How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord does not take into account

Psalm 32 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
² How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

³ When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
⁴ For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my guilt;
I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
⁶ Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Certainly in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
⁷ You are my hiding place; You keep me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

⁸ I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you with My eye upon you.
⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
¹⁰ The sorrows of the wicked are many,
But the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
¹¹ Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

David, a man after God’s own heart says: How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord does not take into account, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my guilt; I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. It is the guilt of our sin that weighs heavy on us. 1 John 1:5-10 says: This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. The most dangerous deceit of all is self-deceit, believing that we can deny or hide our sins. When we acknowledge, confess and repent of our sins, God forgives both our sin and the guilt of our sin. The blood of Jesus cleanses us. In Isaiah 1:18 God says: “Come now, and let us reason together, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”  Psalm 103:12 says: As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us. Hebrews 8:12 records God’s words saying: “I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings, And their sins I will no longer remember.”  The problem for many of us, is not whether we have been forgiven by God, but whether we forgive ourselves. Because we don’t have the ability to not remember our sins, we hold on to the guilt. We judge God by our own standard, and so we question whether He has truly forgiven and forgot our sins. In doing that, we diminish the power of the cross and the blood of Jesus and we exempt ourselves from the blessing of God’s forgiveness and redemption. Unforgiveness is a sin. Even when it is we ourselves that we do not forgive.

The psalmist says: Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found… You are my hiding place; You keep me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah  I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you. The sorrows of the wicked are many, But the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.  In Jeremiah 29:13 God says: You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. David was a man after God’s own heart. If we will seek God with all of our heart, we will find Him and our hearts will also be upright. 

May these words from Psalm 51 be our declaration and prayer: 

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in secret You will make wisdom known to me. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; Cleanse me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Hide Your face from my sins And wipe out all my guilty deeds. Create in me a clean heart, God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach wrongdoers Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.  Save me from the guilt of bloodshed, God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. Lord, open my lips, So that my mouth may declare Your praise. Amen.