Psalm 85

In this psalm, the word Selah came immediately after this passage: “You forgave the guilt of the people and covered all their sins.” (vs 2) If you remember from a few days back, the word Selah most likely means to stop and carefully think about what has just been declared. God forgives our guilt and covers all our sins. Now stop and think about that!

The odd thing is that there is another verse in this psalm that is frequently used to support the idea that Jesus died to satisfy God’s wrath against sin: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” (vs 10) But that idea (that Jesus died to satisfy God’s wrath against sin) goes against the idea laid out in verse 2.

The best definition I ever heard of forgiveness was this: “Forgiveness means giving up the right to get even with someone who has done you wrong.” Forgiveness, then, means not getting even. Forgiveness means not having the score settled. Forgiveness means not having the penalty paid. Forgiveness means that the one who has been wronged personally bears the pain of it—without resorting to revenge, without “getting even.”

Thus, it is clear that if Jesus died to pay the price for our sins to God the Father, then forgiveness does not figure into the deal at all. If the Father has received the payment He requires for sin, then He cannot be said to have forgiven that sin. If He required a pound of flesh to settle the score, then He has not forgiven our sin, He has gotten even. Forgiveness means not having the penalty paid. Selah!

The truth is precisely what it says in verse 2. God is in the forgiveness business. He is in the business of covering guilt and sin. That doesn’t mean eternally ignoring it or pretending like it doesn’t exist; it means coming to us and making us comfortable by covering our shame and guilt while He heals and restores us. This is exactly what He did with Adam and Eve. When, through their sin, they realized they were naked and were ashamed, the first thing He did was cover them.

What this teaches us is that our problem is with sin, not with God. The Jesus who said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34), is the same Jesus who said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). Jesus didn’t buy His Father’s forgiveness for us by dying on the cross. The Father is just as forgiving as the Son, just as eager and willing to save and heal.

I realize that, for some, this probably sounds like heresy. And I will agree that it does fly in the face of how traditional Christianity views the atonement and the relationship between the Father and Son. But when the puzzle pieces of the Bible come together, they reveal a God who is one in character and purpose. This God—in all three persons—is an immediate forgiver of sin, and He is always working to cover us in our guilt so that we will feel comfortable coming to Him with our problems.

Now please, stop and think about that!