by Lemuel Niere
In my Bible reading this year I read Psalm 32 the other day and gained great insight in
the blessing of forgiveness.
In verses 1 and 2, the psalmist David pronounces a blessing upon the person who has
dealt with his transgression, sin, and iniquity. Transgression means rebellion against
divine authority. Sin here in the original Hebrew means “missing the mark” or standard.
Iniquity means straying from the straight path. And don’t we in many ways do such
things as is displeasing to the Lord—whether inadvertently or purposely?
However, when we have a spirit that is honest about our lapses (v. 2), God who catches
us, exposes us, and forgives us—also frees us from pretense. The person who is
honest about his faults before God is on the path to blessedness!
Donald Williams, a pastor, remembered attending his first Alcoholics Anonymous
meeting with a friend and hearing each member introduce himself or herself, “I’m Carol,
I’m an alcoholic.” He thought to himself, “What would happen in the church if we all
used the same kind of pattern to introduce ourselves, “I’m Don, I’m a sinner”? The
pretense would be gone, and we would be blessed!
Then David reflects upon his condition prior to experiencing the power of forgiveness in
verses 3-5. The silence he speaks of in verse 3 is the silence of the unrepentant. As he
harbours his sin he feels its physical effects in his bones. David felt like an old man. He
groans all day long, suggesting continual emotional pain, perhaps repressed anger. In
verse 4 he talks about having no relief. The heaviness of his body and spirit becomes
more intense because he senses that God’s anger is upon him. Theologian Karl Barth
said that “God’s wrath is His “no” against our sin.
Unrepentant and unforgiveness bring depression, emotional pain, alienation from God,
and physical weakness. Untold millions live in this condition; and they even accept it as
normal or inevitable.
One of God’s gifts to the church today is the ministry of inner healing. A key element in
this spiritual therapy is not only receiving forgiveness from God but also giving
forgiveness to others and ourselves. The denial of sin, the repression of sin, and the
suppression of sin are not answers. The infection continues to eat us.
In verse 5, as David takes his falling short of God’s standard, his straying from the Lord,
and his rebellion and offers them to God—his burden is released. Rather than having to
cover up his iniquity, he allows God to cover it for him. Verse 5 answers the question
“How can I receive the blessing of verse 1?” The twofold response is: (1) confess your
sins to the Lord, and (2) accept His forgiveness. In order for us to bring our sin to God
we must be certain of His love and mercy. We are to see His heart in the Cross! There
Jesus takes our transgression and the judgment of death that we deserve. There upon
the cross is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
A basic truth of the Bible is that the godly know that they are ungodly. Then when they
turn to the Lord, they become godly in union with Him.
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