Okay, this evening now we'll
be studying from Psalm 32. From Psalm 32. And the title
of the message this evening, I'm calling it, The Blessedness.
The Blessedness of the Believer. Oh, how blessed that man who's
trusting the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation. The Blessedness
of the Believer. This psalm gives unto us the
only valid, real, right reason for true happiness. Happiness
of heart, happiness of soul and spirit. Blessed, it says, and
happy is that man whose sin is covered. Blessed and happy is
a man whose God is the Lord. Blessed is a man that trusteth
the Lord. This happiness that he's talking
about in this psalm and that's what the word blessed means happy
happy The word blessed is used in the book of Psalms at least
47 times, and it means happy, joyful, or, oh, how happy is
that man who is trusting the Lord Jesus for all of salvation. How truly blessed are the saints
of God, and the fruit of that salvation is joy and peace. The Lord the psalm closes in
verse 11 with the words be glad blessed man Be glad in the Lord
Rejoice in the Lord and rejoice ye righteous the believer has
every reason to be overjoyed with this being found in Christ
Jesus overjoyed Charles Spurgeon tells the story of a man who
was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. This was
Spurgeon's day back in 1850, 1860. I don't know when this
story was given, but he tells of a story of a man who was to
be hanged over there in London for his
crimes. And as he walked up the stairs
of the gallow, the king in that day, whoever the king was, the
king of England, somehow got word to the executioner that
he was to be pardoned. He became, the story goes, he
became so overjoyed with happiness that he died. This is maybe where
the phrase comes from that the man was tickled to death. He
was so overwhelmed with joy, having that guilt lifted off.
You imagine the fear that was going through his mind and his
heart as he looked at that noose. hanging knowing it was meant
for his death and then to hear that word of pardon come from
the king no less you're free you can go home it's all right
and he was so overjoyed that he was overcome and that he died
well I trust the man was a believer I don't know but he certainly
died being happy knowing that he was pardoned. He was pardoned. And that's the way a believer
is. He's just overjoyed knowing that
that death sentence that we so readily deserve has been pardon
has been put away our sin has been put away and it causes us
great joy great everlasting joy but notice the contrast here
here's the blessed man he's a happy man but look at verse ten there's
a contrast to the wicked to the ungodly to the unbeliever many
sorrows shall be to the wicked but he that trusteth in the Lord
mercy shall compass him about Oh, I tell you how precious is
saving faith to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation. Now let's consider verse 1 and
2 for a moment of Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. You imagine such a thing, all
your transgression, forgiven, forgiven, forgotten, whose sin
is covered, blessed is a man unto whom the Lord imputeth,
reckons, does not charge iniquity to you, and in whose spirit there
is no guile. That's a description of a truly
blessed and happy man. And that is true of every believer.
So then who is the blessed and happy man? That sinner saved
by God's saving, sovereign mercy in Christ Jesus. The world would
call the happy man that man who is rich and increased with goods. The world would call a happy
man that man who has a good education, who has a good job, who has prospered
in this business world. The world would call that man
a happy man. But my friend, what is the end
of that man? Our Lord said, if you die in
your sin, you cannot come where I am. He said, except you believe
that I am, you'll die in your sin. I tell you, I would rather
be a pauper, a beggar, knowing that the richness that God has
given me in the Lord Jesus Christ and the inheritance that every
believer enjoys is eternal. Do we have eternal righteousness
and eternal life and eternal salvation in Christ alone? Now, in verses 1 and 2, we have
the threefold description of our total depravity. What we are by nature. What we
are by nature. He uses these three words. Transgression. He uses the word sin. And he
uses the word iniquity. Someone called that the Trinity
of what we are. Sin, transgression, and iniquity. Now, they all mean different
things. Sin is what I am. What I am in myself. Find 1st
John. Let's see if I can make good
on that. 1st John chapter 1. Sin is what I am by birth. Born in sin, shapen in iniquity. 1st John chapter 1. Now look at verse 8 carefully.
1 John chapter 1 verse 8. If we say we have no S-I-N, sin. Notice it doesn't say sins. If
we say we have no sin nature, no depraved ungodly nature, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, make God a liar, and His Word is not in
us. So sin, then, is what I am. In Adam all died. In Adam all
sinned. Sin, I was born in sin, shaping
in iniquity. So sin is what we are. Sinner. Sinner. Never graduate, my friend,
above being a sinner saved by God's grace. There was an old
writer years ago. I believe his name was William
Huntington. Some of you may have some of
his books. But when he would pin a letter, he would always
pin the letter, William Huntington, S.S. Sinner Saved. Sinner saved. I tell you, if
you know the first part of that, sinner, if you know you're a
sinner, I tell you, the old songwriter said a sinner is a sacred thing.
The Holy Ghost hath taught him so. By nature we think too highly
of ourselves. Oh, what we are, sin, sin through
and through, our thoughts, our mind, our affection. We love
darkness, not light. Men and all mankind are totally
depraved. Adam's ruin, guilt, and sin was
charged, imputed, reckoned to all his race. I believe this
book teaches total depravity. It's not a partial fall. Total,
complete ruin in Adam. We call that original sin. And
Adam all died. The second word here that he
mentions is transgression. Transgression is what I do. For sin is the transgression
of the law. you see a sign on somebody's
property it says no trespassing. That means that you're not welcome.
That means that you're not to walk on that property and if
you disobey that sign and transgress and go into that property you
have committed transgression against that property owner.
Transgression is what I do, for sin is the transgression of the
law of God. It says back here in 1 John,
if you'll find back over there in 1 John, and you just might
want to stay there for a moment or two, 1 John chapter 3, for
it says, Verse 4, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law,
for sin is a transgression of the law. So there we have what
I am in myself, how I was born, Adam's guilt charged and reckoned
unto us. And then we have, because of
my nature, my nature produces one thing. Transgressions. Transgressions. What I do. The old timers called
that the sin of commission. I've committed sin against God.
I've violated His holy law. So, then the third word is iniquities. Iniquities. So what does this
mean? It means our moral perverseness. That is the lack of doing what
is right. What I should have done. And
I did not do. And the old timers called that
the sin of omission. The omission. James put it this
way, to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him
it is sin. So here's then the trinity of
our sin. Trinity of our sins. Sin, transgression,
and iniquity. But notice this. Sin put away,
forgiven, covered, and not imputed unto God's elect by God the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. Oh, what a blessedness we have
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's consider those three
things again. Transgression. Forgiveness says,
blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. Forgiven. That means lifted off. That means taken away. That means
purged. Cleansed! How? How was that done? How was that done? Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiven. Well, the book of God clearly
teaches us it's only by one way that transgressions can be forgiven. and that is by the blood sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is, as He took our sin in
His own body on the tree. That is, as the Lord Jesus Christ
died that death and atonement for God's covenant people, for
the elect of God, their sin put away. Blessed is that man to
whom God will not charge sin, whose transgression is forgiven.
Now, How long are they forgiven? As long as I hold out? As long
as I do the right thing? As long as I belong to the right
church? No, my friend, this transgression is forgiven by God Almighty,
and this forgiveness of sin is an eternal forgiveness. He said,
their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. Transgression forgiven. That's a blessed man. And that's
true of every believer. Every believer is resting in
Christ. Look what it says. Secondly, blessed is the man
whose sin is covered. Covered. Covered. Covered by
what? Covered by God. not by the works
of the law, for by the works of the law, the deeds of the
law, shall no flesh be justified, but sin covered by Christ and
His blessed blood atonement, the blood on the mercy seat.
For it says in 1 John 4, Herein is love, not that we love God,
but that He loved us, and that He sent His Son to be the propitiation. That's a big word. It's a complicated
word. Propitiation simply means atoning
victim that covered all our sin with His blood. Put it away.
As far as the east is from the west, it says in Psalm 103, cast
into the depths of the sea, cast behind the back of God, wherever
that is. Put away sin covered by God Himself. That's a blessed man. Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven. Oh, blessed and happy
and joyous is that man that knows something of sin put away by
the Lord Jesus Christ. For He appeared once in the end
of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. All
those for whom He died, their sin is forever put away, atoned,
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. the song of the redeeming
glory is unto him who loved us and washed us from our sin in
his own blood to him be all the honor and glory both now and
forever transgressions forgiven sin covered and then it says
down here in verse two blessed is a man unto whom the Lord imputeth
not iniquity." Can you imagine such a blessedness of the man
to whom God will not charge sin? You remember the scripture in
Romans? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Tell me! Who can't? There is
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in Him, the Apostle Paul said. There is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. Who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Turn to Romans 8 for
just a moment. Let me show you something else
here in the book of Romans. Blessedness is of that man to
whom the Lord will not charge sin. We read in Romans 4, David
described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not charge sin. Now look at Romans
8. Romans 8. Verse 31 says, If God
be for us, then who can be against us? If God's for me in that eternal
covenant of grace, and He is in Christ, if God be for us,
then who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, who are the us all, for whom
He did foreknow, verse 29, He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that's the us all, His elect, His chosen. How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is He that can condemn? Who is He? Tell me. It is Christ
that died. He paid the sin debt. He took
my penalty. He took the wrath of God as He
bare our sin in His own body on the tree. It is Christ that
died. Yea, rather. that is risen again,
who is even the right hand of God, who also makes intercession
for us. Transgression forgiven, sin covered,
iniquity not charged, but rather righteousness imputed to you. Two things I must have. to stand before God, I must have
my sin put away, and I must have charged to me a perfect, justifying
righteousness, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. A righteousness without works,
without any contribution on my part, totally by the free, sovereign
grace of God alone. justified freely by His grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, look back
at Psalm 32. So blessed is that man whom the
Lord imputeth not, imputeth not iniquity, in whose spirit there
is no guile. No guile. That is, he means here,
believers have been given real, genuine, saving faith that looks
to Christ. There's no hypocrisy. We're not
playing games. We're not playing charades. You
know, hypocrisy actually means play-acting. We're not playing
like we believe God. We're not acting like we believe
God. No, believers do really trust
Him alone. Faith. What is faith? It's the
gift of God. F-A-I-T-H. Right? Forsaking all, I trust
Him. That's faith. Forsaking all. And Paul calls it the gift of
God. Peter said it's precious. Precious. Precious is that faith
that's God-given. This is the man in whose spirit
there is no hypocrisy, no deceit. Those who have been made new
creatures in Christ Jesus by the sovereign power, the sovereign
grace of God, they're not deceived as to who put away sin and how
are they made justified in Christ Jesus. It's by the gospel of
the Lord Jesus and Christ himself. Turn again to Romans 10. Romans
10 this time. They're not deceived on this
matter of faith nor are they deceived on this business of
who put away sin. It's not I did a part and he
did a part. No, he did all the part. He's
all of salvation and we're not going about to establish a righteousness
of our own for it says in Romans 10 Brethren, my heart's desire,
verse 1, and my prayer to God for Israel is that they might
be saved, for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge. You know, Nicodemus came to the
Lord Jesus by night. He was a very religious man.
He was very zealous. But he's a very ignorant man. He was a lost man. He didn't
know the gospel. He didn't know the true and living
God. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, that's his holy character. And going about to
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness. Now watch this. The righteousness
of God. That's the righteousness that's
provided in the gospel. That is Christ Himself. For Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. So the true believer in Christ
Jesus is no longer going about to establish a righteousness.
We are by His grace receiving the Lord Jesus Christ who is
all our righteousness before God. He makes up all of it. He's
all my righteousness. As a matter of fact, in Scripture,
He is called Jehovah Sid Canoe. In Jeremiah 23, Jehovah Sid Canoe,
which means the Lord our righteousness. He's our righteousness. In whose spirit there is no guile. I remember hearing a story years
ago of a young convert his confession. God had done a work of grace
in his heart. This man had no guile in his
spirit. He was not playing games. He
was not full of hypocrisy. God had given him true, genuine
saving faith, and he was resting in Christ alone. Now this is
years ago, and when he approached the elders of the congregation,
and told them that the Lord had marvelously saved him by his
sovereign mercy and sovereign grace, and that he indeed was
a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ. The elders of the church began
to question him and ask him about his conversion. And he said,
well, you know I did my part, and God did his. And they thought,
oh, we've got him. We've got him. He's deceived
and he doesn't know. And they asked him. They said,
well, you did your part and God did his part. Oh, they thought,
well, that can't be so. What do you mean, young man?
And the young man replied, I did all the sinning. That was my
part. And God did all the saving. That
was His part. And that's so. That's how He
saved us. It's God who called us and saved
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and His grace that was given us in Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world. So we can say with that
young man, well, if I have a part, it's this. I did all the sinning,
I did all the running, and He done run me down. And He done
overtook me, He overcame me by His power and by His grace, and
He made me a new creature in Christ Jesus, and He made me
to love Him instead of darkness. Called out of darkness into His
marvelous light. And we see that in verses 3 and
4. And here we see what God does
in us when He reveals the gospel to us. The old timers called
that Holy Spirit conviction. It seemed like this religious
world had bypassed this conviction of sin. If you miss Holy Spirit
conviction, you'll miss true repentance. If you miss true
repentance, you'll miss faith. If you miss faith, you'll miss
Christ. For saving faith looks to the
Lord Jesus Christ. 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." Oh, think about that. What a blessed thing
it is to be convicted by God, God the Holy Spirit, to make
us to know and to realize that we are sinners, that we are full
of iniquity, that we are transgressors. Have you ever seen yourself that
way before God? You know, He's the Savior of
sinners. Christ died for the ungodly. No one knows the pain
of Holy Spirit conviction except those who have experienced it
in their heart. And my friend, I confess to you,
it is not a one-time experience. It's an ongoing process in the
heart of a believer. We're continually being convicted
that we are sinners. And as we grow in grace, you
know what the growth, how do you know that we're growing in
grace? You know a growth in grace is
not something that's upward. A growth in grace is something
that's downward. The more I grow in grace, and
in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I see
of God in His holy character, and the more I see of myself
how wicked and sinful I really am, and the more it makes me
appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ who is all my righteousness,
all my standing, all my acceptance before God Almighty. Oh, I tell
you, that's a blessed man. That's a blessed man. Holy Spirit
conviction. David is saying here, once I
was silent. Once, sin did not disturb me. Once, sin did not bother me.
But now, he said, my bones wax old. The strength of my flesh
melted into corruption. As Job said, I've heard of thee
by the hearing of the year. Oh, but now, Lord, I see you,
and wherefore I abhor myself, I hate myself, I repent in dust
and ashes. Again, in Isaiah 6, Isaiah talked
about the year that King Uzziah died. I saw the Lord high and
lifted up, and the angels around that throne declared one message
about God. He's holy. Holy! Holy! In Isaiah 5, Isaiah goes
on, he says, Woe unto you people! Woe unto you people! Woe unto
you people! And then when he sees the King,
the Lord Jesus, high and lifted up, he says, Woe is me! I'm undone! I'm a man of unclean
lips! For my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts! That's the conviction of sin.
I tell you, it's a blessed man who is convicted of his sin before
God Almighty. It says here in the text, verse
4, for day and night thy hand. Now we're not talking about here
the hand of the preacher. We're not here talking about
the hand or the reach of the church. We're talking here about
the hand of God. The hand of God that's a sovereign,
almighty hand of God. None can stay His hand. None
can stop His hand. The hand of God pressed heavy
upon me. And my so-called goodness, my
so-called righteousness turned into the drought of summer, bleached,
baked, white, no life in me. It turned my so-called goodness
into the drought, no life, no righteousness, It's a good thing and a necessary
thing for God to bring us to know what we are, that we might
seek salvation in whom it is found. If you were really thirsty,
you ever been really, really thirsty for a drink of water? Have you ever been so thirsty
that you would, and no water to be found except that water
that was polluted and filthy, and you were so thirsty that
you were driven to drink that water that might be muddy and
nasty, and yet out of desperate need you would drink that water? Being thirsty. You know the scripture
said in Isaiah 55, let's turn there and read it. Isaiah 55
talks about that thirsty sinner and where water freely flows,
it's cool and clear and refreshing, it's not polluted. that is pure
as water, clear as crystal. Isaiah 55 verse 1. Oh, everyone that thirsteth. You really thirsty? I mean, are
you now? You really thirsty for the water
of life, for the bread of life? Come ye to the waters then. If
you're thirsty, he said, come, come. He has no money. It's a strange economics. This
is the economics of the gospel. He that hath no money, come and
buy. Come and buy. How do you buy without money?
That's free grace. That's how you buy. He that hath
no money, come, buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Salvation is the free gift of
God. Oh, thy hand was heavy upon me.
Now listen to this. And my moisture is turned into
the drought of summer. The same very hand that wounds
us and strips us in love is the same hand that raises us up in
grace. Before God saves us and closes
us in that blessed righteousness of Christ, do you know what He
does? He strips us. Bear. Before God heals us, you
know what He does? He takes the sword of the Spirit
and He wounds us. He operates upon the heart. The
Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.
It's in His hand. the wise hand of God as He operates
upon His covenant people. The same hand that crushes pride,
lust, self-glory, self-righteousness is the same hand that creates
in the believer, in the sinner, and gives him a new heart and
a new nature. That divine nature. We are partakers
of a divine nature in Christ Jesus. Oh yeah, we still have
that old rotten nature, that old Adam nature. But I tell you,
we have that blessed nature of Christ in us. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. As I said earlier, if you miss
Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss true faith and repentance.
And if you miss true faith and repentance, you'll miss the Lord
Jesus Christ. For it says in Hebrews 11, 6,
without faith. You ever think about that scripture?
He that cometh to God must believe that He is. He's a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. It's impossible to please God.
A man without faith is a man without Christ. Without Christ,
my friend, it is impossible to please Almighty God. We're accepted
only in the Beloved, in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here's the
fruit of Holy Spirit conviction. And as we read these verses,
as we look through these things, I believe you'll know in your
heart if God has ever convicted you of your sin. Look at verse
5. Because the fruit of true Holy
Spirit conviction is agreement with God. A repentant heart is
in agreement with God. A repentant heart says when God
says guilty, a repentant heart says it's agreement, it's taking
full agreement with God. When God says guilty, you're
right, I'm guilty. Guilty as charged. Someone said
repentance is taking God's side against myself. Everything he
says, I agree, you're true, you're holy, you're right, I'm the wicked
one. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, as David said, against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
You see what makes sin such an ugly monster? It's against God. I know other issues may be involved,
other things may be involved, but the essence of it, it's against
God. That's the problem. Those who
are truly convicted by God the Holy Spirit, they freely, willingly
acknowledge that I am a sinner. Look what it says. My iniquity
I've not hid. Oh, I confess. I said I will
confess. These three things, sin, iniquity.
I confess my transgressions. Who do we confess them unto?
Who do we confess them unto? Well, who do we sin against?
You better confess your sin. That's against the Lord. I will
confess my transgression unto the Lord. And look what it says
there. Thou forgavest the iniquity of
my sin. Oh, how blessed it is to know
that you're a sinner, to know that the only hope of forgiveness
of sin against God is in the Lord Jesus Christ, His glorious
sacrifice, and that blessed righteous obedience that He worked out
for us, that He freely imputes and gives unto us. Thou forgave
us the iniquity of my sin. The fruit of conviction of sin
Regeneration and conversion. Those born of the Spirit and
quickened from the dead own who they are and what they are before
God. I acknowledge my sin, my iniquities
I've not hid, I confess my sin, and thou forgavest the iniquity
of my sin. Now listen to this carefully.
Confession of sin, acknowledgement, and repentance are never the
ground of forgiveness. Faith is not the ground of forgiveness. Repentance is not the ground
of forgiveness. That is totally owing to the
blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. However, those who have not owned
and confessed their sin know nothing of a true pardon from
God Almighty. Know nothing of it. So, confessing
of sin and acknowledging of sin And repentance of sin are not
the reasons or ground of salvation, but the fruit and evidence of
that God has done that work of grace in your heart. In your heart. Look at verse
6, moving on. Here's an encouraging word. For
this shall everyone 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." My friend, here's the word,
here's the truth. Seek mercy where it's found.
Seek mercy where it's found. In Christ. Everyone that is godly,
how are we godly? Only in Christ Jesus. Only in
Him. made so by His power. They call
upon Him for mercy. They take their place before
God Almighty as mercy beggars, as mercy beggars, like that publican
in the temple. God have mercy upon me, the sinner,
the sinner. Those who call upon the Lord
out of a need Blessed of God, shown of God, call upon Him in
sincerity of heart and truth, who has been given eyes to see
the beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. They will sing
the song as it says here, Thou art my hiding place, verse 7.
Psalm 32, Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, Thou shalt compass
me about with songs of deliverance. This is the evidence of God's
electing grace, God's electing love. Seek mercy where it's found,
thou art my hiding place. Where one man finds a gold nugget,
others are inclined to dig. Isn't that what happened in 1849?
They call that the gold rush, the 49ers, when they struck gold
out there on that stream out there in California. I can't
remember the name of it, but along in the year about 1849,
one man found a golden nugget, and the word leaked out, hey,
there's gold in them there hills, and the whole nation flooded
to California. seeking a fortune. My friend,
I tell you, there is gold to be had, the gold of righteousness,
the gold of redemption, the gold of salvation in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is one sinner telling another
sinner where gold is to be found. This is one beggar telling another
beggar where bread is to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In
the Lord Jesus Christ, thou art my hiding place, thou shalt preserve
me from trouble, I will instruct thee, God's people are taught
of God, teach thee in the way which thou shalt go, God said
I'll guide thee with mine eye. Now, in closing, be not as a
horse or as a mule which have no understanding, Don't be hard-headed. Ask God to break your hard and
stony heart, whose mouth must be held 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. How could
you be anything but glad in the Lord? Be glad in Him and rejoice. Rejoice, ye righteous. How are
we righteous? How are we righteous? In Christ,
he is our righteousness. And shout for joy. Oh, we got
something to shout about. Shout for joy, all ye that are
upright in heart. And that's a description of every
believer in Christ Jesus.