SIN IS A DIFFICULT TOPIC to have a specific conversation about. We personally shy away from such discussions, as does the church in general, because of the blame and shame that are associated with our darkest transgressions. We find it somewhat palatable to talk about sin in the generic sense. The ‘sin nature’ of mankind is a topic we can have an objective conversation about, and not feel too terribly threatened. Yet the apostle James tells us to “confess your sins to each other” (James 5:16a), so that “you may be healed.” (James 5:16b) But to be more specific is to make ourselves too vulnerable. Like peeling off an encrusted scab from over an infected wound, there is pain associated with exposing sin. Nevertheless, excoriation must be done or the limb, or even life itself, comes under threat of loss.
King David had personal knowledge of the corrosive power of sin. His affair with Bathsheba, wherein he was guilty of both adultery and murder, lay heavy on his soul and completely sapped the vitality of his life. “Wash away my iniquity,” he implores of God, “and cleanse me from my sin.” (Psa. 51:2) He begs, “Create in me a pure heart. Do not cast me from your presence. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psa. 51:10-12)
Reflecting on these matters after the fact in Psalm 32, David said, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.” (Psa. 32:2) The guilt and shame were more than he could bear, “For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.” (Psa. 32:4)
Peter speaks of our need to be honest before God: “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 4:20) David came to the end of himself and his self-denials, and went before the LORD to confess his sin. “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’” (Psa. 32:5a, b)
But the intentional acts of stripping away denial and self-denial were not in and of themselves the healing of soul that David needed. God’s forgiveness is not without consequences. He suffered loss of reputation when accused, at God’s direction, by the prophet Nathan: “You are the man!” (2 Sam. 12:7) He suffered murder in his own family or the murder of Uriah, “You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house.” (2 Sam. 12:9-10) He suffered the loss of the child of his adultery with Bathsheba. “Because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.” (2 Sam. 12:14)
These were deep and bitter lessons about the “wages of sin.” (Rom. 6:23), but because of them, David’s boundaries on his choices and actions were reset, and in the midst of this he had the sure and certain revelation of the full scope of God’s forgiveness. “And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psa. 32:5c)
Being freed from sin’s bondage is not like being let out of prison early after having been convicted of a crime. While crime is a sin, and it does break laws and incur punishment of isolation from and protection for society, sin specifically breaks God’s laws and isolates us from his presence. King David knew both the pain of separation from God during his unrepentant state, and the joy of reconciliation and restoration through God’s forgiveness once he had humbled himself before God. He celebrated that in the opening of the psalm, saying “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.” (Psa. 32:1-2)
David’s psalm, both warning and encouragement, is forward-looking to the covenant of grace established in God’s Son. (cf. John 3:16-17) The wages of sin are rightfully death (cf. Rom. 6:23a), certainly of the spirit within us, and for the unforgiven, an eternal separation from God. But for the forgiven, “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23b) This is what David celebrates in Psalm 32, and not merely for his own assurance. His purpose is to share the journey into and out of bondage to sin as both instruction and hope for those who have made the first part of that dark journey, but have not yet come back up into the light of God. David’s warning concludes, “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle. Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.” (Psa. 32:9-10)
Remain mindful of this word from the Book of Hebrews: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” (Heb. 12:1-2) If we choose this course, with boundaries firmly fixed on the left and on the right, we choose the path God has set before us that lead most directly to him. And as we carefully follow this clearly marked route, David’s final words from Psalm 32 encourage us. “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (Psa. 32:11)
Q. Is my way easy, or hard?
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