GOD’S FORGIVENESS
Psalms 32:1-5 NKJV
1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
David was a man who knew God’s forgiveness. What transpired between David, Bathsheba and her husband Uriah is the stuff of viral social media posts. David knew great sins, and David knew God’s forgiveness. In our verses today, David declares the joy of being forgiven by God, then describes how he was able to arrive at that forgiveness.
The blessed ones are those whose sin, and wrong actions are forgiven. Blessed is the one who the Lord does not impute iniquity. A more literal rendering is blessed is the one who the Lord does not charge his account with sin. I like that. When the Lord forgives, He clears it off our account. And since it was cleared, there is no need to go looking for it again or ask the Lord to forgive us again and again for the same sin.
In verses three and four, David relays how he was dealing with his sin. So now he is backing up to the time before the Lord’s forgiveness. And the sin and guilt were weighing on him. If you are under conviction, it can feel as if a heavy hand is on you. And guilt and shame can absolutely drain us of vitality. The NLT says, “my strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.”
Then David does the right thing and acknowledges his sin to the Lord. And he says he did not hide his iniquity. Another word for iniquity is guilt. So David is not trying to hide his guilt from God. Funny thing, we think we can actually hide our guilt from God if we don’t acknowledge it. But nothing is hidden from His sight. David then makes the decision to confess his sin and guilt to the Lord, and the Lord forgave him. The NLT says, “and you forgave me”! All my guilt is gone.” Now we understand why David led this psalm with “blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven.”
APPLICATION
There are some great lessons about forgiveness in these five verses. It is more blessed to be forgiven than to remain guilty. Guilt and condemnation can weigh heavily on our souls. Guilt can be troubling to our minds and emotions. We cannot hide our guilt from the Lord; He sees it all. When we decide to confess our sins before the Lord is when forgiveness begins.
Years later, the apostle John would write in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”There is no need to repeatedly ask forgiveness. We can, with a heart that is truly sorry, confess our sins to the Lord. Then we take Him at His word that He forgives and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. We don’t have to get saved again. We don’t need to be born again, again. We need to confess and receive the forgiveness God has promised and made available to us through the Lord Jesus.
PRAYER
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the forgiveness You offer. I confess my sins and receive Your forgiveness and cleansing. I am free from guilt.