Sermon – Psalm 32 - Happiness

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – Psalm 32 - Happiness

March 6, 2016

            When God created men and women he did everything he could to make us happy.  He put us in a garden where all of our needs were met.  He gave us animals to name and spouse to love.  God wanted us to be happy, but when sin came into the world, so too did guilt and shame.  And when sin causes us to experience guilt we are no longer happy.  Guilt is the enemy of happiness.  So as long as we experience guilt for what we have done, or what we have left undone, we will never experience happiness.

            The fifth century Bishop Augustine experienced this.  One of his earliest memories of sin was when, as a teenager, he stole some pears.  He felt guilty for doing this.  And this guilt stayed with him for years.  He also did many things he should not have done and experienced guilt for each.  Augustine found you just can’t be happy when you are experiencing guilt for the wrong you have done.  He tried to do many things to deal with this sense of guilt, but nothing worked until he found the answer in Psalm 32.  This psalm showed Augustine that there is only one way to be happy.  And it worked.  Augustine became a bishop and one of the most celebrated Christian writers of all time.  Psalm 32 was so important to his happiness that as Augustine approached the end of his life, he had it engraved on the wall facing his bed so that he could meditate on Psalm 32 continually until he breathed his last breath.

            What is it about Psalm 32 that is so important?  We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

            “Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

            We all experience guilt for the things we have done in our lives.  There are thing we are ashamed of.  There are things we wish we could do over.  And we carry around a sense of guilt with us all the time.  This guilt keeps us from experiencing the happiness God created us to enjoy.  But thankfully there is a way to experience happiness.  Let turn to Psalm 32.

Psalm 32: ¹ Happy is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. ² Happy is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

            Our only source of happiness is to be forgiven.  We receive forgiveness from God for our sin by his grace and his love.  But first, we must honestly confess our sin.  Sadly, this is missing in many churches today.  It used to be that churches talked honestly about the reality of sin and our need to confess.  Conviction of sin and prayers of confession were ordinarily included in most worship services.  In that way Christians could confront the reality of sin their lives and make an honest confession.  But today, many churches today fail to talk about sin.  They think that people will be happier focusing only on the love and grace of God.  Many of these churches do not have prayers of confession in their order of worship.  But without a confrontation of sin and a spoken prayer of confession, Christians will continue to experience guilt.  They find no happiness in these churches.  Unhappy people sit in the pews.  Unhappy people look somewhere other than church for happiness.

            Some think that coming to Ocean City would make them happy.  But there is no happiness in a three hour drive with restless kids in the back seat.  There is no happiness sitting on hot sandy beach watching waves come ashore.  There is no happiness walking up and down the boardwalk, eating crabs, or even getting arrested for DUI on the drive from Seacrets to your hotel.  I suspect that many people look forward to getting back to work after a long and tiring Ocean City vacation.  (This sermon won’t be reprinted by the chamber of commerce). 

            People try to find ways of alieving the guilt they experience.  They try to minimize the importance of sin.  They medicate themselves with alcohol.  They engage in risky sexual practices.  They make as much money can.   But none of these things can eliminate the guilt that prevents our happiness.   Others try to do things to get right with God.  The come to worship, attend Bible studies and pray.  They volunteer at the cold weather shelter or food pantry or breakfast for international students.  They think that this will make them happy.  But it doesn’t.  Nothing we do can make us happy. 

            I am going to do something I rarely do.  I am going to bring politics into the pulpit.   I am not going to endorse a candidate or tell you how to vote.  What I am going to do is comment on a faulty idea of God held by one of the candidates, and which I believe is held by most Americans. 

            “After (Donald Trump) said, “I am a Protestant, a Presbyterian, and I go to church and I love God and I love my church,” a reporter asked him if he has ever asked God for forgiveness. He answered, “I am not sure that I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don’t think so. If I think I do something wrong…, I just try to make it right. I don’t bring God into the picture.” (http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/lent-4c/?type=the_lectionary_psalms)

            Donald Trump is just speaking what most people think.  Sin is not a big deal.  There is no need to confess to God.  Just try to do right and fix whatever you do wrong.  But this doesn’t lead to happiness.  The guilt for doing wrong just keeps growing.  Listen to how David described this.

³ When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. ⁴ For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

            Experiencing guilt for your sins is like having a chronic debilitating disease.  It eats away at you day after day.  And there is nothing you can do about it, except:

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”  And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

            According to scripture the only source of your happiness is in confessing your sin to God and receiving his forgiveness.  Let’s hear how this is to done.

⁶ Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.

            What we are to do, and we do in worship every week, is confess our sin, both corporately aloud and individually in silence.  Then, after we have confessed our sins we hear the wonderful words of forgiveness, an assurance of God’s pardon.  As a result of this act in worship we receive, by God’s love and grace, the gift of happiness.  We respond to this great gift by singing a song of praise, the Gloria Patri.  David responded to his forgiveness by saying this.

⁷ You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

            Each week in worship we have the opportunity to confess all the sin in our lives.  We hear the promise of God that we are forgiven.  Then in the reading and proclamation of the Word of God we receive instruction about how we can now be happy.  Here is how David put it.

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.  ¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.

            And so filled with God’s love and gracious forgiveness our guilt is gone and we can experience happiness.  All we have to do to be happy is to come to church, honestly confess our sin, and hear the promise of pardon and instructions for happy living.  Do this and you will be happier than you could ever imagine.  Let’s pray.

            “Generous God, we gather together to share in our mutual experiences of personal and joint brokenness, failure and disappointment - as we know very well that we are guilty of sin. Even though this is a very unpopular concept these days, each of us are aware of the weight of personal and shared sin that presses down so heavily on us, and the knowledge that this sin separates us from our loving and merciful God.
            We each have a difficult lesson to learn, O God, and we need the encouragement and support of each other to give us the strength to throw away this heavy burden of sin. God of compassion and forgiveness, we ask that you help each of us in this struggle, so that we may once again know the joy of forgiveness, and the blessedness of being in a right relationship with our God.
            God of community and comfort, we give thanks for the love we have received this day, not only from within our community of faith, but especially from you, our God of hope and freedom. The weight of sin has been removed, and the joy and security that is ours cannot be under estimated – and we celebrate with thankful hearts and minds, the sense of shared release and liberty we are experiencing. Thanks be to our God. Amen.” (http://www.thetimelesspsalms.net/w_resources/lent1a_2011.htm)

            Brothers and sisters, our sins are forgiven.  The guilt we have been carrying is washed away.  Your relationship with God has been restored.  David tells us in verse 11:

  ¹¹ Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Let us stand and sing:  All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name #97