Psalm 32 [NLTse] – A psalm of David.
1 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! 2 Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! 3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. 4 Day and night Your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
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5 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.
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6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to You while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment. 7 For You are my hiding place; You protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory.
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8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. 9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. 11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey Him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Sermon
In 1 Timothy 4:7-8 the apostle Paul writes to the young pastor, “Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ‘Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.’”
When Paul speaks of training ourselves to be godly here he is using the Greek word gyumnadze, and we get gymnastics and gymnasium from that word. Literally, gyumnadze means “to exercise naked” (most literally, that’s what it means), because that’s what they did in those days.
Our modern athletes wear extra clothing – special clothing – and equipment when they compete. But in ancient times all the material in those loose robes and tunics could wrap around and impede your movement, so athletes would remove their clothes, taking off anything that might get in their way and keep them from doing their best.
I share this because we Christians must also “remove” anything that might hinder our goal of godliness. (First of all, of course, we must establish godliness as being our goal. But after that, we must remove anything that might in any way keep us from reaching that goal.) And as King David sings in Psalm 32, confession of sin is the way we Christians take off that which would drag us down so that we can be free to put on that which is truly helpful.
Hebrews 12:1, also using an athletics metaphor, puts it this way, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Our Father in Heaven calls us to enter His “gym” and get rid of everything that would keep us from doing our best. Guilt weighs heavy on a soul. Everything around us can be wonderful and bless-ed, but if we have un-confessed sin in our lives, our loving God and Father puts His heavy hand of discipline upon us until we admit it, until we confess it. He calls us to “stand naked” – transparent – before Him, painting an honest picture of ourselves, and asking for His forgiveness…
Many may tell you that it is foolish to confess your sins and admit your faults because it just gives those around you power over you. But “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13) The truth is that God already knows our sins and already has power over us. He calls us to confess our sins for the same reason a parent wants a child to confess or a judge wants a guilty criminal to confess, so that we can show Him we are sorry and willing to take responsibility for our actions.
Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his sin does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” And 1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” The Lord’s purpose is to restore, not ruin, a person who is honest before Him. And His intention is not to just forgive us, His plan is to wash us clean!
When my kids were younger they could play hide-and-seek for hours. I’d watch them shut themselves in a closet or cover themselves in a blanket and they would shout from their “hiding place”, “Dad, go count and then come find me!” When we keep our sins to ourselves we foolishly think that we’re hiding well, not realizing that God knows exactly where we are. And, of course, the best part of the game for my kids was not the hiding, but being found.
Jesus has come and found us overwhelmed by fears and death and worries and sin of every kind. He has found us and offered us a deal, a new covenant: He will take our sin and go to the cross and put our sin to death there if we will take His righteousness and come to the cross and live our lives according to His Spirit-within-us that we’ll find there. But in order to take His righteousness we need to first give Him our sin: Our liberation comes through confession…
As we come to the Lord’s Table today – His great thanksgiving banquet! – let us trust our God and Father to free us from our burdens of guilt and shame, remorse and disgrace. True confession to God always precedes true communion with God. Let us confess our sins…