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THE KING’S BUSINESS
(6 ) T h e “T h o u a r t th e m an ” sh o u ld be so co n v in cin g th a t th e co n v icted w ould say “I am th e m an.” r (7 ) T h e ap p licatio n o f th e serm o n is b est ap p lied w h en it is self-applied.
(4 ) T h e p u rp o se o f th e p arab le w as to p ro duce conviction. (5 ) N a th a n h eld th e g lass to D av id ’s face a n d he saw him self.
--------------- <$---------------- The Blessedness of Forgiveness J U N E 13, 1915. L E S S O N X I. P sa lm 32. (C o m m it v. 5.) G olden T ext : “B lessed is h e w h o se tra n sg re ssio n is fo rg iv en , w h o se sin is co v ered .” — P s. 32:1.
D A IL Y B IB L E R E A D IN G S M on., J u n e 7— P sa lm 32. ( T h e L e s so n ). T u es., Ju n e 8— N ehem . 1 :4 -ll. S eek in g fo rg iv en ess. W ed ., J u n e 9— 1 T im . 1 :12-17. A b u n d a n t grace. T h u rs., J u n e 10— P salm 85. “S h ew u s th y m ercy .” F ri., J u n e 11— P salm 103:1-14, “L ik e a s a fa th e r p itie th .” S at., J u n e 12—L u k e 15:11-24. T h e fa th e r’s gladness. Sun., J u n e 13.-—P sa lm 34:11-22. “T h e L o rd h e a re th .”
E X P O S I T I O N A N D P R A C T IC A L A P P L IC A T IO N S
v. 1. "B lessed is he w hose transgression is forgiven, w hose sin is covered.” T h is is a d id actic P sa lm (see title m a rg in ). T h e re is n o q u estio n th a t D av id w ro te i t ; fo r w e have G od’s ow n W o rd fo r it th a t he d id (R om . 4 :6 -8 ). D av id -had k n o w n in his ro y al p o sitio n a ll w o rld ly jo y s, th e jo y o f w ealth , a n d p o w er a n d e a rth ly p leasu re, th e jo y o f v icto ry o v er enem ies, th e con q u est an d jo y o f fam e an d p raise, b u t th e h ig h est jo y th a t he h a d fo u n d w as .th at o f tra n sg re ssio n fo rg iv en an d sin covered. A n d w h en he cam e to w rite ab o u t jo y , he d id n o t say, “O h, th e b lessed n ess o f th e m an w ho h as k in g ly p o w er,” o r “ O h, th e blessedness o f th e v icto rio u s g en eral,” but, “O h, th e b lessed n ess o f him w h o se tra n s g ressio n is fo rg iv en , w h o se sin is co v ered ." T h is jo y , g re a te r th a n an y jo y t h a t th is w o rld can give, is open to ev ery one o f us, to th e p o o rest as w ell as th e rich est (A c ts 1 0 :4 3 ). I f on e w ho h a d sin n ed so g riev o u sly as D av id h ad could find fo.rgive- ness, w e m ay safely conclude th a t th e re is fo rg iv en ess fo r all. D av id m u ltip lies w o rd s fo r sin, “tra n sg ressio n ,” “sin,” “in iq u ity ,”
“guile.” “T ra n s g re ss io n ” m ean s “re b el lion.” “ S in ” m ean s “m issin g th e m a rk ” (c f. R om . 3 :2 3 ). “In iq u ity ” m ean s “cro o k ed n ess” o r “c u rv a tu re .” T h e w o rd tra n s late d “fo rg iv e” m ean s lite rally “to tak e aw ay ” , (cf. J o h n - 1 :2 9 ; P s. 10 3 :1 2 ). G od “c o v ers” sin (cf. P s. 8 5 :2 ), i. e., H e hides it from view . W e a re elsew h ere to ld th a t it is w ith th e b lood o f C h rist th a t H e co v ers sin (L ev . 1 7 :1 1 ). W h e n G od cov ers sin, n e ith e r m an n o r D ev il can u n co v er it. v. 2. “B lessed is the m an unto w hom the L o rd im puteth n o t iniquity." G od does n o t “im p u te” to , o r p u t to th e acco u n t of, th e p e n ite n t sin n e r h is sin. O n th e co n tra ry , H e p u ts to th e acco u n t o f .th e peni te n t a n d b eliev in g sin n er a p e rfe c t rig h t eousness, a “rig h teo u sn ess a p a rt from w o rk s” (R om . 4 :6 , 7 ), even H is ow n rig h t eo u sn ess (2 C or. 5 :2 1 ). T h e first three- p o in ts re g a rd in g th e b lessed n ess o f th e fo r g iv en sin n er, (1 ) T h a t h is tran sg ressio n is fo rg iv en , (2 ) th a t h is sin is covered, (3 ) th a t h is in iq u ity is n o t im p u ted o r reck o n ed to him , h a v e to do w ith h is stan d in g . T h e
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