Today, I am reading and commenting on  Psalms 60-67.

The psalmist praised God through many of today’s psalms.  We should echo that praise today. In Psalm 65:3 he writes,

When we were overwhelmed by sins,
you forgave[p] our transgressions.

The translation note indicated by the [p] in that quote says that the word(s) translated as “forgave” could be translated as “made atonement for”.  I suspect the translators chose “forgave” here because it makes the translation better poetry.  However, I think “made atonement for” gives us a better idea of what the psalmist was truly saying.  Sooner or later, our sins will overwhelm us, we will be crushed under the weight of guilt for our evil actions.  God did not just forgive us, He made atonement for our sin.  He made it possible for us to forgive ourselves.  And for that we should praise God.  Then is Psalm 66 the psalmist tells us that God has refined us like silver.  He passed us through fire and water in order to cleanse us of all impurities.  God did not refine us in order to make atonement for us.  He made the atonement when Christ died on the cross.  No, God refined us in order to make us useful for His purposes.  So, let us join with the psalmist in telling others what God has done for us!

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.