Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21: 16   From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sermon text: Psalm 32: 0    A MASKIL OF DAVID.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORDcounts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3    For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5    I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6    Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
8    I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
10   Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.
11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Introduction

Few things in life cause more heartache than a broken relationship. We replay the crucial events in our heads, wondering how we could have avoided the rupture. We think of ways to make things right again. The question becomes, will we go through with the only thing that will help: an apology and request for forgiveness?

American history tells us of a classic event in which a friendship reached the breaking point. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had known each other for years, ever since they worked together on the Declaration of Independence. (Adams told Jefferson he had to write the document because “you are 10 times the writer I am.” Adams then argued for its adoption.) Jefferson later served as Vice-President for Adams. However, Jefferson ran against Adams for President in 1800. Even worse, Jefferson won. Adams was so crushed by this defeat that he left Washington, D.C. before Jefferson’s inauguration.

David knew the feeling of a broken relationship, only in the case of this psalm, the relationship was with his God. David knew that only forgiveness would heal the relationship, and that forgiveness would come only when he confessed his sin and lived as God expected him to live. Fortunately for David — and, as St. Paul says, for us as well — God has provided a way for humanity to restore the relationship between Himself and every sinner on the planet. God Himself, through Jesus Christ His Son, has “reconciled us to Himself.” God has given us an avenue to reconciliation; will we take it?

Sermon

We don’t know what event precipitated this psalm. It seems that David, like all of us, periodically did something he shouldn’t have done to break His relationship with God. He then incurred the guilt that comes from sinning against His Creator. Like us, David knew the only way to reconcile the break was to ask forgiveness.

First, David used an interesting word translated as “blessed” in verses 1 and 2: The Hebrew word “ashera.” This is not the ordinary word for “bless” we see in so many passages in Scripture. This word always refers to humanity as the object; it almost always implies that the person that seeks the blessing must do something to receive the blessing. In the case of David, he knew he had to confess his sins before God. Nothing but confession would bring reconciliation.

What sin had David committed? Actually, David doesn’t specify; instead, he uses every word for “sin” in the Hebrew language. The word translated as “transgression” actually means “military rebellion;” it implies those times when we know God’s commandments and consciously choose to do otherwise. The word translated as “sin” means “to miss the mark;” these sins are those in which we know God’s standard and fail to live up to it. The word translated as “iniquity” means “to twist” or “to go astray;” these are the sins in which we fail to walk in God’s plan for our lives. Like David, we’ve all committed sins in every category in some way.

Like all of us, David tried to go without seeking forgiveness. Let’s face it: Asking forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do in life. However, David learned that staying silent didn’t work. David said that when he “kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

I think there’s a lesson here: we really need to ask forgiveness when we first sin. Even more importantly, this applies to those times when we offend one another as much as those times when we offend God. Jesus mentioned this in His Sermon on the Mount when He told His hearers, “ if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Every human alive knows the feeling of guilt. We hear it mentioned as a “gnawing on our bones.”

However, look at the difference between David’s feelings of guilt and the feelings of relief and joy when he confessed his sins. Notice that David held nothing back from God; he confessed everything. Again, David used every word for sin he knew. Once David confessed his sin, God forgave him.

Isn’t this a wonderful experience? There’s a beautiful picture here. In verse 2, David says that “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity.” In modern Hebrew, the word used here for “count” is used for “computer” as well. In a sense, every sin we commit is held in God’s “computer” until we ask for forgiveness; then, God hits the “delete” key. St. Paul tells us that God replaces our sin with the sacrifice of Christ. When we are genuinely repentant, God will never again bring our sin before us, not in this life or the next. When we confess sin, the sin is gone.

David makes an important point at this stage of the psalm: We must ask forgiveness when God “may be found.” Some people do such an effective job of quenching the Spirit that they feel no guilt. “When he may be found” can apply to windows of spiritual opportunity; those who resist confession will soon find fewer spiritual opportunities.

Do you seek to serve God, yet you wonder why He doesn’t ask you to accomplish a task in His service? Unconfessed sin inhibits not only our relationship with God but also our opportunities to serve God. Notice that David also knew about “the rush of great waters.” It’s best to confess our sins at the moment we sin before our fast-paced lives sweep us away from the moment of opportunity.

Once David found forgiveness, he could rejoice in the last verses of the psalm. David then referred to God in familiar ways: As his “hiding place” and his refuge.

Conclusion

Do these lessons still apply to us? Of course they do! Everyone sins. This fact offends many people today; they believe humanity only needs education to improve ourselves. However, as C.S. Lewis says, “fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: HarperCollins, 2001, p. 56).

Fortunately, St. Paul told the Corinthians a glorious truth:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

I see several important lessons for us.

First, confess sin when you commit it. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). St. John tells us that “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1). With Jesus working as your advocate, you’re guaranteed of forgiveness.

Secondly, don’t let sin keep you from a blessing. You may think the sin is too small to bother God. Any sin separates humans from God. As believers, sin doesn’t separate us from God, but it inhibits His blessings in our lives.

Thirdly, confess your sins to God and enjoy the blessings of a clear conscience and the joy of fellowship with those you’ve offended. Nothing helps us like forgiveness and restored relationships.

I’d add one more point here. As we examine the psalms, we see that many of them concern sin and confession, forgiveness and relief. The Psalms demonstrate what we already know: We’re all sinners. Even after we’re born again, we continue to fight our human nature, that part of us that constantly wants to put ourselves ahead of others. Unfortunately, no one ever completely defeats it in this life. A street preacher at the University of Alabama 2 weeks ago drew the biggest reaction when he said he’d never sinned after he was born again. Even the heathens hooted at that one.

Back in the 1700’s, pastor and theologian Jonathan Edwards wrote a letter to a new convert. The letter, “Advice to Young Converts,” became one of his most printed works. As Edwards counseled the new convert, Deborah Hatheway, he wrote, “don’t be at all discouraged or disheartened by [your sins]; for though we are exceeding sinful, yet we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, the preciousness of whose blood, and the merit of whose righteousness and the greatness of whose love and faithfulness does infinitely overtop the highest mountains of our sins” (George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003, p. 225).

Edwards knew the danger of failing to forgive ourselves when God forgives us. When God forgives your sins, you’re forgiven. Rest in His care and His love and live joyfully in His forgiveness and the reconciled relationship Jesus purchased for you with His own blood.

But what about the relationship I mentioned at the beginning; what about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson? After Jefferson retired from the Presidency in 1809, the two men restored their relationship and remained good friends for the rest of their lives. The two men and friends died hours apart on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after the Continental Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence Jefferson wrote and Adams guided to ratification.