Ps. 31.1 (the 'covering' of sin)

“Whose sin / is covered.” The juxtaposition of these images of lifting and covering is interesting. In the first, it would seem as if the weight was ‘covering’ the psalmist, whereas here ‘blessedness’ consists precisely in ‘covering’. It is obvious that these images are not to be taken literally but are all, together, attempting to evoke the sense of forgiveness resulting from confession and a sacrificial offering. Furthermore, as with ‘iniquity’ the psalm later refers to ‘covering’ but in exactly the opposite manner: the psalmist resolves to “not cover” my iniquity. This is not, I think, a contradiction. The importance is in who is performing the action. In the first Yhwh ‘covers’ the sin. In the second, the psalmist resolves to uncover it. I cannot help but think here of Adam and Eve. When they first sinned they covered themselves in order to hide their shame. When they were expelled from the garden, however, Yhwh covered them in animal skins. The first is an act of retaining within themselves (of hiding) their sinful act. The second is a merciful act of hiding. The same dynamic seems to be at work here: when the psalmist resolves to confess his sin he describes it as an ‘uncovering’; like Adam and Eve he had, previously, attempted to, by silence (notice too how Adam and Eve remained silent when Yhwh called to them), cover over his sin. Once confessed, however, Yhwh mercifully, just as in the garden, “covers” it. He, in the words of this psalm, can be seen to ‘silence’ it. The reason for the change is the same as in the garden: because the sin was committed against Yhwh he is the one who has the jurisdiction (the power) to deal with it as he deems appropriate. Adam and Eve’s original impulse to cover it was, therefore, correct; however, just like their original ‘grasping’, the covering was to be accomplished by Yhwh, not by them. When they attempt to do it, it leads to silence, avoidance and shame. When Yhwh covers them, it leads to the reverse: freedom and security. As to why it is not removed: in the garden the sin led to shame, not to ‘weight’; therefore, its ‘healing’ would be through an act of ‘covering’, not removal. 
And so, the progression is this: sin - covering - confession - uncovering/nakedness - covering by Yhwh. We find here a rather beautiful analogy for what happens in the act of confession as one exposes one's shame, only to have it (re)covered by Yhwh.