Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to Psalm 32. Psalm 32. True comfort of soul is only
found in the hearing and the believing of that which God said.
Now this is what settles us down. We look at something in the Word
of God. and we hear it expounded. And we're looking at it. The
Spirit of God bears witness to our hearts and says, that's the
truth. And our heart says, that's the
truth. That's what God said. And so, I don't want to fall
prey to the foolishness of my carnal thinking or speculation
of being blessed before God. I want to hear what God has to
say about being blessed. In Psalm 32, these 11 verses
are truly a blessing to God's people. Let's look at these verses
one at a time very quickly. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. Sin is covered. Now, doesn't it rejoice the heart
of a needy sinner to hear this? To make us to realize how glad
we are that we've not been left to our own thoughts without a
guide. Now here's this word, your word. David said, this is a lamp to
my feet. This is a lamp, this is a light
to my understanding. Now, the Holy Spirit, turn with
me to Romans four, but the Holy Spirit, Romans chapter four,
moved upon the Apostle Paul to just say something and to elaborate
on this, on what we just read. Spirit of God moved Paul to say
something about it. Romans 4, verses 1 to 8. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? If Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God. For what
saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness,
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is a man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man that Almighty
God has been pleased to bless and to cover. That's what it
says. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven whose sin is covered, covered by God, covered from the eyes of God, covered from the curse of the
law, covered by the robe of Christ's righteousness, covered by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Blessed is the man who sins. It's not
that we're not sinners. If we say we have no sin, we
make God a liar. But blessed is the man to whom
the Lord covers his sin. Blessed is the man, verse 2,
is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile. Now, when God speaks to us, Whenever
the Lord speaks, my sheep hear my voice. Now listen, we just
heard the voice of the Lord. This is God, this is God's word.
This is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ as his spirit moved
upon men to pin these things. This is his voice. My sheep hear. They hear with some understanding.
They hear with a yearning to hear. They hear with a desire
to hear. They want to hear. I want to hear what he says.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Whenever we hear what he has
to say, that's when we find peace and comfort. Now, I understand
completely. Satan will bring accusation before
us. He accuses. He's the accuser
of the brethren. And his accusations are based
on fact. We know this. We know that sin's
ever present with us. We know that sin is within us.
We know the presence, not the debt of it, not the guilt of
it, not the penalty of it, not the curse of it, but the presence
of it is there. Satan will bring accusation and
Paul will say, he'll admit it. He said, I see in me, that is
in my flesh. I see there dwelleth no good
thing. Oh, but that accusation, Though it's an accusation that's
truthful in the sense of being present with us. And we struggle. Our soul is often found, our
hearts often found to be fearful, embarrassed. You ever been embarrassed
by what you see in yourself? Distressed? I've said this so many times,
I don't know about you, but I'm telling you, greatest struggle
I have is to pray. If I could just keep my mind
just on track. Why and how can I be one of his? Can I be a child of God? But
what this scripture said, It's blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord won't charge him with it. It didn't say blessed is the
man in whom there is no iniquity. Blessed is the man in whom the
Lord won't charge him with it. Won't lay it to his account.
That's a blessed man. Knowing that I'm guilty in myself.
that my guilt, my debt before the law was charged to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He took the debt of it. And he
went to the cross. Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, verse six. This is what happened at Calvary. Isaiah 53, six. All we like sheep
have gone astray And we, whenever I say, you know, you know this,
you know that the we that's spoken of as having been able to, by
the grace of God, experience God's blessing are the sheep
of God. That's, that's John 17. That's who he prays for. He said,
I don't pray for the world. That's John 17. I don't pray
for the world. I pray for those that you've
given me out of the world. He doesn't pray for those of
the world. He doesn't lay down his life. I lay down my life
for the sheep. He doesn't guide the shepherd of the sheep, guides
the sheep. So when he's talking about we
right here, he's talking about God's people, God's church, his elect.
All we like sheep gone astray, we've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. Don't let somebody tell you that
Christ died for everybody's sins and he went to the Calvary to
pay for everybody's sin. That's up to you. Now that reeks
of nothing but disobedience to him, dishonor to him, slur upon
him. What that's saying is he failed. He was a failure. He tried. He did his best. Shed his blood. But some of that blood was shed
for people that's in hell right now. Now that's blasphemy. Don't
say that. Don't say that. You're saying
that salvation is of man and God's a failure. He did a pretty
good job, save some of them. He laid down his life for the
sheep and finished the work. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not lay charge. Blessed is the man in whose spirit
there is no guile. What does that mean? No craftiness,
no deceit, no treachery, no lying, no dishonesty. There's a new
man in every believer, a blessed man, a blessed man, a pardoned
sinner, and he's truthful. There's no guile in him. He's
truthful. He's truthful about himself. He's truthful about his sin.
He's truthful about his weakness, to put it away. He's truthful
about God, about God's sovereignty. by God's right to show mercy
and compassion to whomsoever he will. And he's honest about
his need to confess his sin before God, to continually confess his
sin before God. He's truthful. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute, impute not iniquity in
whose spirit, no God. Verses three to five, when I
kept silence, 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 acknowledge 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. See law. Now, without a doubt, we see the redeemed, the regenerated
sinner confessing. Now, our sin is bitter to behold. It's hard. It's a hard thing,
but there's no smothering it. There's no hiding it from the
Lord. The Lord knows. And by nature,
I know what we would try to do. We'd try to just, let's just
don't talk about it, and it'll be, give me till tomorrow or
the next day, and I won't, it'll be, I'll be better. I'll feel
better about it. Those thoughts that I have, those
attitudes that I have, Leave me alone. But to remain silent
is just not something that a believer can do before God. He just, that's
what he says, when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my
roaring all the day. For day and night thy hand was
heavy upon me. There's no remedy, there's no
comfort until we bear our heart in confession before the Lord,
before his throne of grace. We may try to fashion some excuses
and we may try to divert our thoughts away, but I'm telling
you, we don't find peace until we just get honest. You're trying
to hide something. Try to hide something before
somebody you love, your spouse or something, and you feel like
dirt. Like I'm just being unfaithful
about something. If it's needful to be said and
you just, finally you just, I gotta talk to you, I gotta get this
off my chest. That's a believer. There's no being quiet. You try to remain silent and
you just can't be quiet about it. Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you, thank you. As you
said, if we confess our sins, you're faithful and just to forgive
us. I'm so sorry. I'm guilty. We gotta bear our
heart before him. His hand of convicting grace
stays heavy upon us. And the moisture, that's what
he said, verse four, for day and night thy hand was heavy
upon me and my moisture was turned into the drought of summer. The
sap or the vigor of our soul. Until we're brought to lay bare
our heart before Him, it's like it's just, it turned into a drought. There's no moisture, peace and
comfort. It's like a famine until I talk
to Him and acknowledge my sin before Him. I've gotta repent
or die. And we hasten to the mercy seat
of Christ and we just get honest. With him, he knows, he knows.
He ain't hiding nothing. He knows. I wonder how many times
I've said, Lord, you know. You know what I'm thinking. You
know, Lord, I'm not hiding anything from you. When we realize that
our great high priest, the one who ever liveth to intercede
for us, who knows the depth of our need, of our sinfulness in
our our incapability of knowing it. And we contemplate that he
pleads for us concerning his own merit and worthiness. I just
want to say, Lord, I'm so sorry. Would you please, would you approach
the Father for me? Would you say something for me?
Would you say something on my behalf and tell him I'm sorry? Tell him I'm sorry, I'm sorry. In verse six, 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. David, like all God's
people, he knew something about what the Lord had done for him
and what he does for all of his people,
shows grace to them. He confessed his transgressions
unto the Lord, and he confessed that that transgression that
he had committed, transgression that would be like floods of
great waters, that's worthy of judgment. He knew, he knew, Lord,
you bore my debt. And Lord, I know that all this
great flood that I've committed against you, be imputed to me."
That's what he's saying. Lord, I know that what you've
said is so, that you've borne it. And I know I see what I am. David was quite aware of what
he had done. You are too, and I am too. But
he said, Lord, by your grace, you that won't impute iniquity,
who covers my transgressions, Lord you, Lord, thank you that
you don't charge it to my account. Now, knowing that, listen to
verse six. For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee
in a time when thou mayest be found. Surely the floods of great
waters, they shall not come nigh unto him. Lord, thank you. Thank
you that you don't impute what I deserve. Look at verse seven. Thou art my hiding place. Thou
shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with
songs of deliverance. Selah. You know, truly from everlasting,
Christ has ever been the hiding place of his people. He's always
been their hiding place. He was our hiding place according
to God's counsel of peace salvation, covenant, grace before we were
ever born. Before anybody was ever born.
He was the hiding place of his people. Christ has ever been the security. Everybody chosen in Christ has
been securely hidden in him. But listen to this. Thou art
my hiding place, shall preserve me from trouble, compass me about
with songs of deliverance. If we were chosen in the Lord
Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, I bring this up
again. Remember what Brother Scott said,
where God puts a man, he keeps a man. When did God put his people
in Christ? Before the foundation of the
world. Did he ever take them out of
him? The gifts of God are without
repentance. I mean, he don't renege on them. Where God puts him, keeps him.
Before I knew him, before you knew him, you that know him,
was he your hiding place then? He's always been our hiding place. Or we were aware. purely hidden
and kept by the power of God. Preserved when we knew him not. Now you talk about mercy, mercy. Jude, turn to the book of Jude,
just one chapter, Jude 1, 1. Jude 1, 1. just before the book of Revelation. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ
and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father and preserved in Christ Jesus and called. sanctified, set apart, set apart
to be God's, set apart as God's, sanctified, set apart, set apart,
that they should be holy. And with that blame, before Him
in love, sanctified, and preserved in Christ Jesus, in Jesus Christ,
preserved in Jesus Christ, and then called. They were set
apart, sanctified in Christ, preserved in Christ, and then
God called them, told them. Set apart by God, preserved in
Christ Jesus, called, and after He called, made aware that we've
always been found in Him. That just, that just blesses
my heart. Are you telling me that if I'm in Him now, that
I've always been in Him? That I was always preserved in
Him? Yeah. That God loved me before the foundation of the
world? Yeah. And Christ has always stood as my surety? Yeah. And
God's surely going to save me? Yes. And here's what I want to
know. Is He going to keep me? Yeah.
Yet by the power of God, through faith, ready to be revealed in
the last time. Oh, how thankful that we know
that we've been preserved from trouble. preserved from sin's
dominion, preserved from being deceived
by Satan, overcome by the corruption of our old nature, from the accusation
of the law and the justice of Almighty God, thou shalt compass
me about with the songs of deliverance. How wonderful to know that the
Lord encircles his people with the songs of their heart. Thanksgiving,
and there's no breach in that circle either, encircles us,
encircles us. Or we're going to experience
the troubles and trials of this life, and we're going to see
heartache that we have to deal with. Yeah. Verses 8 to 11, I will instruct
thee, teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee
with mine eye. Well, you just have to read this.
Be ye not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
whose mouths must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they
come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the
wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass
him about. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,
ye righteous, and shout for joy. All ye that are upright in heart,
God's people are taught, circled, directed as they go. They're not policed by the law.
They're not ruled by threats, but they're lovingly led by the
Spirit of God. Christ watches over them. Their steps are ordered. He instructs
and educates while they sit under the gospel. Look what he's done
for us today. What a blessing to be able to
come here and just sit down. And just about an hour and a
half, hour and a half. Sit here and hear what God has
to say, guiding us with his eye, tenderly watching over his sheep,
sheep of his pasture. He speaks to them, you heard,
you that hear. You heard him speak, you heard
him. You heard what he said. And those that will not hear,
the wicked, they're gonna experience the sorrows of being cast out.
Why do they not come? Because they don't want to, they
don't want to. But those by God's good pleasure that know him,
rest him, trust him, they're gonna rest. Be glad in the Lord,
rejoice, you righteous. Shout for joy, all ye that are
upright in heart. Be glad in the Lord, be glad
in the Lord. Aren't you glad that you're not
gonna be glad in yourself, glad in your ability? Aren't you glad
that you don't rejoice in the fleeting dainties of this life
at all? Fading. They're just going away
so quickly. I got to looking at the house
the other day and I thought, what am I going to do with all
this junk? I got to get rid of this junk before my kids have
to do it. Rejoice, be glad in the Lord.
I pray God bless this to our hearts for his sake. All right.