Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance
How great is forgiveness!
This Psalm is a prayer of David asking for forgiveness from the Lord for his sin. The Lord grants such forgiveness when we repent and confess or sins to Him. He blesses the sinner as He lifts the burden of sin and guilt, the sin and guilt that Jesus bore on the cross for all human beings. David described this burden in terms of a serious physical illness which had sapped all his strength. Those who try to live without repentance wrestle with similar feelings of extreme doubt, uncertainty, and excruciating emotional pain. Relief comes only on confession, when the sinner admits guilt. That relief brings joy.
In forgiveness sin is covered. Our sins are covered by the blood of the innocent lamb sprinkled on the Lord’s mercy seat. The blood covers sin so that God the Father Lord sees only the loving sacrificial offering of Jesus. The blood is the righteousness of Jesus imputed unto us. Because of this all confessed sins are forgotten by God, no longer counted against us. Once forgiven, the Lord will not bring them up, will not judge us for them, nor use them to condemn and shame us. The devil will bring them up often using well-meaning friends, relatives, and others we run into daily. Not so the Lord. He forgives those who have faith and does not condemn. Thus, when faced with the devil’s lie that God is angry at us because of our sin, we can say, as Martin Luther has said:
“Jesus Christ certainly did not inspire the thought that the devil with get you; for he died in order that those who belong to the devil might be free from him. Therefore act like this: Spit at the devil and say, ‘If I have sinned, well, then, I have sinned, and I am sorry about it; but Christ has taken away all the sins of all the world if only people will confess them… and believe in Christ. Therefore this sin of mine is certainly also taken away. Depart from me, devil. I am forgiven.’”