Psalm 32 gives us the key to happiness, it tells us how we
can be happy forever. That word blessed that we saw in verses 1 and 2 just
means ‘happy.’ We want to be happy, and this Psalm, a ‘maskil,’ a psalm of
instruction, tells us how to be happy. In verses 1-5, we see how to be happy,
and in verses 6-12, we see the difference that real happiness makes in our
lives.
So who is the happy man? Verses one and two tell us ‘blessed
is the man whose transgressin is forgiven, whose sin is covered.’ How can you
be happy? By having your sins forgiven. Later on in this psalm we will learn
that sin is a great weight that we carry around with us, but we probably feel
like that about sin already. Sin stops us from being happy, and the forgiveness
of that sin leads to happiness, leads to real, deep, rich, Biblical happiness. And
we’ll see why at the end of the psalm. Verse two puts the same truth in a
different way. Blessed we are, happy we are, when the Lord does not count our
sins, when He does not remember them, when our sins are covered. We meet these verses in the NT, when Paul quotes them in Romans 4:7-8. How are our sins forgiven? Not by works, but by faith in what Jesus has done. We see right away that this OT Psalm teaches us that a relationship with Jesus is the way to happiness. This knowledge that our sins are forgiven, and that we can be free from the penalty of them, and free to have a relationship with God, is the only way to real happiness. We see in verse 10 of this Psalm that it is the one who trusts in the Lord who is surrounded by steadfast love. David tells us, and Paul tells us, as Jesus told us in Matt 5:8, that the way to happiness forever is only found in a relationship with Jesus. Only then are our sins forgiven, only then is our sin covered, only then will the Lord not count our iniquity against us, and only then will we be happy.
But this is a lesson that David had to learn the hard way,
and maybe some of us do as well. Read verses 3-5 with me. This reads like David’s
personal experience. He tried to find happiness by hiding his sin, but it didn’t
work. We’ve all been here haven’t we? We try to pretend everything is going
great. We’re happy, we’ve got great friends, good grades and things in our
relationship with Jesus are great. But all the time we’re dry inside. All the
time our hearts are ‘dried up as by the heat of summer.’ We’ve got no life in
us, no joy in the Lord, nothing but hidden sin that eats us from the inside. All
this will continue until we confess our sins, until we come back to Jesus in
faith once again. Verse 5 ends with David finding forgiveness from the Lord,
and with forgiveness, happiness.
So that’s the first part of this Psalm, that’s how to be
happy. The next question is what difference does this happiness make to us? Read
verses 6-11 with me. The first word in verse 6, therefore, shows that what follows applies the truths that we just learned. The truth is that the godly still sin. Godliness is not marked out by perfection but by repentance. So those who repent should do so now, while God may be found. They should repent as soon as their sin is made known to them. Like David when Nathan came to him after his sin with Bathsheba, we need to repent as soon as possible. Repentance is a sign of godliness. The godly shouldn’t be like a wild animal who need a bit and a bridle, but should be wise in turning to God for forgiveness. And what a wonderful God they find in verse 7 when they do repent. Look at that with me:. God becomes the hiding place of the repentant, He preserves from trouble and surrounds with deliverance. When we repent we find happiness, because we know that God is no longer angry with us. When we repent we see the smile of God on the face of Christ. When we repent from our sin, when we stop hiding and agree with God in confession, we are protected by Jesus blood. This is the greatest joy there can be, to know God as a place of refuge, not to have to hide from Him. This is real happiness. Not sinful happiness that leaves us dried up like grass in the summer, but a happiness like a tree in bloom. This is the happiness, the blessings promised in verses 1 and 2. When we confess our sins, remember 1 John 1:9 tells us, God is faithful and just o forgive our sins. He becomes our protection, and we are blessed.
Verses 10 and 11 sum up why a relationship with God though
Jesus is the only way to happiness. Remember what we saw last week, that sin
wears a mask of beauty, but underneath the mask is the evil and destructive
truth. Verse 10 gives us a further look into that truth. The wicked look happy
most of the time don’t they, and by worldly standards they are. The standards
of the world are deceptive. The American dream is deceptive, not because
godless living doesn’t make people happy, but because it will not make them
happy forever. David gives us the real truth. Underneath the sorrows of the
wicked are many, they have no hope, they have no real, lasting joy. They might
be happy for the 80 years they live on earth, but what are those years compared
to an eternity without God?
To be happy, we need to be surrounded by the steadfast love
of the Lord. And this happiness won’t vanish after 80 years, or 80 million
years, but will last forever. Christians are the only people who will live happily
ever after, their sins confessed and forgiven, protected by Jesus, and
surrounded by His love. No wonder in verse 11 David breaks forth in praise. He
can’t hold back any longer but rejoices in the great work that God has done.Are your sins forgiven this morning? Then be glad, rejoice, there’s nothing standing between you and God. If your sins are not forgiven, what are you waiting for? Why are you pretending everything is ok when it’s not? Why are you letting God’s hand rest heavily upon you, when instead you could be surrounded with His steadfast love? Why are you exchanging an ocean of everlasting joy for a drop of happiness?
If you want to be happy, and you do, then you must come to Jesus. He’s the only way.
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