Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Blessed is the one whose wrongdoing is pardoned, whose sin is covered and remembered no more, with no iniquity counted against him. To have no guile in spirit is to be inwardly honest before God, free from deceit. This grew from David's own experience of anguish of conscience while silent under guilt, then rapturous assurance after confession, repentance and pardon. That pardon comes only through Christ, who bears confessed and repented sin as the great Sin-bearer by his atoning death, taking the sinner's guilt and clothing him in his own righteousness so he stands before God as if innocent. It is received by humbling the heart in sincere repentance that honestly acknowledges and forsakes specific sin without covering, excuse or self-justification, and it is lived out in integrity and truthful obedience without selfish scheming.
Forgiveness and Guileless Spirit
Blessed is the one whose transgression is pardoned, whose sin is covered and remembered no more, and whose iniquity the Lord does not count against him. That pardon belongs to guilt forgiven and not reckoned, received through mercy and favor, and joined to a spirit without guile. To have no guile in the spirit is to be inwardly honest before God, free of deceit rather than hiding or excusing.
The psalm grew out of David's experience of this forgiveness. While he kept silent about his sin, before God's sentence was pronounced, his conscience was not at rest but in agony and anguish and unrest. After he humbled his heart in repentance and contrition, acknowledged and did not hide his sin, confessed it to the Lord, was reconverted, and believed God's promise to forgive would be fulfilled, he was pardoned and spoke this blessing in the rapture of assurance of forgiveness.
The verses around it join the blessing to ceasing to hide sin and instead acknowledging and confessing it to the Lord, and to every godly one praying to God in a time when He may be found. The one who so confesses receives forgiveness, and then God becomes his refuge and hiding place, preserving him from trouble, keeping him so that in floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him, and compassing him about with songs of deliverance. He instructs and teaches him in the way he should go and guides him with His eye, so that this forgiven condition becomes joyful trust and praise, with pardon, protection, and deliverance in looking to the uplifted Saviour.
Pardon Through Christ's Sacrifice
Pardon belongs to the one who humbles himself before God, repents with contrition of soul, is reconverted, confesses sin without hiding it, and believes God's promise to forgive will be fulfilled. David's own blessing came in this way, after he acknowledged his transgression, humbled himself, trusted the promise, and entered the rapture of assurance of forgiveness. What is required is penitence rather than sacrifice, and this illustrates the welcome repentant sinners receive from the Father. Looking to the uplifted Saviour, the sinner who does not hide sin but confesses it to the Lord receives forgiveness with a spirit free of deceit.
All blessings of pardon come from Christ, whose death is an atoning sacrifice for sins and who is the great medium through whom mercy and favor are received, the Originator, Author, and Finisher of faith. Sin, when confessed and repented of, is borne by Christ the great Sin-bearer, who takes the sinner's guilt upon Himself and gives the sinner His own righteousness. The forgiven therefore stand before God clothed in Christ's righteousness, accepted in contrition and treated just as if innocent, with sins covered and remembered no more. Men and women may come to Christ just as they are, and by confessing have the dark record against them blotted out, for with His precious blood He cleanses from all sin, receives and pardons each repentant soul and gives a fresh start forgiven and accepted.
This blessedness comes by being born again, when Jesus Christ the unchanging Redeemer, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is formed within as the hope of glory and comes into individual experience as a personal Saviour, the foundation of faith and Rock of Ages. It means turning from deceptive errors, leaving broken cisterns that hold no water, and receiving the gospel message in its fullness. True faith then takes the place of unbelief, and the living springs of the Word with all their rich treasure flow into the soul so that the Bible becomes a new book. Thus every day and every hour the pardoned may say their transgressions are pardoned and their sins forgiven.
Living the Blessed Life
Sincere repentance does not excuse sin or seek only to escape judgment, but acknowledges guilt and longs for a clean heart, purity, and restored communion with God. It does not cover sin, harden the heart, stubbornly deny wrongdoing, or offer a proud general admission of being human and liable to err while expecting to be trusted as unerring, which counts for nothing. Having no guile means no deceit, excuse, stubborn self-justification, or resistance to reproof, but fearing always, recognizing faults, and acknowledging sin and iniquity without hiding. It makes honest specific confession of transgressions unto the Lord and forsakes sin, and then receives forgiveness of the iniquity of sin, cleansing from all unrighteousness, and mercy.
The guileless character is marked by integrity rather than selfishness, dishonest dealing, or schemes to gain advantage over others. Judas shows the contrast, for outward washing had made his feet clean, but his heart remained polluted and deceitful. This guilelessness is the character of the 144,000 who have no guile in their mouths, who profess to be children of God and follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are prefigured as standing on Mount Zion girt for holy service and clothed in white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, and following the Lamb in heaven requires first following Him on earth in trustful, loving, willing, confident, truthful obedience as the flock follows the shepherd, not fretfully and capriciously. Those who bruise, imprison, humiliate, bind and condemn fellow men to compel worship of an idol sabbath without Scripture authority have guile in their mouths, and though professing to follow Christ they follow the leader expelled from heaven and develop the attributes of Satan.
The forgiven, guileless life is the right path of the just, moving onward and upward as a shining light that grows brighter unto the perfect day, walking in the light of the Lord's countenance. Those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as their personal Saviour have peace in the soul, with transgression pardoned and sin covered. Looking to the uplifted Saviour, the sinner finds pardon, protection, and deliverance through acknowledging and confessing sin to God. This blessed forgiven condition is one of God's assuring promises, joined to the promise that every godly one shall pray unto Him in a time when He may be found, that in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him, that God is his hiding place preserving him from trouble and compassing him about with songs of deliverance, and that God will instruct and teach him in the way he shall go and guide him with His eye, becoming joyful trust and praise when God's peculiar people take heed to His words. Men and women may come to Christ just as they are, and by confessing their sins have the dark record against them blotted out, for with His precious blood He cleanses them from all sin, receives and pardons each repentant soul, and gives each one a fresh start forgiven and accepted in the Beloved, so that every day and every hour they may say He has pardoned their transgressions and forgiven their sins.
Human accusations bringing up past sins to shame or discourage do not undo God's forgiveness, for blessing belongs to the person whose guilt God does not count against him and who is inwardly honest with no deceit in spirit. This assurance belongs with honestly acknowledging and confessing sin, receiving God's forgiveness, and trusting His protection and guidance, and belongs to the godly who pray to God as their refuge who preserves them from trouble and guides them in the way they should go. True happiness belongs to the forgiven and guileless through repentance and putting away of sin. In the troublous times just before the end, which is the beginning of the end, the church must seek this blessing by drawing near to God in a work of repentance and putting away of sin instead of becoming worldly in its practices.
Blessed is the one whose wrongdoing is pardoned, whose sin is covered and remembered no more, with no iniquity counted against him. To have no guile in spirit is to be inwardly honest before God, free from deceit. This grew from David's own experience of anguish of conscience while silent under guilt, then rapturous assurance after confession, repentance and pardon. That pardon comes only through Christ, who bears confessed and repented sin as the great Sin-bearer by his atoning death, taking the sinner's guilt and clothing him in his own righteousness so he stands before God as if innocent. It is received by humbling the heart in sincere repentance that honestly acknowledges and forsakes specific sin without covering, excuse or self-justification, and it is lived out in integrity and truthful obedience without selfish scheming.
Forgiveness and Guileless Spirit
Blessed is the one whose transgression is pardoned, whose sin is covered and remembered no more, and whose iniquity the Lord does not count against him. That pardon belongs to guilt forgiven and not reckoned, received through mercy and favor, and joined to a spirit without guile. To have no guile in the spirit is to be inwardly honest before God, free of deceit rather than hiding or excusing.
The psalm grew out of David's experience of this forgiveness. While he kept silent about his sin, before God's sentence was pronounced, his conscience was not at rest but in agony and anguish and unrest. After he humbled his heart in repentance and contrition, acknowledged and did not hide his sin, confessed it to the Lord, was reconverted, and believed God's promise to forgive would be fulfilled, he was pardoned and spoke this blessing in the rapture of assurance of forgiveness.
The verses around it join the blessing to ceasing to hide sin and instead acknowledging and confessing it to the Lord, and to every godly one praying to God in a time when He may be found. The one who so confesses receives forgiveness, and then God becomes his refuge and hiding place, preserving him from trouble, keeping him so that in floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him, and compassing him about with songs of deliverance. He instructs and teaches him in the way he should go and guides him with His eye, so that this forgiven condition becomes joyful trust and praise, with pardon, protection, and deliverance in looking to the uplifted Saviour.
Pardon Through Christ's Sacrifice
Pardon belongs to the one who humbles himself before God, repents with contrition of soul, is reconverted, confesses sin without hiding it, and believes God's promise to forgive will be fulfilled. David's own blessing came in this way, after he acknowledged his transgression, humbled himself, trusted the promise, and entered the rapture of assurance of forgiveness. What is required is penitence rather than sacrifice, and this illustrates the welcome repentant sinners receive from the Father. Looking to the uplifted Saviour, the sinner who does not hide sin but confesses it to the Lord receives forgiveness with a spirit free of deceit.
All blessings of pardon come from Christ, whose death is an atoning sacrifice for sins and who is the great medium through whom mercy and favor are received, the Originator, Author, and Finisher of faith. Sin, when confessed and repented of, is borne by Christ the great Sin-bearer, who takes the sinner's guilt upon Himself and gives the sinner His own righteousness. The forgiven therefore stand before God clothed in Christ's righteousness, accepted in contrition and treated just as if innocent, with sins covered and remembered no more. Men and women may come to Christ just as they are, and by confessing have the dark record against them blotted out, for with His precious blood He cleanses from all sin, receives and pardons each repentant soul and gives a fresh start forgiven and accepted.
This blessedness comes by being born again, when Jesus Christ the unchanging Redeemer, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is formed within as the hope of glory and comes into individual experience as a personal Saviour, the foundation of faith and Rock of Ages. It means turning from deceptive errors, leaving broken cisterns that hold no water, and receiving the gospel message in its fullness. True faith then takes the place of unbelief, and the living springs of the Word with all their rich treasure flow into the soul so that the Bible becomes a new book. Thus every day and every hour the pardoned may say their transgressions are pardoned and their sins forgiven.
Living the Blessed Life
Sincere repentance does not excuse sin or seek only to escape judgment, but acknowledges guilt and longs for a clean heart, purity, and restored communion with God. It does not cover sin, harden the heart, stubbornly deny wrongdoing, or offer a proud general admission of being human and liable to err while expecting to be trusted as unerring, which counts for nothing. Having no guile means no deceit, excuse, stubborn self-justification, or resistance to reproof, but fearing always, recognizing faults, and acknowledging sin and iniquity without hiding. It makes honest specific confession of transgressions unto the Lord and forsakes sin, and then receives forgiveness of the iniquity of sin, cleansing from all unrighteousness, and mercy.
The guileless character is marked by integrity rather than selfishness, dishonest dealing, or schemes to gain advantage over others. Judas shows the contrast, for outward washing had made his feet clean, but his heart remained polluted and deceitful. This guilelessness is the character of the 144,000 who have no guile in their mouths, who profess to be children of God and follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are prefigured as standing on Mount Zion girt for holy service and clothed in white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, and following the Lamb in heaven requires first following Him on earth in trustful, loving, willing, confident, truthful obedience as the flock follows the shepherd, not fretfully and capriciously. Those who bruise, imprison, humiliate, bind and condemn fellow men to compel worship of an idol sabbath without Scripture authority have guile in their mouths, and though professing to follow Christ they follow the leader expelled from heaven and develop the attributes of Satan.
The forgiven, guileless life is the right path of the just, moving onward and upward as a shining light that grows brighter unto the perfect day, walking in the light of the Lord's countenance. Those who believe in Jesus and accept Him as their personal Saviour have peace in the soul, with transgression pardoned and sin covered. Looking to the uplifted Saviour, the sinner finds pardon, protection, and deliverance through acknowledging and confessing sin to God. This blessed forgiven condition is one of God's assuring promises, joined to the promise that every godly one shall pray unto Him in a time when He may be found, that in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him, that God is his hiding place preserving him from trouble and compassing him about with songs of deliverance, and that God will instruct and teach him in the way he shall go and guide him with His eye, becoming joyful trust and praise when God's peculiar people take heed to His words. Men and women may come to Christ just as they are, and by confessing their sins have the dark record against them blotted out, for with His precious blood He cleanses them from all sin, receives and pardons each repentant soul, and gives each one a fresh start forgiven and accepted in the Beloved, so that every day and every hour they may say He has pardoned their transgressions and forgiven their sins.
Human accusations bringing up past sins to shame or discourage do not undo God's forgiveness, for blessing belongs to the person whose guilt God does not count against him and who is inwardly honest with no deceit in spirit. This assurance belongs with honestly acknowledging and confessing sin, receiving God's forgiveness, and trusting His protection and guidance, and belongs to the godly who pray to God as their refuge who preserves them from trouble and guides them in the way they should go. True happiness belongs to the forgiven and guileless through repentance and putting away of sin. In the troublous times just before the end, which is the beginning of the end, the church must seek this blessing by drawing near to God in a work of repentance and putting away of sin instead of becoming worldly in its practices.