They hid because their eyes had been opened to their sin, and they knew that they were naked (Genesis 3:7-8). Adam and Eve hid in the Garden of Eden when they heard Yahweh coming their way. In like manner, Yahweh’s hand feels heavy when we are aware of our guilt. The police officer’s hand is heavy, because it signals the presence of a whole system of law enforcement that the offender is not likely to evade. We talk about the heavy hand of the law, a phrase that depicts the hand of a police officer on the shoulder of an offender––a hand that feels heavy even if the police officer has not applied great force. In the Bible, the laying on of hands is a rite used to convey a blessing (Genesis 48:14) or healing (Matthew 9:18 Acts 28:8)––or to consecrate an offering (Leviticus 8:14)––or to set aside a particular person for a Godly purpose (Acts 6:6 1 Timothy 4:14 2 Timothy 1:6). Our hands make it possible to do things, and so have become a symbol of power and authority. “For day and night your hand was heavy on me” (v. When we don’t want to deal with an unpleasant reality, we fight hard to avoid it––but reality will not long be denied. The sense that we have from this verse is that the psalmist was aware of his sin, but was refusing to admit it. His silence, however, was broken by the groaning that welled up from the core of his being all day long––and probably all night long as well. About what has the psalmist been keeping silence? Verse 5 tells us that he was keeping silence about his sin––refusing to acknowledge it––refusing to seek forgiveness. “When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long” (v. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. I ACKNOWLEDGED MY SIN TO GODģ When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.Ĥ For day and night your hand was heavy on me. To have no remiyyah is to be honest and above board––dependable––reliable––truthful––a person of integrity. The Hebrew word ruah means spirit, wind, or breath––much like the Greek word pneuma, used often in the New Testament, meaning spirit or wind.

“in whose spirit (Hebrew: ruah) there is no deceit” (Hebrew: remiyyah) (v. To impute ( hasab) iniquity is to consider it––to charge the sinner with it––to hold the sinner accountable for it. “Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute (Hebrew: hasab) iniquity” (v. The phrase “forgive and forget” comes to mind. It is as if our sins have become invisible.

When God forgives us, our sins are covered or concealed ( kasah) so that God no longer sees them.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. In the Old Testament, the remedy for sin included animal sacrifices in which the animal bore the punishment for the sin of the person offering the sacrifice. All three disrupt the relationship between the sinner/transgressor and God, necessitating some sort of intervention to restore that relationship. Transgressions ( pesa) and sins ( hatta’t) are much alike, but pesa (transgressions) has a more rebellious tone. The psalmist says that we are blessed when our transgressions ( pesa) are forgiven and our sins ( hatta’t) are covered or concealed ( kasah). The word ‘eser means blessed or happy or blissful. “Blessed (Hebrew: ‘eser) is he whose disobedience (Hebrew: pesa––transgression) is forgiven, whose sin (Hebrew: hatta’t) is covered” (Hebrew: kasah) (v. BLESSED IS THE PERSON WHO IS FORGIVENġ Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,Ģ Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity,

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