Praise For Forgiveness!
"Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,
you righteous; and shout for joy,
all you upright in heart!"
Psalm 32: 11
Have you experienced this sheer relief? You're stopped
by a police officer for a traffic violation; you are given a
verbal warning instead of a ticket; you are sent on your
way like it never happened.
Relief? No, joy and thanksgiving! We thank the officer,
then we praise God as we drive away. And after our
praise we attempt to be more
careful.
If we are grateful for that pardon, how grateful should we be when
Almighty God forgives our sins and sends us on our way? After a
brutally honest retelling of his pre-confession suffering from sin,
David praised the Lord for being forgiven (Psalm 32:11). Why
should forgiveness result in praise?
Because God removes our sin far from us (Psalm 103:12). He buries
our sin out of our sight (Micah 7:19). He puts our sins behind His back
(Isaiah 38:17). He blots out our sin (Isaiah 44:22). He treats our sins as
if they never happened (Jeremiah 31:34). That’s why forgiveness
should bring forth praise.
The next time you receive God’s forgiveness, give
Him the praise He deserves from those delivered
from unrighteousness and restored to fellowship.
What we win by prayer,
we must wear with praise.
Matthew Henry
