Giving and receiving forgiveness can be difficult.
Our lives can get messy and we can get hurt by others. At times, people hurt us intentionally, and other times the hurt is unintentional. But, however it comes, the hurt remains. In the face of this reality, we can do so little to control the actions of others, but whether intentional or unintentional, we can control our response to their actions. We can choose either to store it up as bitterness and distrust, or we choose to forgive.
Of course, this is not a new idea for most of us. As difficult as it may be to offer forgivenss at times, we understand that there are profoundly negative consequences for ourselves and our relationships if we choose not to forgive. We understand the we hurt ourselves by harboring unforgiveness.
However, what about when we are on the receiving end of forgiveness? Whether we hurt someone intentionally or unitentionally, it can be so difficult to accept forgiveness. It can be so difficult sometimes to even forgive ourselves. The truth is often that as difficult as it is to forgive others, it is many times more difficult to forgive ourselves and to accept forgiveness from others.
And although we recognize the negative consequences of harboring unforgiveness in our lives, we often fail to realize the harmful side effects of not receiving forgiveness from others.
The greatest example of this can seen in our relationship to God and in our response to His Gospel.
David, in Psalm 32 says this,
“Blessed is the one whose trangression 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.”
The gospel tells us that our sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7, 1 John 1:9). The gospel tells us that our sin is covered through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Romans 3:23-26). The gospel tells us that now, because of Jesus’ work on our behalf, the Lord sees us as righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Because of that, David says that we are blessed! We are blessed because our trangressions are forgiven. We are blessed because our sin is covered. We are blessed because the Lord counts no iniquity in us. We are blessed because of the gospel!
We walk in the beauty of the gospel when we accept the forgivenss offered by the gospel through Jesus Christ.
Now, understanding that, David is going to address the heart of the issue…
“For when I keep silent,
my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long,
For day and night your and was heavy upon me;
My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”
As David acknowledges, our attempt to hide our sin or to keep silent before God is agonizing. It is anti-gospel. It is heavy, and it is exhausting. When we ignore the forgiveness offered in the cross of Christ, when we ignore the forgiveness that is ours in the gospel, we miss one of the most profound blessings in life. We exchange the freedom of forgiveness for the heaviness of our guilt. We miss the gospel.
But… David doesn’t leave us there. Instead, listen to verse 5.
“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 forgive the iniquity of my sin.”
There is beauty in confession, and there is freedom in receiving forgivenss. This beauty and freedom IS the gospel. It is the good news! Here in Psalm 32, David is coming to God in his brokenness, his sin, and his mess, and he is experiencing the joy of being fully known and fully forgiven by God.
To understand the gospel is to understand that we are forgiven, and to accept the gospel is to accept the forgiveness that it offers!
“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.”
This is the gospel; that we are fully known, fully loved, and fully forgiven through Jesus Christ. Whoever you are, and whatever you are wrestling with as you read this, there IS forgiveness for you through Jesus Christ. Not a partial forgiveness, but a full forgivenss. This is the gospel!
But 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. If we say 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. – 1 John 1:7-9 (ESV)