First Mennonite Church
July 13, 2025
The Joy of God’s Forgiveness
Text: Psalm 32:1-7
We use euphemisms to soften the bluntness of some words. We say, “hard of hearing” for deafness, “visually impaired” for blindness. Or we say, “when time comes for me to go,” meaning, when I die. For some terrible acts, we speak of these as “anti-social” acts.
Our preference for euphemisms can explain why the Bible is not a favorite book for many. The Bible does not soften its language when it comes to calling sin, sin. And the problem with that is that no one likes to have his or her faults pointed out. But the Bible does that in many ways. In fact, the Bible has an extensive vocabulary for the concept of sin. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we encounter words such as: transgression, iniquity, rebellion, unrighteousness, injustice, lawlessness, wickedness, imperfectness, desires of the flesh, the old nature, and so on. All of these words are used to refer to human activities that go against the will of God. God’s words and actions are the measuring stick against which human actions are approved or reproved. But just as the Bible abounds with references to humanity’s inclination towards sin, it overabounds in its affirmation of God’s desire to guide humans away from sin. The purpose of the Laws given to Israel through Moses was to keep Israel on the right path. The prophets voiced God’s constant admonition when Israel drifted away from God’s will. Indeed, the whole Bible is the story of God’s constant intervention in not only guiding his people away from sin but also in rescuing them from the consequences of their sins. The Bible is the long story of God’s continuous effort to redeem humans from sin and its destructive effects.
The basic meaning of sin in the ancient Hebrew language is “to fail to meet a required standard,” “to miss the mark.” In the Hebrew Bible– the Old Testament, there are 3 words used to refer to sin. These three words appear in our passage for today. The Hebrew word “hatah”—sin, denotes the basic concept of “missing the mark” (Psalm 51:4). This can be from doing something wrong, accidentally or deliberately. The other word is “awon/avon”—iniquity. (The next time you see an Avon product, remember this word in Hebrew means “iniquity.”) Iniquity is wrongdoing of a worse degree. Iniquity means “to twist”, “to bend,” or “to distort” something on purpose. Israel was accused sometimes of twisting or perverting the laws of God to cover up its wrongdoing. Sometimes Israel’s idolatry was compared to immorality and infidelity against the Lord, and that was considered an act of iniquity. Adultery and fornication were considered acts of iniquity because these acts are a distortion of God’s design for sexual relations. When David confessed to God his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, he prayed, “Wash away my iniquity . . . .” (Psalm 51:2).
The third Hebrew word is “pesha” –rebellion. Willful acts of defiance to a clearly stated way of conduct were considered acts of rebellion. It is like lifting up the fist and saying to God, “I do as I please and you cannot tell me what I should do.”
Every human action is measured against the righteousness and holiness of God. This assessment of our actions and intentions against God’s holiness and righteousness determines if what we do is sin or not.
For the most part, the Old Testament speaks of sin as concrete, wrongful actions. Therefore, in order to violate the commandment a concrete act of wrongdoing must occur. From the Old Testament perspective, sin is the failure to obey a stated command. Sin is failing to live according to God’s expectations. James, whose letter draws heavily from Old Testament concept of sin, holds this idea. Therefore, James writes: If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them (4:17).
This same idea is reflected in the writings of the apostle John. “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness,” reads 1John 3:4. Again, John writes: All wrongdoing is sin (5:17). But if you were to read the whole letter of First John, it becomes clear that the overarching message is that every act not motivated by love is sin. The apostle Peter coincides with this idea when he says that “love covers multitude of sin” (1Peter 4:8). Therefore, John and Peter define sin as the product of actions done without love. Sin is the result of acting selfishly.
Jesus, on the other hand, speaks of sin not only when a wrongful act has been committed, but even of the evil intention that leads to committing the wrongful act. That is what we find in Matthew chapter 5. Murder is sin, not only when the act of killing someone has taken place, but even when anger rages in the heart against another. The sin of adultery is not only when the physical act is consummated, but even by lustfully looking at a woman (Matthew 5:21-30).
It is, however, the apostle Paul who defines sin as more than wrongdoing or the intention that leads to sinning. For Paul, sin is something embedded in the human nature, which nothing can remove. Sin is a power that rules in the body when God’s Spirit is not in control of the person. For that reason, Paul says that both Jews and Gentiles are under the power of sin (Romans 3:9). It is, therefore, by nature, no one does what is good. No one has the inclination to seek God. And in Romans 3:23, Paul comes down to this conclusion when he writes: For all [have] sinned[1] and fall short of the glory of God. In Paul’s understanding, sin is part of the human genes. We inherited this from the first Adam, and it is only the second Adam—Jesus Christ, who can redeem us from it. Sin is master of the entire human race. From this master, only Jesus, who is Lord of lords, can free us. In his flesh, Jesus overcame sin by being without sin. And in his resurrection, he defeated the power of sin, which is death, and now everyone who believes in him can live a life in the righteousness of God. That is, everyone who believes in Jesus enters into a relationship with God, which otherwise is not possible. Jesus conquered and destroyed sin and its sting, which is death, through his resurrection. God made Jesus the place where we meet him—God. God made Jesus’ death on the cross the sacrifice offered to atone our sins.
Psalm 32 perfectly describes the believers’ experience of being forgiven. The first word, translated blessed, can also be translated “happy” or “fortunate.” Yes, God’s forgiveness is a blessing like no other. Nothing material is able to give us the peace of heart and mind that God’s forgiveness gives. By acknowledging and confessing our wrongdoing before God, we open ourselves to God’s healing and restoration He offers. This idea is captured in the very word for forgiveness in the Hebrew language. In Hebrew “to forgive” is to “lift up” something. God “lifts up” our sin—forgives our sins. God removes the heavy burden of guilt we carry when we have not been forgiven.
Psalm 32 is a word of comfort for God’s people and everyone. No one should consider himself/herself free from sin. In the same manner, no one should feel excluded from the possibility of being forgiven by God.
Paul gives this word of comfort another name, “God’s revealed righteousness,” whom, he says, is Jesus Christ. And both David and Paul remind us that not only do we live surrounded by sin, but that sin is embedded in our very being. But in Christ, God came to reconcile us to himself. Therefore, to be made righteous before God does not mean we are sinless, but forgiven. However, the fact that we have been made righteous by God in Christ also means that we are to display the grace and mercy of God. We cannot boast in the fact that we have been made righteous before God. The state of being righteous before God is an act of grace.
Let us rejoice that God has forgiven us. Let us be grateful and surrender ourselves to the Lord. Let us display God’s grace so others will want to experience the blessedness of being forgiven too. Amen!
Pastor Romero
[1] (h)emarton: indicative, aorist, active, 3rd person, plural –sinned. It is not a perfect tense verb—“have sinned.”
A final note:
If you are having a hard time convincing yourself that God has forgiven you, begin where David began:
I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the Lord.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
The happiness of being forgiven begins by admitting our sin. And that is not the easy part on our side. We like to make excuses for our errors and wrongdoings. We have a hard time taking personal responsibility for our mistakes. That was the initial problem with David. David did not want to confess his sin. But as he lingered with his confession, his life and health were impacted, not to say his inner life. David says his bones were drying up, and his strength evaporated like the sap of a withering tree. After David confessed his sin, life and joy came back. David could then confess:
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Let us confess to the Lord our sin. Let us receive his forgiveness. Let us be clothed in God’s righteousness, for blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Happy are those whose sin the Lord does not count against them. Amen.