Those who follow Christ know the joy of forgiveness that Christ gives us when we place our faith in Him. But what happens when we sin after we have come to Him for salvation? Christ is in His children, but we still can falter and sin. In those moments, His forgiveness still applies! Our human tendency is often to berate or punish ourselves for our failure, but we need only confess our sin, turn from it, and return to walking with Christ.
THE PASSAGE
Psalm 32:1-7
THE SETTINGS
Psalm 32 is one of seven penitential psalms in the Bible, the others being Psalms 6; 38; 51; 102; 130; and 143. It is attributed to David and offers repentant believers the assurance of God’s forgiveness. It is commonly accepted that the time frame of this psalm is immediately after David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his subsequent murder of Uriah, although the text does not specifically say this.
The message of Psalm 32 is that there is greater joy in uncovering our sin and finding forgiveness than in trying to cover it up. And a right view of God allows us to do just that. But to understand and experience the joy and blessing of God’s forgiveness, we not only have to understand who God is, we also must understand the nature of sin.
THE POINT
Return to God for forgiveness and restoration.
Anyone who has ever purchased a home knows there can be a big difference in what the buyer or seller sees and what a certified home inspector sees. We may try to look beyond the things that appeal to us—the layout of the house, the size of bedrooms, and so forth—and see a crack in a ceiling or a door that doesn’t shut well, but the inspector doesn’t stop there. He’ll investigate why the ceiling is cracked. He’ll crawl under a house and see problems we don’t. His trained eye sees things we can’t with our limited view. We can also have a limited view of God. For example, the way you deal with sin says a lot about what you believe about God. If you think God will forgive your sin because it’s no big deal, your view of God is too small. If you think God will not forgive your sin because He is a harsh and angry God, your view of God is too small. Let’s discover the right view of God, one that will move us to run to Him when we sin.
