PsalterMark

The Penitential Psalms: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Seven Psalms has just been published. It is available directly from the publisher, Wipf and Stock, and is a project in which eleven authors contributed chapters—producing a book aimed at reigniting interest in Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. The final four chapters of this book explore different aspects of the ongoing legacy of these psalms. One, written by Stephen Wright, explores how we might faithfully preach these psalms today.

Rev Dr Stephen I. Wright is an Anglican priest in Southwark diocese. He was formerly director of the College of Preachers and a tutor and vice principal of Spurgeon’s College, London. Publications include Preaching with Humanity: A Guide for Today’s Church (with Geoffrey Stevenson, 2008), Alive to the Word: A Practical Theology of Preaching for the Whole Church (2010), and Jesus the Storyteller (2014).

As well as writing Chapter 11: Preaching the Penitential Psalms, Stephen also preached on Psalm 32, at around the same time. Space constraints in the book didn’t permit inclusion of the sermon, but Stephen has kindly agreed for it to be reproduced here. The sermon can of course be read as a standalone reflection on Psalm 32, but my hope is that it will have additional resonance when read in conjunction with Stephen’s chapter. The sermon was preached at Beckenham Baptist Church (Kent, UK) on the 16th June 2024.

Psalm 32

We’ve come here this morning to celebrate. Celebrate what? Not a birthday. Not Father’s Day. Not a victory by Scotland in the Euros (or by England in a match which hasn’t happened yet). It’s not even a special day in the church’s calendar – a festival or anniversary.

We’ve come to celebrate, because every time we gather as Christians we do so conscious of the wonder of being in relationship with the God of the universe. And we’re aware that we can only be in that relationship because he has forgiven us. Our lives go all over the place, missing the right path, failing to follow instructions, getting caught up in unimportant things at the expense of important ones, sometimes deliberately blocking out God’s voice. But amazingly, we have a God who sees all this, and yet still draws us back again and again to enjoy his presence and love and prompt us to follow his guidance.

We celebrate this especially as we share in the Communion service which his Son Jesus Christ left for us as a perpetual reminder of his most graphic demonstration of God’s love in his selfless life and sacrificial death.

But the Psalm that we read this morning, Psalm 32, shows that the wonder of God’s forgiveness was experienced by people many centuries before Jesus. It is a Psalm which celebrates that forgiveness. I would like us to look at it together now and see what it can still teach us about the relationship with God which his forgiveness makes possible.

Perhaps what stands out to me most about this relationship as the Psalm portrays it is that like any relationship, it has two sides. Even as the Psalm celebrates God’s faithful love, which goes on forgiving, it also reminds us that in order to enjoy that love, we need to be open and honest before him about ourselves, our shortcomings and our sins. So God’s forgiveness isn’t a mere impersonal transaction to get us on the right side of him, like a passport to get into another country. It is intensely personal. Think of a time when you have fallen out with a partner, or sibling, or parent, or child, or colleague, or friend. Think of the pain that causes both of you. And then think of the relief of being reconciled again, when you have forgiven each other, when it’s clear that neither of you are going to let what’s happened get in the way of a fresh start in your relationship. That’s a reflection of the joy that we have in knowing that we are forgiven by God and in a right relationship with him again.

So the Psalm doesn’t just celebrate God’s forgiveness, but also reflects on what may prevent us enjoying that. The Psalms are wonderful poetry with lots of patterns and repetitions which help to express their meaning. There’s room for disagreement about just how those patterns work, but I’d like to show you a simple diagram of the shape of this Psalm which I think helps us to make sense of it and see how the different parts link together. Look at how the different sections balance each other.

1. It begins and ends with affirming what a joyful thing it is to be forgiven by God, and encouraging worshippers to be glad and celebrate. Look at verses 1 and 2, and 10 and 11. This is the frame of the Psalm, expressing the great truth at its heart. It reminds us that God himself and his attitude towards us is our reason to celebrate. The ‘righteous’ in v. 11, by the way, doesn’t mean ‘the perfect’—otherwise none of us would be celebrating! It means those in a right relationship with God – those who accept his forgiveness and are open to his guidance. And when the writer encourages us to ‘be glad’ and ‘rejoice’, he doesn’t mean that we have to seek or work up feelings of happiness or ecstasy. He’s pointing us to the reality of God’s constant love which it is right to celebrate, however we feel. Think about being invited to a party celebrating someone’s special birthday or anniversary. You perhaps aren’t feeling great at all. But you go and you join in the celebration, not because you feel like it but because you can see that this person and this occasion is worth celebrating.

2. Then notice what comes at the very centre point of the psalm: v. 5. The psalmist gives testimony of how he knows God’s forgiveness. ‘I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin.’ What comes in the middle of a poem like this is always important. And here we see that in order to enjoy God’s forgiveness, the Psalmist knows that he must be honest about his sin. He mustn’t cover it up and pretend it’s not there. And knowing that he is forgiven renews this wonderful sense that God is with him – he is a safe refuge, like the warm embrace of a loving home (v. 7). So he urges his fellow-worshippers to realise the benefits of such a relationship for themselves – to pray to God so that even in the midst of stress and distress, they will be able to cling on to that sense of ultimate security with him (v. 6).

3. But that leaves the intervening sections, which reinforce the importance of honesty before God. In vv. 3–4, the writer recalls a time when he did try to pretend before God that everything was all right, that he hadn’t done anything wrong – and how painful this was. This mental and spiritual denial had physical consequences. It was as if his body was wasting away and all his energy was sapped. In retrospect he recognises that this was God’s hand on him, allowing him to feel the natural consequences of suppressing the truth. Eventually, he realised the problem and acknowledged his sin. I can’t help but think here of Jesus’ picture of the son who went off with his share of his father’s inheritance and led a wild life, but was eventually driven by his suffering to return, saying ‘I will arise and go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ [1].

And in the section that balances those verses, in vv. 8–9, we have as it were the positive equivalent of that denial. Having discovered God’s forgiveness again, how do we stay open and honest before God? Verse 8 is like a prophetic word, as if the Psalmist is quoting God himself. God promises to guide us with his loving, Fatherly eye upon us. But again, we need to be receptive. It’s no good being stubborn as a mule. We are God’s human children whom he has made to be able to listen to him and understand his way (v. 9).

So the Psalm helps us to celebrate God’s forgiveness, but also to reflect on the attitude we need to have if we are to go on enjoying it. We know from human relationships that mutual openness is really important if there is to be depth and intimacy—how much more when the relationship is with God our maker, Father, and Lord.

I guess we may all recognise the experience the Psalmist describes in vv. 3–4—of a time when we have pretended everything is ok, when it wasn’t, and how exhausting that got. And it’s not just Christians who believe that trying to cover up the reality of who we are and what we’ve done is harmful. Psychology teaches us how damaging it can be to be ‘in denial’—what mental and even physical consequences that has. The psalm gives us a wonderful picture of what it is like to live in openness and honesty before God, to be one ‘in whose spirit there is no deceit’ (v. 2), enjoying the human privilege of being attuned to God. It encourages us to spend time attending to our inner lives, allowing God to show us where we need to change and where we need reassurance that we are on the right path.

On the other hand, it’s also possible to be over-sensitive: to be so afraid of putting a foot wrong that we never take any risks. Finding God’s way, choosing between options which seem equally good—or perhaps equally bad, when there seem to be no good ones—is not straightforward. And even when we look inside of ourselves to confess our sins on a regular basis, it can be puzzling to discern what is really more or less pleasing to God. In Jeremiah’s words, ‘the heart is deceitful . . . and desperately corrupt; who can understand it?’ [2]. Here we come back to the great promise of Ps. 32:8: we’ll never fully understand ourselves; we’ll never be able to see the full picture; but God promises to guide us step by step as we trust him. Embraced in his steadfast love, we can allow ourselves to grow gently in self-awareness, not beating ourselves up for every wrong move, or step that seemed in retrospect foolish.

So we celebrate this morning, but we also open ourselves to God’s searchlight on our hearts and guidance for our steps. And we don’t just do this in a private, individual way, as if all that mattered is your and my personal relationship with God. The communion is a shared celebration of God’s gift to us all of forgiveness, achieved and sealed and assured to us through Christ. It reminds us, as does the Lord’s Prayer, that if we are to enjoy a relationship with God, we need also to be in a right relationship with others, forgiving them any wrongs they have done us and accepting their forgiveness.

And our thoughts go more widely still. As we celebrate the blessing of being in relationship with God, we look out on a world that remains profoundly damaged by sin. The Psalm can act as a kind of template through which to understand this world. What anger, frustration, exhaustion is caused by people’s fundamental denial that they are in rebellion against God. If only leaders and their people would see life through this lens. James puts it bluntly: ‘Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it, so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it, so you engage in disputes and conflicts.’ [3]. In particular, we see every day that the ability to be self-critical is sadly lacking. Politicians avoid honest answers to questions and diagnoses of the real underlying causes of problems. In public life, it is so often not just the injustices but the cover-ups of them which cause such pain and lasting damage – as in the case of the infected blood scandal and the Post Office prosecutions.

So as we come shortly to share in the bread and wine, as we rejoice in the relationship we enjoy with God, we don’t do so in a spirit of smugness, of ‘I’m all right, God’s on my side’ but ‘Here I am Lord, thank you for your constant love, put your searchlight on my heart, and guide me in the way I should go’. And as we come, we can pray, as we will do shortly, for God’s world, that its leaders and people will cease their denial and cover-ups and open themselves to the blessing and happiness and transforming potential of a relationship with him.

Bible References

1. Luke 15:18, 19; 21 (NRSVue).
2. Jeremiah 17:9 (RSV).
3. James 4:1,2 (NRSVue).