Psalm 32 is a wonderful song of comfort and assurance from David, in which he describes his movement from a state of agonizing conviction of sin (v 3-4) to a place of confession, forgiveness and peace. It describes the condition of every true child of God, but if we delve down into it a little, it also contains an apparent conundrum, which is what I want to spend a few moments thinking about today, because of the majesty and the glory of the central truth that is highlighted here. See how David describes his condition in these first 2 verses:
- His transgression is forgiven. The word for “forgiven” seems often to be translated in terms of bearing, carrying, taking away. We might say that his evildoing or rebellion (breach in relationship) is “borne away”, I think.
- His sin is covered - his “missing the mark” of God’s standards is concealed, hidden.
- The Lord counts no iniquity against him: God does not credit any guilt to his account.
- In his spirit there is no deceit: there is no deception in his heart. Related words to the one translated “deceit” seem to speak of looseness or treachery - which was there before but now is gone.
So his rebellion and breach in relationship with God has been carried away, his falling short of God’s standards is covered over, God charges him with no guilt and his spirit is subject to God through and through. His new condition is one where sins of commission and omission are erased, where the guilt and the power of sin are broken! No wonder that David twice describes this man (himself) as “blessed,” or “happy!”
But here is the conundrum: God is just. It isn’t simply that this is how He conducts Himself. Rather, He is the defining standard for justice. It is Who He is, through and through. This One is the Judge of all the earth, to Whom Abraham appealed that He must do what is just (Genesis 18:25). Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne (Ps 89:14). His eyes are too pure to look on sin (Hab 1:13). He will not hear the prayers of those who cherish iniquity in their hearts (Ps 66:18). He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Tim 6:16) and before Him, the angels cover their faces and declare His holiness (Isaiah 6:1-4). Heaven is not pure to Him and He charges even the angels with error (Job 15:15). We could go on amassing Scriptures that underscore the same truth - God cannot deal with sin except according to His holiness and His justice - if He lowered His standards for a moment, then He would have changed (but He cannot change) and He would have revealed Himself to us misleadingly in the Bible. Therefore, He could not then be the God of the Bible.
And yet, here is David talking with joy about the bearing away and covering over of his rebellion, sins, guilt and treachery. How can this be? We’re delighted that such a change seems possible for a sinner, but where is the justice of God in all this?
The very words that describe the change that took place in David hint at the answer to the problem, but let’s get Paul’s take on this situation, because clearly this conundrum was one that concerned a few people in his day too, and he wrote about it in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 3:21–26 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
To put David’s words another way, he is saying in Psalm 32 that he has been justified - declared to be just - by God. For this to happen, he needed his sins to be taken away and a covering of righteousness to be spread over him. “Well,” says Paul here, “that is what the Gospel does! It gives us a covering of right-standing (justification) before God. It wipes out our sin and guilt and rebellion and treachery!” “We are all sinners,” he says, “we have all missed the mark in relation to God’s standards, but we may all be justified - legally declared to be not guilty!”. How can this be done? Paul explains that it is through the redemption (purchasing back to God) that Christ performed. God offered Jesus at the cross as a sacrifice that deflects His wrath from the sinner (a propitiation). He spent His righteous anger that should have fallen on guilty sinners like David (and like us) on His own Son instead. Jesus was credited with our sins and God punished Him instead of us - He endured hell on the cross for His people. Now we can be credited with the covering of His right-standing before God!
How can we enter into this state of forgiveness that David and Paul speak of? Paul tells us that it is by faith - by trusting Christ and Him alone to rescue us - and surrendering to His Lordship.
And so there was never a conundrum at all for God - just glorious but costly Divine genius! God is just - our sins received their full punishment. But because of what Christ did, God can be gracious and loving to us and declare us to be righteous if we have put our trust in Jesus to save us.
What David says above about himself, then, is also true of us as believers. His sins and guilt (and ours too) are borne away - Christ carried them on the cross (He bore our sins in His own body on the tree - 1 Peter 2:24). His rebellion (and ours) is ended and the treachery of his heart (and ours) is gone - he is truly blessed, and so are we!
Do you know this same blessedness? You can know it now, by confessing your sins as David did and trusting in the work of Christ at the cross to save you!
