Psalm 32

Valentine's Day, or Singleness Awareness Day as one of my friends put it, was a day I felt was unlikely for many people to be at the Bible Study. Family and significant others are important and wanted you all to be able to spend time with them without having to miss some of 2 Timothy.

The group studied Psalm 32 last night and the notes are below. Next week we will get back to 2 Timothy 2 and finish up that chapter. I am thinking we have four more weeks of 2 Timothy and then maybe we will move onto Mark. There is still a lot of good things that 2 Timothy has and I am excited to see what the next few weeks will be like.

Below are the notes and some quotes that are helpful.

Quotes on Repentance
(Saving faith is) not just believing that Jesus lived and died. Faith that saves is the confident, continuous confession of total dependence on, and trust in Jesus Christ to meet the requirements on your behalf to give you entrance into God's Eternal Kingdom. It's the surrender of your life in complete trust to Him to do what you cannot do.
John MacArthur

[Repentance] is not a merely intellectual change of mind or mere grief, still less doing penance, but a radical transformation of the entire person, a fundamental turnaround involving mind and action and including overtones of grief, which result in (spiritual) fruit.
D.A. Carson. Matthew, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984, p. 99.

Repentance is more than simply being sorry for sin. It is agreeing with God that you are sinful, confessing your sins to Him, and making a conscious choice to turn from sin and pursue holiness (Isaiah 55:7).
Grace to You Ministries. All rights reserved. 1991. Used by permission.

Repentance is a change of mind regarding sin and God, an inward turning from sin to God, which is known by its fruit – obedience (Mt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Lk. 13:5-9). It is hating what you once loved and loving what you once hated, exchanging irresistible sin for an irresistible Christ.
Jim Elliff. The Unrepenting Repenter, Christian Communicators Worldwide, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.



Read Psalm 124

Verse 1
“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

1. Why are we blessed to have our sin forgiven?
2. “We are only accounted righteous before God by the free remission of sins, this is the gate of eternal salvation; and, accordingly, that they only are blessed who rely upon God’s mercy.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)
3. Why do we need to have our sin forgiven?
4. “God cannot be reconciled to those who are worthy of eternal destruction in any other way than by freely pardoning them, and bestowing upon them his favor.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)

Verse 2
“Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
1. Verse 2 begins by stating that we are blessed when God does not count our sin against us. If a person has sinned so that they need the LORD to not count their sin against them, what does it mean for there to be no deceit in a person’s spirit?
2. Why does a person need to have a clear picture of themselves and God, and be honest about their condition before God?

• “He who feels not his disease refuses the remedy.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)
  

Verses 3 & 4
“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”
1. Bones is a Hebrew word that signifies a person’s strength. The verse could easily be translated to say: “For when I kept silent, my strength wasted away through my groaning all day long.”
2. What is meant by “kept silent”?
a. Obstinate to God
3. Why does keeping silent about our sin wear away our strength?
4. What does it feel like when you know you did something wrong but haven’t or won’t make things right?
5. Whose hand was heavy upon the Psalmist?
6. If someone were to say that something is occurring “day and night”, how often is it occurring?
7. Without God convicting people of their sin, will they ever turn from their sin on their own?
8. Why must people feel the weight of their sin before they will turn to God?
a. “We never perceive how great a happiness it is to enjoy the favor of God, until we have thoroughly felt from grievous conflicts with inward temptations, how terrible the anger of God is.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalm 32)

Verse 5
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah”
1. If something is not covered, what must it be?
2. Was the Psalmist’s act of confession what pardoned him?

• “It is faith which, by opening our hearts and tongues, really obtains our pardon…[The Psalmist] obtained pardon by his confession, not because he merited it by the mere act of confessing, but because, under the guidance of faith, he humbly implored it from his judge.” (Calvin, Comm. On Psalm 32)
  

Verses 6 & 7
“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah”
1. If there is a time when God may be found, what does this also imply?
a. (There is a time when God may not be found)
b. Why would God not be found?
i. Because our heart is too hard and we are unwilling to cry out to Him.
2. “Rush of great waters” or “mighty waters rise” or “flood” means all “dangers from which there appears no means of escape” (Calvin, Comm. On Psalm 32)
3. There is nothing from which God cannot save a person from. No matter what it is, God can save you from it.
4. What does it mean for God to be our hiding place?
5. How does God protect or preserve us from trouble?

• Does that mean that life will be free from trouble?
  

6. Three underlying ideas in verses 6 & 7:

• There is no place of safety except in Christ
• God will be faithful to preserve or protect us.
• God will be the one to deliver us.

Verse 8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
1. Who will do these all of these things?
2. If someone has their eye upon you or is watching over you, what does this imply?

Verse 9
“Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”
1. What are horses and especially mules known for being?

• Stubborn!!!
  

2. What is this verse asking us not to be?
a. Why is it asking us not to be stubborn?
3. What does the owner of a horse or mule do when the animal is ignoring him?
4. Hebrews 12:5-11

Verse 10
“Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.”
1. Why are the sorrows of the wicked many?
a. The wicked are living out of step with true reality. People reap what they sow. When people sow destructive choices into their lives they will reap destructive results.
2. Why does God’s steadfast love surround those who trust in Him?
3. If we trust in the LORD, what does it imply that we are not doing?

Verse 11
“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
1. In this verse, what does being righteous or upright mean? (Look at the larger context.)
2. When this verse refers to the righteous and upright being glad, rejoicing and shouting for joy, what is the reason for their response to God?
3. Why do people who will humble themselves and trust in the LORD have reason to be the happiest people alive?

Summary
1. What is the overall message of Psalm 32?
2. What are some practical applications we can take from this Psalm?