Blessed by Forgiveness
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered”, Ps 32:1. David knew his sin was forgiven and covered. Therefore, he was blessed by foregiveness. Practically speaking, how did he get there?
He acknowledged his sin to God, Ps 32:5. Sin is deceitful. People in bondage to sin generally fail to acknowledge that the thing they are doing is sin. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”, Jn 8:32. You have to be truthful with God about your sin. The truth is, “Whosoever committed sin is the servant of sin”, Jn 8:34. And you have to be honest with God about your sin so that Jesus can free you from the bondage of it. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”, Jn 8:36.
He didn’t hide his sin, Ps 32:5. People who commit sin often hide their sin from others and, in their minds, from God. A young friend had trouble with alcohol. For nearly a year he was drinking and no one knew it, not even his closest friends and family. He covered up his sin as in Prov 28:13, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper”.
It’s typical of people to hide their sin. This is what David wrote in Ps 32:2. He said, “Blessed is the man… in whose spirit there is no guile”. Guile is duplicity. Duplicity is contradictory doubleness of thought, speech, or action. The belying of one’s true intentions by deceptive words or action. This person is very careful to maintain the “appearance” of righteousness, while truly living a life of sin. His sin is not “covered”, Ps 32:1, by the Lord; it’s hidden and “covered” by the sinner, himself.
He confessed his transgressions to the Lord, Ps 32:5. Notice how miserable David was before he confessed his sin. He said, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long,” Ps 32:3-4.
He called his sin what God calls it and confessed it to the Lord. This is exactly what we are instructed to do in 1 Jn 1:9. When we confess our sins, “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins” because Christ is our propitiation, 1 Jn 2:2. As David wrote, “thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin”, Ps 32:5. He was blessed by forgiveness.
But he is also faithful and just “to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. This is what we need, our sins “covered” and cleansed by the blood of Christ. As David wrote, “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity”, Ps 32:2. We have a clean slate!!
He forsook his sin and followed the Lord, instead, Ps 32:8. He didn’t stop with his confession. He changed direction. He started following the Lord. The Lord said, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye”, Ps 32:8. David became “godly”, Ps 32:6.
See the second half of Prov 28:13, “But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy”. You have to leave sin alone and start going in the way that the Lord instructs you, teaches you, and guides you. This way you leave sin in the past and start walking in godliness. You have to trust the Lord in this, Ps 32:10.
He rejoiced and shouted for joy, Ps 32:11. “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart”. The trouble with some Christians is that they live continually with regret and shame for their past. Get over this. The Lord has forgiven you, your sin is covered, and he does not impute iniquity to you. Leave the past in the past.
When you are righteous and upright in heart, be glad, rejoice, and shout for joy. If you are still wallowing in the sins of your past, you have either not left them in the past or you have not begun to rejoice in the fact that you are free and cleansed. When Jesus forgives you and cleanses you, you are not what you were. You are a new creature in Christ.
Bob Jones, Sr. “You may not be all you could have been, but, from now on, you can be all you ought to be.”
Bob Jones, Sr. – “There’s no stain on any page of any tomorrow. Turn a new page, and start on a clean sheet, and write a clean record by the grace of God from now on. Be everything you can be from now on by the grace of God”.
Conclusion: if you have never been forgiven, get saved. If you’re saved and hanging on to a sin you’re covering, repent and forsake it now. If you’re forgiven and hanging on to the past, let it go and start rejoicing. You are blessed by forgiveness.