By David. A contemplative psalm.
1Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah.
5I acknowledged my sin to you.
I didn’t hide my iniquity.
I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
6For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.
Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.
7You are my hiding place.
You will preserve me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
8I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go.
I will counsel you with my eye on you.
9Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding,
who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
10Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh.
11Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
The authority to forgive sins is ascribed only to Israel’s God in the Old Testament (Ps 130:4, 51:1-3; 85:2; 2 Sam 12:13; Ps 32:1-5; 51:3-4, 9-11; 103:3; Isa 44:22; Dan 9:9; Zech 3:4; cf. 1QS 2:8f.; 11.14; CD 2:4-5; 3:18; 4:6-10). In Isa 43:25, YHWH declares himself as the forgiver of Israel’s sins: “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins” (NASB). Micah 7:18 links the act of forgiving sins with the rhetoric concerning God’s uniqueness: “Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity [a]nd passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?” (NASB) Mark’s Gospel itself includes Jesus’ teaching that corresponds to these Old Testament passages: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions” (11:25 NASB [emphasis added]). If Jesus’ authority to forgive sins as portrayed in Mark 2:1-12 is read alongside 11:25 and the noted Old Testament passages, Mark the author is seen to view Jesus as participating in God’s unique prerogative of forgiving sins, and such a view undoubtedly reflects Mark’s high Christology. -John Lee