January 28

Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.— Psalms 32:1.

It would be a vain and ridiculous labor, to light up a great number of lanterns and torches, and go about to look for the sun in the night; but when the appointed hour of the morning comes, he arises, as if of his own accord, and freely manifests himself, by his own lustre, to every beholder. The wisest of the heathens undertook to find out the Supreme Being and the supreme good; but wandering through the devious ways of multiplied errors, they could attain to neither. Nor was it the least of their errors, that they sought them as two different things, when it is most certain that they are both united in one; for it is the only and ultimate happiness of man, to be united to that first and Supreme Being and good, from which he drew his original. But since there has so sad a distance and disagreement arisen between God and man, by our deplorable apostasy from him, there could not be the least hope of attaining that union, did not infinite goodness and mercy propose the full and free pardon of our offences; so that the true determination of this grand question, about happiness, is evidently that, blessed and happy is that man whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Innocence was the first means of obtaining happiness, which, being once violated, the only plank that can save us after our shipwreck, is remission and repentance; which two things the whole Scripture assures us, that the Divine wisdom has so connected, as with an adamantine band.

Blessed. Or, O blessed man, or, Oh, the felicities of that man!—to denote the most supreme and perfect blessedness. He only has attained to complete felicity whose numerous debts are all remitted, though, far from being able to pay them, he could not so much as reckon them up. And blessed is he that knows it, as the proverb is, "No man is happy but he who thinks himself so."

The man whose iniquity is forgiven. As the word is nesevi, it might be rendered, Blessed is the man who is eased of the heavy burden of his sin. A burden, indeed, too heavy for the strongest man upon earth; a burden so dreadfully great, that God's angels are not able to stand under it; for many of the chief of them were pressed down to hell by it, and can rise no more. But though no giant upon earth or in heaven could bear it, a Lamb subjected himself to it. But it was a Lamb without blemish and without spot, burdened with no load of his own sin, nor stained with the least spot of pollution. The Lamb of God, the Son of God, who is himself God, is he, who takes away all the sins of the world, as one sin: taking the burden upon himself, he bears it and carries it away.

Covered. That sinners may more clearly apprehend, and 3* easily and firmly believe a thing which seems so difficult, as the free and full remission of sin, it is pointed out by various beautiful expressions and figures in the sacred Scriptures: washing, cleansing, blotting out, scattering like a cloud, entirely forgetting, casting into the bottom of the sea, and here, by that of taking away and covering, and by that phrase which explains both, of not imputing them. And this expression of covering them, is with great propriety added to the former phrase of lightening the sinner of the burden of them, that there may be no fear of their returning again, or coming into sight, since God has not only taken the heavy load from their shoulders, but for ever hidden it from his own eyes, and the vail of mercy has taken it away; that great covering of Divine love, which is large enough to overspread so many and so great offences. Thus it does, as it were, turn away the penetrating eye of his justice, which the most secret inquiry could not elude, did not be himself in pity voluntarily avert it.

But you well know what is our propitiatory, what the covering of the mercy-seat, even Jesus, who was typified by that Caporeth in the temple, which the Septuagint renders, a propitiatory covering: by which title our great Redeemer is marked out, Romans 3:25, as the same Hebrew word, Caphar, signifies both to cover and to expiate.

"Behold, for me the Victim bleeds,— His wounds are open wide; For me the blood of sprinkling pleads, And speaks me justified."