Tag: Confession

Psalm 42

God desires you to be in His presence with great joy more than you can imagine. How great is your desire to be in His presence? He gave His Son in order for you to go there? What have you forsaken for Him to be there?

Psalm 42

The inscription of this psalm leads us to believe it was written by the family of the Korahites unless it is read that it was written for the family of the Korahites to play during worship service. If the latter are valid, then David wrote this on his retreat from Jerusalem during the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 15-19). If the former is valid, then it was written during the exile by a Korahite longing for Jerusalem. I prefer Davidic authorship due to the style and geographic locations mentioned in verse five. Whichever author is chosen, it reflects a genuine heart desire to be with God in the Temple/Tabernacle. If this were the heart attitude of Christians today, the world would be a much different place. The oddity for Christians is that we don’t have to go to the church to spend time with God, He indwells us. We are the temple of God. However, for true fellowship to occur we need to publicly worship Him as part of our growth toward Christlikeness (Hebrews 10.24-25).

This psalm and Psalm 43 (see our study) have a connection and many have placed them together as one psalm. The Septuagint combines them into one psalm. Each psalm has the same refrain and the same ending. However, if Psalm 43 was written during the Babylonian Captivity, it could have been inspired by Psalm 42. Psalm 43 and Psalm 71 are the only psalms in this section of the Psalms without an inscription (see studies on Psalm 9 and Psalm 10).

  • Verses 1-3-David realizes that his life is in God. Without the ability to enter into the presence of God in the Tabernacle, his life was devalued, depressing. What is your heart attitude about being in God’s presence? As mentioned above, the only place we need to go to be with God is nowhere for He indwells us. This is Jesus discussion with the woman at the well in John 4.15-26. We only need to be in right relationship with Him (His child) and in right fellowship with Him (confession of sins) in order to be in His presence. Do you long for God more than for the sins of this world? This is the essence of the book of 1 John.
  • Verses 4-8-David poetically presents his state without God’s presence in it (again, return to our discussion of Psalm 43 for thoughts on verse five). He misses the fellowship he had in Jerusalem with fellow followers of God and longs to see them and publically worship with them.
  • Verses 9-10-David laments over his current situation asking God to deliver him not only for the sake of David but for the sake of God. Do you see your relationship with God as a public demonstration of whom God is? When people see you, they see a representation of God. Your words and actions either tell His greatness or belie who He is. How do people see you when they ask “Where is your God?”
  • Verse 11-The ending of Psalm 43 is identical to this psalm. Our hope is not in others nor in things. It is solely in God.

God desires you to be in His presence with great joy more than you can imagine. How great is your desire to be in His presence? He gave His Son in order for you to go there? What have you forsaken for Him to be there?

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Psalm 32

Complete cleansing and forgiveness are found in these verses too. Transgression is removed. Sin is covered, iniquity is not counted against, and deceit is no longer found. In Christ these are ours.

Psalm 32

Tired. Aching. Hurting. Exhausted. Fatigued. Undernourished. Roaring in misery and anguish. Sounds like a third world country. For a Christian it is, it is a place we should not be found. It is in a state of being disciplined by God for sins committed. This is David’s description of himself as he was being disciplined by God for his sin with Bathsheba (see our study of 2 Samuel 11). This psalm was written after Psalm 51 (see our study) more as a reflection of what had happened to him after his sin and before the arrival of Nathan (see our study of 2 Samuel 12). It is a maskil used to relive a teachable moment for many to understand. Amazingly, this private psalm is sung as part of the services of the synagogue during the Day of Atonement services.

Psalm 32 is reflective of what God has done and Psalm 51 appears to be written in the struggle.

Various outlines can be made from this psalm. An example would be to divide it in six equal parts (1-2, 3-4, 5, 6-7, 8-9, and 10-11).

  • Verses 1-2- the forgiven man
  • Verses 3-4-the physical and psychological effects of unconfessed sin
  • Verse 5-confession as the remedy to obtain God’s forgiveness
  • Verses 6-7-forgiveness brings back prayer
  • Verses 8-9-forgiveness bring back biblical insight
  • Verses 10-11-forgiveness provides personal testimony

It could also be divided by the pauses (Selah): 1-4, 5, 6-7, and 8-11.

  • Verses 1-4-Man cannot forgive on his own. Sin is always against God and witnessed by others (Psalm 51). Because our sin is against Him, He is the agent of forgiveness and we are the recipients. He forgives, He covers, He washes clean; we accept, we praise, we stand amazed. When we do not accept His forgiveness, we die a little each day. Our soul becomes like a sponge in the desert that has seen no rain for years.
  • When Paul quotes verses 1-2 in Romans 4.6-8, he reminds us that forgiveness is a free gift of God based on the work of Christ, not an effort of good works on our part.

Selah-Do you believe your sins are forgiven? Why? On what basis are they?

  • Verse 5-Confessed sin restores the soul not because it places us in right relationship with God, Jesus did that. Our soul is refreshed because our fellowship with God is restored (1 John). We can now access the Water of Life, the Bread of Life, Life Himself. This only comes when we confess our sins (1 John 1.9). Confession is to freely admit that our action was what God calls it. There is no excuse for it and no reason that is acceptable. It is a violation of God’s character.

Selah-Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sin and of God’s righteousness (John 16.5-15).

  • Verses 6-7-Once David repented, he realized that it is always to God that we need to go in order to get things right. In order for us to live the life He created for us to live, we need to be in Him. He is our hiding place (see song below).

Selah-When you do wrong, do you run to God or away from Him? He is your only source of hope.

  • Verses 8-11-David reminds us that we are indeed responsible for our actions. He ends this psalm of penance with joy.

[more will be discussed on sin/forgiveness/relationship/fellowship in later posts if requested]

Definitions

David uses four words for sin in the first two verses alone: transgression, sin, iniquity, and deceit. These words provide insight into different shades of rebellion against God.

  • Transgression is a breaking of God’s Law (פֶּשַׁע/ἀνομίαι)
  • Sin is breaking the laws God placed in motion to rule His creation (חֲטָאָֽה/ἁμαρτίαι)
  • Iniquity is the staining of the soul through depraved activities (עָוֹן/ἀδικία)
  • Deceit or guile is misrepresenting the character of God by presenting yourself as something other than you are (רְמִיָּה/δόλος)

Complete cleansing and forgiveness are found in these verses too. Transgression is removed. Sin is covered, iniquity is not counted against, and deceit is no longer found. In Christ these are ours.

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