Psalm 32
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. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity,
Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
Two times in this phrase the Lord uses the word, “Blessed.” Any time you see this word used referring to any individual it literally means that God is watching over him or her every second of every day. It doesn't mean that He will give them things they want but it does mean that He will give them every single thing they need exactly when they need it.
The second important point to observe about this phrase, and by far the most important thing to consider is whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. God sent his only begotten son, Jesus, down from Heaven to die on the cross as the sacrificial lamb in order to pay the price for the sin(s) of each of us. All of your sin has been charged to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross that day. But this does us no good at all until we do what the Psalmist did in this passage of scripture: I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.
It is important to notice that he didn't just go about his way “expecting” his sin to be forgiven. No - his sins were not forgiven until he took a very important step which we must all take in order to have our sins forgiven: He spoke to the Lord and while he spoke to Him he acknowledged the fact that he was a sinner. He opened up his heart to God and had a literal conversation with Him about the things he knew he had done wrong. This doesn't mean he came up with a list of his sins but it does mean that he didn't just say, “God please forgive me.”
He had a little discussion, if you please. He spoke to God in the same way you or I would speak to a patrolman after being pulled over for a traffic violation. He meant every word of what he said.
Also, take a look at the last part of that phrase: and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. The iniquity of the sin was forgiven but the sin was still there. When we come to the Lord and confess our sins we don't become sinless at that point. We were born sinners and sinners we will always be. It isn't until we acknowledge our sin before the Lord that he forgives, and forgets all about our iniquities.
And, as a result of our acknowledgement of the fact that we are sinners who need forgiveness, God accepts us as one of His own and pours out His blessings, especially when we need them the most: For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.
God is a fair God. He is Love. He tells us in Second Peter 3:9 that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. There are many fine folks that do not understand God. They know that God is love. And, typically take that to mean that He would do nothing to harm anyone. But that is a major misunderstanding of who He is.
In the Bible we learn that the devil was once an angel in Heaven. He was a very high-ranking angel. But there came a time when he rejected God's ultimate authority and rebelled against it. Although God is a God of love, He is also a jealous God (Exodus 20:5 - part of the ten commandments). Because He is God He makes the rules. And there aren't a lot of rules but we begin frustrating the Him whenever we ignore them. As the psalmist pointed out, his sin was a heavy burden and God's hand was heavy upon him until he acknowledged who he was and who God is.
One way to get on God's bad side would be to ignore His son, Jesus Christ. He was prophesied throughout the old testament as the sacrificial Lamb for the sins of the world. We read in Romans, chapter five, that Adam, who was one man, sinned, and brought sin into all the world. Then God sent Jesus, who was God in the flesh, and sinless, to pay the debt of sin for all men by sacrificing himself upon the cross.
If you chose to ignore God's son who died for your sin, how can you expect God to look favorably toward you? God is a fair and loving God and is not willing that any person should perish and fall into hell along with the devil. But He is fair. We must acknowledge His son, Jesus, for who he is. He wasn't just a good man and a philosopher. He was God! He died for your sins and mine. But the iniquity of those sins lies on your shoulders until you turn them over to Jesus. And, that is accomplished in the same way that the psalmist was relieved of the iniquity of his sin: Through a verbal acknowledgement that takes place between you and God. You pray! You confess! You repent! You come clean! And God will then forgive the iniquity of your sin.
From that point on His blessings will be upon you. And sometime in the future, on the day you die, He will be there to take you into His presence in Heaven.