Psalm 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity,and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Verse 2 leads off with the word “blessed” meaning “happy.” The first phrase of this verse means that happy is the man that the LORD does not charge iniquity to. The word iniquity means “perverseness” or “moral evil.” How can verse two happen? Again,because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. When David wrote this psalm,under Holy Spirit inspiration,animal sacrifices were taking place to temporarily cover sin,but it is only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that sins are truly washed away. The word “impute” means to “charge or put on one’s account.” Believers in Jesus Christ should be very happy because our sin debt is paid by Jesus Christ! 2Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us,who knew no sin;that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Romans 4:24-25 But for us also,to whom it shall be imputed,if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;(25) Who was delivered for our offenses,and was raised again for our justification. This does not mean that believers have license to sin,because there is still a judgment coming over our obedience to Jesus Christ,but we do know that we will spend eternity with Jesus Christ. But I do not look forward to that Judgment Seat of Christ,for I will see the opportunities that I neglected and the times that I chose to go my way rather than God’s way. Just because I have that security of knowing I am saved,does not mean I should relish sin! Even though I am saved,that does not mean that I no longer sin,but I need to ask forgiveness and look to do the sin no more.
Further,Psalm 32:2 states:Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity,and in whose spirit there is no guile. In other words,just confessing sin with out meaning it,does nothing for our sin – it is still imputed to us.
When we repent of our sin,we need to mean it. Listen to this illustration:“How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child,”says William Shakespeare’s King Lear. Well,then,how about a thankless jailbird? If you want an answer to that one,ask a judge in Seattle. Recently,a young man appeared before the judge on charges of car theft. The judge saw no reason to keep him locked up while he awaited court action. He released him on his own recognizance. A short time later,that judge’s own car disappeared. Police quickly found the stolen car,and the one who stole it. Now the judge was in court in a new role,not as a judge,but as a witness,against the same young man he had released,who stood accused of stealing the magistrate’s wheels. A Japanese proverb reminds us that forgiving the unrepentant is like drawing pictures on the water. Ignoring sin may gain the sinner’s temporary gratitude,but makes no lasting impression. A forgiven car thief is still a car thief if no change of character takes place.
How about you? Do you seek to escape justice or to be justified by God’s grace and Christ’s mercy? God offers you liberty,not license,in the cleansing blood of Christ.
Psalm 32:3 When I kept silence,my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
King David is telling us what happened to him when he tried to keep silent about his sin. Nobody around him knew about his sin,but God knew. David may have put up a facade,but inside his conscience was bothering him. The sin was affecting his health as he continued to try and hide the sin. He may have been silent on the outside,but inside him the sin was roaring as he dealt with the conviction by the Holy Spirit about the sin.
Psalm 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
Charles Spurgeon wrote:God’s finger can crush us –what must his hand be,and that pressing heavily and continuously! Under terrors of conscience,men have little rest by night,for the grim thoughts of the day dog them to their chambers and haunt their dreams,or else they lie awake in a cold sweat of dread. God’s hand is very helpful when it uplifts,but it is awful when it presses down. …my moisture is turned into the drought of summer David is physically affected by his sin and he is drying up! If only we were as sensitive to our sin as David was! How often do we suppress the thought of our sin and the more we do that,the less effect our sin has on ourselves. We need to pray to God that we see our sin as He does. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with sin:Romans 7:22-25 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:(23) But I see another law in my members,warring against the law of my mind,and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (24) O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (25) I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God;but with the flesh the law of sin.
Sin deadens us and the longer we waddle in sin,the deader we are to the sin. Sin is not a laughing matter and needs to be taken seriously by believers today. We are seeing how David reacted to his sin. We need to see who God is and recognize His Holiness and strive toward His Holiness. There is a new song out that seems to be the attitude of professing Christians toward God. The title of the song:I Think I’m Gonna Throw Up. Here are the lyrics:I Think I’m Gonna Throw Up,I Think I’m Gonna Throw Up,I Think I’m Gonna Throw Up,My Hands To The Lord. (Repeat) Throw Up,Throw Up,Throw Up,My Hands To The Lord. (Repeat) NEXT VERSE:I Think I’m Gonna Hurl,I Think I’m Gonna Hurl,I Think I’m Gonna Hurl,My Sins Out The Door (Repeat) Hurl,Hurl,Hurl My Sins Out The Door. (Repeat) The song is sung by an man with children singing behind him. At the end,the children laugh and make retching sounds. Does that really glorify the King of Kings? Does this song honor the Lord of Lords? What are these children going to remember about this song? Praising God or getting to sing euphemisms about vomiting? Whenever vomiting is discussed in the Bible it is never good.
Psalm 32 shows us that David did not consider his sin to be a laughing matter. It weighed very heavily on him. Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee,and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said,I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD;and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
David gave in to the the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repented of his sin. Look at how David mentions his sin,his iniquity,and his transgression. Note that David says that not only he sinned but that he acknowledges that his sin was against God and that his iniquity is not hid from God. God sees everything we do,knows everything we think,and hears everything we say. The first steps toward forgiveness by God is to acknowledge our sin and realize how it affects us and our relationship with God. We then need to confess that sin to God – not to man. Confess to God first and then if your sin affected another person,then confess to them. Francis Fuller very wisely said,“To repent is to accuse and condemn ourselves;to charge upon ourselves the desert of hell;to take part with God against ourselves,and to justify Him in all that He does against us;to be ashamed and confounded for our sins;to have them ever in our eyes and at all times upon our hearts that we may be in daily sorrow for them;to part with our right hands and eyes,that is,with those pleasurable sins which have been as dear to us as our lives,so as never to have more to do with them,and to hate them,so as to destroy them as things which by nature we are wholly disinclined to. For we naturally love and think well of ourselves,hide our deformities,lessen and excuse our faults,indulge ourselves in the things that please us,are mad upon our lusts,and follow them,though to our own destruction.”
Psalm 32 shows us the importance of recognizing our sin and repenting of it. Thank God that He is merciful and patient with us. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins,he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.