Your Inner Mule

Psalm 32 is another Psalm in which King David portrays the power of confessing ones sin to God.

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude
6 Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude
8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
I will advise you and watch over you.
9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”
10 Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
11 So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!

The story is told that Noel Coward, the well-known playwright, as a prank, once sent an identical anonymous letter to 10 notable men in London. The note said, “We know what you have done. If you don’t want to be exposed, leave town.” Within 6 months, all 10 men that received the letter, moved!

Guilt is a powerful emotion that if we left it unchecked and unconfessed, it can cause you and I to do irrational things.

Unconfessed good guilt (those things the scriptures point out that we need to be feeling guilty about) is a powerful tool in the hand of our Enemy. He can destroy your relationship with God with it. He can deceive into believing that you can’t be forgiven. His ultimate plan is to convince you that you no longer belong to God.

Unconfessed sin leads to being spiritually tired and/or burned out on religion. Unconfessed sin causes us to spend a lot of time and energy on running away from God, hiding from God, and blaming others for what we need to deal with.

This is why many people leave the faith and church. They can’t admit what they did was wrong. They can’t admit where they are at fault. They can’t admit that they too fall short of the glory of God.

A couple I was counseling a number of years ago proves this to be true.  This couple had been living together for a few years. Being a good counselor I asked, “why are you living together and why do you want to get married now?” The husbands response was, “I wanted to save up enough money to give her the wedding that she deserves.” I told him that was very noble, but then I said something that he didn’t like. I said, “So you are just getting what you want from her and have refused to step up to the plate and make a commitment until now?” By the way his future bride was smiling. 🙂

When I said that, he made a fist and cocked his arm …. I said, “hold on ….. hold on…..  let me finish before you deck me ….. I am glad you are willing to make that commitment now.”

That’s what usually happens when pastor tells someone the truth that they are living in sin ….. he didn’t want to admit that he was wrong but by the smile on the brides face ….. I knew I was right. I am hoping this couple found a church somewhere.

King David, initially, didn’t want to confess either. David started out as a shepherd boy who was favored by God and he became one of the most well – known and successful Kings of Israel. David was a good man. In fact I Samuel 13:14 describes him as a “man after God’s own heart”.

If you don’t know by now, BEING good isn’t good enough. He was far from perfect and he knew guilt. David committed adultery with Bathsheeba. He brought her husband back from the war and tried to get her husband to have an evening of romance with his wife. He refused. David sent him back to war and told his commanders to send him to the front line and back off and let him be killed.

David kept this a secret sin for a year! He covered it up for a whole year! Finally, his good friend, Nathan, risked his life and told him that God knows what he has done. If you read the story of when David was confronted, he cocked his fist and wanted to hit Nathan. Not literally …. but I think you get the point.

For a whole year he covered it up!

In vs. 3-4 you read about the power of unconfessed guilt:

3 When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.

Unconfessed sin

• Zaps you of strength
• Effects you physically
• It is constantly in the back of your mind – not allowing to sleep or function well.
• The Holy Spirit reminds you of it all day long of what you have done wrong.
• There’s a heaviness in your heart.
• It just messes you up.

Guilt  is a tool that can be used to motivate you to walk closer to God. It’s designed to let you know something wrong is going on inside.

The problem for many people is they acknowledge their sin. They ask for forgiveness and yet there remains a lingering guilt that continues to oppress them.

The goal of confession we learn in the first couple of verses is JOY!

1 Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,b
whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

The bottom line is this

• Unconfessed sin leads to misery
• Confessed sin leads to JOY.

Joy is not a feeling or an emotion. Happiness is a feeling and emotion. Joy causes you to think differently. Joy causes you to act differently. Joy causes you to react differently. Joy is something you can’t create – it is only something only God can create in you. 

Confessed sin allows joy to be created in you. It’s like a burden that has been lifted off your shoulders.  It’s like a weight that has been removed from around your heart.

Q: But what if you are not experiencing joy even though you have acknowledged your sin and have asked for forgiveness?

A: Something is still wrong.

God never intended us to live in continual guilt. He came to give us abundant life. He came to set us free. He came to give us hope and a future. He never wants us to live in continual guilt. He wants to create joy inside of us.  The joy that causes us to think differently about our life. The joy that causes us to act differently in life. The joy that causes us to react differently in whatever life throws at us. If we are living in continual guilt and not living in the freedom and joy we have for being Christ followers then we still have a spiritual problem.

The problem is we don’t believe the promises that David gives us in the rest of the Psalm 32.

Promise #1 – God promises He will wash off your guilt.

Look at vs 5

5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

David is telling us that this is true …. this is what he experienced. David wrote, “I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’”

This is important to note ….. I haven’t found anywhere where he confesses his sin against Bathsheeba and/or Uriah. He completely destroyed both of their lives but he doesn’t mention either one in Psalm 32 or Psalm 51. His sin was much deeper. He rebelled against God. This is what sin is ….. a forceful slap in God’s face.

We want forgiveness for the act – but God is saying …. “Hold on here…… No … you must confess of your rebellion against Me!” This is one of those reasons why many live in continual guilt. They have admitted their sin. They have asked forgiveness but nothing seems to have happened. We are admitting the wrong the sin – our sin is that we have rebelled against God. Because of David’s rebellion against God – he committed the sinful act.

Once David admitted his rebellion against God – God forgave him and all the sin was gone.  Joy could once again rule his life.

Promise #2 – God promises He will give you protection

Look at verse 7

7 For you are my hiding place;
you protect me from trouble.
You surround me with songs of victory.

God wants what best for you. If we will accept his promises, He promises to protect us.

I John 1:9 reminds us,

“9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

He did it for Jonah, Abraham, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Moses, Rahab, prostitutes, tax collectors, and He will do it for you. God wants to prosper you and give you a hope and a future. He doesn’t want you living in continual guilt. To stop living in continual guilt we need to accept His promise that he will protect us, surround us with songs of victory, and we can find rest in him.

Promise #3 – God promises He will give you guidance.

Look at vs 8

8 The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

We have learned that God will protect you …. but will you let Him guide and deliver you?

When it comes to God’s guidance and direction we tend to react like this (a ten second video) when it comes to following His direction. David warns us not to be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit or bridle to keep us under control.

Will you let Him guide and deliver you?

We can admit our sin and ask for the forgiveness all we want (those are good things) —- but God wants to deliver you. Confession is more than just an admission of guilt and asking for the forgiveness for our sins. He wants to change the way you think. He wants to change the way you act. He wants to change the way you react. He wants to create joy!

For any of this to happen we must surrender our stubbornness and our rebellion. Only then can God begin to change the way you think , change the way you act, and change the way you react.

Who wants to be guilt free?

Take a moment a moment and find a 3×5 card or something similar. On side of the card write:

“I want to be guilt free”

On the other side of the card write one of these verses out (or a verse that motivates you to do something)

Psalm 32:5 or I John 1:9

When you are tempted, pull this card out of your pocket or purse to remind you you want to be guilt free.

But, if you do fall short (and some days we do) remind yourself I can still be guilt free by reading the verse you wrote on the other side.