Take a moment to imagine yourself sitting in a court of law, having just been judged by a jury of a crime that you have committed, a crime worthy of nothing short of death. Finally, after sweating out the seemingly unending hours of deliberation, the verdict is about to be spoken. The judge tells you to stand and solemnly asks the foreman of the jury, "What is your verdict. " He speaks GUILTY AS CHARGED. At that very moment, darkness, grief, and despair take over every part of your mind. You slump to the floor in anguish and pain, a pain that you cannot bear! Your hopes, your dreams, your aspirations are extinguished in a moment of time; you lie there helpless, and your very life is over!
But wait! Behold! At that very instant, and not a millisecond too late, a man bursts through the courtroom doors and shouts to your adversaries at the top of his lungs with confidence and tears of joy, "I 'LL TAKE His PLACE ". The man that, in that very moment of time, accepted and willingly took on your darkness, grief, despair, anguish, and pain, and became your help despite your pathetic helplessness, the man that restored your life, who redeemed you of your heinous punishment and granted to you your hopes, dreams, aspirations, and innocence for all time— that man was JESUS.
Psalm 32:1-2 1Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered. 2Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
It cost our Savior, Jesus Christ, a sweat of blood to bear our load. It cost him his life to remove our sin, our transgression; the original sin of Adam as well as our past and future sins. Samson carried the gates of Gaza but what was that compared to the weight which Jesus bore on our behalf? Imagine how Noah was grounded in comfort to know that he was saved from the floods while the world was perishing! And how about the Hebrews seeing the hand of God 's redemption from their enemies, Egypt, as they crossed the Red Sea on dry land, and then watching their adversaries perish by the very same waters of that Red Sea! How much more is our comfort in knowing that God has not imputed to us our sins and delivered us from our due punishment and destruction by the onetime sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ? Our sins, our wrongdoings, have been taken up to God by the irreversible and loving sacrifice of Jesus. Our lives have been atoned for by the blood of Jesus and nothing can ever change that. NOTHING!
This is our comfort from the flood, so to speak. There is an end to sin! And yet, when we fall short of the glory of God, when we sin, when we re bel against God, why is it that, at times, we have a hard time going to Him to plead the blood of Jesus?
Psalm 32:3-4 3When I kept silence, my bones waxed old (wasting away) through my roaring (irrepressible anguish) all the day long. 4For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned to the drought of summer. Selah.
As long as your personal sin is locked up inside of you, you will waste away. It will drain your health. It 's like a pestilent disease that will only sap every good thing inside of you. It crushes your bones until you wither away to nothing.
Proverbs 3:7-8 7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.
Have you considered that our punishment is self-inflicted by, perhaPsalm, the lack of humility and meekness to God 's Word, trying to handle our own redemption in our own way? It 's not God that punishes you, for He laid upon him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all. Note what we just read in Proverbs— be not wise in your own eyes!
Isaiah 53:4-6 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
We live in a world that teaches us to hide from God, to cover ourselves, to not be humble before the Almighty Who paid the price for you through His Son. We live in a world that teaches us to be prideful. Oh people, the only thing left following that course is a fall.
Proverbs 16:18-19 18Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 19Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. I Peter 5:5b-7 5for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
It wasn 't until David had a change of heart that he began to experience the gentle hand of God 's mercy and heart. You see, unconfessed transgression, like a fierce poison, will dry up the fountain of your strength. It will scorch you like a plant in the desert dried up by the heat of the sun. Oh, people, don 't make the mistake of recognizing your sin, your failure, but yet ignoring the wide open door to the Father made available by the blood of Jesus Christ. Don 't be that poor soul that knows that you 've done wrong but are too hard hearted to seek the Father by pleading the blood of Jesus.
Psalm. 32:5-7 10I 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. 6For 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 near unto him. 7Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
A full confession to God softens and humbles the heart. Not only is the sin pardoned, but the virus of its guilt has been blown to smithereens.
Psalm. 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. (as a master with his servant)
Our Savior is our instructor. The Lord Himself desires to teach us to walk in the way of integrity, in the way of God 's Word, and according to the holy spirit. We 're not pardoned for our sins just so that we can continue to walk in our transgression and live according to our own lusts. He instructs us in a practical way to be educated in holiness and trained for perfection.
Matthew 11:28-30 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Do you really think that our loving, heavenly Father, after He has given His most precious gift of His Son to us, would leave us to fend for ourselves, negating the sacrifice of Jesus in our lives? Do you really think that He could turn His back on us and leave us to be destroyed as He did with the Egyptians in the Red Sea, or leave us to perish in the overwhelming floods as those unbelievers in the days of Noah? Our Father cares for His own, whom we are, because we have and are the righteousness of Jesus Christ, as God 's Word tells us in:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
We shouldn 't need thunderbolts to wake us out of our sluggishness, but just the gentle nudge, the love touches and whispers from our Master. He is the overseer. It would be well to seek him and wait for his instruction.
This should be our heart:
Psalm 25:5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.Isaiah 41:13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help theeIsaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. .