Psalm 32 A Psalm
of David with Commentaries by Dennis Edwards
32:1-2 Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man
unto whom the Lord imputes
not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
David had sinned in the situation with Bathsheba. His sexual
desires led to the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband. David tried to hide his
sin. He had Uriah killed in battle purposely by enemy fire through withdrawing
his protection. Psalm 51 describes David’s lament and repentance to the
Lord on being found out by the prophet Nathan. The situation is detailed in 2
Samuel 11 & 12. Traditionally, Psalm 32 is another psalm
of repentance connected with the Uriah/Bathsheba event.
Psalm 32:3-4 When I kept silence, my
bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night Your hand
was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
In the Old Testament we read,
Proverbs 28:13 “He that covers his sins
shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.”
In Hebrews we find,
Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the
present seems to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
David did hide his sin. It wasn’t until the prophet Nathan came
and exposed him that he repented and confessed. No doubt God had been working
on him as we see in the lines of the psalm “my moisture is turned into drought of summer.”
Let’s read the account from Samuel.
2 Samuel 12:7-14 “And
Nathan said to David, you are the
man. Thus says the Lord God
of Israel, I anointed you king over Israel, and I
delivered you out of the hand of Saul; And I
gave you your master's house, and your
master's wives into your bosom, and gave you the
house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover
have given unto you such and such (more) things.
“Wherefore have you
despised the commandment of the Lord, to do
evil in His sight? You have killed
Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken
his wife to be your wife, and have slain
him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now
therefore the sword shall never depart from your house;
because you have despised me, and have taken
the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.
“Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will raise up
evil against you out of your own house, and I will
take your wives before your eyes,
and give them unto your neighbour, and he shall
lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you
did it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the
sun.
“And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Howbeit, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto you shall surely die.”
David’s sin was great, but his repentance was also great. Through
it, we, the sinner, have received some beautiful prayers of repentance that have
been a blessing to ourselves, and to many other sorrowful sinners like David.
We all have fallen short of the glory of God.
Psalm 32:5 I acknowledge my sin unto You, and my iniquity have I not hid. I
said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
We see that David acknowledged his sin once he was caught. How
much better for us to confess our sins to the Lord knowing that He knows them
anyway.
Jesus said that there is nothing hidden that shall not be
revealed. He said, that which was done in secret shall be shouted upon the
housetops, Luke 12:2-3. In the Old Testament we read, “Be
sure your sin will find you out,” Numbers 32:23b.
The epistle of John deals with the question of covering, or
confessing our sin.
1 John 1:8-9 “If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sin,
He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
The truth is that we have all sinned and come short of the glory
of God. There is none of us who only does good. We are all sheep that have gone
astray, and have all together become filthy. We have turned everyone to his own
way.
But God has offered us a way of salvation from our rebellious condition.
If we come unto Him in repentance, rather than try to hide in the trees of the forest
like Adam and Eve did, we can be saved. God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of
us all, and has made His soul an offering for our sin.
“What must we do? Repent, and be baptised … in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost,” Acts 2:37b-38.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have
separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from
you, that He will not hear.
But “the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
neither His ear heavy, that He cannot hear,” Isaiah 59:1. We just need
to confess and forsake our sins.
Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while He may
be found, call upon Him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will
have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
In Micah we find the same sentiment.
Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like unto You,
that pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His
heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He
will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our
iniquities; and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.”
Psalm 32:6-7 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto You in a time
when You may be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come
nigh unto him. You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You
shall compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
The Lord has promised to keep us from the hour of trouble that
shall come upon the whole world, because we have kept His word, and not denied
His name, Revelation 3:10. He has told us that He has created us, has
formed us, has redeemed us, and has called us by name; and we are His, Isaiah
43:1. He continues,
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the
waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the
flame kindle upon you.”
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and
teach you in the way which you shall go: I will guide you with my eye.
God promises to be our guide throughout life. His word can help do
the job, if we spend time reading and meditating on it.
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp unto my
feet, and a light unto my path.”
Psalm 119:9 “Wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Your word.”
Psalm 32:9 Be not as the horse, or as
the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and
bridle, lest they come near unto you.
Apostle James uses the same imagery of the horse with the bit and
bridle in his chapter on the tongue and the problem we have controlling it in James
3. God can help us control our tongue and our other desires, if we come
unto Him with all our hearts. Jesus said,
Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all you the
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Maybe your heavy laden with sin and problems which you can’t seem
to get the victory over. Jesus is saying to come to Him and He will give you
rest from the constant strife or defeat you are experiencing. He will bring
victory.
Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and
learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest for your
souls.”
He wants us to find that place of peace and rest of spirit, not
the constant striving, the constant anguish of heart and mind and soul. But we
have to come unto Him. We have to cast our burdens, our problems, even our sins
upon Jesus. His shoulders are broad enough to carry any load of sin or guilt or
addiction we may be struggling with and bring victory.
Psalm 32:10 Many sorrows shall be to the
wicked: but he that trusts in the Lord, mercy
shall compass him about.
The choice is ours: self-righteously carry our own sin; or confess
and forsake our sin, that God may extend His mercy to us.
James 4:6b & 10 “God resists the proud, but
give grace unto the humble… Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He
shall lift you up.”
Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you that are
upright in heart.
We can be glad. We can rejoice. We can shout for joy. Why? Because
we have believed on the name of the Son of God. Our sins are pardoned and we
are washed in the blood of the Lamb. We have no fear of death, nor fear of
judgment for our sins, because we have repented of them, confessed them,
forsaken them, and been made new. “Old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17b.
Have you believed on the name of the Son of God? He calls us all to just come as we are and He will make us new. We’ve got to do the coming. He’ll do the rest!
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