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I. HERE IS A MAN PAINTING A PICTURE OF THE EVIL WHICH HAD BEEN HIS CURSE. When a man has been rescued from hell, he speaks in no mincing fashion of its horrors.

1. "Transgression" signifies departure, the dissolving of a union, apostasy.

2. "Sin" means literally an error, missing an aim. Not only had he rebelled against God, but he had fatally missed the mark to which his whole effort and energy should have been directed. "A man never gets what he hoped for by doing wrong; or, if he seems to do so, he gets something more that spoils it all. He pursues after the fleeing form that seems so fair, and, when he reaches her side and lifts her veil, eager to embrace the temptress, a hideous skeleton grins and gibbers at him."

3. "Iniquity," literally, is something twisted or distorted — warped from the straight line of right. All sin is a turning aside, a going out of the way, an entrance on by-paths which can never be safe.

II. HERE IS A MAN POINTING OUT THE WRETCHEDNESS WHICH HIS SIN AND SILENCE CONCERNING IT HAD ENTAILED UPON HIM (vers. 3, 4). A. weird picture, a realistic illustration of the misery of unrepentant remorse. "Be sure your sin will find you out;" and what a finding out it is! The sinner expected to conjure up flowers: he has conjured up serpents; he expected thrills of pleasure: he has felt shocks of pain; he expected to find peace: he has let slip the dogs of war; he hoped to find liberty: he has drawn a heavy chain about his life.

1. Sin always means misery. It is like the poison-tree in travellers' stories: tempting weary men to rest beneath its thick foliage, and insinuating death into the limbs that relax in the fatal coolness of its shade. It is like the apples of Sodom: fair to look upon, but turning to acrid ashes on the unwary lips.

2. Sin of itself is bad enough, but sin unconfessed is hell on earth. Better confess the deed than allow it to darken your soul's windows, harden your heart, and spread its contagion throughout your being.

III. HERE IS A MAN REVEALING THE PATH WHICH LED TO THE THRONE OF DIVINE FORGIVENESS (ver. 5). Thank Heaven that there is such a path, and that it is accessible to every sin-damaged life. That path has been provided by a loving God; it is the path of repentance, the King's highway. Have we trodden that path? Have we responded to the summons of God's Nathan, as he has poured the light divine upon our eyes?

IV. HERE IS A MAN PROCLAIMING THE MASTERY AND REMOVAL OF HIS SIN BY GOD'S GREAT GRACE (vers. 1, 2). The three words he employs are delightfully expressive.

1. "Forgiveness" means literally the bearing away of a load. Sin is like the burden on the pilgrim's back in the Immortal Allegory. It crushes the soul, weakens the life, pampers the spirit. But the grace of God causes the burden to fall from the soul, emancipates it from the crushing load.

2. "Covered" means the interment of the evil thing. It is a nuisance, an annoyance, an eyesore, a foul, disgusting thing. So God digs a grave for it, and buries it out of sight.

3. "Not to impute" means that our wickedness is no longer chargeable to us. God will be silent concerning it. The account is settled

V. HERE IS A MAN EXULTING IN THE BLESSEDNESS WHICH HIS FORGIVENESS HAD SECURED TO HIM. "O the blessedness of the saved one," he shouts. The words are a burst of thankful rapture. His very soul dances for joy; and no wonder: the change in himself was so very real, the transition so marvellous. It was a passage from death unto life, from winter to summer, from darkness to light, from hell to heaven; the gnawings of conscience exchanged for the peace of God, his sullen silence giving place to spontaneous, irrepressible and hearty song, his very self becoming rejuvenated. Surely, such a change must mean blessedness!

(Joseph Pearce.)

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KJV: {A Psalm of David, Maschil.} Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

WEB: Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered.