The Blessings of Forgiveness
I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.
(Psalm 40:1–2)
When I mention the name of David, unfortunately many people think first of his failure—and it is a glaring one. At the height of his career, he stumbled into lust. The lust turned into open adultery, the adultery led to murder, the murder led to deception—in fact, almost a year of lying to his people.
Don’t you know the word spread in his kingdom? Can’t you imagine how they whispered about him in the alleys and in the homes around the palace? It was obvious he had married Bathsheba. And it was obvious as they counted back over the months that she had had the baby in less than nine months, in those days a slanderous thing. All of that was clear to the people. During those awful months, he slumped into an enormous depression.
When he came out on the other side, after he repented, he wrote Psalm 32. He has compromised his walk with the Lord, he has given in to lust, murder, deception. We can hardly imagine his misery.
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long. (Psalm 32:4 NASB)
Ever had that happen? Ever been so stubborn in your iniquity that you refused to confess it, resulting in your beginning to suffer physically for it? How many illnesses really can be traced to sin!
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. (Psalm 32:4–5 NASB 1995)
Now look back at verses 1 and 2. You’ll read the response of a forgiven man.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit! (NASB 1995)
“How blessed I am, how forgiven, how clean!”
You know what’s happened? He’s claimed God’s cleansing. He’s experienced God’s forgiveness. And as a result, his love is expressed in gratitude. “I see my wrong, and I lay it before You.” Don’t dare overlook the fact that God took away the guilt as well as the sin.
