Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Friday, February 26, 2016

This Week’s Devotional Focus is, “Encouraging Psalms.”

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile.” (Psalm 32:1–2).

Now this is a blessing we can all believe in! Do you want to be blessed? I certainly do. The great thing is that God is chomping at the bit to shower more blessing that you (or I) have room enough to receive.

If the stalwart King David knew nothing else, he knew the joy of repentance and forgiveness. The beloved king was a man in pursuit of God’s heart. He was very protective of the character and honor of God. You remember the Goliath incident, don’t you? He was the standard of all earthly kings. When a king was righteous in the sight of God, he was such, “like King David.”

Unfortunately, the king had one problem, which spiraled out of control. The Bible says, “…David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” (1 Kings 15:5). This “matter” involved lust, conspiracy, and murder. If the Scriptures say that he was righteous in God’s eyes, yet it also records this one exception, it is incumbent upon us to discern the relationship between the two divergent realities in light of our theme text.

Have you ever felt guilty for your sins? Have you ever been worn out from a lack of peace over it? What brought relief? Let me tell you what brought the king relief. The Bible says, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old Through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 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. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.” (Psalm 32:3–6).

Let’s tie this all together now. The key to King David’s authoritative proclamation of blessing in our theme text, which also is the key to freedom from guilt, shame, and spiritual demise, is confession and repentance. King David finally realize through the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the prophet Nathan that hiding his sin only brought more pain. After some time (some commentators say a year), he finally confessed his agreement with God’s assessment of his sin, manifest heart sorrow for what he had done, and turned from in completely.

Here is the moral of this story: If we do sin against God, the only way to restoration is by responding to the Holy Spirit’s convictions. If we confess and forsake our sins by His grace, God will forgive us (i.e. not hold our sin against us) and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (i.e. expunge our sin record when our name comes up in judgment). Do you see why the king said we can be blessed? Not only does God deliver us from the penalty we deserve, but He also elevates us to a holy position as though we never sinned at all. Now this is a blessing we can all believe in!—L. David Harris (www.DavidWritesaLot.com)