By Bunni Pounds

*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.

Uniquely clear and to the point – Psalm 32 contracts the heaviness and sorrow of sin versus the lightness and joy of God’s mercy. It is a passage of how freedom is found in confession and acknowledgement of sin and God’s true desire is for us all to be liberated from iniquity and transgressions.

Let’s take this Psalm passage by passage – one step at a time and we are going to see the freedom that comes through confession.

“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. Selah (verse 1-4)

This is going to sound like a strange statement – but the best thing that can happen to us is for God to open our eyes to our sin. This revelation of our sins leads us to one place - redemption. Sin consciousness – when God is revealing our wickedness to us – must lead somewhere. It has to land with redemption and freedom. To stay in the heaviness “day and night”, the “groanings” and the “silence” of God’s hand upon us is something that can’t or should not be sustained.

The point of this heaviness is to lead us to our transgressions being forgiven, and our sins being covered. We must have knowledge of sin through the law to realize that we need a Savior.

I have had many moments in my life where God showed me clearly my sins.

To the outside world – they might have laughed that I was considering my lifestyle of prayerlessness, pride, or self-sufficiency equal to the sins of the harlot who fell down at Jesus’ feet and washed His feet with her hair; but for me – that season of revelation of my need for forgiveness changed me. If we realize how much we have been loved and redeemed, it causes us to love Jesus more. I believe the connection between what we have been saved from is completely connected to our ability to love.

Verse 2 says “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.” 

The Apostle Paul quoted this scripture in Romans 4 right after he was concentrating on the powerful truth that “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4:3)

Notice here that our spirits are not changed through works – we are changed through faith.

Only God can change a person’s spirit. Only God can redeem someone from the inside out.

This transformation starts with the power of confession. When we uncover the sin with acknowledgement – we get free.

“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” (verse 5)

When we confess our sins and transgressions – God forgives and cleanses our iniquities. It is as simple as 1 plus 1 equals 2.

1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The power of the blood of Jesus to cleanse us cannot be underestimated. When we believe AND confess – He forgives. Period! 

Jesus was the Suffering Servant prophesied about in Isaiah 53. He was tortured, despised, rejected, wounded, bruised, and striped to set us free. Though we are like sheep that has “gone astray” – He suffered this incredibly brutal death so that we can be forgiven and cleansed. What love was on display in that moment in history.

Isaiah 53:5-6 “But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

Because of this great salvation – we come to realize that He truly can be our “hiding place” and our place of “deliverance”.

“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.” (verses 6-7)

We pray to Him because we have seen the power of His salvation. It gives us faith to believe that when we find Him in the middle of great trouble – that He will keep us safe.

I love the thought of God singing “songs of deliverance” over us. His redemption cannot be stopped. He is going to save us “to the uttermost” even through His intercession. (Hebrews 7:25) He is not going to give up or let us go!

Zephaniah 3:17 – “The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

In this scripture in Zephaniah – God is actually spinning wildly over us – rejoice over us with singing. This is a powerful picture of God’s deliverance that will not be silenced or stopped.  

His intercession, His praise, and His rejoicing over us will produce the results that He wants – complete freedom from sin for us and our lives full of His righteousness.

This next section of Psalm 32 flips to God’s perspective.

“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 like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.” (verse 8-9)

Being taught and guided by the Lord is so much better than being pulled around blindly with no understanding. Again, this is the contrast between being in bondage to sin and being free in Christ. God is wanting us to trust Him to guide us - not depend on our own strengths and the “arm of the flesh”.

Here is the final refrain which is the place of rejoicing after confession.

“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, all you upright in heart!” (verse 10-11)

What an incredible feeling comes upon us when we realize we are FREE. Mercy is surrounding us, we are glad in the Lord, we are righteous, and we are upright in heart. This can ONLY come through the mercy and grace of God – but it happens – Jesus is a redeemer to people all over the earth.

Every day someone around the world gets free by the mercy of God and the angels rejoice.

Are we trusting in the Lord today?

Are we “righteous” and “upright at heart”?

If we trust in Him, confess our sins, and receive His righteousness like Abraham in faith – we can be FREE from sin and iniquities.

Shout for joy, friends! Forgiveness is real and confession allows God’s great salvation to take effect in our lives. His blood is a powerful cleansing agent.

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