“Thou art my hiding-place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.”—Ps. xxxii. 7, 8. WELL, indeed, may the Psalmist say, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,” for every blessing flows into the soul as the consequence of divine forgiveness. The word in the Hebrew rendered “Blessed” is in the plural number, to show that there is not one blessing only, but multiplied blessings and multiplied mercies, all springing from this one source, the forgiveness of sin. When David wrote these words he felt the truth of them. He spoke of a gift which he had himself experienced. He had found mercy, so he proclaimed its richness. We know how grievously he fell in the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah, and we remember Nathan’s visit. It was after that visit that, according to the general belief, this Psalm was written. He had struggled with the agonies of unforgiven sin, till at length the message was delivered to him by the prophet, “The Lord, also, hath put away thy sin.” {5} No wonder, then, that he poured out his heart in this hymn of thanksgiving, commencing with the words, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” But it is not merely a Psalm of thanksgiving, for according to the title it was a Maschil, a Psalm giving instruction. When David was pleading for mercy in Psalm li., he said that when he had found forgiveness himself, he would make it known for the good of others, “Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.” {6} So now, having been forgiven, he wrote this Psalm of instruction for others. “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” These were the words with which David commenced his Psalm, and in these words he said that to which every forgiven soul will most heartily add, “Amen.” What was the peculiar character of that blessedness? We learn from verses 3 and 4 the awful misery of sin unrepented and unforgiven. We find how David’s tears were dried up by the burning heat of a guilty conscience, and how the dreadful burden weighed day and night upon his soul. Then in the next verse we are taught the secret of the great transition from misery to peace. We find how he made up his mind to make no further efforts to conceal his guilt. He resolved to confess it before God, and no longer attempt to hide it from man. The result was a complete, assured, and most merciful forgiveness. “Thou forgavest,” he said, “the iniquity of my sin.” He was assured of the gift, but what was the unspeakable blessedness to which, when forgiven, he was admitted?