You Can Know True Blessedness

Well, what a joy it's been once again to preach through eight Psalms this summer.

! Psalm 32 will be our last one.

We'll take a break from the Psalms until next summer.

And at this pace, in about 25 more years, we'll have covered the entire Psalter, 150 Psalms.

It seems like each one is just more fitting and more timely than the last.

As you hear Psalm 32, think of God's providence and His timing.

This was not planned, but this is where He has us for this open-air evangelistic service.

Psalm 32 says, a maskel of David.

A maskel could mean three different things.

It could be a musical notation.

It can mean contemplation.

Or it can mean instruction.

Or to just make it matters easy for us, it probably means all three.

So we'll go with that.

And as I read Psalm 32, I do it trusting that it's God's inspired, inerrant, infallible,

clear, sufficient, powerful word for you and me.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old,

through my groaning all the day long.

For day and night,

your hand was heavy upon me.

My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you,

and my iniquity I have not hidden.

I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Selah.

For this cause,

everyone who is godly

shall pray to you in a time when you may be found.

Surely in a flood of great waters,

they shall not come near him.

You are my hiding place.

You shall preserve me from trouble.

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

Selah.

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

I will guide you with my eye.

Do not be like the horse or the mule,

which have no understanding,

which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

else they will not come near you.

Many sorrows shall be to the wicked,

but he who trusts in the Lord,

mercy shall surround him.

Be glad in the Lord,

and rejoice, you righteous,

and shout for joy,

you upright in heart.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Please be seated.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Oh, Lord, please cause your people to rejoice by going to Jesus

and by confessing our sin,

confessing who you are and who we are before you

and our great need of you to be our Savior.

Please minister, Lord, this forgiveness one more time today

that we can truly know with assurance

that you have pardoned our sin

and that all who will go and confess unto you

can receive your forgiveness and know true blessedness

and truly rejoice in the presence of you, the holy God.

Please do this, Lord, for your glory

and for Christ's sake we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

The English word for happiness,

I didn't know where it came from, so I looked it up

and it came from those old Viking settlers

that went to the northern part of North America.

So some of the words from their vocabulary

have stayed in our own culture

and in that old Viking language, the word was hap.

And so that same root, hap, is where we get the word haphazard.

And so when we speak of happiness,

we're really using a word that means exactly what we're saying.

The idea of something being haphazard means it's,

it has no order and no direction to it.

So when we speak of happiness, we really are saying,

I might feel something, but it's based on luck or random chance.

Psalm 32 uses a very different word

with a different origin and a different meaning.

The word is blessed.

It's a wonderful English word that we need to,

to make sure we're grasping the right meaning of this.

To be blessed is to be on a straight path

or to go forward in the right direction.

So where happiness is fleeting,

happiness is conditioned by our circumstances,

happiness, we can agree with the Vikings,

it's only possible if you're lucky.

It's haphazard.

By contrast, true blessedness,

it fixes your joy and mine

into our lives being well-ordered

and going in the right direction.

And we only know this from God, our Creator.

He designed us for this.

So my word of encouragement for us today,

this is our sermon title, is this.

You can know true blessedness.

You and I can know true blessedness.

Psalm 32 is instruction from King David,

teaching the nation of Israel.

So as we walk through this psalm,

I would like to point out five lessons

from David as a saved repenter.

Five lessons on true blessedness.

Number one,

only the Lord can give you and me true blessedness.

Only the Lord can give you and me true blessedness.

The kings of the world,

they take whatever they want,

whenever they want it.

That's the pattern of the world,

and that's what the world continues to

tell you and me happiness is.

They don't wait.

They don't obey any rules.

Think of David's life.

He tried that,

and it was miserable.

And now in response,

in Psalm 32,

he teaches what the Holy Spirit revealed to him.

This is true blessedness,

not that.

Look at verse one.

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.

See, you and I,

in our sin,

we deserve God's just punishment

for our transgressions.

What does that word mean,

transgression?

It means we have rebelled.

We have seen that no trespassing sign,

and we went there anyway.

We've revolted against God.

But instead of that just punishment

that you and I deserve,

sinners like us can know true blessedness

because verse one says

it's blessed to be forgiven by God.

You and I deserve to be

cast away,

carried far away from here.

But instead,

God has taken our sin

and carried that away

and kept us in his presence.

He spared our life.

He's pardoned us

instead of being declared guilty

and condemned

and sent away to prison.

He says,

I pay that debt.

I pronounce you pardoned,

fully pardoned.

That's what it is to be blessed.

Blessed is the one

whose transgression

is forgiven.

And he repeats this same truth

in two other ways.

He says next,

whose sin is covered.

You and I deserve God's righteous wrath

for our sin.

Sin is similar to the word trespass,

but sin carries other meanings.

Sin refers to our offense against God,

falling short of his glory

by our lives.

We've dug ourselves into a hole

and we owe to God

what we hollowed out.

This pit that we're in,

everything in this pit

that used to belong there,

we dug out by our sin

and we keep digging ourselves

deeper and deeper into a hole.

Instead of the righteous wrath of God

being poured out on us

in our sin,

which is what we deserve,

the promise held forth to us

in Psalm 32

is that we can experience

true blessedness.

We can be covered by God.

Blessed is he whose sin is covered.

That word covered means

that that hole that we dug ourselves into,

God has filled it up completely

for us.

God has covered our sin.

He's hidden our shame.

We were there exposed,

humiliated,

and instead he's come

and he's clothed us.

He's robed us.

That's what a blessed life is,

to know that,

to be covered by God.

Verse 2 continues,

Blessed is the man

to whom the Lord

does not impute iniquity.

You and I deserve

to be eternally cursed

for our iniquity.

But we're blessed

if we receive from the Lord

that punishment,

that pouring out of wrath on us

being instead not imputed,

not put on us anymore.

Iniquity means perversity.

It means being morally deviated,

being twisted.

And that's what we would deserve

in our sin,

but instead of that eternal curse,

sinners like us

can know true blessedness

because the Lord

no longer will impute to us

what we deserve.

The curse of our sin

has been imputed to us.

That means our account

has been charged this great debt.

But to not impute it

means that the Lord

has put the debt we owe

that's on our account

onto the account of another.

From God's perspective,

when He looks at us,

He no longer views us

that way as a debtor.

He no longer measures us up

as one who is indebted to Him.

It's no longer on our account.

And He says,

in whose spirit there is no deceit.

In whose spirit there is no deceit.

The word for spirit

can be translated spirit,

but it can also be an exhaling.

It can mean a person

whose breath is not telling a lie.

Your words or your spirit.

Think of out of the overflow

of the spirit or the heart,

the mouth speaks.

So there's a tie between

the inner man and the outer man

through our words.

He says later,

when I was silent,

when I was not confessing,

not breathing out the truth,

I was not blessed.

But He's saying,

blessed is the one

in whose spirit there is no deceit.

You have put it before the Lord

with your words.

There's no more guile,

no more falsehood,

no more hypocrisy.

Let me ask you today,

have you believed a lie

about happiness?

Our hearts are right

to want to be glad,

want to rejoice.

But when we slip in

and pursue worldly happiness

instead of true blessedness,

we will always get disappointment.

The world lies

and wants to tell us

that blessedness

is getting what you want

when you want it.

And the devil comes in

and whispers to you and me

that we'll be happier,

we'll be more blessed

without God.

That His law

will restrict your happiness.

That you don't really

owe God anything.

That you're not that bad.

You're better than most.

The real problem is that

our own twisted minds

want to believe

those lies from the world

and those lies from the devil.

You know why?

It's because the Bible says

our heart is more deceitful

and desperately wicked

than anything else.

Brothers and sisters,

if we believe the lies

of the world about happiness,

we will never know

true blessedness.

We'll miss out

on the greatest blessings possible.

The only true source of joy

and happiness

and gladness

that comes from God.

We'll miss out

because He's the Creator.

And our Creator knows

what we are designed for.

The catechism question,

we are made

to glorify God

and enjoy Him forever.

The good news

from Psalm 32

is that you and I

can know

true blessedness.

We can.

So here's the second lesson.

When you and I

refuse to confess

our sins to the Lord,

we will experience

misery instead.

That's the next lesson

from David's own testimony.

When you and I

refuse to confess

our sins to the Lord,

instead of knowing

true blessedness

of being forgiven,

we experience

misery.

David is bearing testimony

in Psalm 32.

He puts himself

as an expert witness

for what it's like

to act

as the king

of your own life

in God's place.

Look at verse 3.

David testifies,

when I kept silent,

my bones,

meaning my body,

my strength

grew old.

It was waxing away

through my groaning

all the day long.

That word for groaning,

it can mean

howling

or grumbling.

A man that's,

he's like a tortured dog.

That's what it's like

to not confess

sin to God.

When I was concealing

my sin,

secretively devising

my own ways,

neglecting

to tell God

the truth

about myself,

he says,

I was miserable.

My whole body

was like

it was going to die.

We don't know

for sure

the context

of Psalm 32,

but the language

points very strongly

that this comes

right after

his great sin

and his confession

in Psalm 51.

Most likely,

Psalm 51

was first

because it's raw.

He's confessing

in the moment

his weakness

and asking God

to clean his heart.

Then at the end

of Psalm 51,

he says,

Lord,

I will teach

transgressors

your ways.

I will bear witness.

And so here comes

Psalm 32

where he's doing

just that.

And this great

series of sins

that he concealed,

he kept it back,

was slow to

recognize it

even when confronted

by Nathan,

had to tell him

a parable.

He committed adultery

with Bathsheba,

murdered Uriah,

and did not confess

this to the Lord,

tried to go on

acting as if

he were his own king,

a king like

all the other nations.

And in Psalm 51,

he describes

his bones

as having been

broken by the

Lord himself.

Remember,

he prays,

Lord,

let the bones

that you have

broken rejoice

again.

And see the tie

here with

verse 3,

when I kept silent,

this is what

my bones were like.

It's the bones

that the Lord

had broken

through the heavy

conviction of sin.

What was that

like,

David?

What was it like

to hold that back

from the Lord?

Look at verse 4.

He said,

day and night,

he's telling God,

your hand

was heavy

upon me.

The hand

of the Lord.

The hand

stands for that

part of a person

that action

is carried out

through.

It's the instrument

of God's strength,

His power.

And it was

heavy upon me,

pushing down

my sin

and your conviction.

It was such a burden,

it was crushing me.

He says in

verse 4,

my vitality

was turned

into the drought

of summer.

The word there

is sap.

Like,

maybe he's looking

at a tree

and he sees

the sap of a tree

represents the life

of the tree.

But it was dried up.

There was nothing

left inside.

And then the marker,

Selah,

reflect on this.

Take a deep

pause

and let this

truth sink

into your soul.

To be as

dried up

as the summer

of Israel

where I'm told

from May to September

there is

no rain.

We've had

some dry

days and weeks

here in Colorado,

some wildfires,

but we've also

had rain

almost every week,

every other week.

Can you imagine

May through September

with no rain?

And yet there's

some parts

that it's

incredibly humid

at the same time.

113 degree

temperature.

You step outside,

you're instantly

sweating.

You breathe

through your mouth

once,

you make the mistake

of doing that

without a cloth

covering it,

and it's like

someone shoved

a handful of

cotton in your mouth.

That's what it's

like to not

confess your sin,

David says.

A blessed man

is strong,

but David

says,

the longer I

fought against

God's conviction

and my pride,

the weaker I

became.

A joyful man

is welcomed

and refreshed

in the presence

of God,

but David's

confessing,

because I

refused to

confess my

sin,

God put this

heavy burden

on me.

It was

weighty,

it was crushing

me.

I was uneasy

and restless

and troubled.

I couldn't get

away from it

day or night.

it's blessed

to have

energy,

to feel

full of

life,

but to be

rejuvenated

was something

David had

forgotten what

he was even

like.

Because of his

pride,

he didn't want

to admit

his sin

to God.

His whole

existence

became parched,

dried up,

and lifeless.

Without God,

this is what

life now

and eternity

is like.

You and I

know this

feeling.

None of us

were born

believers,

and the Lord

saved each

one of us

at different

moments of

our lives.

And even

as a believer,

we know

what it's

like.

David,

in this

context,

already knew

of God's

grace and

salvation,

and yet the

Lord allowed

David to

fall into

great sins

that he

pretended for

too long

he had not

committed.

Without God,

life is

miserable.

When we

refuse to

confess our

sins,

we will

experience a

torturous

existence.

Maybe there's

someone within

earshot,

maybe someone

even in our

group here

today,

that needs

this caution

from Psalm

32.

How will

you spend

your days

on earth

and for

all eternity?

will you

hold on to

your pride?

Will you

stay far

from the

Lord?

Will you

pretend like

he doesn't

know our

hearts and

doesn't know

all things?

Where God

is graciously

offering to

you true

blessedness?

And that's

the third

lesson from

Psalm 32

that David

teaches us.

Here's what

you and I

must do to

experience true

blessedness in

the Lord.

Look at

verse 5.

David says,

I acknowledged

my sin to

you and

my iniquity I

have not

hidden.

I said,

I will

confess my

transgressions

to the

Lord and

you forgave

the iniquity

of my

sin.

This is

such great

news.

To

acknowledge

your sin,

it means

to see it

correctly,

to agree

after observing

a thing.

David is

reflecting back

looking at

his own

life and

then owning

it finally.

A proud

king would

look at his

reflection in

the mirror

and he'd

see a

smudge on

his forehead

and then

respond by

shattering the

mirror into

a thousand

pieces,

blaming the

mirror,

where the

problem is

he's got

mud on his

own forehead.

God's

word says

in Romans

420,

we just

read this

today,

receive God's

promise.

Don't

waver in

unbelief.

God

promises

acknowledge

your sin

and God

will forgive

the iniquity

of your

sin.

Don't

waver in

unbelief

but be

strengthened in

your faith in

the Lord,

giving glory

to God.

Be fully

convinced that

what God

had promised

in his

word,

he is able

to perform

in the

life,

death,

and

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ.

Receive

Jesus Christ

humbly

and know

that you

are saved

in him.

Why can

this be

true?

Well,

for David

it would

mean going

through the

ceremonial steps

that God

had ordered.

It would

mean going

to a priest

a mediator

between God

and man.

And it

would mean

bringing along

a sacrifice

that would

take the

punishment

of the

sin you

deserve.

And the

priest

putting his

hand on

that sacrifice

and laying

your sin

on this

substitute

instead.

And watching

that substitute

be slain

and bleed

and having

that blood

cover you.

And then

that aroma

goes up to

the Lord

and you

receive

by faith

all that

this

sacrificial

system

pointed

to.

And it's

fulfilled

in the

person

and work

of Jesus

Christ.

Jesus

Christ

is the

Lamb

of God.

God

himself

provides

that

substitute

for you

and me.

Jesus

Christ

is also

the priest.

He's the

one who

welcomes

a sinner

like David

or like

you and

me.

And he's

the one

who says

your sin

is put

on the

substitute

on Jesus

Christ

himself

the Lamb

of God.

And it's

Jesus

who is

slain

for the

sins

of his

people.

And it's

the blood

of Jesus

that flows

to cover

our sin.

And it's

a double

exchange.

Not only

is the

sin of

the sinner

paid by

Jesus

the Lamb

of God

but the

righteousness

of Jesus

the second

Adam

the keeper

of the

law.

His

righteousness

his good

life

his meritorious

obedience

to the

Father

is also

given

to the

people

that he

saved.

This is

the gospel.

Our Lord

Jesus

takes

your

trespass

your

iniquity

your

sin

and mine

that deserve

God's

punishment

and in

exchange

he gives

us the

forgiveness

and the

life

and the

grace

of his

perfect

life.

For all

who trust

in Christ

Jesus

as Lord

his death

on the

cross

has fully

paid

for the

debt

that

you

and I

owe

God.

It's

his

flawless

holiness

that

secures

eternal

life

for you

and me

now

and

forever

more.

This is

why we

humble

ourselves

before

God.

His

word

convicts

us.

We

know

the

problem

is

in

us

not

in

his

law.

We

confess

our

sin

to

him

and

we

can

know

true

blessedness

in

Jesus

Christ.

Christ

that's

what

you

and

I

must

do

to

experience

it.

We

must

confess

our

sin

to

the

Lord

and

trust

that

in

Jesus

Christ

he

is

able

to

save

and

forgive

our

sin.

the

fourth

lesson

from

David

in

Psalm

32

is

this

you've

heard

the

good

news

of

salvation

that

God

has

provided

the

lesson

is

this

don't

put

it

off

now

is

the

time

for

you

to

know

this

true

blessedness

in

the

Lord

now

is

the

time

that's

what

he

says

in

verse

six

for

this

cause

look

there

with

me

for

this

cause

everyone

who

is

godly

shall

pray

to

you

in

a

time

when

you

may

be

found

now

is

the

time

of

finding

he

says

surely

in

a

flood

of

great

waters

they

shall

not

come

near

the

one

that

has

confessed

his

sin

to

you

in

Psalm

51

David

makes

a

specific

vow

I

will

teach

transgressors

your

ways

and

sinners

shall

be

converted

to

you

and

now

in

Psalm

32

David

looks

back

and

he

knows

this

was

true

for

him

the

Lord

had

preserved

him

he

saw

like

a

flood

of

great

waters

the

coming

judgment

of

God

the

wrath

of

God

that

the

Lord

patiently

holds

back

David

deserved

to receive

every bit

of that

but the

Lord

pardoned

the Lord

held back

his own

flood

of judgment

from

David

but his

reflection

in verses

6 and 7

is urgency

pray to

God

now

he says

in a

time

when

God

may

be

found

see

the

warning

is

that

there

is

a

time

of

judgment

coming

and

he's

alluding

here

to a

flood

of

great

waters

David

is now

repeating

like

a

prophet

the

warnings

of

Noah

Noah

stood

and said

turn

to

the

Lord

believe

in

God

the

door

is

still

open

come

inside

the

flood

of

judgment

is

coming

and

Psalm

32

still

preaches

to me

and you

today

come

to

Jesus

before

he

comes

in

his

judgment

come

now

while

the

door

is

open

the

arms

of

Jesus

are

open

now

but

soon

he's

coming

in wrath

he will

judge

the

living

and

the

dead

David

could

testify

of

God's

steadfast

love

if

you

come

to

him

now

you

will

be

preserved

look

at

verse

7

you

are

my

hiding

place

Lord

you

shall

preserve

me

from

trouble

and

look

at

how

the

Lord

receives

you

you

sinner

in

me

who

run

to

him

now

while

the

time

of

finding

is

at

hand

in

verse

7

he

says

the

Lord

surrounds

save

sinners

like

you

and

me

with

songs

of

deliverance

the

door

will

close

one

day

those

who

ignore

the

warnings

to

run

to

Jesus

now

will

run

out

of

time

!

they

will

drown

in

a

flood

of

God's

wrath

that

will

cover

the

whole

earth

there

will

be

nowhere

to

hide

you

will

be

surrounded

by

screams

of

death

if

you

reject

God's

call

to

enter

that

vessel

that

he

has

prepared

you

will

soon

face

his

judgment

for

all

eternity

but

here's

the

good

news

here's

the

time

this

is

the

hour

here's

the

good

news

all

who

are

hidden

inside

Jesus

Christ

God

will

preserve

to

the

very

end

you

will

be

delivered

you

will

be

hidden

in

Christ

and

God

will

surround

you

with

songs

of

deliverance

this

is

not

a

time

to

keep

silent

do

not

push

God

off

any

longer

now

is

the

time

to

confess

our

sin

to

the

Lord

and

to

pray

that

he

will

forgive

us

we

run

to

him

to

Jesus

Christ

with

his

arms

wide

open

to

receive

you

to

surround

you

with

songs

of

deliverance

we

hide

in

him

we

trust

by

faith

that

he

will

be

our

hiding

place

he

will

preserve

us

in

times

of

trouble

!

verse

the

fifth

and

final

lesson

from

psalm

32

and

David

today

the

Lord

himself

is

the

source

of

all

blessedness

the

Lord

himself

is

the

source

of

all

blessedness

if

we

look

for

happiness

or

gladness

or

joy

anywhere

else

we

will

be

disappointed

we

will

come

up

short

we

find

true

blessedness

in

the

Lord

look

at

verse

8

verse

8

I

believe

is

the

only

verse

where

the

speaker

changes

look

at

who

is

speaking

in

verse

8

I

will

instruct

you

and

teach

you

in

the

way

you

should

go

I

will

guide

you

with

my

eye

upon

you

only

God

can

speak

this

way

it's

the

Lord

himself

who

guides

us

in

true

blessedness

remember

it

means

to

have

a

life

that's

correctly

ordered

and in

the

proper

direction

that

we

are

designed

for

the

Lord

himself

will

do

this

I

will

guide

you

with

my

eye

I

love

that

imagery

God

says

I

will

come

at

your

level

I

will

come

close

to

you

eye

to

eye

with

you

whom

I

have

saved

my

countenance

my

face

my

approval

or

displeasure

will

guide

you

you

will

know

me

it

will

be

our

relationship

that

will

keep

you

walking

in

my

path

I'll

be

close

to

you

and

you

will

walk

with

me

because

I

am

near

you

this

was

promised

throughout

all

of

the

scriptures

it

was

promised

in

Jeremiah

31

and

we

see

this

fulfillment

quoted

by

Hebrews

8

God

promised

I

will

put

my

laws

into

the

minds

of

my

people

I

will

write

them

on

their

hearts

I

will

be

their

God

and

they

shall

be

my

people

and

they

shall

all

know

me

the

Lord

has

promised

to be

near

his

people

to teach

every