Many people here have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and that is a good thing because that is how we become a part of God’s family and that is how have eternal life with God in heaven. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God begins a good work in each one of us. The good work that God does is to make us become more like God’s son Jesus. The reason for this is because Jesus has a proper relationship with God, and we don’t have a perfect relationship with God. Jesus has this relationship because he has never done anything that would go against God’s perfect standard.

When we accept Jesus, then God puts us into his training program. There is much that God has to teach us, and the Bible says that we will never learn all that God has to teach us. But that is OK, because God knows what He is doing in each one of us, and that is God’s plan for you and for me.

I want to tell you a story from the Bible about a man named David who was in God’s training program just like you and I are. David loved God and God loved David just as God loves you and loves me. But during David’s training program, he did some things that went against God’s perfect standard. When this happens to any one of us, it is called “Sin”. Sin is when we go against God’s rules.

Well, David sinned. And we all do that from time to time. But what I want to show you is what we call “The Rest of the Story”…that is, what happened AFTER David sinned and how did David deal with his sin…Let me ask you this same question, “After you accepted Jesus, and perhaps you did not do everything God wanted you to do, how did you handle the matter?”

You see, David had been washed, and cleaned, and delivered from guilt by God, but then he sinned, and we have him as our example so we will know what to do if we get into that situation…..and I have been in that situation. Most of us have, if we are honest about it.

David wrote about his situation and it is recorded in Psalm 32.

David had a burden of guilt over what he had done. As far as I know, the only cure for guilt is to receive forgiveness. And the only thing that is necessary for a person to receive forgiveness from God is to repent. Now, the word “repent” means to turn away from your sinful behavior and to turn toward doing what God tells you to do.

The only thing required by God to forgive you is that you are willing to repent. There is this relationship between these three qualities: Guilt comes to us when we do something wrong.

When we turn away from the wrong thing, that is called “REPENTANCE”.

God forgives us, and we are relieved of the burden of guilt.

Anyone who has gone through the pain of guilt; and the sorrow of repentance, I am sure, has also experienced the unspeakable joy of forgiveness. There is nothing better than being forgiven by God. Our God is a forgiving God and he gives us second chances.

The goal of repentance is to have our soul restored to the way that God originally intended for it to be, and to have fellowship with God. When this happens, it gives us great joy.

In Psalm 32, David gives us his feelings of joy over being forgiven. In verse 1 he says,

Blessed is the person whose rebellion is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the person to whom the LORD has cleared of sin,
Whose lives are lived in complete honesty.

These powerful words are quoted in the New Testament as the apostle Paul sets forth the Good News of the Gospel in the book of Romans. When Bible writers have good news to share they often start that news with the word “Blessed”, as “Blessed is the person whose sin is covered”.

There is nothing closer to the heart of Christianity than what David says in Psalm 32:1: Blessed is the person whose sin is forgiven….

Nothing is more important to us Christians, because each one of us has had their sins forgiven by God. This happened to us when we repented when we turned away from our sin and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

When we enter into that reconciled relationship with God by which our sins are forgiven is to enter into a blessed condition. We are blessed not because we have done so well; but because we are forgiven.

Our sin is covered by the righteousness of Jesus. When God looks at us, all he sees is the righteous covering that comes from our belief and trust in Jesus. So we are blessed both by being forgiven and by having our sins hidden from God.

Our nakedness is covered by the righteous garments of Jesus Christ. That is the blessedness of forgiveness.