

makes you wonder

what took him so

long to confess?

But church what

takes us so long to

go and confess our

sins to the Lord?

Do you realize that

the same immediate

forgiveness paid in

full atonement for

your sin, covering of

all your transgressions,

removal of all of

your burden?

That is available to

the very worst of

sinners right now if

you would simply

confess your sin and

come to the Lord in

faith.

If we confess our

sins, 1 John 1

9, he is faithful

and just to forgive us

our sins and to

cleanse us from all

unrighteousness.

It really is that

simple.

David the king knows

that this is the

greatest blessing in

the world.

He has personally

experienced it and

so third what we see

in our third and final

point this morning is

that he desires nothing

more than for all his

people to know and

experience this blessing

as well.

Which is what we see

here in verses 6

through 8.

Third we see true

blessing extended.

Look there to verse 6.

The king's attention

turns from himself now.

He is thinking about

his people.

He calls them.

He says,

Therefore in light of

all of this great

blessing that is

available to you,

therefore let everyone

who is godly offer

prayer to you, the

Lord, at a time when

you may be found.

Surely in the rush of

great waters they

shall not reach him.

You are a hiding

place for me.

You preserve me from

trouble.

You see the king's

desire, the king's

burden here is for

all his people to

know this blessing.

And he knows that

this need is so great

and it is so urgent

that the people must

call out to the Lord

right now without

delay.

Why?

Because now is the

time when this

blessing can be had.

He says now is the

time when the Lord

may be found.

The rush of great

waters of God's

judgment will come

quickly and suddenly

just like in the time

of Noah's flood and

in that day this window

of opportunity to find

this blessing of

forgiveness, that

window will be closed

shut.

There will be no

opportunity to repent.

The time of God's

offer of forgiveness

forgiveness is now.

A couple of weeks

ago we had Chad come

and preach for us in

God's providence.

That was not what we

had planned but that

was what he had

planned.

And he referenced a

sermon from Charles

Spurgeon called

Now.

And some of you,

several of you told

me that that was

meaningful for you

and some of you even

looked it up and sent

me a further

explanation of that

sermon.

I'm going to quote it

for you.

Spurgeon says,

the great mischief of

the most of men is

that they procrastinate.

It is not that they

resolved to be damned

but that they resolved

to be saved tomorrow.

It's not that they

reject Christ forever

but they reject

Christ today.

Here comes the beauty

of my text.

As a sinner under the

gospel I pray thee to

recollect that now is

the accepted time.

The most of my

unconverted hearers do

not believe this.

I know what you're

saying.

You say, I've had a

great many thoughts

about religion but why

does thou not believe

in Christ now?

Well, you say, I'll

endeavor to think

seriously of it but

what will be the

result of your

thinking?

After you've thought

ever so much, do you

imagine you're going to

think your way into

salvation?

If the command were

think and be saved, I

would cheerfully allow

you a month's thinking.

But the command is

believe in the Lord

Jesus Christ and now

is the accepted time.

David says, sinner,

come now.

Seek him now.

The doors of the ark

are open now but soon

they will be shut.

God, his call to

confess your sin to

him is urgent.

And look what David

says happens when you

do.

He says, you surround

me with shouts of

deliverance.

I love when we get to

celebrate a baptism.

We're going to get to

do that in a few weeks,

Lord willing.

And we get to hear

someone's testimony how

by the grace of God

they saw the depth of

their sin and they saw

their need for a

Savior.

They recognize they

couldn't lift that

weight anymore and so

they call out to Christ

for grace of salvation

and then they go down

into the waters and

they come up.

They're buried with

him in baptism.

They're raised to walk

in newness of life and

then as they come up,

what happens?

What happens out here

on the lawn,

see we bang?

There is cheering and

celebrating.

There are big wet

hugs and there's a

feast afterwards.

We surround them with

shouts of deliverance.

That's how it's meant

to be.

David longs to see all

his people know this

blessing.

And so he says,

verse 8,

I will instruct you

and teach you in the way

you should go.

I will counsel you with

my eye upon you.

Don't be like a horse

horse or a mule without

understanding, which must

be curbed with bit and

bridle or it will not

stay near you.

This is the burden of the

king for his people.

But do you realize,

church, this is also the

burden of your pastors for

you?

Sometimes, as a pastor, I

can say that I know how

David feels.

Week after week, we hold

out to you the greatest

blessing in the world.

And sometimes we see our

people walking down some

path that we know is not

good, we know it's not

satisfying for them.

Sometimes we know, we see

non-believers here and

reject this offer of the

gospel every single week.

And we just want to get

you to come and take it.

Would you just rest in this

blessing of God's grace for

you in Christ?

Would you just receive this

greatest?

Nothing else will satisfy

like this.

Would you please just come?

We want to just curb you

with bit and bridle and make

you come, but we can't.

Only by the power of the

Spirit can He break you and

show you your weakness and

drive you to His strength.

But that's our burden for

you.

And that's the burden of

godly parents for their

children.

I know you pray for them,

you pray for safety, for

their lives, for their jobs,

just for them to be blessed

in every way.

But above all else, the

burden of godly parents for

your children is that they

would know this blessing of

forgiveness of sins.

This is the greatest way we

can bless our community,

church.

We can bless this community

of all and all and Mount

Pleasant and Hugee and

McClellanville.

We're in a lot of places.

We can bless those communities

in a lot of different ways,

but the number one way we can

bless these communities, you

know what it is?

It's to make certain that they

have heard this invitation to

come and have their sins

forgiven in Christ.

This is the blessing and the

burden of the king for his

people.

But ultimately, church, I hope

you see, this is the burden

of Christ Jesus himself for

his people.

David's desire for his people

to know this blessing

anticipates Jesus' desire, the

desire of the true king for

all of his people to know this

blessing.

Jesus understands true

blessing the same way David

does.

Jesus understands his

explanation of true blessing

is the forgiveness of sins,

that we may be made right with

the holy God.

And Jesus never experienced

that blessing by his own

right.

He never sinned, so he never

needed the forgiveness of his

sins, but yet he was made sin

for us.

Jesus came so that you,

sinner, may know the blessing

of forgiveness and be

reconciled to God through his

blood.

Jesus' mission was that sinners

like us would know true and

lasting blessing.

He came to extend this blessing

to us.

Purchased by his own blood,

he is the one upon whom the

Lord God himself has placed all

of the sin, all of the

iniquity, all of the

transgression of his people,

so that by faith in him, all

of our burden is removed as far

as the east is from the west.

Have you experienced this

blessing by faith in Christ?

If not, then friend, would you

consider the two paths ahead of

you?

The psalm ends here with a

reflection and an application

for us.

Here in verse 10, David reflects

on the two very different paths

ahead of him and his people, but

in fact, ahead of all of us this

morning.

He says, many are the sorrows of

the wicked, but steadfast love

surrounds the one who trusts in

the Lord.

Do you see those two paths?

David has known the sorrow of

holding on to his sin.

I have known it.

I have known the crushing weight

of holding on to my sin, but

now by God's grace, David and I

have something in common,

church.

God has lifted the weight, and

in Christ I am surrounded by the

steadfast love of the Lord for

me.

Do you know this blessing?

If not, then friend, what would

keep you from calling out to the

Lord in faith right now?

Maybe for the first time, but even

so, even as we've been walking with

the Lord for a long time, Christian,

I know there's still the temptation

to put that weight back on your

shoulders, right?

To carry this weight of your sin.

Maybe there's some sin lingering in

your life even now that you need to

just take a moment this afternoon or

even right now to confess to the

Lord.

He urges you to come and receive this

blessing of forgiveness.

And when you do, David makes it clear

how we ought to respond.

Look at this, verse 11.

This threefold picture of our sin that

was met with a threefold covering of

God's grace now results in a threefold

response of joy.

Look at there.

He says, be glad in the Lord and

rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy,

all you upright in heart.

Be glad and rejoice and shout.

That's the response of someone whose

burden has been lifted.

You all are probably familiar with

John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

It's an allegory of the Christian's

experience in this life journeying to

the celestial city.

And if you know the story, you know

that the whole time Christian is

weighed down by this heavy burden on

his back.

And at times it's so heavy on him that

he can hardly even move.

I love the scene that he paints.

I'm going to read it for you.

When Christian finally comes to the

foot of the cross, he says,

now I saw in my dream that the highway

up which Christian was to go was

fenced on either side with the wall.

And that wall was called salvation up

this way.

Therefore, it had burdened Christian run,

but not without great difficulty because

of the load on his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place

somewhat ascending and upon that place

stood across.

And a little below in the bottom, a grave.

So I saw in my dream that just as Christian

came up with the cross, his burden loosed

from off his shoulders and fell off from

his back and began to tumble and so

continued to do till it came to the mouth

of the grave where it fell in and I saw it

no more.

Then was Christian glad and lightsome and said

with a merry heart, he has given me rest by

his sorrow and life by his death.

Then he stood still a while and to look and

wonder for it was very surprising to him that

the sight of the cross should thus ease him of

his burden.

He looked therefore and looked again, even till the

springs that were in his head sent the waters down

his cheeks.

Now, as he stood looking and weeping, behold, three

shining ones came to him and saluted to him with

peace be to thee.

So the first said to him, thy sins be forgiven thee.

And the second stripped him of his rags and clothed him

with a change of raiment.

And the third also set a mark on his forehead and gave

him a roll with a seal upon it, which he bid him look on

as he ran and that he should give it in at the celestial

gate.

And so they went their way.

Then Christian gave three leaps for joy and went on

singing.

Thus far did I come laden with sin, nor could I ease the

grief I was in.

Till I came hither, what a place is this?

Must hear be the beginning of my bliss.

Must hear the burden fall off my back.

Must hear the strings that bound it to me crack.

Blessed cross, blessed grave, blessed rather be the man that

was put to shame for me.

Friend, if you are burdened by sin, crushed under a weight that

you cannot lift, the good news of the gospel is that Jesus is

strong enough to bear your burden.

In fact, he has.

Christ has borne the full weight of our sin.

Christ has suffered and died under the rush of the great waters of

God's judgment.

Judgment that he did not deserve.

Judgment that we deserve.

He has lifted our burden from off of our backs, placed it upon his, and

risen from the grave in victory, never to die again.

So that now he stands to offer forgiveness and true blessing to any who

would come.

Father, the only right response to this is to rejoice, God, in the great blessing of the

forgiveness of our sins.

And to bring them freely and quickly to you, knowing, God, that you stand ready and

willing to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Father, even as we stand to sing, God, my sin or the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin,

not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.