"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." - Psalm 32:1
God is so good to let us breathe, to let our hearts keep beating - He doesn't have to. He's not obligated to do anything for us at all and it's totally His right to just stop everything before I finish typing this sentence. I'm struck by how beautiful God's Work is. When I was in art classes we would regularly have critiques where the professor would turn the painting on its side, and then upside down, just to get a different look at things in a more objective fashion. It was always fun (especially for something like a still-life), but the principle applies that if you're paying too much attention to composition in only one orientation you'll likely miss some of the weak spots within.
Whenever I consider God's plan and what He has done, and promises to do in the future, I'm always amazed. Francis Chan said in a trailer for his latest book (it's called Erasing Hell and we're in the middle of reviewing it on this blog) that "I wouldn't think to do that." - and that's so totally appropriate! From every direction it's perfect. The verse above is written by David. Not Paul or Peter or John but David. Hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ you have God granting us a glimpse of what He's up to. Of course David had the tabernacle and then his son Solomon builds the temple, but that isn't really what's being foreshadowed here - clearly David writes of our redemption through Jesus. Because it's not really David writing, it's God writing through him. And even earlier you have Passover, another clear picture pointing to Christ. The whole of history is a sort of sketch, a rough draft of what God desires for Creation. From our perspective it's still a work in progress, but He's got a very specific composition in mind and He's got all the right tools to work with.
When I read "Blessed is he... whose sin is covered." several thoughts come to mind: 1) My sin condition necessitates covering in the first place, 2) I'm unable to cover myself, 3) There's "covered" and "uncovered" so there must be a "blessed" and "not blessed". So then I think: "What if instead of telling people they're about to be in a plane crash and they need a parachute we told them we're in a spaceship and about to depressurize the cabin. Without the right covering, you'll die in a most horrific way." That's pretty harsh I suppose, but not as harsh as saying "...except you won't die all the way. You'll die and then you'll keep on dying a second death forever and ever." which is actually closer to the truth. Without Jesus, that's what you can look forward to, and that's intense. I don't really want to do that, because it brings me to a fourth thought:
God's plan includes people being in Hell.
I'm not yet done with Erasing Hell, but I took some time to read a couple other titles regarding Hell and so when I read Psalm 32 I think I would've printed the word "Blessed" in bold face with all caps. God is so good to even offer us a chance at eternity with Him it just blows my mind. We who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour are BLESSED!
~~JBH
