«Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin’ » (Romans 4:6—8).
JUST LIKE ABRAHAM, David believed, but his situation was different. He did not have good works to show; on the contrary, his actions shamed him before God and before the community. How can David be saved? There is no blessing in terms of forgiveness for the unbeliever, only for those who believe.
David quotes his well-known psalm of repentance, Psalm 32, written a year after his sad story of adultery and murder to cover up his guilt and save his image. Without doubt, it was a time of anguish, of spiritual wrestling, and a feeling of guilt, because he felt that his sacrifices were not accepted by God.
That is why David begins this psalm like this: «Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.» Paul says that David is justified not because of the absence of sins, or because he was a good man, but because his sins are forgiven.
Psalm 32 shows a relieved David, because he now feels like a forgiven sinner. He has so much peace, that he shows the way to other sinners so that they will trust in the Lord, accept the way in which He justifies the sinner, and become cleansed by the mercy of God and the joy of salvation.
God hides from His sight the sins of the believer as if they never existed. The basis for salvation is not our innocence, but the grace of God, which does not does not charge the sins of the sinner to their account.
I remember a person who came to listen to a Bible conference I was giving. Before coming, he had spent three months locked in his room, tormented by guilt for his past life. When it was over, he thanked me, but told me that he would not come again because the more he heard the worse he felt, since he considered himself outside the reach of God’s forgiveness.
As I told him goodbye, I assured him that Jesus had already paid for his sins, that he needed to believe and feel forgiven, and this way he would find relief and peace. Then I saw tears roll down his face in acceptance of forgiveness.
He continued to attend the conference. Then, he studied the Bible and was baptized along with his wife. Today, both his son and nephew are Adventist pastors.
How can we reject forgiveness, when to receive it we only need to have faith?
If the psalm said, «Blessed is the one without sin,» then no one would have hope.
Joyfully it says something else! It expresses that God does not see our sins because they are covered by the blood of his beloved Son.
That is why those who believe are blessed: because they have been forgiven. Experience the grace of forgiveness . . . right now!
