Psalms 32

Psalms 32:1

Psalm 32: Forgiven!Happiness is to be forgiven! It is an emotion that defies description. It is the relief of an enormous burden lifted, of a debt canceled, of a conscience at rest. Guilt is gone, warfare is ended, peace is enjoyed. To David it meant the forgiveness of his great transgression, the covering of his sin, the non-imputation of his iniquity, and the cleansing of his spirit from deceit. To the believer today it means more than the mere covering of his sin; that was the OT concept of atonement. In this age the believer knows that his sins have been put away completely and buried forever in the sea of God’s forgetfulness. 32:1, 2 In Rom_4:7-8 the Apostle Paul quotes Psa_32:1-2 to show that justification was by faith apart from works even in the OT period. But the proof lies not so much in what David says as in what he does not say. He is not speaking about a righteous man who earns or deserves salvation. He is talking about a sinner who has been forgiven. And he makes no mention of works in describing the blessedness of the forgiven man. Through the Holy Spirit Paul deduces from this that David is describing the happiness of the one to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works altogether (Rom_4:6). 32:3, 4 Next David switches to a minor key. After he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and plotted the death of Uriah, he steadfastly refused to confess his sin. He tried to sweep it all under the rug. Perhaps he rationalized that “time heals all things.” But in his stubborn refusal to break, he was fighting against God and against his own best interests. He became a physical wreck, and it was all caused by his unrelieved anguish of spirit. He realized that God’s hand was heavy upon him, blocking him, thwarting him, frustrating him at every turn. Nothing worked out right anymore. The gears of life never meshed. The carefree days had vanished, and continued existence was as unappealing as an arid wilderness. 32:5 After a year of this impenitence, David finally came to the place where he was willing to utter the three words that God had been waiting for"I have sinned." Then the whole shameful story came out like pus from an abscess. Now there is no attempt to gloss over, to mitigate or to excuse. David finally calls sin by its real name"my sin . . . my iniquity . . . my transgressions." As soon as he confesses, he receives the instant assurance that the Lord has forgiven the iniquity of his sin. 32:6 His experience of answered prayer moves him to pray that all God’s people would prove their Lord in the same way. Those who live in fellowship with the Lord will be delivered in a time of distress. The rush of great waters will never reach them. 32:7 The one who had been so hard and impenitent is now contrite and broken. With keen gratitude He acknowledges that God is his hiding place, his protection from trouble, and the One who surrounds him with songs of deliverance. 32:8, 9 There is a question as to whether verses 8 and 9 are the words of David or of the Lord. If we interpret them as David’s language, then they remind us, in Jay Adam’s words, that “the natural response of forgiveness is to help others by sharing one’s own experience and specifically by counseling others in trouble.” If we adopt the other view, then it is the Lord replying to David’s worship with a promise of guidance and a lesson on the need for constant yieldedness. It is the Father spreading a feast for the returned backslider. He offers supervised instruction about the pathway ahead and personal counsel in all the decisions of life. But there is also a word of caution. Do not be like the horse, restless to move ahead without command, or like the mule, obstinately refusing to go even when directed.

Both animals need the bit and bridle in order to make them submissive and obedient. The believer should be so sensitive to the Lord’s leading that he does not need the harsher disciplines of life to bring him into line. 32:10, 11 As far as David is concerned, the righteous man has it all over the wicked. There is no comparison. Many sorrows are the heritage of the wicked. But the humble believer is surrounded by the mercy of the Lord. So it is only fitting that the righteous should be glad in the LORD and should shout for joy.