FORGIVE ME (Psalm 32)

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms listed as “recommended reading” for times of depression, as listed in counselor/pastor David Seamands’ book Healing for Damaged Emotions.)

When you’re feeling down and defeated, there’s nothing like a safe place to get away from it all—a “hiding place.”  That’s the golden nugget tucked away in Psalm 32:7: 

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. (v. 7) 

Repeated in Psalm 119:114, both use the Hebrew word sether, meaning hiding place or secret place. David had plenty of those in the wilds as he tried to keep distance between himself and King Saul.  But he couldn’t distance himself from God. In those lonely, introspective times of hiding he had lots of times to reconsider the ways of God. 

Of course, this verse takes many of us to 1975 and the release of the film “The Hiding Place,” about Corrie ten Boom and her family’s persecution for protecting Jews during World War 2.  There was literally a “hiding place” for Jews in their home, in a false wall behind Corrie’s bed, and that’s where Jews fled when officials came looking. Their illegal kindness eventually put Corrie and her family in prison and concentration camps.  Eventually, only Corrie survived to be released.  But she didn’t cower from proclaiming Jesus, traveling the world to tell her story even as old age set in.  It was my privilege to hear her in person in the late 1970s when I lived in California. 

  

This donkey lives just around the corner from us,and saunters 

over to the fence for carrots. A sign on the fence okays those

 offerings--but watch your fingers.

Whenever I return in my Bible to Psalm 32, that movie and her testimony color what I read there. But there’s more, so much more. One big focus in the psalm is confession and forgiveness.  David is searching his heart, sensing great heaviness when he thinks about his sins.  Once he levels with God about his sin, he says, “you forgave the guilt of my sin” (v. 5). The guilt. That’s the part that eats away at our spirits. In our human, fallen personalities, we like to think we have everything under control. We don’t like to see ourselves as suffering the consequences of our sins. Verse 9 says doing so is behaving like a mule which has “no understanding.”  The bridle is the only way to get them to behave. We have a tendency to justify or cover up our sin. David felt its burden until “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity” (v. 5). 

One sin we often overlook is bitterness, of harboring a grudge against someone. Many times the original offense was negligible, but it was massaged so much that it grew into a monster, feeding our hostility toward someone. That seems to be behind David’s remark, “Blessed is the man…in whose spirit is no deceit.” Ponder that in light of how he kept running for his very life because of the insanity of King Saul.

When relationships are sticky and situations messy, we’re prone to be like sad Eeyore of Winnie the Pooh fame, whose classic reply to adversity (including the frequent unbuttoning of his tail) is “Oh, dear.” Christopher Robin, the stuffed animal’s owner, can solve the problem by sewing Eeyore’s tail button back in place. But we tend to be Eeyores, who fail to see solutions.  That’s where Psalm 32 speaks to heavy hearts that have lost hope: 

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you…the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him (vv. 8. 10).

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 103: All Praise

Part of a continuing series on selected psalms.
If your prayers became letters to God, would He slit open the envelope and read complaints and demands? Or would His heart be warmed by praise and thanksgiving? Those more prone to the complaints/demands end need the perspective of Psalm 103, which steps away from petitions to simple praise of who God is and all He does. David wrote his share of down-in-the-dumps and corporate praise psalms, but this psalm is positive and personal.  This is no polite “thank you” prayer.  David’s words throb with intensity as he tries to embrace all that is God and all of God’s blessings. The simple word “all” (used eight times in NIV) attempts to convey the concept that God is complete in who He is and what He does.Many outline the psalm this way:
*Personal praise to God (vv. 1-6)
*National praise to God (vv. 6-18)
*Universal praise to God (vv. 19-22)
Because the psalm focuses on praise, I’d suggest another outline off the acrostic PRAISE.

P—Provision for life (vv. 1-3). David realizes that without God, he is nothing. “All my inmost being,” he says, “forget not all his benefits.”  God forgives “all my sins.” The forgiveness of sins, which enables us to have a relationship with a holy God, is the greatest benefit.  The second part of verse 3, “he heals all my diseases,” has led some systems of theology to stress “healing in the atonement,” which presumes that salvation goes hand-in-hand with healing of physical affliction. But believers do get sick, and many other passages teach that God may have purposes in a person’s illness. Paul desperately sought healing, but the Lord told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). It is true that all healing comes from God, whether through medical intervention, the power of the body to heal itself, or a miracle.

It’s also worth mentioning that sins like anxiety, sexual misconduct and an unforgiving spirit can bring on illness. David experienced that when his effort to hide his sexual sin with Bathsheba left him a physical wreck. In Psalm 32, he spoke of his bones wasting away, day-long groaning, a sense of heaviness, and sapped strength. I read recently of a woman who had numerous problems that baffled doctors.  Finally, a pastor confronted her about bitterness toward a family member. As soon as she broke down and confessed it, and started the steps toward reconciliation, her symptoms began to fade.

R—Renewing presence (vv. 4-5). Redeemed from the pit of hell (v. 4), we are “crowned” with God’s love and compassion. “Crown” comes from a word meaning “encircled,” like a monarch’s crown. It helps picture how God encircles us with good things of which we are unworthy, except for His amazing love. He is aware of our desires, and He knows the world’s definition of “satisfied” won’t fill us apart from Himself. The next verse, “so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s,” has given rise to some strange tales about the molting habits of eagles. It’s best read as a reminder that, like the mighty eagle, with God we can be lifted to higher, better things.

A—Almighty plan (vv. 6-9). History turns on God reaching down in power and mercy to emancipate the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. David referred to that almighty plan in these verses, referring to how “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed” (v. 7). When David described God as “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (v. 8), he was quoting from the account of God revealing His essence to Moses (Exodus 34:5-7). Remembering this key historical event emphasized God’s patience even among stubborn and grumbling people.

I—Immeasurable mercy (vv. 10-12). This section of the psalm is full of superlatives. There aren’t words big enough to describe how God’s mercy covers our sins and iniquities (Hebrew: “twistedness”). Instead, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” The distance to Heaven, wherever it is, is unknown, and the universe defies numbers. In David’s time, people thought the world was flat, yet still couldn’t comprehend the extent of “east” or “west.” We know now that the world is round, and east and west never meet in its circumference. I will never forget the difficult night a phone call summoned me to the apartment of a young woman who had attended a Bible study at our home. She was dating a young man who “played church” but lived immorally. Once she had yielded to his sexual pressures, he dropped her. She felt God would never forgive her. As she sobbed in my arms, that verse came to mind as I tried to explain God’s expansive (and expensive) love for her.

S—Sympathetic care (vv. 13-18).  As that young woman moved away to a fresh start in life, including marriage to a Christian young man who honored her, I thought of the subsequent verses: “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” This section of Psalm 103 reminds us that life is fragile (we’re essentially “dust”) and fleeting (like wilting flowers). But even in life’s brevity, God cares for us: “From everlasting to everlasting, the LORD’s love is with those who fear him.” Verse 18 explains “fear” as “those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”

E—Eternal dominion (vv. 19-22). The psalm that began with David’s personal praise ends with him calling on heavenly beings to praise God, who reigns over all. As in the beginning, the word “all” is again prominent. His kingdom rules over all. David calls on angels, mighty ones who do His bidding and obey God’s Word, all the heavenly hosts, servants who do his will, and all God’s works, everywhere (all places) in His dominion. The cadence intensifies until David has exhausted his undersatnding of heavenly beings. Finally, he returns to himself: “Praise the LORD, O my soul.” He is so in awe of God, so grateful for God’s mercy, that he can’t do anything but praise.

When our faith gets comfortable with “church ways” and worship routines, we need to be pulled back to the truths of Psalm 103. He is the mighty God, yet merciful. He is beyond our understanding, yet intimately acquainted with us, worthy of all our praise. Henry Lyte’s 1834 hymn, based on Psalm 103, still rings true:

Praise my soul, the king of heaven,
To His feet your tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who, like me, His praise should sing.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise the everlasting King

Next: Psalm 104

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 51: Mercy

Part of an ongoing series on selected psalms.
The young man giving his testimony in the morning service would be baptized in a few minutes. He told of a life gone haywire until he hit bottom. One night, overcome with sorrow for his sins, he slid to his knees by his bed, crying out for a fresh start with Jesus. I listened with tears filling my eyes, thinking how for millions those low points become our highest points as we claim the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.This is the thrust of Psalm 51, which is a king’s confession of sin and prayer for mercy and a changed life.  It’s deeper than deep. Eighteenth century preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who could preach hours off one verse, found himself so overwhelmed by the truths in this psalm that he procrastinated for weeks before trying to write about it. I can understand his reluctance. What more could I add to what is said so well here about God’s mercy and loving us so much that He gave!

Psalm 51 is the fourth of the seven so-called “penitential psalms” (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). The March 21 blog on Psalm 32 (“Hidden Places”) considered David’s later-in-life perspective of what he learned from his fall into sin. Psalm 51 was probably written closer to his confession of sin after confrontation by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 11-12).

HAVE MERCY! (1-2)

 Under the Mosaic law of the Old Testament, no sacrifice could be offered to forgive adultery and murder, both of which David committed. His only hope of forgiveness was God’s “mercy.” The Hebrew word for mercy (hānan) pictures bending or stooping in kindness to an inferior. Don’t skip over the “O” in front of “God” (the Hebrew “Elohim,” referring to the most high God). In English, the “O” indicates intensity of expression, almost a deep sigh. He precedes God’s name with “O” four more times (vv. 10, 14, 15, 17). He appeals to God’s “unfailing love,” from the Hebrew hesed, referring to God’s covenantal love. Then he appeals to God’s great compassion before three specific sin-descriptions (the same as in Psalm 32).

I SINNED! (3-6)

We want our elected officials to rule with integrity, but many fall. How well I remember the sad episode of a former president accused of adultery—in his oval office!—who tried to weasel out of the accusations that nearly removed him from office. David didn’t shrug off his wrongs with a casual “I blew it.” He was specific about the scope of sin against a holy God:
            “Blot out my transgressions”—sin that crosses over into forbidden territory.
            “Wash away all my iniquity”--perversion, what we call “original sin.”
            “Cleanse me from my sin”—falling short, missing the mark, like an arrow missing a target.
David didn’t say, “Everybody sins a little once in a while.” He looked at himself as one tainted with the original sin passed through Adam and Eve (v. 5), and confessed his great fall: “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (v. 4). Today, pride and being “culturally correct” keep us from the flat-out honesty about the seriousness of sin. “One of the greatest crises of our day,” wrote Oswald Chambers in Devotions for the Deeper Life, “is that we are contented with easy satisfaction in our spiritual lives. We are content with moral fastidiousness.  If we are to get at the heart of the religion of the Cross, we will have to forget such religious trivialities. We must be ‘unblamable in holiness before God’….We need broken-hearted preachers with an awful conviction of sin, preachers who cry, ‘My God! My God! Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned!’” (Zondervan/God’s Bible School, 1986, p. 83).
 

CLEAN! (7-9)

David wanted:
*Cleansing (literally, purging) “with hyssop.”  This small, rock-clinging plant was used as a brush or to sprinkle. In the Exodus, the Hebrews used it to smear blood on their doorways to alert the angel of death to pass over them.  It was also used in ceremonial cleansing for people with skin diseases (Lev. 14:4, 6) or who had touched a dead body (Num. 19:18). Hebrews 9:19-22, in pointing to Christ’s death, explained, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” In asking cleansing with hyssop, David was literally saying, “De-sin me.”

*A new, pure spirit, clean like new-fallen snow. Though rare, Jerusalem does get some snow, and David had probably witnessed a morning when pure white covered the usual dirty landscape. This part of Psalm 51 inspired James Nicholson, a devout Christian and postal worker, to write this much-loved Gospel hymn, published in 1872:

            Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
            I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
            Break down every idol, cast out every foe.
            Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

RENEWAL (10-12)

David wanted a fresh start, so he asked God to:
 *Create a pure heart for him. This was a bold request, for in asking God to “create” this new heart, he used the word “bara” which was also used in Genesis for the creation of the heavens and earth.  In other words, he was asking God to create something brand-new out of nothing! He couldn’t have made a bolder request.
*Never cast David away. This verse has stirred up a lot of controversy among those who dispute “eternal security.” But what David seems to be saying is not a matter of “losing” salvation but that he needed God’s help to live in holiness.
*Restore the joy of salvation. Sin took away his joy. Momentary pleasures brought long-term grief. Now, with repentance and cleansing, he wants to enjoy again his sweet fellowship with God.

PROOF OF A CHANGED HEART (13-17)

Today, people who commit a crime are often “sentenced” to a community service that seeks to compensate a wrong or convince others not to follow the same negative paths. For example, a teen arrested for drunken driving might speak to student groups about what he or she learned from breaking the law. As Psalm 51 ends, David promises to warn others not to make his mistake. “Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you” (v. 13). An obedient life is far better than a cycle of sinning and sacrifices.

CHANGED PEOPLE=CHANGED NATION (18-19)

Proverbs 14:34 says: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” We don’t know if David influenced the writing of that proverb, but we do that the ending of Psalm 51 is a similar appeal to his nation to turn from sin and serve the living God. With such an ending, Psalm 51 leads us to look in the mirror ourselves and ask: Am I the weak link of national health? Am I open to the counsel or rebuke of a godly, caring person? Have I thoroughly faced my sin and sought forgiveness?  And am I praying for loved ones who haven’t yet made that decision?
Next blog: Psalm 56

Making 'Psense' of Psalms--Psalm 32: Hidden Places

God's "good" hiding places include the winter soil for
flower bulbs. These are daffodils, ready for spring.

Part of an ongoing series on selected psalms.
“The Hiding Place,” Corrie ten Boom’s World War 2 account of hiding Jews and punishment in a notorious concentration camp, gripped me when published in the early 1970s. I knew “hiding place” referred to the secret compartment built into her bedroom to protect refugee Jews. I also knew the phrase carried a double meaning from Psalms, for God’s protection.

When “The Hiding Place” was released, I was in my twenties and reading the Psalms with fresh spiritual eyes. When I came across the “hiding place” phrase in Psalm 32:7, I marked it: “Thou art a hiding place for me; thou preserveth me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with deliverance” (32:7). Later, re-reading Corrie’s book, I realized it quoted another “hiding place” passage right after Corrie’s family was arrested and detained at the local police station. The night before her family was split up to go to different prisons, a group had gathered around Corrie’s aged father for evening prayers. She recalled: “His blue eyes seemed to be seeing beyond the locked crowded room, beyond Haarlem, beyond earth itself, as he quoted from memory: ‘Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word….Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe…’” (The Hiding Place, Chosen Books, 1971, p. 126).

Corrie’s father had quoted from Psalm 119 (starting at verse 114), but both that verse and Psalm 32:7 used the same Hebrew word (sether) for “hiding place.”  In both places, “hiding place” is a metaphor for God’s loving presence, even when we face unspeakably difficult circumstances.

 

TWO ‘HIDDEN’ THINGS

 Psalm 32 deals with two types of “hidden” things. One is hidden sins. Psalm 51 tells how David confessed his hidden sins of adultery and conspiracy to murder. Psalm 32 also refers to that incident, but was written later, probably to warn and teach others about falling into hidden sin. Psalm 32 reveals how hiding sin damaged David’s health. He describes his bones wasting away, groaning all through the day, a sense of heaviness, and sapped strength. The second “hidden” subject, after confession of sin, is God’s love and protection, described as our “hiding place.”  The psalm also speaks of spiritual teachings that are hidden from the hard hearts of the unsaved.

HIDDEN AND HIDEOUS

Both Psalms 1 and 32 open with the word “blessed.” The Amplified version, trying to catch the energy of the original Hebrew (‘esher), translates this “happy, fortunate, to be envied.” Psalm 1’s “blessed” person completely followed God. Psalm 32’s “blessed” person realizes he has fallen from God’s perfect path, but knows the blessing of forgiveness after confession. Hebrew poetry is characterized by parallel thoughts, and Psalm 32 begins with an excellent example as David seems to rake the Hebrew language for synonyms for the hideousness of sin.
            *Transgression (v. 1), from the Hebrew peshah, a “going away,” “departure,” or “rebellion” against God.
            *Sin (v. 1), from the Hebrew chattath, a falling-short of a mark, like an archer failing to hit his target. In this case, sin is “falling short” of God’s law.
            *Iniquity (v. 2), from Hebrew hawon, something corrupted, twisted, crooked—which we become in twisting away from God to sinful choices.
            Next, the psalmist gives three divine responses to sin.
            *Forgiven—literally, to have our sin burden lifted off, like Pilgrim losing his burden at the cross in John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.”
            *Covered—a term picturing the Old Testament sacrificial system. A priest would carry blood from a sacrificed animal and sprinkle the “mercy seat” or cover of the ark, which contained the law the people had broken. The blood symbolized shielding the sinner from God’s judgment. Christ’s death fulfilled that ritual, once and for all.
            *Not counted against him—like a divine bookkeeping term.  God takes the sins recorded in our life’s ledger book, removes them and put them in Christ’s ledger book. He died for them, and His righteousness was credited to our ledger. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul quoted these verses and went to great lengths to explain “justification by faith.”

GOD’S HIDING PLACE

The word selah, which denotes a musical pause to “think about this,” separates each section of this psalm. First David defined sin and revealed how it wrecked his health. Selah, he wrote, as though urging people not to go down similar paths. Then David recounts his confession and the relief of getting what was dark and hidden out in the open. “You forgave the guilt of my sin,” he said, followed by selah (v. 5).

Next comes an admonition to keep accounts clear with God and not wait for the fearsome floods of chastening (“when the mighty waters rise,” v. 6). Earlier, he was hiding from God.  Now forgiven, he hides in God, his “hiding place.” David knew well how God led him to “hiding places” in the rocky wastelands during the dozen years he hid from Saul’s murderous campaigns. That was worth a big selah.

NOT-SO-HIDDEN COUNSEL

The psalm ends with Proverbs-like counsel. Verse 8 spoke to me during a scary time of change when I was a young adult. I’d decided to leave my newspaper reporter’s job with its steady paycheck for “mission service” a thousand miles away, and “support” for income. To help me decide, I’d flown to the mission headquarters to talk with people there. I had thought much about Psalm 32:8, now marked in red in my Bible: “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” On the flight back, as I looked out on clouds and land, I had an inexplicable sense of God guiding me with His all-seeing wisdom.

The next verse was my challenge: to not be like a mule that had to be pulled into submission.  Lyrics of an old hymn kept coming to me: “Have thine own way, Lord…I am waiting, yielded and still.” How well these summarize the message of Psalm 32. When we quit hiding from God, we can rest in God’s hiding place. There is no better place to be.  And though it’s not written in David’s text, this is another place where a selah would be very appropriate!

 

Next time: Psalm 34