Psalm 32
Pastor David Groendyk

Have you ever been caught in a lie and then had to continually cover your tracks so that the lie didn’t catch up to you? Or have you ever been doing something you know you shouldn’t be doing and so you were continually looking over your shoulder to make sure no one caught you? What an agonizing and stressful way to live! Unchecked and unconfessed sin plagues you and overshadows your life, but what a relief it is when you don’t have to live with that kind of burden anymore. Psalm 32 touches on that human experience. It is a psalm all about the joy and the relief that repentance and forgiveness bring.

The very first vow that you make when you become a member of a PCA church is that you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure, and without hope save in his sovereign mercy. Step #1 of being a Christian is both knowing and feeling that you are a great sinner who has no hope. David describes that feeling of being weighed down by sin in verses 3–4. Our sin ought to weigh heavily on us. But that’s not all there is! We also find out that we can be forgiven, our sin forgotten, our guilt covered, and our iniquity counted no more (vv. 1–2). It is an amazing joy and relief to be forgiven! How do you become blessed in this way? By confessing your sin to the Lord (v. 5). If you do not try to hide it from him, he will forgive you. But he doesn’t just wave it away or sweep it under the rug. It’s unclear in Psalm 32 for David, but when we come to the New Testament, specifically Romans 4, Paul uses Psalm 32 to explain that God justifies the ungodly and counts them righteous because Jesus Christ died and has been punished for our sins and has been raised to life so that we would be justified. It is the height of joy and blessing to put your faith in Christ, have your death sentence pardoned, and to be given new and everlasting life through him! Truly, we ought to be able to sing the hymn, “My chains fell off, my heart was free… Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”

Beyond this joy and relief of being found in Christ, we must take away from this psalm the necessity of regularly practicing confession of sin and repentance to God. In fact, the entire second half of this psalm is dedicated to teaching others the need to repent. We have to remember that, even though we know there is no condemnation for us in eternity, we are not and will never be perfect or freed from sin in this life. We also must remember that it is far too easy to drift away from Christ. Therefore, make it a habit of confessing sin in your prayers daily. I don’t know where it originated, but the phrase “keep short accounts with God” has always stuck with me. We don’t want to be the kind of Christians who let sin pile up. Confess your sin quickly. And confess your sin specifically. We are not abstract, general sinners; we are specific, concrete sinners. I don’t know about you, but my general sinfulness isn’t what usually plagues my conscience; specific sins do. If we want to be relieved of the weight of guilt, confess specifically. Finally, as James 5:16 tells us, confess sins to one another and pray for one another. It is one of the greatest blessings of the church that we have brothers and sisters who sharpen us, move us closer to Jesus, and help us find relief when we sin. Don’t be afraid to find one or two close friends who can keep you accountable and who can be praying for you specifically. All of us want to know and also feel the gladness, joy, and freedom of forgiveness and cleansing, so don’t wait for God to teach you the hard way. Go to him willingly, quickly, and often, and you will always find him who is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exod. 34:6–7).