How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! Psalms 32:1 (NADSB)
I love the way this verse translates from the Hebrew language. Instead of boring you with a strange alphabet that reads from right to left and has funny dots and dashes contained in it, I want to look at a few keywords. Before I go any further, please keep in mind my favorite Italian proverb, “All translators are traitors.”
Here are the keywords and their meaning: “blessed” carries the sense of a state of joyful mind; “transgression” means to rise against authority; the word “forgiven” can be translated as bear, but the thought behind the term is to pick up and move an object in a linear movement; “sin” is an offense against a moral standard; and “covered” can be defined as being forgiven and carries the meaning of the removal of guilt or wrongdoing.
Putting that altogether forms a Functionally Equivalent Translation (FET). My FET reads, “O what state of joy has the man whose rebellion against clear authority has been picked up and moved in a linear moment, and whose guilt due to an offense against a moral standard has been removed.”
When I translate the word “forgiven” I am reminded of Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” That is a linear movement that never ends because the east does not meet the west. How is the removal of transgressions possible? In the Old Testament, it was possible because of the sacrifices Israel performed. Today is ours because Christ shed his blood for our sins, and when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, he forgives our sins.
It is that simple. I cannot grasp in my mind this type of love and forgiveness, yet I know it is true, not just because of Psalm 103.12, but because of 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Notice there is no limit on the number of sins or what type of unrighteousness we have committed. All my sins are forgiven, even the sins I find myself continuously falling into.
However, a warning needs to be provided here. Salvation is not fire insurance. Here is what I mean: I can not say, “Jesus please forgive my sins and come into my heart. Amen.” Then say, “Okay I’ve got that in place now I can go about doing all the sinful stuff I want.” If a person has prayed a prayer for fire insurance, the heart has not been changed, and the prayer asking for forgiveness will not be heard.
“Psalm 51:17 states, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” The word contrite means to be crushed. If our spirit is not broken and our heart not crushed because of our sin, there is no sacrifice. However, because Christ changes our inner being when we are saved, our sin produces guilt, and our heart is crushed because of what we have done. This is the person who is being addressed in Psalm 32:1 and 1 John 1:9. I am so glad my sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west, which allows me to walk in joy!