Psalm 31: overview. David recognizes and testifies that forgiveness and mercy are unmerited graces that come solely from an all merciful and full-of-compassionate God. When we acknowledge our sinfulness and entrust ourselves to the loving mercy of God in faith, then freed from our sins, we can love as God loves us, again by the grace of God. This understanding is a foreshadowing of the fuller revelation by Jesus in the New Testament. Our repentant sins are forgiven and we are reconciled back to God by the death and resurrection of Jesus. We love because God first loved us.