Pslam 32: 1,2 (NKJV) A Psalm of David. A [a] Contemplation

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,

Whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not [b] impute iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

What makes the world so messed up?

There are so many concerned about what is fair these days, right? wrong? actually, maybe? Are we really getting to the real heart of problems in the world? People love to watch the latest bad guy versus good guy programs. Maybe that’s always been that way like the bad cowboys who wear the black hats and the good guys who wear the white hats, but circumstances are really never that simple. Our human condition goes further than that. There is something we call sin that may define the problem of our human condition to mess up things along with the words transgression, and iniquity. What are they?

1. The importance of understanding our humanity.
2. We must hate sin, but not the sinner.
3. That is true, but we fail to apply that personally to ourselves. We might think of someone else, but actually we are talking about ourselves. Too many times we may forget to hate sin in ourselves, and excuse it, but what might be even more deadlier is that we actually hate our sin, and in turn, hate ourselves.

When we do we fall right in the trap of the devil. We could even make things worse for ourselves and even worse for others. David who was a repentant man following after God’s own heart said blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven. Asher is the Hebrew word and blessed may literally mean happy. This is not just an inward joy, but happiness because though you and I may transgress, or trespass against God or one another when God forgives we can once again be happy not just living on an emotional high, but happy about who you and I are.

In my own personal opinion modern psychology has hijacked this truth, because often due to many things such as personal misunderstanding or misapplication of the word, or poor teaching, or treatment by other Christian, and many other reasons such as trauma, and severe spiritual warfare with tormenting abusive demonic activity can convince us to hate ourselves.

Even modern psychologists know that this is deadly to each of us. Psychology identifies the problem and may even sometimes blame religion, but it does not have the ultimate answer. Yes there is even some good in counsel toward non hatred of self, but the only true cure is the forgiveness of Christ where there is real liberty and as David says real happiness and blessing. Consider David for just a moment. He deserved death for what he did. He was an adulterer. He sent a man deceitfully and intentionally in cold blood to his death. God forgave him. He became a blessed man. How is this possible?

2. The importance of understanding the depth of our humanity.
3. We are sinners.
4. The depth of our condition goes farther than not doing or doing a set of laws or rules. You might think of lying, stealing, cheating, cussing, drunkenness, or lust. These are only the tip of the iceberg. It might include the fact that especially apart from faith in Christ all of us have a bent to misdeeds, and we call that an inner sinful nature. We call it a depraved nature. That is a doctrinal truth, but the real practical way we can see the depths of our misdeeds is how it affects and distorts and twists the good world that God created. It destroys human relationships, and it manipulates our reason to the point that you and I can rationalize our mistakes. A.W. Tozer, Alliance Church Pastor, would say that sin is always an act of misjudgment. This is why we want to seek God’s will, hear His voice, and stay close to His heart. James asks why there are wars among you, and strife. We can ask that in the bigger picture of the world. Can we really say it’s all because of sin?

I believe it is because we minimize our human condition and do not see the spiritual nature of our war within each one of us. The battle begins in you, but also the victory is won there. ITs that simple of a statement, but not that easy.Every day this happens, and apart from God’s saving grace I can make a thousand mistakes per day, or more. What is the answer?

3. The importance of understanding our human condition and faith in Christ.
4. David understood faith.
5. He knew he deserved death, and faith in a God who was greater was his only hope and answer. Apostle Paul knew this too. He was deserving of death as a very sinful man who calls himself the chiefest of sinners. He stood at the very place where Stephen was martyred, and other Christians murdered, and imprisoned. He could not see his condition until he met Kesus on the Damascus road. All of us come to this same road at some point in our lives meeting Jesus, but also meeting our true selves. Like David he became aware that he was deserving of death, but he also quotes David in one of his most beloved letters, the Letter to the Romans.

There he identifies the same three human conditions that David identified, but also the same remedy through his and our Saviour Jesus Christ. In Romans 4:7,8 Paul identifies the same three kinds of evil human behavior. Sin, to miss the mark, in which through faith in Christ we receive forgiveness, the setting aside of sin; trespass, violating trust, but where Christ covers, or stones and washes it away, an iniquity, distorting good, which can be accompanied by guilt along with shame, but in Christ it is imputed, or not charged to your account.

Romans 4: 5-8 says,”5But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

7“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

And whose sins are covered;

8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

Whether in the Old or New Testaments the remedy was and still is faith in Christ. Paul makes this decisive wonderful blessed and freeing point. We will look at each of these types of human failure, but also their remedy in the next few weeks. There is an answer for the depraved world that we live in today, and that is Jesus.