When I Kept Silent...

Psalm 32.

I'm just going to start by reading the whole psalm for us this morning.

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them,

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 on me.

My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledge 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 all the faithful pray to you while you may be found.

Surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.

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 with my loving eye on 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 one who trusts in him.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous.

Sing all you who are upright in heart.

Many of the psalms that we have in our Bibles are songs, poems, prayers,

or some, a combination of all those things.

And this one is no exception.

The superscription at the top says,

of David, a masculine.

So we know for sure that it was David who wrote this.

As for the precise meaning of a masculine,

that's something that we're uncertain about today.

There's a related word in the original language,

and some suggest it may mean a song that imparts wisdom,

or a skillfully or well-written song.

3,000 years later, with an English translation of this song,

it's really difficult to imagine just how these words might have been sung in the Hebrew language.

Much of the poetic beauty and rhythm is lost to us today

because of this gap in time and language and culture.

Was part of this song the chorus, or the refrain?

And if so, which part?

All these centuries later, we don't really know.

But that doesn't mean that all the truth and beauty in this psalm is lost to us.

On the contrary, these words have been treasured by many through the centuries,

in many different languages, and in many different ways.

Behind these words is a gripping story.

It's the true story of a man whose sin and guilt became so overwhelming to him.

Look at verse 3.

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

Now this is obviously metaphor.

My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

David is describing how things were for him at a particular time in his life.

Something was eating away at him from the inside out.

Slowly killing him.

This wasn't just a one-moment thing.

It was an all-day-long thing.

Day and night thing, as we see in the next verse, verse 4.

And it's difficult to translate the metaphor here of groaning.

It's the same word, apparently, that was used for the roaring of a lion.

And that still kind of leaves us wondering what this means.

But probably it's a metaphor for some kind of constant inner growling or groaning,

an expression of stress, and in this case, guilt, coming from deep inside.

Look at verse 4.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me.

My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

So David attributes his inner turmoil to God.

And we aren't given a lot of detail here,

but it would seem that in some sense,

God's hand has brought this affliction on David.

This is a poetic and it's a figurative way of David expressing how he feels.

He says,

My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

In other words, he felt weak.

Think of the hottest days of summer that you've experienced.

Maybe you've been outside in the heat doing some work,

and you know how that heat just sort of sucks the life out of you.

You've got no energy.

You find yourself slow and lethargic, weak,

as the heat of the sun just beats down on you relentlessly.

This is how David felt.

But it was not a thing that just lifted off when evening came.

Day and night.

Day after day is the sense we get.

Sucking the life and energy out of him.

And he saw God as the one doing this to him.

Why?

We see up in the beginning at verse 3.

Because David was keeping silent.

When I kept silent,

my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me.

My strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

David was keeping a secret.

David was not saying anything

when he should have been saying something.

In verse 5, the next verse makes us a little more clear

just what David's referring to.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

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

So this deep turmoil and affliction

that David is experiencing is somewhat self-inflicted.

There is a sin that he has been refusing

to acknowledge to God.

There's a wrong that he has done

that he has covered up.

And this is why God's hand is heavy on him.

This is why he's in this state of great turmoil.

And he has been silent.

He hasn't said a word to God

or to others.

But it's killing him inside.

He's been groaning.

He's been roaring inwardly

and it's sucking the life out of him.

Now at this point,

if you know the story of David,

King David from the Bible,

you're probably wondering,

what is the sin that David is talking about here?

What did he do?

And before we speculate a little bit here,

let's just be clear

that David does not say right here in this psalm

what it was that he had done.

And that's probably intentional.

Now I don't think David omitted the details

to cover it up some more

or to save face,

but perhaps because this song

he hopes will be a song

that others can sing too,

even if they've sinned in a different way

than he did.

There are, in my estimation,

about two clear and obvious times

where we read about how David sinned

in the Bible.

But that doesn't mean

that he was less of a sinner

than the average person

who had faith in God in his days.

He would have faced

the daily temptations

that all people face.

We see moments in his story

where his anger flared up,

where he was almost going to take revenge,

but was prevented from doing so.

We see some questionable decisions at times

where we kind of wonder

if David did the right thing.

Was he acting in faith?

So David was a man just like we are,

and he was a sinner just like we are.

He could be talking about a sin

that was not recorded in the Bible.

But that being said,

David's words here seem to fit

really, really, really well

with the biggest and most glaring

moral failure that he had

as Israel's king.

If you know the story of King David,

you know that there was a time in his life

when he gave into temptation,

he gave himself to lust

after the wife of another man,

and he committed adultery with that woman.

And then,

when he found out that the woman

had become pregnant,

he murdered her husband

to cover it up

and took her to be his own wife.

There are certain elements of this psalm

that seem to fit this description

very well here in Psalm 32.

We know from the story

in 2 Samuel chapter 11 and 12

2 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

that this was a drawn-out thing.

David's sin was in the works

over a period of time

as he tried to cover things up.

And so that fits with David's words here

about being in great turmoil

all day long,

day and night,

while he kept silent.

And then when David finally did come

to confess his sin,

he says here in the psalm,

I acknowledge my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

And so it almost seems implied

in the way he phrases it

that up till this point

when David confesses

he has been covering it up.

The sense we get in 2 Samuel

is that David might have got away

with this from a human perspective,

but eventually God sent

the prophet Nathan to David

to convict David of his sin.

And what did David do

when he realized

that God was not going to simply

allow him to hide

this sinful thing he had done?

David confessed

to the Lord.

He admitted what he had done

in the presence of Nathan the prophet.

We also read words

of his confession in Psalm 51.

But here in Psalm 32,

we read,

Then I acknowledge my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said,

I will confess

my transgressions

to the Lord.

So just as we read

in 2 Samuel

about David's moment

of confession

before Nathan the prophet,

Nathan says there,

The Lord has taken away your sin

and you are not going to die.

Here we read

the simple truth

of what God did to David

after he confessed.

I will confess

my transgressions

to the Lord

and you forgave

the guilt

of my sin.

Now we might in this moment

have feelings of anger

about what David did

to Bathsheba

and to her husband Uriah.

And what about Uriah?

There are truly

two dimensions

to our sin.

Our sin is

against other people.

Yes,

there's that

horizontal dimension.

But there's also

the vertical dimension.

Our sin is

against God.

He is the ultimate ruler.

He is the judge

of all the earth.

It wasn't just Uriah

that David sinned against,

but it was also

the good

and righteous God

who made them both.

God has given us

his commands

as to how

we should live.

And David knew

those commands.

Thou shalt not

commit adultery.

Thou shalt not

murder.

Thou shalt not

covet

thy neighbor's wife.

And David

defied

these very

commands of God

and then

tried

to cover it up.

And so we don't

want to minimize

for a moment

what David did

to Bathsheba

and Uriah

as we read

of the outcome

of this.

But we do

want to see

the horizontal

dimension

that David

was guilty

before God

for what he did.

he had broken

God's

holy law.

And

you know

going back

into verses

three and four

a little bit

we see the effect

that this had

on David

while he was

in this

place of

going against

God

keeping silent.

We can read

here about how

and just see

how tormented

he was

how burdened

he was

to the core

by his guilt.

Now there's a sense

in which

all sins

are equal

in that

they all

make us

liable

to punishment

before God.

That's a clear

teaching in the

Bible.

But there's also

a sense

in which

some sins

are worse

than others.

Consider the

words of Solomon

in Proverbs

Proverbs 28:17

chapter 28

verse 17.

This is what

Solomon,

David's son,

came to write.

He said,

anyone tormented

by the guilt

of murder

will seek

refuge

in the grave.

Let no one

hold him

back.

We can never

undo

the wrong

things that we

have done

or said

but in many

cases we can

admit what

we've done

to others.

We can repent.

We can seek

to be reconciled.

We can make

restitution.

We can sometimes

find forgiveness

from the one

that we've

wronged

but that's

never the

case

when it

comes to

murder.

That person

is gone

and should

you take

a life

you will

have to

live with

what you've

done for

the rest

of your

life.

There can

be no

restitution

with that

person,

no reconciliation,

no forgiveness

from that

person because

they're dead.

you killed

them.

Solomon

suggests that

this guilt

often torments

a person so

deeply that

they may

seriously

contemplate

finding relief

from that

guilt through

suicide.

This is

probably why

David's words

in verses

three and

four are so

serious.

it was

killing me

what I

had done.

My strength

was sapped.

It was the

guilt of

adultery

and murder

which tormented

David as

God brought

conviction

upon him.

But finally

David confessed

to God.

He admitted

what he had

done and

in that moment

what did

David deserve?

Think about

this.

Because God

is just

and David

had done

something

utterly

wicked.

Instantaneous

death

was really

what he

deserved.

That was

the punishment

that fit

his crime.

As God

said long

ago,

Genesis

Genesis 9:6

chapter 9

verse 6,

whoever sheds

the blood

of man,

by man

shall his

blood be

shed.

David knew

well the

law which

God had

given through

Moses.

Leviticus

24,

17,

anyone who

takes the

life of

a human

being is

to be put

to death.

Life

for life.

David knew

what he

deserved for

his sins

but amazingly,

astoundingly,

David says,

you forgave

the guilt

of my sins.

this is

amazing.

God

forgave

David

for committing

adultery

and committing

murder.

And we

might wonder

at this point,

how can God

really do

that?

Can he

just

forgive

our guilt

and still

be just?

Still

be righteous?

This is one

of the most

important questions

that the Bible

brings us to

again and

again.

And the

answer is

yes.

In fact,

the Bible

all together

is the story

of how the

answer is

yes,

he can.

And we're

going to look

at how

in a moment.

But in the

meantime,

look at how

this wonderful

forgiveness of

God changes

David's

life.

Look at the

difference in

David's

life between

verses 1

and 2

and verses

3 and 4.

In verses

3 and 4,

David refuses

to utter a

word.

He's tormented

by the guilt

of his sin.

It's killing

him.

It's sucking

the life out

of him.

He confesses

to God.

God forgives

him.

And now

verses 1 and

2, right at

the top,

describe

David now.

In verses

1 and 2,

David can't

keep quiet.

He can't

help but

declare his

own happiness

and gratefulness

to be blessed

and favored

by God

in this way,

to have

his sins

forgiven.

This is an

exclamation

of joy.

Blessed

is the one

whose transgressions

are forgiven.

blessed

is the one

whose sin

the Lord

does not

count

against

them.

This word

blessed

could also

rightly be

translated

happy.

It's kind

of a

dual meaning

to that

word.

Blessed

describes the

good favor

of God

bestowed upon

a person.

Happy

describes the

feeling that

always goes

with it

and this

is where

David is

living now

in this

joy

because God

has forgiven

him of what

he has done.

What a change

from inner

torment

and silence

to outward

joy

and can't

keep quiet

about God

and his

grace

and his

mercy.

That burden

of sin,

that crushing

weight of

David's guilt

is gone.

God

has

forgiven.

Why?

Because God,

the judge

himself,

has said,

your sins

are forgiven.

I will not

count this

thing that

you've done

against you.

And so

David is just

glad with the

deepest of

joys.

He's so

deeply touched

and changed

by God's

forgiveness

that he

calls out

to everyone

in verse 6.

He says,

therefore let

all the

faithful pray

to you

while you

may be

found.

Surely the

rising of

the mighty

waters will

not reach

them.

It's like

David is

saying,

this is the

way.

God really

is merciful.

He really

does forgive.

To all of

you who

believe in

his name,

call out

to him,

pray to

him,

confess your

sins to

him like

I did,

and you'll

see,

ask for

deliverance

in whatever

troubles you

may find

yourself in.

Even if it

seems like

the water is

up to your

neck or

the wave

is coming

for you,

pray to

God.

Call out

to him.

Surely the

rising of

the mighty

waters will

not reach

you,

if you

do.

He goes

on,

speaking

directly to

God.

He says,

you are

my hiding

place.

You will

protect me

from trouble

and surround

me with

songs of

deliverance.

I love

these words.

Could it

be that the

righteous judge

over all of

us, the

one we

should fear,

the one who

will not let

us get away

with our

sins against

others or

against him?

Could it

be that he

is also the

one that we

run to for

safety?

Could it

be that he

is also our

protector,

our refuge,

our savior,

our deliverer,

even from the

things that we've

done against

him and the

guilt that we've

got from that?

This is the

good news.

God is a

saving judge.

this is by

far not a

perfect analogy,

but can you

imagine a

scene in a

human courtroom?

A man gets

caught committing

a crime for

which his fine

will amount to

$50,000.

To most of us,

that's a lot of

money.

Can you imagine

the judge presiding

over this case in

such a way that no

matter what the

man does, he

cannot escape this

just verdict?

$50,000.

And then can you

imagine this judge

saying, come here

son, calling him

up to the bench and

then writing a check

from his own bank

account and showing

it to him and

saying, you're free

to go.

your debt is paid.

God is a

saving judge.

If we are in

danger because of

the sins that we

have committed

against him, and

we are, the Bible

tells us we are, he

is the place of

safety to run to,

to get out of that

danger.

You are my

hiding place.

you will protect

me from trouble.

You will surround

me with songs of

deliverance.

As we come a

little further down

to verse 8, there

are differences of

opinion over whether

verse 8 is God

speaking directly to

David, or whether

it's God speaking

through David, and

David kind of now

sharing this wisdom

that he has

learned with us.

It says, I will

instruct you and

teach you in the

way you should go.

I will counsel you

with my loving eye

on 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.

What is it that God

wanted of David all

those days when he

was silent, trying to

cover up what he

had done?

He wanted David not

to be stubborn, but

to come to him

willingly, and admit

and confess and

find his mercy, his

forgiveness.

forgiveness.

All too often, we can

be like this toward

God.

We have our own way

that we want to go,

just like David

tried, and sometimes

we can be really

stubborn, but we

need to surrender.

We need to submit to

the God who loves us.

We need to come to

him willingly and just

yield.

God loves us so much.

Think about this.

Had David simply

trusted in God's

commands and been

obedient right from

the start, just think

of all the heartache

and grief that could

have been avoided.

He could have been

spared all of it, if

you know the story of

David and what

happened as a result

of these sins.

And so David warns

us with the wisdom

that he had to learn

the hard way.

Many are the woes

of the wicked.

Don't go down the

path of the wicked

like I did, says

David.

The troubles were

multiplying so

quickly.

It was awful.

Put your trust in the

Lord.

Come to him.

Bring your troubles

to him.

Even your sin and

your guilt to him.

His unfailing love

surrounds those who

do.

But the Lord's

unfailing love

surrounds the one

who trusts in him.

Brings us to that

place where this

psalm ends in verse

11 of rejoicing and

gladness and singing.

I wonder how these

words hit you this

morning.

As you look at the

sections in your

Bible, the stanzas

of this psalm, which

of these stanzas

describes your

relationship with God

right now?

Perhaps you're living

in verses 3 and 4

right now.

You've been sinning

and sinning, sinning,

and like David, doing

as you please.

You know it's

wrong.

And maybe God's

hand is heavy on you

and you feel that.

It's taking a toll.

You know you should

confess your sins to

him.

You know you should

run to his loving

arms and ask for

forgiveness, but you've

been keeping silent.

I urge you, listen to

the words of God.

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.

Come to him.

Confess.

Admit.

Repent.

Pray to him today

while he may be found.

We can all live in

verses 1 and 2.

This is the good news

of God.

God's forgiveness is

graciously offered to

all people.

All the wrong things

that we have done,

he will forgive

if we come to him

and confess to him.

We too

can know the joy

that David knew

after he had done

the unthinkable.

We can know with

certainty

just as he did

that we are off

the hook

with God

even if we've done

unthinkable things.

We can say

with David,

blessed is the one

whose transgressions

are forgiven.

We can know that

reality

personally.

Which of these

stanzas

describes your

relationship with

God

right now?

One final piece

to this wonderful

news that

we can be forgiven

by God

when we come to him

and confess our sins.

As I said earlier,

as we look at

David's sin

and God's

forgiveness,

forgiveness,

we might wonder

how can God

forgive our sin?

How can he just

forgive our sin

what David did

and still be just

and righteous?

And the answer

both for David

and for us

is the same.

He can

and he did

make a way

for us to be forgiven

a way that does

not involve

just sweeping

our sins

under the rug

and pretending

that they

didn't happen.

God himself

made a way

for us to be

forgiven.

That is just.

He himself

decided to come

down

and live

among us

in the person

of Jesus.

He lived

and then he

died

for us

taking upon

himself

the punishment

that we deserve

for our sins

so that we

could be

forgiven

and justice

be done.

This is what

happened

when Jesus

died on the cross.

This is what

it's all about.

This is how

Paul describes

this in his

letter to the

church at Rome.

Romans 3,

25 and 26.

Paul says there,

God presented

Christ as a

sacrifice of

atonement

through the

shedding of

his blood

to be received

by faith.

He did this

to demonstrate

his righteousness

because in his

forbearance

he had left

the sins

committed

beforehand

unpunished.

That's what

David did.

he did this

to demonstrate

his righteousness

at the present

time

so as to be

just

and the one

who justifies

those who have

faith

in Jesus.

He is both

savior

and judge.

Christ suffered

and died

on the cross

to atone

for the lust

and adultery

and murder

committed by

David.

That's how

God was able

to say

your sins

are forgiven.

My son

is going

to take

the punishment

for that

when he

comes.

And Jesus

suffered

and died

on the cross

to atone

for our sins

as well

so that God

can say

to us

who believe

in him

who come

to him

and confess

to him

your sins

are forgiven.

Justice

has been

done

life

for life.

So this is

what we remember

this morning

as we once

again come

to

partake

of the Lord's

table.

We eat

from the bread

we drink

from the cup

just as Jesus

taught us to do

in remembrance

of him.

the cup

represents

his blood

which was

shed for us

when he died

on that cross

to atone

for us.

The bread

represents

his body

in place

of ours

suffering

bleeding

and dying

as we

deserve.

And so

this table

behind me

and partaking

of it

is a remembrance

of the forgiveness

of God

freely offered

through Jesus

sacrifice.

Have you

come

to acknowledge

your sins

to God?

Have you

come

to confess

your transgressions

to the Lord

as David

said?

Have you

put your

trust in

Jesus

the Savior?

And if so

this table

is for you

and I want

to invite

you to

partake

with us

to eat

and drink

with us

this morning

in remembrance

of Jesus.

And if you

haven't

I ask

that you

just let

the elements

pass you

by.

Let's

take a few

moments now

to be

quiet

before God

as we

reflect

on this

salvation

that is

ours

through

Jesus.

I want

to encourage

you to

pray to

God

in these

moments

confess

your sins

to him

and after

a few

minutes

Charles

and Nate

are going

to come

up

they're going

to pass

out the

elements

we'll

wait

until

everybody

who

wishes

to

partake

has

been

served

and

then

we'll

eat

and

drink

together

in

unison.

Lord

Jesus

we say

thank you

for your

sacrifice

for us.

Thank you

love

that we

truly

are

forgiven

we love

you so

much

to your

name be

the glory

amen

Amen.