Psalms 32
1 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
David could not contain himself when he proclaimed, “blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered”.
Why? Because he experienced it himself.
Right through the Bible we read of the sin problem; sin which mars our relationship with God.
Man is born in sin. You don’t have to teach a child to be cheeky, to lie, to steal etc. it comes naturally.
Romans 3
10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17 And the way of peace have they not known:
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
And in John we read that the one who says he has no sin deceives himself.
Jesus also said to the pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery, that the one who had no sin may cast the first stone. After awhile they had all disappeared, being condemned by their consciences.
Is there anyone who can truly say, I have not sinned.
We all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and will only be saved by His grace alone, because He died for us.
There is nothing good we have done to deserve heaven.
He imparts His righteousness to us as a gift that we receive though faith. Not by working for it. You cannot deserve it.
Romans 4
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying,Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
This blessing was only made possible by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.
There was a man who saw someone in the distance carrying a heavy burden, walking towards him. As the man came closer he saw that it was the Lord Jesus and he asked Him, “Lord are you carrying the sin of the whole world?” He replied, “no I’m carrying yours.”
Do you realise what your sin had cost the Lord Jesus? Have you received that blessedness David speaks of? Are you in right standing with God and does His peace fill your heart?
If you haven’t received it, what are you waiting for? You cannot work for this gift but receive it by faith. You must believe God that what He said in His word is true, and what He promised He will do.
If you truly believe, that faith will lead to action.
The secret on how to receive this gift and the blessing is found in the psalm .
Psalms 3
3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
First when he sinned he kept quiet and even his body became sick. That’s what unconfessed sin does. It saps your strength. You won’t feel zeal to go and work for God for you are spiritually weak as well. But then David acknowledged his sin and no longer kept quiet about it. He cried to God for mercy acknowledging his sin, and God heard him.
We read in 1 John, “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin.”
God’s gracious gift of forgiveness far surpasses your sin.
David knew the Lord. But he sinned grievously. When the prophet Nathan told him the parable of the rich man taking the poor man’s lamb and preparing it for his guests, David got very angry and said that the man who did that must die. When Nathan told him that he was the guilty man, it shook him and he confessed his sin and God forgave him saying that he would not die.
David was a child of God already when he fell into this grievous sin. It shows us how careful we must walk that we sin not.
There is a hymn that says, “foul I to the fountain fly, wash me Savour or I die”.
Once you’ve been washed thoroughly you must also keep your feet clean as Jesus said to Peter that those that are washed only need their feet to be washed.
When you’ve been washed there will be fruit of repentance. There will also be the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5), love, joy, peace, patience, long suffering, kindness etc.
2 Peter 1
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
There should be a holy zeal in your and my life for these godly characteristics. If they are not there we have forgotten that we’ve been cleansed from our past sins. Have you forgotten that you’ve been cleansed or do you know this holy zeal.
It is said that Alexander the great would place a torch outside the city gate he was going to attack and proclaim that whoever comes out to him freely while the torch was burning would be spared but once the torch goes out he would put the city to the sword and no one would escape.
God is still giving you the time of grace. But if you don’t accept it then you will face His wrath.
Today is the day of grace. Will you come to Him or resist Him?