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February 16, 2003
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany
Psalms 32
Pastor Joel Zank

Sin's Great Cover-up

(Psalms 32) Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"?? and you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.11 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

In Christ Jesus who carried our sorrows all the way to the cross, dear forgiven sinners and fellow saints,

The other day I ran across an old Peanuts comic strip featuring Linus and Charlie Brown. Looking rather troubled and bewildered, Linus told his friend, "Maybe we should think only about today." But Charlie Brown disagreed. "No" he said, "that would be like giving up. I'm still hoping yesterday will get better."

Have you ever hoped for something like that? Have you ever wished you could go back in time and make yesterday better, perhaps by taking back some hurtful word you spoke or by erasing some sinful thing you did? I would guess we all entertain such hopes, but time travel isn't possible and so like Linus we're left thinking about today, trying to figure out how to deal with yesterday's messes so that somehow we can live our lives in peace. Today we get some help in this department from a real expert, a man named David whose words we'll consider under this theme: Sin's Great Cover-up. David shows us that the covering up of sin is something foolishly attempted by sinners, something actually accomplished by God and something joyfully acclaimed by saints.

David's story is well known. It's the story of a godly king who turned away from God in a moment of lust. First he let his eyes wander where they didn't belong. Then his lust gave way to adultery, a sin that David thought he could hide until it produced an unwanted pregnancy. What a mess David made! Unable to change his past, David attempted to save his reputation and his future with a series of sinful schemes designed to cover up his evil. But one sin led to another and before long the king had blood on his hands-the blood of his lover's husband. So David added murder to the list of sins he had to try to cover up. And try he did. Showing no shame at all, we're told in 2 Samuel, "...David had [his mistress] brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son" (2 Samuel 11:27). And they lived happily ever after? Not a chance. David may have thought he got away with murder, but Samuel is quick to add, "...the thing David had done displeased the LORD" (2 Samuel 11:27).

Whoops! In all his scheming, there was one tiny detail David overlooked-you can't hide sin from the eyes of the all-seeing God. At some point David's conscience woke up to this truth, but his sinful pride wouldn't let him admit it. So David's sin became a barrier between God and him, a barrier that grew larger and larger with each passing day. Now David tried to bury his sin under a mountain of silence. He stopped talking to God, hoping that by distancing himself from the Almighty, the voice of his conscience would also grow silent. But all such attempts proved foolish. David tells God, " When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer" (Psalm 32:3-4).

David's sin made him miserable. It became a deadly poison to his soul. His refusal to repent even took its toll on David's physical health. Like a man suffering from some crippling form of arthritis, David ached and groaned day in and day out. No longer living under God's hand of blessing, every trouble in life became a burden to David. With every new problem David could feel the weight of God's anger pressing down upon him till it felt like life itself would be squeezed right out of his body.

How foolish of David! Covering up sin makes no sense. That's easy to see isn't it! Easy, that is, until it's our sin and our cover-up. So let me ask, is there some sin you've tried to hide even from God? Is there some evil in your life you're trying to justify or excuse or simply ignore? It won't work. We can't cling to sin and still cling to God. The writer to the Hebrews warns, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left,27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God" (Hebrews 10:26-27).

The misery David experienced here on earth is only a small taste of the punishment impenitent sinners will receive in eternity. Those who choose to cover up their sin so that they can keep doing it, keep living in it, whether it is lust, or adultery or gossip, or any other sin, those sinners will only experience God's anger here on earth and here after in hell.

Now you might think that somewhere along the line a miserable David came to this understanding all by himself. But you would be wrong. David didn't make his way back to God. God lovingly went after David, using the testimony of his Prophet Nathan to work repentance in David's heart and to bring this confession to David's lips, "I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Samuel 12:13).

God's Holy Spirit put an end to David's foolish cover-up. God's Spirit caused David to be sincerely sorry for his sin; and God's Spirit kept David from hopeless despair by immediately assuring this repentant sinner of his complete forgiveness. David himself recalls this miracle of grace in verse 5 of our text: "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin."

My friends, at this very moment, God is doing for us what he once did for David. In his Word he is revealing his wrath over sin, your sin and mine. With his threats he's convincing us that no sinful pleasure on earth could possibly be worth an eternity of suffering in hell. Right now his Spirit is helping us call to mind the many ways we have broken God's commandments with hateful thoughts, with hurtful words, with heartless actions. Feelings of shame wash over us as we think of the ways we've tried to cover up our sins. We're guilty. By the Spirit's power we know it. We're sorry. By the Spirit's power we say it, each of us, "I have sinned against the Lord." But best of all, dear friends, we're forgiven and by the Spirit's power we believe it.

How blessed we are-all of us. How blessed you are-each of you for you are the very person David's talking about when he says: "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.2 Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."

You're so blessed because the Lord has actually accomplished for you what you foolishly attempted by yourself-Sin's Great Cover-up. God has done for you and me what we could never do. He's covered up our sins in Christ once and for all. Paul says in Romans 5, "...through the obedience of the one man [Jesus] the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19). Isn't it amazing! God has taken the perfect obedience of his own Son and has used it like a holy robe to cover us and all our rebellious acts. Isn't it remarkable! God charged that same Jesus with all our sin and deceit. God put him to death in our place and has raised him to life for our sake so that we can now stand as we do, innocent and blameless before our Holy Judge. Yes our sin is hidden from God's sight, buried not beneath our excuses or silence, but covered by the blood of Christ our Savior.

Do you know what all this means? We sinners are now saints in God's eyes-thanks to Jesus! And thank him we will, like David did by proclaiming the good news of God's accomplishments every chance we get. That's what I mean in the third part of our outline when I say Sin's Great Cover-up is joyfully acclaimed by saints.

According to my Webster's Dictionary, to acclaim means "to announce or acknowledge with applause." Isn't that what David is doing in the closing verses of our text-applauding God with words of praise? Isn't that what he's praying all of us will do when he writes: "Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance" (Psalm 32:6-7)? When David tried to hide his sin, his troubles were a frightening reminder of God's anger. But now restored and forgiven, David knows that the God who has covered all his sins will also hide him from all his enemies. Trouble will have a hard time finding David, but if it should come his way, David is sure that God will rescue him, giving him yet another reason to sing God's praise. David asks God to instill in us this same confidence.

But David does more than pray for us. He pleads with us to learn from his mistakes. As a graduate of the school of hard knocks, David offers, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him" (Psalm 32:8-10).

Is there someone you know who needs to hear David's words-someone who's acting like a stubborn mule, clinging to sin and deceit? God's given you a message to share with that precious soul-first a warning about sin and the pain that it brings, and then a promise of God's unfailing love in Christ and the healing he brings. What an opportunity to praise God by telling another sinner of the forgiveness and peace we know so well.

I suppose there are lots of people who like Charlie Brown are still hoping yesterday will get better. We can't change yesterday, not for ourselves or anyone else. We can't take back hurtful words or erase awful sins. But thanks be to God we know Jesus who's paid for those sins so that yesterday's guilt need not haunt us, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. That's why David can say, "Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11). Amen.