{"id":301,"date":"2016-05-06T11:10:09","date_gmt":"2016-05-06T15:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pibcny.com\/blog\/?p=301"},"modified":"2016-05-06T11:02:06","modified_gmt":"2016-05-06T15:02:06","slug":"knowing-gods-forgiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pibcny.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/06\/knowing-gods-forgiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowing God’s Forgiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"

How often is your life burdened down by a guilty conscience? Do you struggle with\u00a0moving on from past sins? Do you find\u00a0God\u2019s forgiveness seemingly just out of reach?\u00a0King David knew the struggle of being burdened down with a guilty conscience. He understood the weight and struggle of living a burdened life not enjoying God\u2019s forgiveness. From his own experience he gives us\u00a0a precious truth to consider. \u00a0He shows us how we can go from burden<\/em> to blessing<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Psalm 32:1-5.<\/p>\n

Consider the Blessed Life<\/strong>:\u00a0 These first two verses give us the result of forgiveness which results in a blessed<\/em> life.\u00a0\u201cBlessed is he whose<\/em> transgression is<\/em> forgiven, whose<\/em> sin is<\/em> covered. Blessed is<\/em> the man unto whom the LORD<\/strong> imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is<\/em> no guile\u201d (Psalm 32:1-2).<\/span><\/p>\n

When someone is \u201cblessed<\/em>\u201d their life is a life that is envied by others because it is a life filled with peace and joy. The\u00a0life that\u00a0others look upon and desire to have is the life the one who knows they have been forgiven as they live in the reality of this truth.\u00a0 O how very happy is the man who knows<\/em> he has been forgiven<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The person \u201cin whose spirit there is no guile<\/em>\u201d is the person who has dealt honestly with his sin.\u00a0 He has confessed his sin before God. In other words, he has defined his own sin just like God defines it.\u00a0 This is a humble response to God\u2019s convicting us of our sin. He\u00a0then has taken God at His Word where it says,\u00a0\u201cIf we confess our sins, He<\/strong> is faithful and just to forgive us our<\/em> sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness\u201d (1 John 1:9)<\/span>.<\/p>\n

To be forgiven from our transgressions, sin and iniquity is to be free of a life of guilt.\u00a0 That is a person who is to be envied.\u00a0 We all should desire to be in this state for it is a state that God desires for us to be in.\u00a0 This is His will for each of our lives.\u00a0Consider how far God removes our sin that has been confessed and that He has forgiven\u2026\u201cAs far as the east is from the west, so<\/em> far hath He<\/strong> removed our transgressions from us\u201d (Psalm 103:12).\u00a0<\/span>The eternal distance between the east and the west is the distance that God removes the sin which He forgives.\u00a0 The reality of this in one\u2019s life is blessing\u2014this is the blessed<\/em> life!<\/p>\n

Consider t<\/strong>he Burdened Life:<\/strong> In these next two verses we see the results of a life of consumed and weighted down by guilt.\u00a0\u201cWhen I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the daylong. For day and night Thy<\/strong> hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer Selah\u201d (Psalm 32:3-4).<\/span>\u00a0This is the burdened<\/em>\u00a0life!<\/p>\n

The heavy hand of God was David\u2019s conscience bearing witness against him as it pressed down upon him convicting him of his sin.\u00a0 A guilty conscience can bring physical discomfort along with the obvious mental discomfort.\u00a0 A guilty conscience is designed by God to reveal to\u00a0us the intrusion of sin into our lives in order to move us to deal with that sin.<\/p>\n

Consider your conscience as a smoke detector. The smoke detectors\u00a0in your house are designed to go off when smoke is present.\u00a0 Our conscience \u201cgoes off\u201d when the intrusion of sin comes into our lives.\u00a0 To roll over and cover your head with a pillow when the smoke detector\u00a0is sounding would be tremendously foolish.\u00a0 So too when our conscience is guilty, to disregard it is to act foolishly. Consider reading \u201cSilencing the Sin Detector\u201d<\/em> here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Consider t<\/strong>he unBurdened Life: <\/strong>Here in verse 5 we see the remedy as David shares with us the process of getting right with God therefore going from burden<\/em> to\u00a0blessing<\/em>.\u00a0 We must confront the intrusion of sin through confession of sin. He says,\u00a0\u201cI acknowledged my sin unto Thee<\/strong>, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD<\/strong>; and Thou<\/strong> forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah\u201d (Psalm 32:5).<\/span><\/p>\n

To\u00a0\u201cacknowledge my sin<\/em>\u201d is to take responsibility for my sin by saying the same thing about it that the Lord says.\u00a0 It is to see my sin as the Lord sees it.\u00a0 My sin is a trespass against His infinite holiness. My sin is an act of \u201ccosmic treason\u201d[i]<\/a> against the holy God in which I fail to achieve His holy and righteous mark of obedience that He has set for me.<\/p>\n

David speaks of his openness before the Lord.\u00a0 He had concealed his sin, in that he did not confess it for about a year.\u00a0 His actions, now in humility, are to lay bare his heart and mind before the Lord as he confesses\u00a0his sin and seeks reconciliation.\u00a0 He stopped trying to cover his head with his pillow in hopes that the \u201csmoke<\/em>\u201d\u00a0might go away.\u00a0 Instead he took action, confronted the intrusion of sin and found peace in his life once again. He returned to the life of\u00a0blessing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The precious truth of this verse is the fact that God ALWAYS forgives the sin of a repentant heart.<\/strong>\u00a0 Keep in mind that David was forgiven for his sins of adultery and murder.\u00a0 God desires to forgive ALL the sin that is in your life, even the ones you don\u2019t feel<\/em> like He can forgive. We must move past feeling<\/em> and rest in truth. Move beyond living in the reality dictated by your feelings and learn to live in the reality based upon what God says.<\/p>\n

Because of our \u201cforgiving God<\/em>\u201d we can have great joy\u00a0and peace as we learn to find it in Him.\u00a0 When we confess our sin He, in His great grace, forgives us and covers our sin as if it never existed.\u00a0 In His great mercy He removes from our account the record\u00a0of that sin.\u00a0 What a Great God we serve!<\/p>\n

The wisest man who ever lived stated,\u00a0\u201cHe that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them<\/em> shall have mercy\u201d (Proverbs 28:13).\u00a0<\/span>The truth of this verse is foundational to moving from burden<\/em> to blessing<\/em>. A pastor friend of mine put it well when he said, \u201cWhen I cover my sin, the Holy Spirit will uncover it.\u00a0 When I uncover my sin, the Holy Spirit will cover my sin with the blood of Jesus Christ<\/em>\u201d (Steve Motes, Pastor of Chadds Ford Baptist Church).<\/p>\n

It is the truth of God\u2019s Word that sets us free.\u00a0\u201cAnd ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free\u201d (John 8:32)<\/span>. When you rest in the stabilizing truths of God\u2019s Word you move from living a reality based upon how you feel<\/em> to a reality based upon truth<\/em>. Let His truth truly set you free and move from a life of burden<\/em> to a life of blessing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

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[i]<\/a> \u201cAny sin is more or less heinous depending upon the honor and majesty of the one whom we had offended. Since God is of infinite honor, infinite majesty, and infinite holiness, the slightest sin is of infinite consequence. The slightest sin is nothing less than\u00a0cosmic treason<\/em>\u00a0when we realize against Whom we have sinned.\u201d\u2014Jonathan Edwards<\/p>\n