Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Go to Psalm number 32 tonight.
[00:00:04] Psalm number 32 got 11 verses in this Psalm.
[00:00:14] Psalm 32 we will read. It begins with a psalm of David Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
[00:00:34] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found, surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place. Thou shalt preserve me from trouble thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye.
[00:01:29] Be ye not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bitten bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
[00:01:48] Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to meet together with your people, to assemble as the Church of God, to sing songs to your praise, to be reminded of the truths of Scripture, to be encouraged by one another's face and one another's words. And I pray that would happen tonight, Lord, even as we finish our service, as we pray, as we fellowship after the service, I pray that your people would be strengthened and uplifted and encouraged in the things of God and their walk with you. Lord, I pray as well for this psalm as we study it, that you would please speak to us and help us to understand it. Lord, help me to say what your people need and just peel back the truths of Scripture here that we might see them plainly. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.
[00:02:50] Now this verses one and two are famous, made famous mostly because of Romans chapter four, which we'll look at in just a minute.
[00:02:59] It says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed, especially verse number two. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity and in whose spirit is no guile. So this word impute, not a word we use very commonly, but it simply impute just means to reckon or to regard or to consider or to count. In this case. In the case of sin, the idea of imputation means simply that. It means to lay the guilt or the charge of that sin upon someone's account, right? So to impute something is to lay to one's charge or to count it in this case against them. It can be used in a positive sense as well to count something for. As a benefit to someone. But in this case, obviously it's referring to sin. So it just means when God imputes sin to us, that means that he counts what we do as guilt to us. Does that make sense? That's clear enough. Now, the Bible is clear. In the book of Romans, it says specifically that, for instance, when there is no law, right? Especially in the context of children, before children are aware of that which is good and evil, that which is right and wrong, they sin. Anybody that has had little Nathaniel, he looks so cute sitting back there on grandma's lap, and you would think that he's a nice little boy, but he's not. The little kid is a little sinner. But you know what his sin, right, the evil that he does, you know, his temper tantrums or whatever, that is not imputed or counted to him by the Lord. Why not? Well, because of his age, obviously, because of his understanding. And so it's not counted to him. But for all of us, obviously that's not the case. And that's. So that's the idea of imputation. Now let me explain to you the way that most people in this world, no matter where they're from, it doesn't matter if you're a, you know, if you're a. If you're a Baptist or a Methodist or a Catholic or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Hindu.
[00:05:20] You boil it all down.
[00:05:23] Most people in the world think that the question of righteousness, am I right with God? Or however they might term it, that question is decided like this. Our good works are put. The good things we do are put on one side of a. Of a scale, a balance, and our bad works are put on the other side and the two are weighed against one another. That's how most. That's how the vast majority of people.
[00:05:52] That's what the vast majority of people believe.
[00:05:56] Even people, even Baptist people that go to Baptist churches sometimes believe a Version of this. Now, what you include in that side of good works, what is considered a good work, it might be a religious ritual. It might be something like baptism or communion, or it might be something like confession, or it might be something. Some other thing that is done, some other ritual or good work that might be performed.
[00:06:21] Those. And it might, you know, as. From a Baptist perspective, of course, on paper, we don't believe that, but many people do in practice, in actuality, believe a version of this. Well, I was a deacon. Boom, right?
[00:06:36] Or I gave money. The church says I tithed. Or I was faithful to Sunday school and got my pens. And of course, you should be faithful, obviously, right? But, boom, they put it on one side. In other words, all the things that are not supposed to be seen like that are put on the side of the good works. And they think if I just. It weighs one against the other.
[00:06:59] But here, now, follow me here. Okay? If this were true, if this were true, you have the good works and the bad works. And this is how God balances and determines whether I go to heaven or not, whether I'm righteous or not. If my good works outweigh my bad works, I'm righteous. If not, I'm not righteous, I'm not going to heaven.
[00:07:26] But if that were true, then that means the bad works are counted against you. They're imputed to you, does it not? In other words, you put the bad works into the tray or into the basket. You put the good works into the basket. You put the bad works into the basket, and then you weigh them.
[00:07:46] This is the way most people view the subject of righteousness. But this verse, verse two does not say that.
[00:07:56] Now, follow me, because this is a very interesting truth in Scripture. This verse does not say that God counts our sins against us and then weighs them against our good works.
[00:08:10] On the contrary, verse number two says this. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, counteth not iniquity, chargeth not iniquity.
[00:08:26] This verse says that God does not impute or count our sin and our transgressions against us. In other words, he doesn't put them in the basket at all.
[00:08:40] He takes them out of the basket.
[00:08:44] Did you understand what I'm saying? He takes it out of the basket. He does not count it against us. That's what it says. The Lord imputeth not iniquity. In other words, though we have sinned, and though we are indeed guilty of the crime, we did the deed. Every one of us is in that category. Yet he treats us as if we did not. We did not do the crime.
[00:09:15] He does not treat us as if our good outweighed our crime.
[00:09:20] So you can see what the Scripture is teaching is something much different than what the human philosophy that is integrated into religions teach.
[00:09:33] If, therefore, our sins are not reckoned against us by God. Think about it. If your good works are over here and your bad works are over here, and you weigh them, well, we already covered that, right? Now take this basket and say, God took them out. He did not count them against you. He took them right out of the basket. What are you left with?
[00:09:54] If no sin is reckoned or counted against you, then that means you're what? You're righteous.
[00:10:02] You see that you're righteous. You don't see the problem with the former way is that there's righteous. As it's understood, you're partially righteous and partially unrighteous. No, but when God forgives a person and he his sin is covered and he imputeth not iniquity, he actually takes the sin out of the basket entirely, then we are indeed righteous, for there is nothing on our account at all.
[00:10:35] It's not good and bad. It's no bad. It's gone.
[00:10:42] It's gone. It's an amazing truth.
[00:10:47] It's no wonder that this man in verse number one and verse number two is called the blessed man. The Blessed man. And this is exactly what Romans 4, verse number 6 says. Take a peek at Romans 4, verse 6, and you'll see that truth explained in the New Testament as well as in the old.
[00:11:11] Romans 4, verse number 5. If there's a verse. Listen. If there's a verse you should memorize as you attempt to prepare yourself to share the Gospel with people is Romans 4, verse 5. It's a powerful, direct verse. It says this. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now look at what verse six says.
[00:11:40] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth. Remember, counteth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Now notice he says, david describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness. Notice those last two words. Without works.
[00:12:11] Without works.
[00:12:16] This is what we're talking about.
[00:12:19] It's not that you do all these. All these good works on. Put it on one side of the balance. And you do and your bad works on the other side of the balance and you attempt to outweigh it. No, no, forget about that side. You don't need it. Because when God takes everything out of here, you're righteous. Do you understand? It's very simple. It's very clear as well. But as a side note, this. In Romans chapter 4, it cites Abraham, who believed in the Lord and it was counted unto him for righteousness. And then it cites David, who also believed in the Lord and his sin was not imputed to him. He was righteous by faith. So both before the law was given on Mount Sinai in the time of Abraham, and both after the law was given at Mount Sinai, the time of David, in both cases, both men were made righteous by virtue of their faith.
[00:13:10] So this idea that kind of floats around that, well, in the Old Testament, people were saved by works. In the New Testament, they're saved by faith.
[00:13:17] It doesn't matter which period you go into, you will always find this truth. That's what Romans 4 tells us. But let me ask you a question. As we look. Go Back to Psalm 32, verse number one and two. Here's the question I want us to ponder. Is this. Why then does God choose to do this? Why does God choose to not count our transgressions against us?
[00:13:48] We have not done good enough to outweigh our sin. No, no, we've not done that. We have not outweighed our transgressions with good works. So then the question. Look at what verse two says. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. This is an act of God. You see that it's not an act of man. Now, if you put them on the. If you put them on the scales, the good and the bad, that's an act of man. You have outweighed the evil by good. But this says the Lord imputeth not iniquity. That happens in God's mind and in God's heart. Not. It's not, it's not us. It's what's happening in God's. In God's mind and heart.
[00:14:31] Now listen, this imputation is done solely by God himself. That's what the verse says. The Lord imputeth not iniquity. God is the doer. And this occurs in his mind. And so if it is done by the Lord, if it is done by the Lord, and it is not a matter of outweighing sin by righteous works, this means that when God does takes away the charge against us, Right. He takes that out of the basket.
[00:15:06] It is actually an act of his kindness and of his grace towards us and nothing more. In other words, we haven't outweighed it ourselves. No. God said, I am taking your sin out of the basket, and now you're righteous.
[00:15:23] I have not. I am not going to. Even though you have done it, I am not going to impute it to you. I'm not going to count it as if you've done it.
[00:15:36] Now we know that the Lord, being holy, being righteous, cannot, as a matter of his justice, cannot simply with a wave of his hand, ignore transgressions of his law. He will not.
[00:15:52] The only way that's possible, even though it's not fully revealed in Psalm 32 yet, the only way that the Lord is able and able, consistent with his holiness and justice, the only way he is able to remove that charge against us is because someone took the penalty. That's the only way it's possible. Now, of course, here we're looking forward because it hasn't happened yet. But of course, in God's mind, the Bible says that Christ, he died for the sin of the world before the foundation of the world. So God, even though David might not fully understand what Christ is going to come and do not even his disciples fully understood it, remember, yet the Lord fully understood it. And the Lord is thinking ahead to that time. And he is basically forgiving David here on credit.
[00:16:48] But the credit is the credit of Christ, who would die for sinners. And so upon that basis, upon the basis of the blood of Christ 1000 years before Jesus would come, this is the time of David. Upon that basis, the Lord says, david, you have not outdone your good works, have not outdone your bad works. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to do far better than that because I'm good, I am going to remove the charge against you entirely.
[00:17:24] And he does that on the basis of the cross in. In the Lord's mind. Now look at verse number three.
[00:17:34] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
[00:17:44] For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah, what does this mean? He kept silence, his bones waxed old. Any time you read in Scripture in the Old Testament about bones, it's a poetic way to describe the physical effect he talks about. His moisture is turned into the drought of summer.
[00:18:09] In other words, he's describing a parched person. He's describing in physical terms how his sin is affecting him. Notice what it says in verse number four. He says. Well, first of all, in verse number four, it says, for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. Listen to these verses. First Samuel 5, 6. But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod. Remember, they took the Ark of the Covenant. The hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod. And he destroyed them and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod in the coast thereof. We all know what that's referring to. I don't need to explain it in great detail, but if I did, I would ask Sam too.
[00:18:56] Why is the hand of the Lord heavy upon them of Ashdod? Because he wants them to send the Ark back. Right. He's trying to correct what they're doing. Not only that.
[00:19:07] Psalm 38, verse 2. Listen to this. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. The idea is, God's hand is heavy, laying on somebody. Why is God's hand heavy on him? Verse number five. I acknowledge my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid. I will confess my transgression. So here's what David's describing in verse number three, through verse number five, he talks about when I kept silent. So here's what's going on. David is not right with God. David is walking in rebellion.
[00:19:40] David, a man after God's own heart. Yeah, it happens. Even though David is one of God's people. Even though. Yeah, notice this past tense he's describing. He's going through a sequence of things here. So David is not right with God. He is in rebellion. He is not obeying the Lord at this point. And as a result of that, it says, when I kept silence. You compare that to verse five. I acknowledged my sin and he made confession. The idea is that David is not confessing. He's keeping silence when he should be talking to God and telling God his transgression and confessing it. He's not. He refuses.
[00:20:22] And so what does God do?
[00:20:26] God lays his hand heavy on David.
[00:20:29] That's what he's doing.
[00:20:32] God's hand was heavy on David because David was in a place of rebellion. David was not right with God. He was not in the will of God. He was not obeying the Lord. And listen to me now. The Lord being his, God was not willing to stand by and let him continue in his rebellion.
[00:20:58] And that's why God's hand was heavy upon him.
[00:21:03] That's why.
[00:21:06] Why wasn't God's heavy hand, heavy upon all the rest of the sinful world that are doing the exact same thing that David's doing, living outside of his will, transgressing his law, not obeying the Lord.
[00:21:18] I mean, listen, let me ask you a Do Christians not commit sin? Similar to the world, sin is sin, right?
[00:21:28] Do Christians get angry and say foul words? Do Christians yell and scream at their spouse?
[00:21:35] Do Christians belittle their children?
[00:21:39] Do Christians commit idolatry with money or jobs or whatever? Yeah, these are all of the same things this world does.
[00:21:51] Isn't that a shame?
[00:21:53] It should not be so. But the people of God commit transgressions just like people who do not know God. It shouldn't be that way, but it's true.
[00:22:03] But why isn't God's hand heavy on them as it is on his people?
[00:22:09] The difference here it is sometimes between the believer and the unbeliever. The transgression, the sin is the same.
[00:22:18] It should not be. It is a shame and a reproach on the name of Christ. It should not be, but it often is.
[00:22:26] The difference is this, though.
[00:22:30] The difference is in the way God deals with his people.
[00:22:34] He deals with his people in a way unlike the way that he deals with this world. Listen to these verses. Hebrews 12, verse 6 says this.
[00:22:44] For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
[00:22:53] He scourgeth. That's a whipping, right? He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. That's not the world.
[00:23:01] That's his people, his children. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Proverbs 3:11 says this my son despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth even as a father, the Son in whom he delighteth.
[00:23:27] Revelation 3:19 Jesus said to the church of Laodicea, he says, as many as I love. Notice that the category I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. So the fact of God's chastening and correction of us is a mark of God's love, and a mark of his true relationship with us. So much so, that if that chastening, and if that correction is not present when we live outside of his will and in disobedience and in rebellion, it is a sure mark that God is not our Father. Because God's hand is not heavy on this world, they are reserved for judgment. Now, sometimes he allows the fruit of their wicked works, allows them to reap it naturally, right? But God's hand is not actively heavy on this world, but it is upon God's people.
[00:24:19] If you or I live in a way that is rebellious to him, you might as well expect the Lord to put his hand heavy upon you like he did David.
[00:24:35] This world's time is reserved for judgment. But God's hand is heavy upon his children because it is corrective.
[00:24:44] It is corrective. It's not punitive, it's corrective. His intention is that we would repent and confess God. As I said, and I'll say it again, God simply will not permit his child to persist in evil without correction. He is too faithful. He is too loyal. He is not going to stand by and do it and listen.
[00:25:13] And this is why this truth is so important.
[00:25:17] If a person claims to be a believer in Christ and a child of God, and yet God stands by and that person, when that person does flagrant acts of disobedience and rebellion against God, and it's as if God stands by and is not correcting them, that is not a believer. That person is on the road to hellfire. Mark it down.
[00:25:44] This is what it means to have the living God in your life. This is what it means to have the fear of God. Sister Karen, if you got out of the way and you got out of the will of God and started rebelling against God, you would probably fully expect the Lord's going to come and knocking at your door, right?
[00:26:01] If one of my kids, you know, especially when they were younger, if they did something they knew, like, you don't. I don't have to say anything. I just say, what are you doing? And it's like guilt comes over their face. They're like melting right there in front of me. I'm not even doing it. I'm just. What are you doing? They know what's coming. Why? Because they know that their father and they know that their mother is not going to stand by and let them continue.
[00:26:30] And that's the way the Lord is.
[00:26:34] That's the way the Lord is.
[00:26:37] Now look at this.
[00:26:40] Verse 5.
[00:26:41] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid.
[00:26:49] I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
[00:26:59] Hear me now.
[00:27:01] There is no way to receive forgiveness, whether it be from God or from man, until the sin is acknowledged and confessed with specifics.
[00:27:20] And not just generalities.
[00:27:24] We like to say this kind of thing. Well, if I sinned, if I offended you, will you please forgive me if I sin? Lord, talking like that, words like that does not satisfy the scriptural requirement for forgiveness.
[00:27:43] You know, when we say, well, if I did it, and we leave that little edge, that little corner, like maybe we really didn't do it, there's a possibility that it didn't happen, that's not fully owning the transgression. That's not fully owning the sin, whether it be before God or before man. And that's not what he did. In verse number five, he acknowledged it, he confessed it, he named it. There was no ambiguity. There was no wiggle room. He owned it. And the shame and the reproach that came with it, that's part of it.
[00:28:13] But when we say, if I did this or if I've done that, we hide our sins from the Lord and from man. When we speak in generalities in that kind of way, or we're not willing to really name it, we're just going to kind of kind of use a broader term rather than naming what we actually did, it allows us to hide our shame by ambiguity.
[00:28:39] In other words, if I don't actually. If I say, well, if I did something to offend you, I apologize and not name the thing I did to offend them, then it leaves the door open. Well, maybe I didn't do it both in my mind so I can kind of escape the shame and the reproach that I deserve and should feel. But also in their mind, did he really confess?
[00:29:03] Is he really sorry?
[00:29:05] When you name it, it's clear. You see, that's why you have to be plain spoken about it. When you're confessing something, be it to God or be it to man. Listen, we're not pulling the wool over God's eyes. We know that it is a vain pursuit to act or to use the word if in a prayer of confession to the Lord.
[00:29:28] But here's the problem.
[00:29:30] By using generalities like this, there's never any clarity as to what the wrong was that was done or what the wrong was that must be corrected. In other words, it provides a cover to continue because we did not clearly and specifically confess it. You know, when Nathan the prophet came to David in the wake of Bathsheba and all that happened with Bathsheba and Uriah, her husband, you know what David said?
[00:30:00] Well, if I did wrong, tell the Lord I'm sorry.
[00:30:05] No, he said, I have sinned against the Lord.
[00:30:14] He owned the sin, he owned the shame, he owned. The dishonor.
[00:30:23] That's what it means to confess.
[00:30:26] All of that is included.
[00:30:32] I want you to see something. Look at verse five.
[00:30:35] I acknowledged my sin unto thee. And my iniquity have I not hid? See, when you speak in generalities, it's a subtle way to hide what you've done because you're not really saying it.
[00:30:46] I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. And thou forgave us the iniquity of my sin. Notice the forgiveness. Remember verse one. Blessed is he who transgression is forgiven. The forgiveness is contingent upon the confession. There is no forgiveness until there is confession. The Lord does not forgive people until they confess.
[00:31:10] That's the rule. But you know what? That truth is also a truth between people. You know that we think that we sin against others and somehow that God expects them to forgive us 70 times 7 without us ever acknowledging what we've done. And that's false.
[00:31:28] That's false.
[00:31:31] Now, that doesn't give us a right to be bitter. That's different.
[00:31:36] But forgiveness comes as a result of confession. You know this verse, Luke 17:3 and 4. These are very familiar. Listen to this.
[00:31:44] Take heed to yourselves. It's interesting. The Lord speaking to his disciples between each other.
[00:31:51] If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him.
[00:31:55] And if he repent, forgive him. See that even between people, forgiveness is contingent upon repentance. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent. Thou shalt forgive him. Again two times. The Lord says, if he repent, there's a confession, there's an acknowledgment.
[00:32:19] And also not only that, but in Luke 15:21, the prodigal son. The prodigal Son said unto his Father, father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight. Amen. No more worthy to be called thy Son. Is he trying to escape the shame of it? No, he's acknowledging sin. I have sinned against God and has sinned against man. That's the only way to get clear of sin right there.
[00:32:46] And when there's a clear acknowledgment and confession, only then can forgiveness be obtained, whether it be from the Lord or from man.
[00:32:59] This is. Now we go back to our verses one and two with our scale, okay?
[00:33:05] As long as I have this thing in my mind where God counts my sin against me and I have to work to load down the other side, to overcome, to outweigh My sin, you know what I never have to do?
[00:33:19] Confess it.
[00:33:22] There's never any need because I'm working to outweigh it. It counts against me. No need to confess it.
[00:33:31] There's no need to acknowledge or confess your sin if you think that's what you're doing.
[00:33:38] And so this doctrine of works for righteousness. It allows people to escape the humiliation and the shame of confession. I want to tell you something.
[00:33:56] People want to. They want more than anything more than they want forgiveness from God. People want to avoid acknowledging and confessing their sin more than forgiveness. What they want more than anything is to not own what they have done. Mark it down. That is a fact.
[00:34:22] They're not concerned about what God thinks of them. People are concerned about the shame and the humiliation and the dishonor that comes from what they have done.
[00:34:35] And they will do anything to avoid that.
[00:34:40] But here's the thing.
[00:34:43] That is exactly what the Lord requires.
[00:34:47] Because when you confess, you humble yourself to the dust. You say, I did it. I own the shame. I have no excuse, right? That's humiliating, is it not? It is humiliating, but that is exactly what is required. But here's the thing.
[00:35:04] In God's reckoning, confession is absolutely necessary. And without it, there is no forgiveness.
[00:35:10] But when a person does own the sin and the shame and the reproach and the humiliation that comes along with that, and they humble themselves to admit the shame of that forgiveness is immediate and full.
[00:35:29] Like that. You know, when David mentioned David with Nathan, David said Nathan confronted him. David said, I have sinned against the Lord. You know what the next words in the Bible are?
[00:35:41] The next words? No words in between. This is the next. The next sentence. Nathan replies to him and says, the Lord hath put away thy sin.
[00:35:52] You see, you don't have to outweigh it.
[00:35:55] You just have to own it, as ugly as it is. And the minute you own it, you'll find that forgiveness is fully available as a gift of the grace of God. Not because you outweighed anything, but because you confessed it and owned it. Because indeed you did the deed. Right, we did the deed.
[00:36:23] So we'll finish in verses 8 and 9.
[00:36:28] I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye, be ye not as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
[00:36:42] We've seen in this psalm one of the primary ways that God instructs us and teaches us the way that we should go, by trial and error. We err, God corrects us, we err, God corrects us, we err, God corrects us. And eventually, hopefully we learn the way that he wants us to go.
[00:37:04] But we should be people that take verbal correction. Slight adjustment.
[00:37:09] Someone asked me in my Bible college class last night, we were talking about the subject of chastening and correction from the Lord and that kind of thing. And they asked me, well, do you believe that chastening and correction includes the kind of inward correction, you know, the guilt, the shame, you know, not just, not yet to the point where God lays his hand heavy upon you? I say, oh yeah, just like with a parent, if a kid does something disobedient or whatnot, the parent will give a verbal correction. And if the child changes and if he repents, well, then fine. But if not, it must be.
[00:37:44] It must be, you know, enforced.
[00:37:49] Well, you like my political talk.
[00:37:54] I want to tell you something, parents as well.
[00:37:58] Listen, I fully believe in corporal punishment. Biblically biblical corporal punishment. I fully believe in that.
[00:38:05] But don't be spank happy. Spanking doesn't fix everything.
[00:38:12] That's a ditch on the other side. That's an extreme on the other side. Spanking doesn't fix a bad relationship with your kid. Spanking doesn't fix you not showing and expressing you love and giving instruction to your child. It doesn't fix everything.
[00:38:27] So as important as correction is, sometimes the best thing you can give your child is a verbal correction and then let it escalate from there if they don't listen to it. This is what's being described here, the verbal correction. He says, be not as the horse or mule. God's saying, I'm going to instruct you and I'm going to teach you. And I'm going to say, don't do that, do that. You know, these are, this is what parents do all the time. This is just slight correction and instruction. And he says, if you're a man of understanding, verse number nine, then you'll listen. But if not, you're going to be like the horse of the mule who require force to obey. You got to put a bit in a bridle in its mouth to get it to do what you tell it to do because it won't listen to words, right?
[00:39:17] But notice, and I'm done with this. Notice this.
[00:39:22] The Lord says, don't be like the horse or the mule. Requires a bit in a bridle, right to obey.
[00:39:30] But even if it requires a bitten bridle here's the takeaway from this. Under no circumstances is the God of heaven, our Father, going to stand by and let us live outside of his will.
[00:39:48] If he has to use force, he's willing to do that, just like he did with David. He's willing to do that.
[00:39:57] He is. God is holy, he is faithful, he is loyal, and he is just simply not going to stand by while we destroy our life, our testimony, shame his name, and live in rebellion to Him.
[00:40:15] He is going to intervene.
[00:40:18] That is what the way he does.
[00:40:21] That is who he is.
[00:40:24] So we would do, well, like verses eight and nine to just listen to the what the Lord's how He's directing us, right, to listen to the corrections, to acknowledge and confess what we've done openly, plainly. Specifically, forgiveness is immediately available.
[00:40:46] Immediately.
[00:40:49] Let's pray.
