Psalms 32:1-4

Psalms 32:1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

The Lord can bless the man who is full of sin only when his sin is covered by the atonement the propitiation which hides his sin even from the sight of God; and he is a truly blessed man who, although he knows himself to be a sinner, also knows that his sin is forgiven and covered.

Psalms 32:2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

He is an honest, truthful, guileless man A man cannot be a blessed man while he is double-minded, while he has graft, or what is here called guile, within him. A sincere and guileless heart is an evidence of grace, so «blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.» But, David, how did you obtain this forgiveness? Let us hear the story of your experience.

Psalms 32:3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

He tells us that he had such a sense of guilt that he could not rest; and until he made confession of his sin to God, he became sick in body as well as in soul. It seemed as if his very bones, the most solid part of his frame, were beginning to decay under the influence of his grief, and he was getting worse and worse in the brokeness of his spirit till he seemed like a dried-up country in which there is no dew. His moisture was turned into the drought of summer. Yes, David; but how did you get rid of your sin? We see how deeply you felt it; how did you get clear of it?

Psalms 32:5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

You see, as long as he covered his sin, God did not cover it, but when he no longer tried to hide it, but made an open confession of it, then God blotted it out, and covered it up for ever. There but a believing confession of sin, and David's heart was at rest at once. Shall we not try the same remedy? Will we not go to God and say, «Father, I have sinned»? Is there any better course than that? Is it not right to acknowledge a wrong? Is it not the simplest and safest way to go at once to him who blots out sin, and ask for mercy?

Psalms 32:6. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place: thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

Surely, if God has given us the pardon of our sin, he will give us everything else that we need. If he has delivered us from hell, he will certainly deliver us from trouble.

Psalms 32:8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

The forgiven man is afraid of going wrong again; he is as anxious about his future life as he was about his past sin. So the Lord meets him, and gives him the gracious promise contained in this verse.

Psalms 32:9. Be ye 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 thee.

Do not be hard-mouthed, be obedient to God's will, be tender of heart, and willing of spirit. The Lord will make his children go in the right way somehow or other, he will put a bit into their mouths if nothing else will do it, but it would be much better for them if they would be of tender and gentle spirit, and would yield at once to his gracious and holy will.

Psalms 32:10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked:

Godly men also have many sorrows, but then they always have sweets with their bitters, but «many sorrows shall be to the wicked,» and there will be no sweets to go with them.

Psalms 32:10. But he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

He shall have mercy all round him. He who trusts his God shall find that the golden compasses of divine mercy shall strike a circle of gracious protection all round him: «mercy shall compass him about.»

Psalms 32:11. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Godly men ought to be glad men. They have a right to be happy. They recommend the gospel when they are so, and they are the true sons of the King of kings when they do not go mourning all their days.