Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 20 & Psalm 32
The word “blessed” means “oh how happy.” Having
confessed his sins and repented of them and having bowed before God with a
contrite heart, David now expresses the wonderful and happy experience of having
been forgiven! There is no greater happiness than to know that God has forgiven
ALL of your sins and that you have been restored to a right relationship with
Him! If you’ve had this experience, oh
how happy you must be!
True blessedness and happiness consists only in remission
of sin and purification of the heart. When people are honest with God and confess their sin
to Him (as David did in Psalm 51), they experience the unspeakable joy of
knowing that their sin is forgiven. When confession is made, forgiveness
follows, the burden of separation from God is removed, and a fresh experience
of God’s joy settles upon the sinner. Oh, what a happy moment it is when I
have that assurance that my transgression has been forgiven, that my sin has
been covered by the blood of Christ.
David here mentions three variations of the types of offenses
that can separate us from God and take away our joy. The word “transgression”
means a deliberate, willful disobedient act. David, in his incident with Bathsheba,
deliberately and willfully disobeyed God’s commands regarding lust, adultery,
deception, and murder. He knew where God had drawn the line, and he
deliberately stepped over that line. “Blessed is the one whose transgression is
forgiven.”
The second word David uses is “sin.” There is a difference between a transgression
and a sin. A sin is not always a willful act. The word sin comes from a root
word used in archery which means, "to miss the mark." God says,
"Here is the mark. I want you to hit it." All right. And I take aim, but
I miss. We all have missed the mark even when it was our intention to hit it. I may not deliberately miss. I may be trying to hit it. I might just be a
poor shot. But that is still an offense to God. “Blessed is the one whose sin
is covered.”
The third word David uses is “iniquity.” This word refers to
the inward depravity of nature that we, as human beings, are infected with.
Every person is born with a sinful nature – a personality flaw that predisposes
us to think, speak, and act in sinful and immoral ways. It is this sinful
nature that has separated us from God and robbed us of our joy. And, if this
predisposition to sin is not dealt with, it will separate us eternally from
Him. The blessed truth here is that God has a way of not counting our iniquity
against us. That way is the cross of Jesus, where He took upon Himself the
sinful nature of humanity allowing God to no longer count our depravity and
immoral nature against us. “Blessed is the one against whom the Lord counts no
iniquity.”
Think of it! Your transgressions are forgiven, your sins are
covered, and your sinful nature is not being counted against you! Oh how happy
you must be!
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