DEVOTION - SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011

SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011

“HOW DOES GOD REMOVE OUR SIN?”

BY

JOHN BARNETT

The first observation a student studying God's Word would make in Psalm 32 is that: David is so thankful for his sin being forgiven, that he uses four different Hebrew words to describe the depths God had to go to accomplish his forgiveness in just the first two verses. Note those with me as we open to Psalm 32:

Psalm 32:1-2 “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.” NKJV

That is one happy man to declare the amazing depth of his forgiveness in every way possible.

But that same careful student of the Word would make a second equally powerful observation that: sin is such an offense to God that He has to use 15 different words in the Hebrew Old Testament just to describe the horribly dreadful depths of sins deadly power. Here in David’s song we find the four primary Old Testament words for sin introduced and explained. Which leads us to first consider the:

When David stole his neighbor Uriah’s little ewe lamb for his already overflowing banqueting table he defied the rules God had laid down. David now sees his life as God saw him.

First, sin means:

Resisting or defying God’s rule

Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgressionis forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. NKJV

Second, sin means:

Falling short of perfection or missing God's mark

Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sinis covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit. NKJV

In commenting on that phrase: “whose sin is covered” the great Baptist pastor Spurgeon said, “Covered by God, as the ark was covered by the mercy-seat, as Noah was covered from the flood, as the Egyptians were covered by the depths of the sea. What a cover must that be which hides away forever from the sight of the all-seeing God all the filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit!”