“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity” (Psalm 51:8,9).

Todd helped me break the first bone I ever broke. I broke my finger. Oh, that hurt! A month later I bumped it and, “Ouch!” 

I was so glad when it finally healed. The sign to me that it had finally healed was I didn’t notice any pain when I bumped it. The bone that I crushed (with Todd’s help) rejoiced! 

See the word “bones” in this psalm; it’s plural. Many bones. Imagine if every bone in your body (the human body has 206 bones) was broken. Ouch! It would hurt for months, but then there would be healing and rejoicing! 

They probably wouldn’t heal at the exact same time either, so you’d experience multiple moments of joy. 

Look again at this psalm verse. There is one “iniquity.” That word means “guiltiness.” One, massive, shameful piece of sin is what we were. But in Jesus Christ, God forgave us in one massive work of salvation when Jesus paid the price for our sins. He died and rose. 

Now, instead of just saying, “I forgive you” one time and telling you that you better remember it or you’ll be sad, God says, “I forgive you” for each one of your sins. And says it often. 

Every bone rejoices! Every one of your sins every day is fully forgiven, specifically, individually, again and again! That’s joyful forgiveness!