These words waft a gentle breeze to a heart hot with the fever of guilt. They offer cool water to the soul thirsty for God’s love but despairing of His mercy.David knew the horror of sin; he had offended against a holy God and had reaped a bitter harvest. At first he refused to acknowledge his wrongdoing to God, so his strength slipped away because of his guilt. When he confessed his offense to God, however, he found mercy: ”You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (5). How could this be? How could a holy and just God forgive willful transgression of His commands, cover over our wrong, fail to charge our debt to our account? A thousand years later, the Apostle Paul explained this mystery: Believers in Christ are ”justified [considered righteous] freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation [sin offering] by His blood, through faith” (Romans 3:24-25). In other words, sinners can be counted as righteous by God if they believe in Jesus, who suffered the penalty they deserve. Is this fair? Not if we look at our performance. If, however, we consider the infinite dignity of the Son of God who became a man, and reflect upon the infinite worth of one drop of His blood, then we can see the justice of God in forgiving sinners. He has punished their sin already in the agonies of Jesus on the cross. Jesus has paid the price to redeem us from the anger of our Creator and Judge. How blessed is the one who receives this free gift of God!