- Blessed forgiveness
Psalm 32:1, 2
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile.
Blessedness and blessings are promised to those who are forgiven. “Blessed” covers a wide range of life experiences: physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, relational, social, financial. When every sphere of life is blessed life is truly good. The blessedness is God’s blessing, that is, His choice and His decision about what is truly good and what is good for you in the special way that is you. Blessings do not usually come according to our desires and choices, and so we don’t always recognize our life as being blessed.
It is the forgiven who are blessed; not everyone is blessed, although everyone could be forgiven and consequently blessed. The unforgiven are not so blessed, partly because they are still suffering the pains and consequences of sin, pangs of conscience and guilt, the wages of sin (death), and the rottenness eating away at the health of the soul. The unforgiven are the unbelievers who have not believed in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit accepted the offer of full forgiveness of sins. The offer is available to them, for Christ died for all, but they have not availed themselves of the offer; they reject Christ and resist the Gospel in unbelief. Therefore, the unbeliever is not blessed and does not know the joy of salvation. (The unforgiven unbeliever may be blessed of God, but the blessings are not promised for him.)
For those who believe in Jesus: their transgression is forgiven, their sin is covered, and their iniquity is not imputed to them. Forgiveness in itself is a great blessing; it includes eternal life and salvation, not to mention peace of mind and joy of heart. But furthermore, blessedness is promised for the one who is forgiven. Forgiveness is wonderful for it not only carries inherent blessings but also consequent and subsequent blessings. The specifics of the “blessed is he” is not here spelled out, but we can claim the “blessings” pronounced for various kinds of people throughout the Bible. Again, we may need to adjust our attitude to call blessing what God considers blessing, though it may not be what we wanted. For instance, God may consider it a blessing that we not have a million dollars in the bank, and so should we. I am blessed because God says I am, not because I am feeling good at a given moment; and I am blessed even if I am not presently feeling blessed, just like I am forgiven even if I don’t “feel” forgiveness.
Enjoy the forgiveness of sins and the blessings that result from it by faith.