Psalm 32 Continued…
Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Verse 5 is next and it speaks about Confession and Repentance. In this verse, David used the same three words—Transgression, iniquity and Sin that he used in verses 1-2, saying that he had learned to acknowledge his sin, to expose his wickedness to the Lord, and to confess his disobedience. This is good instruction for you and me, isn’t it? If you are out of fellowship with God today, David in this verse tells you the way back. We are also told in the New Testament, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
In his book, Healing for Damaged Emotions, David Seamands writes about a young minister who once came to see him. He was having a lot of problems getting along with other people, especially his wife and family. He was continually criticizing her. He was sarcastic and demanding, and he was destroying their marriage. His attitude was also harsh toward members of his church. Finally in desperation, he came to see Dr. Seamands, and after a while, the painful root of the matter came to light. Seamands wrote: “While he was in the armed forces in Korea, he had spent two weeks of R & R in Japan. During that leave, walking the streets of Tokyo, feeling empty, lonely, and terribly homesick, he fell into temptation and went three or four times to a prostitute.” He had never been able to forgive himself.
He had sought God’s forgiveness, and with his head, believed he had it. But the guilt still plagued him and he hated himself. Every time he looked in the mirror, he couldn’t stand what he was seeing. “When he returned home to marry his fiancée, who had faithfully waited for him all those years, his emotional conflicts increased because he still could not accept complete forgiveness….He felt he had no right to be happy.” As A. W. Tozer put it, the young minister was living in the “perpetual penance of regret.”
Next David is going to pass along the lesson he learned. Here’s what he wrote:
Psalm 32:6-7 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
When David refers to the “flood of great waters” I think he is referring to the flood of Noah’s time. Noah was in the Ark when the flood came, and the flood that destroyed others simply lifted him up because he was in the Ark. The waters of judgment could not reach Noah.
There is going to be another time of great judgment coming upon the earth, but it will not be a flood of water; it will be fire. What can anyone do at that time? It will be too late for anyone to do anything.
David calls on us to turn to God as he did, and to find in Him relief, release, and protection. He depicts God’s protection in three ways: it’s A hiding place, a place where there is Preservation from trouble, and where we are Surrounded by Songs of Deliverance.
PRAY
Father help me to know and find my true source of protection in you and your salvation alone.