Christian Science Bible Lessons

Lesson No. 4. October 27. (Fourth Quarter.)

Sin, Forgiveness, and Peace. Ps. xxxii. 1-71.

Scripture Text: Chapter XXXII.

1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Golden Text: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. v. 1. Outline: Blessedness which follows cessation of sin. Wickedness and righteousness contrasted. Prominent Thought: The joy which follows rectitude. Digest: David’s sin. 2 Sam. xi. 1-27. Confession and forgiveness. 2 Sam. xii. 1-3. Prayer for forgiveness. Psa. li. 1-19. Forgiveness. 1 John i. 1-10. Time: About B. C. 1035. Place: Jerusalem, David’s palace on Mount Zion. David now about 50 years of age. Twentieth year of his reign.

Introduction.

This Psalm xxxii. is a portrayal of David’s inner life. It is a rehearsal of his own experiences. It should be read in connection with the 51st Psalm. David committed an atrocious crime, details of which can be found in 2 Sam. xi. This Psalm xxxii. gives us a deep insight into David’s bitter sorrow, his sincere repentance, and earnest prayer for forgiveness. “Sorrow for a wrong act is one step in the right direction.” David was not forgiven for his terrible sin against Uriah the Hittite and his wife Bathsheba, until he had suffered mental agonies for his sin. “Whatsoever a man sows that also shall he reap.” The only forgiveness of sin is the cessation of sin, then there is nothing left to forgive. We pay the utmost farthing for each transgression. Deflections from the moral law are no more forgiven than are deflections from the principles of Mathematics. The Psalms of David embody Christian experiences and are extremely edifying. Parleying with temptation makes us willing captives of sin. “If thy eye offend thee pluck it out,” is the Gospel’s injunction.

Expository Notes. — Vs. 1 and 2: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.” (Rom. iv. 6, 8.) Blotted out (covered), forgotten. “Let the dead bury the dead.” Forgetting the things that are behind us, push forward for the goal. Never dwell on the past. “Look up; he is not here; he is risen.” Open denunciation of sin and realization of guilt give a forward impetus. Because Christian Science affirms “there is no reality,” this relieves us from none of our works in sin: whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Sin is a reality to those who are in bondage to it, and the transgressor will be punished. God says, “I am all, and there is none beside me.” Forgetfulness of this declaration plunges us in the opposite of this thought and we are punished until we retrace our footsteps. Of the knowledge of good and evil God decrees, “the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (to the true sense of Being). Submitting to the testimony of matter brings fruit “after its kind,” and the kind is suffering. “To the pure all things are pure” and God “imparteth not iniquity” to the pure in heart. God blots out our sins; that is, a consciousness of the Divine presence destroys them. The prodigal saw no more of the “husks” and “swine” and the “citizen of the far place” when he was reinstalled in his father’s house. “When we die our thoughts perish.” When we die to the material sense of things, our thought of material sense is obliterated. V. 3: “When I kept silence my bones waxed old,” etc. “Nothing hidden but what shall be revealed.” “He who covereth iniquity shall not prosper.” David’s frame work (bones) of Truth was lost to him during his retrogression. The support of Truth was taken away from him. “Rearing” uneasiness of mind. Mental chemicalization smiting of the conscience. V. 4: “For day and night thy hand,” etc. “Whom He loveth He chasteneth.” Deflection from God punishes us. Whatever makes us retrace our steps is good for us; hence the misunderstood quotation, “Whom He loveth He chasteneth.” “My moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” Dry, sterile, no freshness of thought. Truth faded from sight. A famine of thought. “Selah” a word denoting reflection! Reflect upon what has been said. V. 5: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee,” etc. Recognition of our sins, puts us in a position to master them. V. 6: “For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee,” etc. “Seek and ye shall find.” “Where one man finds a golden nugget, others feel inclined to dig.” Turning to God always brings peace and forgiveness because our sins are forsaken! “The flood of great waters shall not come nigh unto him.” Turning to God lifts us above the tidal wave of error. Getting into the ark of safety, the “secret place of the most high,” enables us to ride over the floods of sense. Every error must be excluded from thought, thus “pitching the ark within and without.” “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God and He will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah lv. 7.) V. 7: “Thou art my hiding place,” etc. “He who dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High (consciousness of the supremacy of Mind) shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” (Ps. xci. 1.) Trust in God is absolute protection from the “pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the arrow that flieth by day.” Harmony (“songs of deliverance”) follows the penitent sinner. God, Truth, is the sinner’s refuge. His present help in time of affliction. V. 8: “I will instruct thee,” etc. Reflecting David’s consciousness will instruct us. True penitence directs us heavenward, and reveals “the way which thou shalt go.” “I will guide thee with mine eye.” “If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light.” (Matt. vi. 22.) (Luke xi. 34.) “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ear is open to their cry.” V. 9: “Be not as the horse or as the mule,” etc. Man must exercise understanding. Evil ways will never be abandoned through compulsion. Penance is not Christian Science. Mankind must rise spiritually above the claims of the senses — not abandon them through will power! Man must be rational, not irrational as are the beasts, are guided by force only. We cannot control with “bit and bridle”; “our weapons are not carnal but mighty to the pulling down of strongholds.” If we are not willing to be “led by the Spirit,” the “bit and bridle” of severe discipline will be used, for “every knee must bow.” If sin did not bring its punishment, we should be without hope in the world, nothing would turn us back to God. “Pain is more salutary than pleasure.” — (S. and H.) Whatever directs our footsteps Godward is a blessing. V. 10: “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked,” etc. Wickedness and righteousness contrasted; both have their reward; righteousness promotes joy; evil engenders misery. Man can never escape the woes of slavery as long as he remains a slave. “Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.” “The wages of sin are death.” Error meets its own reward and the “seed brings forth fruit after its kind.” “He that trusteth in the Lord,” etc. “Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him,” etc. (Ps. xci. 14.) “Mercy” and goodness will follow the righteous all the days of his life and he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. V. 11: “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,” etc. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” — the reward for righteousness. Harmony is the ultimation of true living. — “The pure in heart see God.”

Lesson Points. — “Cessation of sin is the only forgiveness of sin there is. We pay the utmost farthing for every transgression. Forgiveness of sin without punishment would be license to commit sin.”* “The way of the transgressor is hard.” Nothing but “drought” follows in the path of the ungodly. Turning to God blots out the past. Maintenance of position in Truth is protection against error’s invasions. Pure living and not penance is the sickle which cuts down every plant which the Father has not planted Stubbornness, intractability, will be mastered with severe discipline. The way of the slothful man is an hedge of thorns; but the way of the righteous is made plain. (Prov. xv. 19.) Eternal harmony is the kingdom of heaven, the abode of the faithful.