INTRODUCTION

Sin in a Secular World

PENITENTIAL PSALMS

Psalm 32

Understanding Sin

Our Response to Sin

God’s Response to Us

Jesus and the Penitential Psalms

KNOW

What is your understanding of sin? Why is sin an offense to God? Why is it gracious that God calls us out of sin?

Read 1 Peter 3:18, 2 Corinthians 5:21, and Romans 5:6-9, How does God forgive our sin and cover our guilt? Be specific. Describe, as best you can, the dynamics of Christ’s substitutionary death. What happened on the cross? What happens when we repent?

FEEL

Read Psalm 32 and note the overall movement of the Psalm. Why does David end this psalm with a call to worship (v. 11)? What might it mean to say that forgiveness is not an end unto itself?

Read 1 John 1:7-10. What encourages you most in this passage? Why?

LIVE

Is there anything you need to repent of? Is there any sense in which God’s hand is heavy upon you? If so, pray to God and confess your sin. Do so with someone you love and trust. Let them speak God’s forgiveness over you and counsel you in how best to address this area of sin in your life. Then pray that God will allow you to experience the blessedness of forgiveness.

How might you create a regular rhythm of confessing sin to and with another person? Who could you ask to partner with you?