I ACKNOWLEDGED MY SIN . . . MINE INIQUITY HAVE I NOT HID

This penitential psalm is generally thought to have been written by David about a year after his awful sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He stubbornly refused to acknowledge his sin, until God sent the prophet, Nathan, to accuse and condemn the king, with the promise of forgiveness, cp. Ps. 51. The opening verses of the psalm give us four words for wrongdoing from the many expressions used in the Old Testament: -

Transgression. Rebellion, revolt or moving from right to wrong - as the young child might say, ‘I want to do what I want to do!’, see Ps. 51. 1-3.

Sin. Missing the moral mark, falling short, Rom. 3. 23.

Iniquity. Depravity as a result of distorted moral values; perverseness expressed by careless indifference, Exod. 34. 7.

Guile. Duplicity, insincerity, 1 John 1. 8; cp. Prov. 28. 13.

David’s terrible sin shows his rebellion against divine authority. He had fallen short of God’s standards. He had been perverse and deceitful in committing and concealing his sin. All of this he confesses in the opening words of our psalm. Small wonder he is joyful because of the Lord’s forgiveness towards him. How precious to know transgression forgiven, the covering of sin, and not to be reckoned as unrighteous or insincere. The Lord had taken his sin away, covered and cancelled. it.

Paul quotes the earlier verses of the psalm in Romans chapter 4 verses 6 to 8, when explaining justification through faith in Christ. We are reminded of Jeremiah’s words, as well as Paul’s reference to the exceeding sinfulness of sin, Jer. 17. 9; Rom. 7. 13.

How glad we are to be in the good of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice for sins, Heb. 10. 12. He has taken away our burden, John 1. 29, brought us complete covering and cleansing, 1 John 1. 7, and cancelled our debt. This forgiveness is free, full and final.

Here we are told of David’s conscious guilt, vv. 1-4; his conviction of sin; his confession directly to the Lord; and his confidence of forgiveness, v. 5; cp. Luke 15. 21-24; 1 John 1. 7-9. May we, like David, prove the Lord to be completely sufficient to forgive all our sins and to enable us to live for His praise and glory, v. 11.