Happy are the Forgiven
Tuesday (October 28)
Happy are the Forgiven
Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity.
We’re surrounded by blessings today, aren’t we? From the food that sustained us this morning, to the sunshine and rain that nurtures the earth outside, to the love of friends. Even if you’re in a hospital bed suffering with some terrible illness, you’ve got doctors and nurses and Motrin and modern medicine that your ancestors didn’t have. Even if your air conditioning unit has suddenly stopped working in the heat of summer, as mine did last night, you’ve still got a roof over your head and a place to call home and a beautiful family to share the heat with. Even if you had to cancel work due to a fever, you’ve probably got a cozy couch to sleep on and a TV for watching your favorite shows and a job that gives you sick days to take off for such a purpose. We have so much to be grateful for, and we couldn’t possibly cover it all even if we spent the next twenty-four hours making a list.
But Psalm 32:1-2 isn’t just an invitation to count all our blessings—which we really should do—but to count the most significant blessing of all, the one that gives added color and character to all the others: the blessing of forgiveness. See, friend, John the Baptizer’s message to those crowds in the wilderness wasn’t a self-help gospel. He didn’t say, “Cheer up and count your many blessings!” No, he said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” And Christ didn’t merely give the lame new legs and the blind new eyes and the deaf new ears and the lepers new skin, which are certainly profound blessings on their own, but He followed up those lesser gifts with an infinitely greater and more everlasting blessing, when He said, “Rise! Your sins are forgiven!”
Friend, reflect on the wounds of your Lord and Savior for a little while today and repent afresh for the sins that put them there. Then thank Him with all your heart for the fact His hands which hold the universe, His hands that fashioned you in the womb, His hands that your sin nailed to a cross, are reaching out to you with forgiveness still today.