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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.

There is such freedom in confession. It leads to knowing the blessing of full forgiveness.

If we are thinking, in this psalm, about that chapter in David’s life when he sinned with Bathsheba (see 2 Samuel 11,12), then verse 5 will correspond to 2 Samuel 12:13, where we see that the prayer of confession led to instantaneous forgiveness.

I just happened to be listening to 2 Samuel 11,12 the other day, and even though I know the story well, I felt shocked by the ruthlessness and brutality David showed in ‘stealing’ another man’s wife, then having this man of integrity – Uriah- killed, in an effort to cover his tracks. Of course, he couldn’t. He found himself hopelessly exposed in God’s searchlights. It is, for us, breathtaking (and encouraging) to realise that he could be instantly forgiven for that. ‘Amazing grace’!

(I just make the point in passing though, that, although David could be forgiven for the guilt of his sin, he still had to face its consequences. That is another story, and beyond the scope of what we are studying here. Still, it should be noted. It is salutary).

It follows that we should be wary of making cheap confession. David’s was anything but cheap. As we have seen, he went through the wringer to get to the place of coming clean.

Proverbs 28:13 says: “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Confessing and renunciation; confession and forsaking, go together. What the Bible envisages is not a trite ‘going to confession’ so you can do it all again quite happily next week, knowing you can go to confession again…and so on, and so forth, ad infinitum. (I realise this may be a bit of a stereotype, but I have reason to believe it really does happen).

Look at 1 John 1:8-10: someone commented that the only way sin can leave the body is ‘through the mouth’, as we confess it.

When I kept silent,

    my bones wasted away

    through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night

    your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

    as in the heat of summer.

What a miserable condition it is to find yourself under conviction of sin. If you have ever been there, you will identify with these words. In some cases it can go on for a long time. It may need to, in order to bring about real repentance. (Reading Jonathon Aitken’s story, ‘Pride and Perjury’, you get the sense that it was like this for him. He had a lot to work through. It wasn’t over in five minutes).

Conviction can even affect your body; you may feel the effects physically. Whatever David’s sin was, it ‘ate way at’ his ‘soul like a cancer.’ Tom Hale.

This may well belong to the time of David’s adultery with Bathsheba ( see 2 Samuel 11,12). If so, verse 3,4 may reflect David being burdened with a guilty conscience. It’s such a heavy weight to carry. But if it leads to the “Then” of verse 5, it has done its work.

I think of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 7:8b-11a:

“…I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you…”

Blessed is the one

    whose transgressions are forgiven,

    whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one

    whose sin the Lord does not count against them

    and in whose spirit is no deceit.

We are just past the half way mark in Exodus, and for the next few days we’re going to take a short break, and work our way through Psalm 32.

I have to admit that this psalm has been very much on my mind in recent weeks, because a couple of friends came round to our home to pray with Jilly and myself, and they shared Psalm 32:8 with us. Not only has that verse come to mean a lot, but I’ve felt inspired to take a fresh look at this lovely psalm. I suggest you begin by reading the whole 11 verses, and consider what the Lord is saying to you through it, before you read any thoughts of mine.

Today, though, we will focus on verses 1,2, where we see the blessing of full forgiveness.

I understand that this is the first use of the word “Blessed” in the psalter since Psalm 1. The truly happy life is the totally forgiven life. As someone observed, the prodigal is welcomed home, the singing and dancing begin, a party is thrown.

I am struck by the comprehensive language used here:

• “Transgressions” are ‘rebellions’. This refers to deliberately going against God’s known will; when we do what we know to be wrong. We see a big, unmistakeable sign saying, ‘No trespassing’, but we cross that boundary line anyway;
• “Sins” are specific items of wrongdoing in thought, word and deed;
• “Sin” is what we might call our general fallenness/our sinfulness – our sinful disposition.

I will return to this thought when we come to verse 11, but our greatest cause for happiness is to know that all our sins are fully forgiven through faith in Jesus’ blood – that ‘Calvary covers it all’. (David knew a fully comprehensive forgiveness, but we have a far richer understanding and experience in the light of the Cross and the full revelation of Scripture).

‘My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,

My sin, not in part but the whole;

Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.’

“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

‘The material which comprises this section represents only some of the statutes which formed part of ancient Israel’s law. In all likelihood many of the laws included here have been selected because they corresponded closely with God’s actions in rescuing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.’ T.D.Alexander: ‘New Bible Commentary’, p.109.

We are entering into territory, in Exodus, which is not always easy to read or understand. But here are some pointers to help us with this particular passage:

• There is much that relates particularly to the people of Israel at that time, and their context and culture;
• Nothing resembling Caribbean-type slavery is envisaged here. The Christians who fought against the slave trade rightly saw it as a great evil, and did not see any Biblical support for it. It is probably something more akin to indentured apprenticeships and service in an extended family that is in mind here. Compulsory, life-long slavery is forbidden;
• The safeguards are put in place because people, made in the image of God, matter. As we saw in looking at the Ten Commandments, loving God and loving people are indissolubly linked. ‘God always safeguards the rights of those who cannot defend themselves, such as servants, women and children…In the corresponding passage in Deuteronomy 15:12-18, the master of the servant being freed is commanded to treat the servant generously and not send him away empty-handed; the master is to remember that the Israelites were once slaves in Egypt, and that therefore he should treat his servant as he would have wanted to be treated himself (Deuteronomy 15:14-15; Matthew 7:12).’ Tom Hale: ‘Applied Old Testament Commentary’, p.246.)

The principle to take away is, I believe, that people matter. We cannot divorce how we treat fellow human-beings from our worship of God. It’s a principle we will see again.

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

“These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

Some may remember a song which, I think, came out of the ‘Dales’ movement:

‘Pierce my ear, O Lord my God,

Take me to your throne this day.

I will serve no other god,

Lord I’m here to stay.

For you have paid the price for me,

With your blood you’ve ransomed me.

I will serve you eternally,

A free man I’ll never be.’

It will readily understood that this imagery is drawn from verses 5,6 of this chapter. Hebrew servants were not to be treated as permanent ‘slaves’. They were to be freed after 6 years (2).

But, a servant, out of sheer love, could make a voluntary commitment to become a “servant for life” (6). We Christians, also, have the honour of being servants of Jesus Christ for life (Ps.84:10: Rom.1:1). We love Him. We know it is the utmost privilege to be His slaves. Our commitment is to always love and serve Him, by His grace

This strange (and even painful- sounding) ear-piercing activity, may have had to do with the ear being the organ of hearing, and therefore of obedience. ‘The pierced ear was on the master’s part a claim to obedience; on the servant’s part it was a commitment to obey.’ Alec Motyer: ‘The Message of Exodus’, p.239.

It seems to me that this is the most obvious devotional thought to share from this passage. But I will try to make one or two further comments tomorrow.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

24 “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

This is the beginning of the Book of the Covenant. It is a long speech given by the Lord to Moses, which the man of God heard alone, and later recorded.It is essentially an exposition of the Ten Commandments, in which the basic laws God has already given, are interpreted and applied to specific life-situations. It continues until the end of chapter 23. God’s people are ever to be a people whose total life is governed and directed by God’s Word: an obedient people in other words.

But…’Here, as always in the Bible, the word of grace (the altar, God meeting his people) preceded the word of law (the ‘judgments’ of 21:1-23:19). Alec Motyer: ‘The Message of Exodus’, p.239. This religion ‘…centres on the altar, the place of the shed blood (20:24; cf.Heb.13:10-13). The place of atonement has to be the focal point, the heart of religious reality.’ (Pages 242,243).

You will note that we are back to the beginning again, with the ban on idolatry (see 20:3-6).

Dressing stones with a tool was probably associated with making a stone idol (25). (Note, too, the call for propriety in worship: 26; see Exodus 28:43,44).

God makes it clear that human-beings are to have “no other gods before” Him (3), or “alongside” Him (23). The temptation for us is probably not that we will bow down to stone statues. I don’t think such an eventuality is likely. But we can define a ‘god’ as anything (even anyone) coming between us and our supreme love and loyalty to the Lord. If there is a contest between the two, who/what wins?

It seems to me that the Carmel battle is fought in our hearts every day – probably several times each day – and much hangs on the outcome.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to spot the potential ‘Baals’ in my situation, and refuse to bow down to them.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: 23 Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

24 “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honoured, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. 26 And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

I often think about these words from a hymn, regularly sung in church when I was a child:

‘There is a way for man to rise, to that sublime abode:

An offering and a sacrifice, a Holy Spirit’s energies,

An advocate with God.’

The previous verse has posed the question:

(‘O how shall I, whose dwelling here

is dark, whose mind is dim,

before the face of God appear

and on my human spirit bear

The uncreated beam?’)

As we saw yesterday, although God is a God to be feared – an awesome God – there is a meeting place between God and people, and this is at the ‘altar’. The altar prefigures the Cross, where ultimately God made it possible for Him to come to us in blessing (24).

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Galatians 6:14).

‘Let us not be among those who avoid the near presence of God, but of those who are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Let us exercise our right to draw near to the throne of grace and stand in the very presence of our Father-God, because we have a great High Priest who is passed through the heavens.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.45.

(Here is a great sermon from Alistair Begg, on keeping the cross central in preaching: https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/jesus-christ-and-him-crucified-basics/)

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

‘He who fears God has nothing else to fear.’ C.H.Spurgeon.

Early on in my ministry, I read a book entitled ‘Worship the Lord’ by Jock Anderson. I seem to remember one chapter being entitled, ‘Awe and intimacy.’ Biblical worship involves both elements. Perhaps, in this New Covenant era, we tend to veer more towards the intimacy. This is a most precious reality made possible by Jesus’ sacrifice for us, and it is to be prized. But we mustn’t let the pendulum swing further than it should in that direction. The God of the Bible is to be ‘feared’, in the sense that we are to revere Him and be in awe of Him. If He were to display His presence and power at the next church service we attend, we might respond a little more like the Israelites did at the foot of Mount Sinai. Of course, the salvation Jesus bought for us makes all the difference in the world, but an awe-filled reverence should combine with a joyful, grateful closeness.

‘The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid – that is the paradox of faith.’ A.W.Tozer

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

Reading this earlier today, I couldn’t help but contrast them with other words in the New Testament:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.(Hebrews 10:19-25).

How wonderful this is, and what a difference Jesus makes!

Come near to God and he will come near to you.(James:4:8a).

God wants us to be close to Him, desires that we have a relationship with Him. He wants us to know Him. We don’t even begin to understand what a privilege this is. This quote from J. Oswald Sanders is worthy of our serious reflection:

“We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be. True, there are times when we would like to know a deeper intimacy, but when it comes to the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved.”

A short, simple Steve Green song packs a punch with its brief message: ‘You want to, now will you?’

What’s stopping you?