The Forgiver
The Forgiver
(#262 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Against You [Yahweh], You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight— that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.” (Psalms 51:4)
The depth of understanding this is so profound that it could only be received, believed, and shed abroad, by an adulterer, murderer, liar, schemer, and thief, in other words, someone who suffered for his sin (truly repented), and then experienced Yahweh’s forgiveness. It takes spiritual maturity to understand the words, “Against Yahweh only,” spiritual maturity gained in the valley of humiliation, the place where the ego goes to die. (See Hosea 2:14-15 in devotion # 254.)
And what do we learn from David’s words? When one sinful man fails another, it is a sin against Yahweh. David did not seek forgiveness from those he harmed; he went to the only One who could be sinned against, the Holy One. The entirety of Psalm 51 speaks of David’s genuine repentance for the murder of Uriah and the theft of Bath-Sheba’s purity (2 Samuel 11). Yet, although he harmed another, it was to Yahweh alone he was indebted.
Acknowledging that you are responsible for the murder of His Son (against You only have I sinned) will make you ever cognizant of the price He paid (the place where the ego goes to die), and therefore to whom the debt is owed (repentance).
And when you come to terms with this reality another beautiful pattern emerges. In the midst of this profound revelation a twin revelation is born; “If I only sin against Yahweh, and my sin is ever present except for His Spirit in me, then who in me is actually forgiving others?” And to this question you will once again find that the answer is Yahweh alone. It is against Yahweh alone you sin and it is Yahweh alone who forgives! And because the love of the Almighty has been poured out in our hearts [mind] by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5), you now can forgive others with His Spirit in you.
As you apply this supernatural revelation to all circumstances, you become a vessel through which others can realize the same. The next time someone asks you for your forgiveness, perhaps you might say, “If Yahweh forgives you, that’s all that matters.”