Psalm 32 & 51

GUILT is the most invisible, but the heaviest giant of all. People all around us are being slowly crushed and suffocated by the giant of guilt. It kills slowly with excruciating pain!

David battled two giants in his lifetime. Goliath is the well known giant he defeated in a matter of minutes. Guilt is the lesser-known giant that took David many months to overcome!

David had it all – every good thing life had to offer. He ruled the greatest nation in the world Not only was he God’s anointed, he was also the people’s choice. Once he was an obscure shepherd boy, now he was the most important man of the land.

David had the heart of an artist the soul of a priest the mind of a philosopher the body of a warrior David had made it to the top. Many have indicated he was restless and needed a new giant to conquer. Sadly, this one got the best of him!

Psalm 32 describes the anguish of body and soul The Agony of Guilt that David went through while trying to conceal his sin. to conceal his sin.

When the damage has been done and the guilt sets in – our first impulse is SILENCE “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.” - Psalm 32:3 We feel that we can’t talk to people, even those closest to us. We feel like we can’t talk to God.

“If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”- Psalm 66:18 Now a gulf of silence stretched between David & God. The silence as a result of guilt is deafening His soul was suffering & his health followed suit.

No one is more eloquent than David on the dimensions of SORROW “Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.” - Psalm 32:4 King David was still commanding all of his subjects and mighty army, but his conscience could not be ruled.

David was trapped inside his own guilt. Sorrow overcame him, sapping his life of all its considerable vitality. His conscience was filled with disgust, breaking his communion with God. There were no songs to sing. The only poetry he could write was the poetry of grief. HIS LIFE WAS A MESS!

David suffered so much was there was no one to whom he could convey his pain; instead he felt isolated because of his SECRECY For over a year, David lived with an intolerable secret. His sin with Bathsheba may not have been planned, but his sin against Uriah was premeditated & calculated. The guilt of what he had done was wearing him down.

The Accusation of Guilt God sent a prophet named Nathan to confront David about his sin. The Lord had revealed to Nathan what he needed to know about David’s sin. Nathan tells David a story of two men – one rich and one poor

“David was furious. ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ he vowed, ‘any man who would do such a thing deserves to die!’” - 2 Samuel 12:5 Nathan lowers the boom Nathan lowers the boom and tells David and tells David “You are the man!” “You are the man!” - v 7a

It’s hard to imagine a moment filled with more anguish and relief at the same time. While David was humiliated and ashamed – finally the secret he had been carrying for so long was out in the open. Now was the time for David to admit his guilt and move toward cleansing.

The Admission of Guilt We now move from Psalm 32 to Psalm 51, a record of David’s response and discover the pattern for defeating this giant of guilt!

David accepts FULL responsibility for his SIN Take a highlighter and go down Psalm 51 and note each I, me, my, mine. David did not avoid the fact that he was the one who had sinned and was guilty before God! This is a lost art in our day!

David Acknowledges the Sinfulness of Sin In three verses, David uses 4 different words to describe what he had done Transgression, Iniquity, Sin, Evil When we fail to live by God’s standards – listen carefully to our language! When we confess our sin we are saying the same thing about it that God says about it!

“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” -Psalm 32:5 There was a day when people were scared of sin, but today, we find people using every word except “sin” to describe behavior that is offensive to God.

When it comes to our sin, we mumble instead of confess. We’ve so insulated ourselves from the concept of sin that our modern generation thinks nothing of living with all kinds of unconfessed sins in their lives. And the church is in danger of adopting this same mentality. Let’s model David’s pattern of confession – not his sin!!

David Addresses His Confession to God “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight.” I have done what is evil in your sight.” - Psalm 51:4a David realizes sin is first and foremost a violation of God’s Holy Standards and that God is the One before whom confession & repentance is due.

The Answer to Guilt There are some steps we must take…

Removing the Sin Check out the phrases David uses to describe this step “Wash me thoroughly…cleanse me… purge me…wash me…blot out…” Sin is like a STAIN. The word “cleanse” refers to the cleansing of a leper. If someone came into contact with a dead body – they had to be ceremonially cleansed with hyssop. David is asking for God to be merciful!!

Restoring the Joy In verses 8 & 12 – David prays that God will return to him the “joy of his salvation” Note…David is NOT asking for God to restore his salvation…but the joy of his salvation. There was a time when David danced for sheer joy before the Lord as the ark of the covenant was transported up to Mount Zion in Jerusalem {2 Samuel 6:14}

Renewing the Fellowship David desires for the chasm between God & himself to be bridged, so there is once again oneness and unity. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” - Psalm 32:1-2 Content is the person whose sin is forgiven and who enjoys being in right relationship with the Lord!