Total Forgiveness | Bible in One Year

Total Forgiveness | Bible in One Wisdom

Psalm 32:1-11

Of David. A maskil.

1 Blessed is the one
||whose transgressions are forgiven,
||whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
||whose sin the Lord does not count against them
||and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent,
||my bones wasted away
||through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
||your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
||as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
||and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
||my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
||the guilt of my sin.

6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
||while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
||will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
||you will protect me from trouble
||and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
||I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
||which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
||or they will not come to you.
10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
||but the Lord’s unfailing love
||surrounds the one who trusts in him.

11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
||sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Commentary

Experience the relief of forgiveness

Do you ever find it difficult to forgive other people or even to forgive yourself for something you have done? The key to forgiving others and yourself is knowing how much God has forgiven you. Forgiven people forgive.

As C.S. Lewis pointed out, ‘To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.’ As far as forgiving yourself is concerned, he wrote, ‘If God forgives us we must forgive ourselves. Otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than him.’

Through Jesus, God has made total forgiveness available to you and me. In this psalm, we see the huge difference that God’s forgiveness makes.

1. Release from the hand of judgment

David describes the spiritual agony of not being forgiven: ‘My bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer’ (vv.3–4).

2. Transparency with God

The route to forgiveness is simply to come to the Lord with no mask or pretence: ‘Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin’ (v.5).

3. A fresh start

David describes the enormous blessing of knowing you are forgiven: ‘Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit’ (vv.1–2).

Imagine that in our diaries were recorded not just our engagements and meetings but also all our sins. The first two verses of this psalm give us three pictures of what God does with your sins. First, ‘the Lord does not count’ your sins against you (v.2). He acts as though they do not exist.

Second, they are ‘covered’ (v.1). It is as if God gets out his heavenly eraser and rubs out the sinful entries in your records: ‘Your slate’s wiped clean’ (v.1, MSG). Third, they are ‘forgiven’ (v.1a). Literally that word means ‘removed’ or ‘taken away’. The pages relating to your sins are ripped out and destroyed. ‘You get a fresh start’ (v.1, MSG).

The apostle Paul quotes this psalm as evidence that through the death of Jesus for you, God credits you with righteousness by faith and that forgiveness is not something that you can earn by good works (see Romans 4:6-8). Through the cross, God restores you to a right relationship with him. Therefore, you can pray to him (Psalm 32:6a). He becomes your ‘hiding-place’ (v.7a). He protects you from trouble (v.7b). He guides you (v.8) and his ‘unfailing love surrounds’ you (v.10).

This is not earned by good works. It comes to the person who trusts in him by faith (v.10). A proper understanding of the Old Testament shows that the path to forgiveness is repentance and faith.

Forgiveness is not a reason to sin – it is an incentive not to sin. We want to stay on God’s paths. He promises that he will guide you: ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you’ (v.8).

He does not want you to be difficult to guide like a horse or a mule that must be controlled by bit and bridle (v.9). He wants you to avoid the pain of resisting the Holy Spirit. Follow the promptings of God’s Spirit. He wants you to hear his voice daily, listen to his instruction, walk in his ways and trust in his love.

Prayer

Lord, thank you that you died for me on the cross so that I can know the relief of forgiveness. I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life… Please forgive me.