What do you consider to be a blessing? What above all would you like to have happen to you in this life? What do you consider very, very necessary, and have before your consciousness as that for which by all means you should pray?
In Psalm 32:1 2 David writes, ''Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.'' Do you agree? How many of your prayers contain an urgent plea for this blessing of having your sins covered and of not having your iniquity imputed to you?
It is easy to count material goods, life, and health as blessings, and then only way back in the mind to consider forgiveness of sin a blessing. We may be called upon in our worship service in God's house to sing the words below; but their seriousness and significance may not be before our minds. The versification has it thus:
How blest is he whose trespass
Hath freely been forgiven;
Whose sin is wholly covered
Before the sight of heaven.
Blest he to whom Jehovah
Imputeth not his sin;
Who hath a guileless spirit.
Whose heart is true within
Many if not most, of the prayers that are heard in broadcasts, in public meetings, and even from pulpits of churches, omit this important item in prayer and reveal that social, political, and material advantages for the flesh are much more important, and are given much more time in prayer.
Do you feel pressing down upon your soul your awful load of guilt? Are you one of those of whom Jesus spoke, when He called those laboring to get rid of their load of sin, and still found themselves with the heavy load and as not having reached one bit of rest? If so, agree with David that he whose sin is forgiven has a rich blessing.
Be sure that here is where our blessings begin. If we do not have that blessing we have no blessings at all.
Read: Psalm 32
Psalter versification: 63:1
Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
Song for Meditation: Psalter number 131
Why not sing along??
Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
2 Samuel 18
2 Samuel 19:1-10
John 20:1-31
Psalm 119:153-176
Proverbs 16:14-15
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Quote for Reflection:
"Ah, dear child, to think that you must be raised up and will shine as the stars, yea, like the sun. I am joyful in spirit, but I am sad according to the flesh. The flesh doesn't take kindly to this. The separation caused by death troubles me above measure. It is strange to know that she is surely at peace and she is well off there, very well off, and yet to grieve so mum." Martin Luther, at the death of his daughter Magdalene
Additional Info
- Date: 1-June
