Blessed Are the Forgiven

After his sin with Bathsheba and the death of Uriah, David went months without confessing. Looking back, he describes what that season was really like: wasting bones, groaning day and night, and strength dried up under the heavy hand of God. Sin promised pleasure and freedom but delivered only emptiness, and God, out of love, would not let David rest in it.

Yet the psalm is ultimately good news. The moment David resolved to confess, God forgave him, swiftly and fully, covering his sin and refusing to count it against him. Drawing on Augustine, Calvin, the Heidelberg Catechism, and Jesus' invitation to the weary in Matthew 11, Pastor Gordon urges listeners not to be stubborn like a horse or mule, but to come to the Lord today, confess, and find the hiding place, steadfast love, and joy that surround all who trust in Him.

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction
00:40 - Psalm 32 and Catechism Reading
03:23 - Solomon and God's Discipline
06:14 - The Gospel or the Rod
08:20 - Augustine's Favorite Psalm
09:15 - Two Paths: Blessed or Wicked
10:54 - David's Own Story
13:29 - Bathsheba and the Deceitful Heart
17:03 - When I Kept Silent
20:48 - Sin's Toll on Body and Soul
23:32 - Nathan and the Heavy Hand
26:54 - Confession and Swift Forgiveness
31:17 - The Blessedness of Justification
33:49 - Don't Repeat My Mistakes
36:49 - An Invitation to Confess

Mentions:

King David
King Solomon
Bathsheba
Uriah the Hittite
Nathan the prophet
Adam
The Prodigal Son (Luke 15)
St. Augustine of Hippo
Monica, mother of Augustine
John Calvin
Sinclair Ferguson
Heidelberg Catechism, Questions and Answers 87–90
Trinity Psalter Hymnal
Psalm 1
Psalm 51
2 Samuel 7
Ecclesiastes
Proverbs
Jeremiah 17:9
Matthew 11:28–30
Mark 2 (healing of the paralytic)
Romans 4
Hebrews 3:13
Hebrews 12
1 John 1:9 and 2:1