Forgiveness

In Psalm 32 we have a wonderful reminder of the power of forgiveness. Here are the first four verses of psalm 32: 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. One of David’s sins is one of the most well known sins in the history of man, his adultery with Bathsheba. This sin has been read and discussed as much as any other sin in the history of mankind. Initially David attempted to cover up this sin but of course, you can’t cover up sin from God. I believe that verses 3-4 are a description of what was going on inside David as he attempted the cover-up: “When I kept silent my bones grow 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. What an interesting metaphor. We’ve all felt the uneasiness and despair of unconfessed sin. But then David confesses. And God gloriously forgave David. God’s forgiveness did not remove all the consequences of David’s sin; however it restored David’s relationship with God.

I once heard someone say, “The sin that you uncover, God covers…the sin that you cover, God uncovers.” It is much more beneficial for us if we uncover the sin, in confession and repentance, and allow God to cover our sin with His grace. If you have any sin in your life that you are trying to cover, uncover it today. It might be messy. But by God’s grace it will be forgiven. And you can experience the joy of God’s forgiveness.