THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS

Psalm 32 is about forgiveness, but not just forgiveness in its own right, but, rather, specifically when forgiveness is given to us from God. In fact, the title of Psalm 32 is “The Joy of Forgiveness” and I can think of no better title than that. What a relief it is to know that God, through his unconditional forgiveness, lifts the burden of guilt and shame from our shoulders! Take a look at the first word David uses to explore the feeling of forgiveness, the word “Blessed”. Deeply and profoundly happy is the person whose transgressions are forgiven. How could one not be deeply and profoundly happy when they have been released after wrestling with guilt their whole life? It is wonderful to experience the forgiveness of God.

While receiving forgiveness from God makes one blessed, sometimes that same blessed person, over time, can forget what that blessing was all about. Sure, it was exciting at first, but now you’ve learned to clean yourself up. Possibly you have arrived at a point where you feel that you don’t have much to be forgiven of, so why does forgiveness remain such a blessing? This train of thought has derailed many Christians’ faith. Believing themselves to be better and purer than they are, they have belittled the work of Jesus on the cross. Even beyond that, they may have kicked out the Joy of Forgiveness and then welcomed the Burden of Legalism in.

If you have forgotten what joy is all about, return to your first love. Return to the moment when you experienced your burden lifted and remember the relief you felt. Remember how that grace shown to you made you want to show grace to others! Returning to our salvation produces the sweet fruit of joy.