Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-179 (Expository Sermon)

GUILT AND GOD (Psalm 32)

by Rod Benson

Have you ever sat in a cinema, watching a good movie, when suddenly someone projects a small red dot on the screen with a hand-held laser pointing device? I suppose it is one way for socially- challenged adolescents to express their creativity or power or freedom, and it never fails to generate a critical audience.

Creating a minor irritation in a cinema is one thing; pointing lasers at car drivers at night is another. I was driving at night along King Georges Road at Hurstville [Sydney] when someone pointed the red dot in my eyes. All I felt was surprise and annoyed, but what if the intrusion had distracted me enough to crash into oncoming traffic? A seemingly harmless prank with a beam of light might result in significant damage, injury, even death. And, later, a growing sense of guilt on the part of the phantom pointer.

It seems to me that guilt is easily gotten, whether foisted on us or freely accepted. Take the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair: according to media reports, guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours, but not expressing contrition or regret. Or the medical officer who last week took a scan of a woman and accidentally left her trapped in the scanning machine, in pitch darkness, while he and other staff enjoyed a four-day holiday – she managed to free herself after 29 frightening hours. Or the young people who threw concrete blocks off an M5 motorway overpass in Sydney recently, killing a truck driver. Their actions led to the transgression of moral and criminal law, and the consequences were severe.

“According to the Christian faith,” says LeRoy Aden in his book, Counseling and the Human Predicament, “guilt is a decisive part of the human predicament . . . a frequent and significant problem in the lives of troubled people. Guilt is a major factor in most forms of psychological disturbance and a primary factor in most forms of interpersonal estrangement . . .

“It enslaves us with its subtlety, paralyzes us with its pain, and drives us toward despair with its endlessness. Consequently, we often try to push it into the dark and hidden recesses of our lives – or, in a more positive vein, we face up to our powerlessness and seek help from someone beyond ourselves.”

In the Bible, David’s experience of grappling with guilt lie at the heart of Psalm 32. It is the first of twelve psalms with the title “Maskil” at their head, designating them as psalms of instruction.

It is also the second of seven traditional “penitential” psalms (the others being psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143). It is good to read it in conjunction with Psalm 51, David’s great psalm of repentance after he sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then arranged to have her husband, Uriah, killed on a battlefield. For a time he tried to ignore or conceal his sin, but eventually God sent Nathan the prophet to him with a parable exposing both his guilt and his injustice, and David confessed his sin and was restored to a positive relationship with God.

David may have composed Psalm 32 after reflection, and it may be the fulfilment of his vow mentioned in Psalm 51:12-13: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.”

Psalm 32 was Augustine’s favourite psalm. Before he died, Augustine had it inscribed on the wall next to his bed so he could meditate on it more easily. As he said, “The beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner.”

It’s possible to experience guilt because I have let myself down, or let down a friend; or because my words or actions have offended others. But here I’m talking about theological guilt: an emotional state that affects my relationship with God. Guilt – the kind of response David felt – is caused by sin in my life (verses 1-4).

In the first two verses we have a twofold beatitude and a striking example of Hebrew parallelism: three terms for our sin, and three corresponding ways in which God deals with it.

The first word for sin is “transgression” (verse 1a), which indicates a departure from or rebellion against God. Nineteenth century Baptist minister Alexander Maclaren captures the force of this word well when he writes, “You do not understand the gravity of the most trivial wrong act when you think of it as a sin against the order of Nature, or against the law written on your heart, or as the breach of the constitution of your own nature, or as a crime against your fellows. You have not got to the bottom of the blackness until you see that it is a flat rebellion against God himself.”

The second word is translated “sins” in the NIV, but more accurately means “falling short” (verse 1b): failing to measure up to God’s law or standards.

The third word, also translated “sin” in the NIV, is better translated “iniquity” – meaning corruption, twistedness, or crookedness. As James Montgomery Boice notes, “to the degree that we indulge in sin we become both twisted and twisting creatures.”

The first word describing how God deals with our sin is “forgiven” (verse 1a): the guilt and condemnation under which I struggle is lifted off my shoulders. In light of the New Testament, we may echo Horatio Spafford’s eloquent statement in song:

My sin – O, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

The second word is “covered” (verse 1b). Here David borrows religious imagery from the Day of Atonement where the high priest took blood from an animal sacrificed outside the temple, and carried it into the Most Holy Place, sprinkling it on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. As Boice explains,

“The mercy seat was the lid or ‘covering’ of the ark, and the blood was sprinkled there because it thereby came between the presence of the holy God, symbolised as dwelling in the space between the wings of the cherubim above the ark, and the broken law of God that was contained in the ark itself. It thus covered the broken law, shielding the sinner from God’s judgement.”

The third word is translated “does not count” (verse 2a), referring to the accounting term ‘imputation’. It’s as though God writes my sin into Christ’s ledger, and his righteousness into my ledger, counting me as justified because of the excellence and perfect sacrifice of Christ.

If guilt is caused by my sin, how am I freed from its power and consequences? Guilt is removed by confession and forgiveness (verse 5). I need to acknowledge my sin (verse 5a) – verbalising it, naming it. Notice the contrast between “silence” (verse 3) and “acknowledging” (verse 5). When you treat your spouse in an inappropriate manner (or your mum or dad, or a friend or neighbour), and consistently refuse to acknowledge it, the wrong you retain and shelter will eventually merge with your identity and become part of you. Scary thought!

I also need to ask God for forgiveness (verse 5b). Participating in counselling is an excellent way to deal with a wide range of problems we face, but it can’t take the place of confessing sin to God. Sharing guilty secrets with others may lift a psychological load from your shoulders, but by itself it will not alter your relationship with God. The Apostle John points to the only remedy available when he says, “If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins [to God], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).

When we confess our sins to God, he forgives us. Forgiveness from God is necessary (verses 3-4), it is complete (verse 5a), and it is immediate (verse 5b). David confesses, and the Lord forgives, and David experiences a state of joy and peace that only a forgiven sinner can appreciate (verses 1-2).

To receive God’s forgiveness, confession must be made with integrity (verse 2b). By definition, confession of sin is the act of a sinner. But, for that very reason, confession itself can be a sinful act. Our human natures are so convoluted that even confession of sin to God can lead to pride and self-righteousness; and if it’s done often enough, without meaning and contrition, it can contribute to a quenching of the Spirit and a searing (or reprogramming) of the conscience (see 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 4:2).

God is not deceived by such mechanical actions, but we can deceive ourselves. That’s why I believe David used the phrase, “Blessed is the man . . . in whose spirit is no deceit” (verse 2b).

Similarly, in Psalm 51:17 he reflects that “the sacrifices [acceptable to] God are a broken spirit.” Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it in his paraphrase of David’s psalm of repentance, “Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice” (Psalm 51:16-17, The Message).

What does a restored and renewed relationship with God bring? Let me suggest three things. First, forgiveness leads to the assurance of divine protection: “Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (verses 6-7).

Not only grace and forgiveness but protection from evil, and shelter from trouble, and deliverance from our enemies, are all available to those whose trust is in the Lord.

Second, forgiveness brings wisdom into our lives. Now the Lord replies to David, and he records the Lord’s words: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding and must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you” (verses 8-9).

If you have experienced the Lord’s heavy hand (as David had, verses 3-4), you should also seek and expect and appreciate his gentle touch. The mule is known for its deliberate and forceful waywardness; and the human heart is not dissimilar when it is not controlled by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Wisdom and understanding are within our reach when we are motivated and enlightened by the twofold direction of Word and Spirit.

Last but not least, forgiveness brings joy: “Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him. Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (verses 10-11).

Learn to rely on God’s grace, and you will be surrounded by his unfailing love, and he will fill your life with greater joy than you thought possible. Forgiveness, and a restored relationship with God, and protection from evil, and wisdom for living, are things to be profoundly joyful about!

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E094 Copyright (c) 2002 Rod Benson. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: New International Version (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1980).

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