Sunday, September 6 · Harris Creek Baptist Church
Breaking Free from Sin
Nate walks through the next three steps of recovery from sin using Psalm 32, showing how David moved from hidden sin to freedom by taking inventory, confessing, and repenting.
The passages
Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Psalms 32:1–5
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you. Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you. Many sorrows come to the wicked, but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh. Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalms 32:8–11
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:7
Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
James 5:16
Go deeper
Why does hiding my sin make me feel worse than the sin itself?
David describes what it felt like to keep silent about what he had done. His body wore down, his strength drained, and he groaned all day. The weight of unconfessed sin is not just spiritual, it is physical. He knew what it was to carry something that was eating him alive from the inside.
When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah.
Psalms 32:3–4
Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Psalms 32:1–2
He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13
What actually happens when I bring my sin to God instead of hiding it?
David says he acknowledged his sin and did not cover it, and God forgave him. There is no anger, no rejection, no awkwardness. The same God who saw everything he did met him with forgiveness the moment he spoke it out loud.
I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him. You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psalms 32:5–7
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:7–9
As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Psalms 103:12
Do I really have to tell another person, or is telling God enough?
James says to confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Healing is on the other side of confession to a person, not just to God in private. It sounds humiliating until you realize what is waiting on the other side of it.
Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
James 5:16
Brothers, even if a man is caught in some fault, you who are spiritual must restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself so that you also aren’t tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:1–2
Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.
Proverbs 27:17
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9–10
What does it mean to actually repent and not just feel bad about my sin?
David says God will instruct and teach and counsel with his eye upon him, and warns against being like a horse that has to be yanked along with a bit. Repentance is not just saying I was wrong, it is turning and walking the other direction. The horse knows the direction and refuses to go. Repentance is choosing to stay near Jesus no matter where he leads.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you. Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
Psalms 32:8–9
Many sorrows come to the wicked, but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh. Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalms 32:10–11
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,…
Acts 3:19
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:10