This psalm teaches the blessedness of the man whose sin is forgiven for where he once travailed with unconfessed sin and having experienced God's discipline and chastisement for resisting God's way, finally yielded himself by confessing his sins, experiencing mercy for trusting God with deliverance and guidance, expresses his exuberant joy for sins forgiveness. (Summary Statement)
I will ask three questions and will try to answer them based from the answers provided in the verses of this psalm.
Psalm 32 is called a penitential psalm, where the Psalmist expressed penitence or contrition of heart for sinning against God. A Psalm of David - it gives the spiritual journey of David. It revealed David's deep understanding of God's forgiveness and the joy of reconciliation with God. It is called a Maschil – a contemplative poem, a poem of instruction.
This psalm speaks of the blessings of sins forgiven, reconciliation with God. When we sinned against God, our conscience gives to us no rest until we repent and submit to God's authority and sovereignty in our lives. The inner struggles of the heart were vividly described by the psalmist and how he had no peace in his heart until he yielded to God and repented of his sins. (Summary statement)
The man described in this psalm is the Hebrew word that means the earthly man, made from the dust of the ground, used in verse 2 , cursed as a result of the Fall – "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19 ) The word is generally used throughout the O.T. to signify human nature or the human race generally, as contrasted with God above, describing the feeble, mortal and earthly man, showing forth the sense of his weakness. The heart of this man is bear before us in this psalm for sin has plunged his soul into great turmoil.
Notice transgression, sin, iniquity. Forgiven, covered, imputeth in verse 1-2 . Instruct, teach, guide in verse 8 . Be glad, rejoice and shout for joy in verse 11 .
They form a triac, three different words with the same meaning. The psalmist use the repetition of words similar in sense but different in sound and origin.
The single most important characteristic of Hebrew poetry is repetition. It is called parallelism. It expresses thoughts – similar thoughts or contrasting thoughts. In this psalm we see the full expression of similar thoughts in triacs in verse 1 and 2 , in verse 8 and verse 11 .
Here it is the divine Spirit that caused the mind to look again and again at the subject – our justification. God uses it to emphasize His wisdom, power, or purpose, when similar words are heaped together to attract the attention and impress the mind deeply.
Here below is a running summary of the verses in this psalm which will be the approach in the exposition of this psalm.
We shall begin taking verse 1 and 2 together. It pronounces the blessings of sins forgiven. It is given freely by the grace of God, you cannot work for it.
First some definitions: The Hebrew word for "transgression" comes from the root, to break or to break with, hence to break covenant with God is to rebel, to transgress, to revolt, to sin. In the majority of the 40 times the word is used in the Old Testament, it describes direct rebellion against Yahweh, Israel's covenant God. The Mosaic covenant depicts Yahweh as the only one who can grant or refuse to grant forgiveness for sin. Numbers 14:18 "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." And Joshua 24:19 "And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins."
Our sins alienates us from God, unless we repent of them, the psalmist's experience is a guilt-plagued conscience.
Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven. To be forgiven is to have sins taken away, lifted off. This word is in the passive meaning that we cannot take away our own sins. It is being taken away by an external party – God. Remember in Pilgrim's Progress, how the burden of Christian's back was lifted off him when he came to the cross?
Blessed is he whose sin is covered. Sin is (chtaah) in Hebrew, missing the mark against the standard of God's Word, as delineated most emphatically in the Ten Commandments. It also describes to miss the step or footing, and to stumble – hence to err, go astray, trespass. Every departure from God's law is therefore a missing of the mark and trespass against Him. The Hebrew word at the end of the sentance is in the passive meaning being covered. The action of covering is done on the subject, the sinner. Again the word is in the passive, we cannot cover our own sins. The Bible tells that our sins are covered by the righteousness earned on our behalf by the shed blood of Christ. Hence God now longer hold His wrath against the sinner.
Remember after the fall, Genesis 3:7 "And the eyes of both Adam and Eve were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." The leaves they made for themselves could not cover the guilt of their sins. But God was gracious to save them by the coats of skin, a pre-figure of Christ – sinless the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world for in Genesis 3:21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them." And after which Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Although cleansed by blood of Christ, man is positionally righteous before God, but the sin nature continue to reside in this earthly man Adam. We may have received the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and are justified in the sight of God. However, when we are not hiding God's word in our hearts and let it rule and direct our steps, we can still fall. Here is the description of David's fall into sin, a man after God's own heart.
Blessed is the man whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity. Iniquity is (avon) in Hebrew, it means a bending or curving, speaks of actions, acting crookedly or perversely. It is generally rendered perverseness. This is the outward manifestation of sin in perverted behaviour. The word "imputeth" means to ascribe, to credit, not to count against us, not remembered is the sense in this verse.
I know of a man after his stint in the army sport long hair and wears make-up. We are told that he worships a Thai god. He made his house to become literally a temple. When we enter the house, there are the idols facing you as you enter and at the side, a box that says "Ai Xin", a donation box. Departure from the living and true God results in perverted behaviour.
The word "guile" means deceit or treachery. David, therefore, means that no man can taste what the forgiveness of sins is until his heart is first cleansed from deceit and treachery.
The confession of David is the experience of everyone. When he kept silent in resistance to God, the inner struggle of conscience and conviction drained away the very vitality of life.
This is the description of verse 3-4 .
Un-confessed sin breeds misery. This is the admonition. Silence communicates. Silence here expresses the emotion, attitude of resisting God. Roaring is the human cry of distress. The torment of the heart due to sin can give rise to physical ailments too. The sensation of pain in the bones is used to express depth of anguish and is linked with unforgiven sin and divine judgment.
David was miserable for a long time Why was he miserable? He had a guilty conscience because he had not confessed his sin. That is the same reason we are unhappy when we sin. But God loves us and wants us to be happy. We will be when we have a clear conscience by confessing our sin. David needed help to admit to his sin and deal with it.
When the sinner admits his own depravity and sinfulness, this is how God's blessing is received. To acknowledge is to own up, to be honest and admit before God where we have fallen short of God's law. The psalmist described that his crooked and perverse ways were not hid from God. Hid is the same word for cover. The essential idea of hiding is concealment or cover up. Note here that the tense is in the active voice, not passive as in verse 1 and 2 . We must do the acknowledging ourselves. It is also in the causative – Hiphil stem. It has the sense the that the psalmist acknowledged his sin due to the intense guilt in the heart that caused him to submit to God.
To confess our sin means to admit our sin, agree with God that it is wrong and be willing to turn from it. It is easy to think we can make our sin go away by covering it up with the many good things you do. We need to confess sin to God and tell the truth to those we've wronged. Only God can take our sin away, and He will 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If we accept God's free gift of salvation, you can be sure that God will forgive your sins when you confess them to Him. But David tried to cover his sin instead of confessing it to God.
We cannot have true peace inside until we have realized that we are a sinner and that we need the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. God hates sin even more than we do. God hates sin so much that He sent His own perfect Son to die on a cross to destroy sin (1 John 3:8b ). Jesus gave He precious blood for you and for me and for everyone (Romans 5:8 ). Jesus came back to life again, and He is alive today. He wants you to be saved from your sin (Acts 16:31 ).
We need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour only one time. From that time on, we belong to Him. But when we sin, we need to confess it to God right away (1 John 1:9 ). Stop now and think in the recent past. Ask God to show you some sin that you need to confess to Him. Ask God to help you admit that sin to Him right now as we consider this verse of confession. Agree with God that it was wrong and tell Him you are willing to turn from it. Then you can be sure God will forgive you your sins and you can have peace inside because you have a clean conscience. Then the good things you do will please God and others.
When God sent Nathan the prophet to confront David of his sin of adultery and murder, he immediately repented 2 Samuel 12:13 "And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die."
Nathan has pronounced the consequences of his sins would mean a troubled family life for him. 2 Samuel 12:9-12 "Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun."
David found it very difficult to admit that he had done wrong. God didn't want David to go on feeling miserable, so He faithfully used Nathan to make David be honest about his sin. Once David was willing to face what he had done, he was able to confess it to God. God helps us to see where we have sinned, by giving us our conscience, His Word, and people like Nathan to point out our wrong to us. The people God uses may be our parents, pastor, Sunday School Teacher, a school teacher, or a friend. Once we see where we are wrong, then with God's help, we can confess our sin to God and we can be sure that when we do, God will forgive us (Psalm 32:1-5 ). It is only God's grace that enables us to admit our sin and be willing to turn from it (1 John 1:9 ). Through Nathan, God was helping David to see what he needed to do.
Verse 5 ends with selah – pause and consider. David makes an address to all who reads the psalm to quickly make right with God before judgment comes. The prophet Jeremiah gives these comforting thoughts to teach us that confession and repentance is for our good always. Jeremiah 29:11-13 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
Seek God early while His longsuffering tarries is the way to receive God's blessings (v 6 ).
This is the third blessing gleaned. When the way of salvation is here shown to the children of God, the greatest care must be taken that no man depart from it in the slightest degree. David is not speaking only for himself who has learned his lesson by his own experience, he now endeavoured to explain the benefit of God's guidance to others that they too may benefit - For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. God's care for his people is described anthropomorphic portrayal of God of his eyes, God's seeing is his care and guidance for his people.
The bridle is the instrument with which a horse is governed and restrained by a rider; consisting of a head-stall, a bit, and reins, with other appendages. Its purpose as a restraint, a curb and a check.
David prayed and ask God for mercy, confessing his sin and asking God to forgive him with contrition of heart. Dear brethren, we have a loving God, an All-Merciful God. David not only wanted God to forgive him his sin, he wanted God to change him so that he wouldn't do the same thing again.
David had peace and joy again, and he praised God. Joy can be the voice of recovery from a wayward path of guilt. The transition from mourning to joy is like turning "wailing into dancing" like the changing of sackcloth into garments of joy (Psalm 30:11 ), the transformation is readily apparent to those who watch. Joy is an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. He labels it joy and says that it must be sharply distinguished both from happiness and from pleasure. Joy is found because he found God as its source. Joy is a by-product of life with God. Joy is not found by seeking it as an end in itself. It must be given by God. Therefore, it is received by faith with the gift of salvation. The energetic welling up of emotion frequently manifests itself in shouting and singing, so that the psalms resound with a chorus of shouts and songs of joy.
Verse 11 contains three verbs in the imperative, a command, an entreaty to rejoice. Why should it not be when our sins are forgiven? The first verb is to rejoice, to be joyful and to be glad. The second verb is another word for rejoicing as when one divide the spoils of the Lord's victory as given in Isaiah 9:3 "Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil." The third verb is "to shout for joy, to sing joyfully."
This psalm speaks of the blessings of sins forgiven, reconciliation with God. When we sinned against God, our conscience gives to us no rest until we repent and submit to God's authority and sovereignty in our lives. The inner struggles of the heart were vividly described by the psalmist and how he had no peace in his heart until he yielded to God and repented of his sins.
Prayer: Surely Lord thou has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Therefore help us to come boldly to throne confess our sins before Thee, thy precious blood will surely cleanse us. In Jesus name, Amen.