The blessings of forgiveness

There are many blessings of forgiveness. David uses a plural to start off the psalm, much like he did in the previous one:

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. (Psalm 32:1-2)

The word "blessings" has been translated several ways in this verse, depending on which translation you are reading. Some say blessings; some say joys; others say happinesses. 

Let's look at some of the blessings of God's forgiveness!

Now, I can't read Hebrew, but the scholars who can have noted that in these two verses, David uses four different words for sin! And he also uses three different words for forgiveness! That has to be important . . . . let's focus on them today.

Remember when we were kiddos? (I know, I know, for some of us, that is ancient history, but let's exercise our gray matter, ok?) When we were little, and we had done something we shouldn't have, it was difficult to look mom or dad in the eye, wasn't it? Our hearts had a burden that kinda slowed us down and took some of the joy out of our day. We used to call that "having a guilty conscience." And of course, no one talks about that any more! Too old-fashioned; too corny. Totally obsolete in this day and age.

But I digress.

David is going to tell us in his words what it means to have a clean conscience before God. He uses these four words for "sin" in his psalm: transgression, sin, iniquity (in some translations), and deceit.

Transgression can also be translated "rebellion" when in the Hebrew texts; it's a refusal to submit to rightful authority.  God has set up certain limits for our behavior -- it's for our own good and also for the good of the community! When we go against those limits, we transgress; we're refusing to be subject to God's authority in our lives. It's not only the laws of God's Word, but even something as simple as the authority of an older sibling when we are very young, or the authority of a general over a soldier. Our parents are the first authority figures that we learn about when we are kids, and it goes without saying that as we grow as believers, we become more and more interested in obeying the authority of His Word, and less interested in rebelling!

Sin is the next word; I've heard many pastors who simplified this into "missing the mark." I think it can be clarified a little . . . transgression looks at the violation of a law or an authority, but sin looks at a coming short of that aim, that ideal that God intends for us to reach. Like the arrow that misses the bright red bulls-eye on the target, or the ladder that doesn't quite reach the window; sin is failing to achieve God's ideal for us.

The NIV has "iniquity" in verse two . . . . Iniquity is an interesting word in the Hebrew; the scholars tell us that it carries with it the meaning of "bent" or "twisted." So it has the nuance of perverting what is right -- or of erring from the way. My grandma would say, getting off the "straight and narrow." So, any time that we have done something crooked, we have committed iniquity.

Lastly, David uses the word "deceit." This one has the meaning of deliberate cover-up. When we tell a lie. When we shade the truth. When we are hypocritical. It carries the nuance of presenting a false front or image so that we look good. Making ourselves look righteous even when we know we aren't.

So, those are the words he used for sin: we are all condemned and guilty before God. Now, let's look at the words David used for forgiveness. These are the ones that shine a spotlight on what it means to have a clean conscience.

First, forgiven. This means to bear, to carry off, or take away a heavy burden. See, our sins are burdens which God offers to bear - to take away. You've probably heard many times about the old term "scapegoat." A scapegoat takes the blame and everyone else walks away free. And the term comes from the old Hebrew sacrificial system: the high priest would select a goat and lay his hands on the animal's head. The priest would confess the sins of the people and ceremonially put their sins on the goat. Then the animal was sent out into the wilderness as a picture for all to see how God carried their sins away. We know now that the sacrificial system pointed toward our Savior, Jesus Christ. He bore our sins once for all. When we trust in what Jesus did on the cross, our sins are gone!

David also uses the word "covered." Out of sight. Nowhere to be seen. God puts our sins out of His sight - and that means He will not bring up our sins between Him and us. If we are in Christ, our sins are covered by His blood.

Lastly, "not counted" (the NASB uses the word impute). In modern terms, this means not charged to our account. It's the same word used in Genesis here:

Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6, NIV)

Then he believed in the Lord; and He credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6, NASB)

The NASB translation had me thinking  . . . . credit . . . what if I had interviewed for an exceptional job and was thrilled to find out I'd been hired? Maybe then I went out and ran up a huge credit account bill at a department store, buying clothing and accessories that I would need for the job, and purchased a vehicle so that I could do the job effectively.

Then, I found out that they'd changed their mind and I would not be hired . . . without the salary, I would have no hope of paying for the car or the clothes. Wow. With no way to pay that debt, I'm sunk. 

But then, the store calls and says that there was a slight error on the account number -- car dealer says the same. The debts were charged to another person's account, and when he heard the story, he offered to pay everything on my behalf.

That, dear reader, is what God did for us in our Savior, Christ Jesus. We owed a debt that we could not pay because of our sin, but Christ paid it on the cross. When we accept and trust in what He did, God credits our account -- it says "PAID IN FULL" and it's all because of the righteousness of Jesus!

David instructs us in this psalm and teaches us that we can be forgiven; we can have the blessing of a clean conscience. We can have our sin debt paid in full.

Thank you, Lord!