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Hiding Sin

Wayne Galloway
05/24/20 - Sunday Morning Worship

Hiding Sin

Psa. 32

 

Introduction:

 

1.  Reading of 32:1-2.

2.  When I was a small child we enjoyed playing hide and go seek.  It was an innocently little game.  As we grew older the excitement of being found diminished and new elements had to be added to keep it interesting.

3.  I remember playing with some cousins around a barn and corncrib.  I remember peeking out around a post and having a big ear of corn hit that post right in front of my face.  Needless to say, I learned early on that when you reveal yourself you take your life in your hands.

4.  Each of us has learned that lesson with our sins too.  And so we tend to hide them. 

     a.  Sometimes we hide them from other people.  We know that there are plenty of

          people out there ready to take advantage of our vulnerability.  They will hit us with

          more than an ear of corn.  They will hit us with embarrassment.  They will expose

          us to others and together they will laugh and ridicule us for our stupid blunders.  It

          is better to stay hidden. 

     b.  Sometimes we hide our sins from ourselves.  We come up with justifications and

          sharply reasoned arguments of explanation and so we work to deceive ourselves. 

          All the while we know exactly what we are doing.  I have had folks say, “I just

          try not to think about it.”  Actually what they mean is they try to put it out of their

          mind.  They are numbing themselves to their guilt.  I recall one young lady telling

          me, “I can’t believe that I have actually done some of the things that I have done.”

           Ah, ladies and gentlemen, you and I are capable of horrible atrocities.

      c.  And then we would hide these sins from God.  Ever wonder why some people stop

           coming to assemblies like this?  Some forsake assembling because they convict

           themselves as sinners when they do.  “I’m not living right so what’s the point in

           assembling?”  When Christians are not doing what they know to do, often they

           will quit assembling with other Christians.  They are hiding.

 

Discussion:

 

I.  David wrote, “How blessed is the man in whose spirit there is no deceit!”

 

     A.  David knew well what it was like to have deceit in his spirit.

     B.  His experience with Bathsheba.

           1.  One spring evening David arose from his bed.

           2.  He walked around on the roof of his house (on his patio).

           3.  He saw a woman bathing.  Naked I suppose.  Carl Hurley says he takes his

                shower that way. 

           4.  The woman was very beautiful in appearance.  I doubt that she was innocent

                 in the circumstance.  She may have been attracted to David’s good looks.  But

                 if like most, she was more attracted to his powerfulness.  Besides her husband

                 was more involved with his army buddies than with her.

           5.  David inquired.  Sent messengers.  She came to him.  He laid with her.  She

                became pregnant.  She told David.

      B.  David sought to conceal the matter.

            1.  Had Uriah brought home under the guise of finding out about the war.

            2.  Encouraged Uriah to go to his house.

            3.  He did not.  I don’t know if Bathseba and Uriah had had a falling out or what.

            4.  His explanation was that his fellow soldiers were camped in the open field and

                 he would not go to his house to be with his wife.

            5.  David got him drunk.  Still he did not go to his house.

       C.  Ultimately he created a situation where Uriah was killed in battle.

             1.  Nothing definitely could be traced to David as a murderer.

             2.  There was no blood on his hands, only on his spirit.

       D.  David knew about trying to hide his sin.

             1.  “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away.  Through my

                   groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my

                   vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.”

             2.  When you try to bury sin alive it becomes a ghost that haunts you.

             3.  All the deceptive mechanisms to cover it are ineffective.  It simply will not

                   stay hidden.

 

II.  In all of this David does NOT advise us to hide our sin.  His message is that we should openly acknowledge it, bring it to God and let Him cover it (5-7).

 

     A.  Many, accustomed to the ridicule and embarrassment of men, balk at the idea of

           confessing sin.

            1.  They are no fools.  They have experienced the sting of laughter when they

                 have made themselves vulnerable.  “Never again,” they have sworn.  “Never

                 again will I allow myself to be vulnerable in this way.”

            2.  And so many of us harden ourselves against open confession of sin.

     B.  But here is the fallacy in this way of thinking.  God is not like men.  He is gracious

           and compassionate.  We can trust him with our deepest hurts.

           1.  He does not ridicule. 

           2.  He does not laugh.

           3.  He does not embarrass.  He is not like a parent who takes pleasure in revealing

                childhood sexual secrets.

           4.  Why would he hurt the one he loves?  “Many are the sorrows of the wicked,

                 but he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him” (v. 10).

      C.  God forgives (v. 5b).

            1.  Therefore let us pray (v. 6).

            2.  God is our hiding place (v. 7).  Psa. 46:1-3. Psa. 69:1-2, 13-18.

            3.  He preserves from trouble (v. 7).

            4.  He surrounds with songs of deliverance (v. 7).

            5.  “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord,

                  lovingkindness shall surround him” (v. 10).

             6.  “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!”

        D.  Do you believe it?  Will you trust him?

III.  God speaks in verses 8-9.  He will instruct us and teach us in the way we should go.

 

       A.  He does this out of his good will for us.

       B.  He would take us away from sin and lead us in the path of peace and

             righteousness.

       C.  But this is hard for us.  Much like a horse or a mule we are afraid and untrusting.

             We do not understand.

             1.  We pull away from Him.

             2.  We pull away from His way.

             3.  When in fact we should be coming to Him voluntarily, in confidence,

                  allowing His lovingkindness to surround us.

       D.  We should bring our sin to Him and let Him hide it.  Let Him cover it.

             1.  This is Paul’s message in Romans (see 4:7-8).

             2.  Salvation is a result of our faith in what God has done to hide our sin.

                   a.  He paid the penalty with the blood of His son.

                   b.  We are redeemed.

                   c.  God’s wrath propitiated.

                   d.  God hides sin where it can never be found.  He buries it in the blood of the

                        Lamb.

         E.  “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you

               who are upright in heart” (32:11).

 

Conclusion:

 

1.  Stop deceiving yourself.  Stop deceiving others.  Quit trying to hide your own sin.

2.  Bring it to the Lord.

3.  He is my hiding place.

4.  He who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness surrounds him and he rejoices and shouts for joy.

5.  “How blessed he is who transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”