Repentance Unto Forgiveness

July 14th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 32:1-2 A Psalm of David. A Maskil. 1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!

King David was the king in Israel from 1010 to 970 BC. He was a godly man in that he sought the Lord and followed Him, though not all the time. Though faithful, David also acted unfaithfully, God recording his sins in Scripture for all to read. Among his sins was his adulterous affair with a woman named Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. Adding to his adultery, David had Bathsheba’s husband killed so that he could have her for himself and justify the child she had conceived by him. Having fallen out of fellowship with God during that time, his sin weighing heavily upon him, David eventually confessed and repented. He then penned Psalm 51. After the dust of those events had settled and he was able to reflect upon his turmoil in the midst of that difficult and trying time in his life, he penned Psalm 32 regarding God’s forgiveness.

What David wrote was a “Maskil” (cf. Psalms 6, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The word itself leans toward the meaning of “to have insight,” or perhaps “the giving of instruction.” This psalm was thus penned to equip its readers with wisdom and insight during our various trials of life. The Apostle Paul certainly believed this, quoting Psalm 32:1-2 in Romans 4:7-8 to prove that justification (being declared righteous by God) is by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Paul thus linked David’s testimony of God’s grace to the experience of Abraham who simply believed God (i.e., had faith) and was himself justified (Gen. 15:6).

David begins by declaring “How blessed” are the forgiven. The term “blessed” is sometimes translated “happy” or “joyful,” but it basically means “satisfied.” The fact that “blessed” is plural means that the forgiven are happy and joyful over and over again; they are fully satisfied with God’s work of forgiveness. The Hebrew word for “forgiven” literally means “to lift off of” or “to take away.” Like a burden upon one’s back that stresses their body and overwhelms their strength, those who are forgiven have their burden “taken away” and relieved, lifted off.

The burden for David, however, was not a heavy physical load on his back but having to carry the guilt of his own “transgression.” This Hebrew term does not signify ignorant sin but defiance to authority; blatant rebellion. This means that David knew he had not sinned against God accidentally but had done so knowingly. Yet once he had been forgiven, he felt his burden released, his “sin…covered.” This phrase is David’s use of synonymous parallelism, indicative of the poetry of the Psalms, for it simply repeats what has already been said. For after he had confessed and repented of his sin, he was free, and he enjoyed “happiness many times over.”

Verse 2 is synonymous with v. 1, claiming that a person is many times blessed when God does not “impute iniquity.” “Impute” means “to keep account of” like an accountant with a spreadsheet. Likewise, “iniquity” concerns the penalty due for those who commit transgressions. In other words, those whose transgressions deserve a just punishment, yet who have been forgiven by the Sovereign Lord, are blessed over and over again. God then holds no grudges, having no record of the sin. The forgiven now has a spirit that “has no deceit,” who does not have to lie to himself that he has a good heart and good intentions in spite of his sins. On the contrary, his blessedness stems from being forgiven by the God he offended. The NLT states it so beautifully: “Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!”

Food For Thought
Today, don’t seek out the temporary happiness of good health, great wealth, or your favorite ball team winning their game. True happiness—blessedness—never goes away because it is not based on the things of this world. True happiness comes from a personal relationship with God—with Jesus Christ who forgives all the wrongdoings of those who place their faith in Him alone. St. Augustine believed that the beginning of knowledge is “to know oneself to be a sinner.” Are you carrying a load today, a burden that cripples you from a sin you committed against God, yourself, or a friend? Do you recognize it as sin? If so, confess it, and repent of it. Humbly ask God to forgive you, receive the relief of forgiveness. Then celebrate true blessedness!