Psalm 32:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
Psalm 32
Complete Concise
This psalm, though it speaks not of Christ, as many of the
psalms we have hitherto met with have done, has yet a great deal of gospel in
it. The apostle tells us that David, in this psalm, describes "the
blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without words,"
Rom. 4:6. We have here a summary, I. Of gospel grace in the pardon of sin (v. 1,
2), in divine protection (v. 7), and divine guidance (v. 8). II. Of gospel duty.
To confess sin (v. 3-5), to pray (v. 6), to govern ourselves well (v. 9, 10),
and to rejoice in God (v. 11). The way to obtain these privileges is to make
conscience of these duties, which we ought to think of—of the former for our
comfort, of the latter for our quickening, when we sing this psalm. Grotius
thinks it was designed to be sung on the day of atonement.
A psalm of David, Maschil.
Verses 1-6
This psalm is entitled
Maschil, which some take to be
only the name of the tune to which it was set and was to be sung. But others
think it is significant; our margin reads it,
A psalm of David giving
instruction, and there is nothing in which we have more need of instruction
than in the nature of true blessedness, wherein it consists and the way that
leads to it—what we must do that we may be happy. There are several things in
which these verses instruct us. In general, we are here taught that our
happiness consists in the favour of God, and not in the wealth of this world—in
spiritual blessings, and not the good things of this world. When David says (Ps.
1:1),
Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
and (Ps. 119:1),
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, the meaning is,
"This is the character of the blessed man; and he that has not this
character cannot expect to be happy:" but when it is here said,
Blessed
is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, the meaning is, "This is the
ground of his blessedness: this is that fundamental privilege from which all the
other ingredients of his blessedness flow." In particular, we are here
instructed,
I. Concerning the nature of the pardon of sin. This is that
which we all need and are undone without; we are therefore concerned to be very
solicitous and inquisitive about it. 1. It is the forgiving of transgression.
Sin
is the transgression of the law. Upon our repentance, the transgression is
forgiven; that is, the obligation to punishment which we lay under, by virtue of
the sentence of the law, is vacated and cancelled; it is
lifted off (so
some read it), that by the pardon of it we may be eased of a burden, a heavy
burden, like a load on the back, that makes us stoop, or a load on the stomach,
that makes us sick, or a load on the spirits, that makes us sink. The remission
of sins gives rest and relief to those that were
weary and heavily laden,
Mt. 11:28. 2. It is the covering of sin, as nakedness is covered, that it may
not appear to our shame, Rev. 3:18. One of the first symptoms of guilt in our
first parents was blushing at their own nakedness. Sin makes us loathsome in the
sight of God and utterly unfit for communion with him, and, when conscience is
awakened, it makes us loathsome to ourselves too; but, when sin is pardoned, it
is covered with the robe of Christ's righteousness, like the coats of skins
wherewith God clothed Adam and Eve (an emblem of the remission of sins), so that
God is no longer displeased with us, but perfectly reconciled. They are not
covered from us (no;
My sin is ever before me) nor covered from God's
omniscience, but from his vindictive justice. When he pardons sin he
remembers
it no more, he
casts it behind his back, it
shall be sought for
and not found, and the sinner, being thus reconciled to God, begins to be
reconciled to himself. 3. It is the not imputing of iniquity, not laying it to
the sinner's charge, not proceeding against him for it according to the
strictness of the law, not dealing with him as he deserves. The righteousness of
Christ being imputed to us, and we being made
the righteousness of God in
him, our iniquity is not imputed, God having
laid upon him the iniquity
of us all and made him
sin for us. Observe, Not to impute iniquity is
God's act, for he is the Judge.
It is God that justifies.
II. Concerning the character of those whose sins are pardoned:
in
whose spirit there is no guile. He does not say, "There is no
guilt"
(for who is there that lives and sins not?), but no
guile; the pardoned
sinner is one that does not dissemble with God in his professions of repentance
and faith, nor in his prayers for peace or pardon, but in all these is sincere
and means as he says—that does not repent with a purpose to sin again, and
then sin with a purpose to repent again, as a learned interpreter glosses upon
it. Those that design honestly, that are really what they profess to be, are
Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile.
III. Concerning the happiness of a justified state:
Blessednesses
are to the man whose iniquity is forgiven, all manner of blessings,
sufficient to make him completely blessed. That is taken away which incurred the
curse and obstructed the blessing; and then God will pour out blessings till
there be no room to receive them. The forgiveness of sin is that article of the
covenant which is the reason and ground of all the rest.
For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, Heb. 8:12.
IV. Concerning the uncomfortable condition of an unhumbled
sinner, that sees his guilt, but is not yet brought to make a penitent
confession of it. This David describes very pathetically, from his own sad
experience (v. 3, 4):
While I kept silence my bones waxed old. Those may
be said to keep silence who stifle their convictions, who, when they cannot but
see the evil of sin and their danger by reason of it, ease themselves by not
thinking of it and diverting their minds to something else, as Cain to the
building of a city,—who
cry not when God binds them,—who will not
unburden their consciences by a penitent confession, nor seek for peace, as they
ought, by faithful and fervent prayer,—and who choose rather to pine away in
their iniquities than to take the method which God has appointed of finding rest
for their souls. Let such expect that their smothered convictions will be a fire
in their bones, and the wounds of sin, not opened, will fester, and grow
intolerably painful. If conscience be seared, the case is so much the more
dangerous; but if it be startled and awake, it will be heard. The hand of divine
wrath will be felt lying heavily upon the soul, and the anguish of the spirit
will affect the body; to the degree David experienced it, so that when he was
young his bones waxed old; and even his silence made him
roar all the day
long, as if he had been under some grievous pain and distemper of body, when
really the cause of all his uneasiness was the struggle he felt in his own bosom
between his convictions and his corruptions. Note,
He that covers his sin
shall not prosper; some inward trouble is required in repentance, but there
is much worse in impenitency.
V. Concerning the true and only way to peace of conscience. We
are here taught to confess our sins, that they may be forgiven, to declare them,
that we may be justified. This course David took:
I acknowledged my sin unto
thee, and no longer
hid my iniquity, v. 5. Note, Those that would
have the comfort of the pardon of their sins must take shame to themselves by a
penitent confession of them. We must confess the fact of sin, and be particular
in it
(Thus and thus have I done), confess the fault of sin, aggravate
it, and lay a load upon ourselves for it
(I have done very wickedly),
confess the justice of the punishment we have been under for it
(The Lord is
just in all that is brought upon us), and that we deserve much worse—
I
am no more worthy to be called thy son. We must confess sin with shame and
holy blushing, with fear and holy trembling.
VI. Concerning God's readiness to pardon sin to those who
truly repent of it:
"I said, I will confess (I sincerely resolved
upon it, hesitated no longer, but came to a point, that I would make a free and
ingenuous confession of my sins)
and immediately
thou forgavest the
iniquity of my sin, and gavest me the comfort of the pardon in my own
conscience; immediately I found rest to my soul." Note, God is more ready
to pardon sin, upon our repentance, than we are to repent in order to the
obtaining of pardon. It was with much ado that David was here brought to confess
his sins; he was put to the rack before he was brought to do it (v. 3, 4), he
held out long, and would not surrender till it came to the last extremity; but,
when he did offer to surrender, see how quickly, how easily, he obtained good
terms: "I did but say,
I will confess, and thou forgavest."
Thus the father of the prodigal saw his returning son
when he was yet afar
off, and ran to meet him with the kiss that sealed his pardon. What an
encouragement is this to poor penitents, and what an assurance does it give us
that,
if we confess our sins, we shall find God, not only
faithful and
just, but gracious and kind,
to forgive us our sins!
VII. Concerning the good use that we are to make of the
experience David had had of God's readiness to forgive his sins (v. 6):
For
this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. Note, 1. All godly people
are praying people. As soon as ever Paul was converted,
Behold, he prays,
Acts 9:11. You may as soon find a living man without breath as a living
Christian without prayer. 2. The instructions given us concerning the happiness
of those whose sins are pardoned, and the easiness of obtaining the pardon,
should engage and encourage us to pray, and particularly to pray,
God be
merciful to us sinners. For this shall every one that is well inclined be
earnest with God in prayer, and
come boldly to the throne of grace, with
hopes to
obtain mercy, Heb. 4:16. 3. Those that would speed in prayer
must seek the Lord in
a time when he will be found. When, by his
providence, he calls them to seek him, and by his Spirit stirs them up to seek
him, they must
go speedily to seek the Lord (Zec. 8:21) and lose no time,
lest death cut them off, and then it will be too late to seek him, Isa. 55:6.
Behold,
now is the accepted time, 2 Co. 6:2, 4. Those that are sincere and abundant
in prayer will find the benefit of it when they are in trouble:
Surely in the
floods of great waters, which are very threatening,
they shall not come
nigh them, to terrify them, or create them any uneasiness, much less shall
they overwhelm them. Those that have God
nigh unto them in all that which
they call upon him for, as all upright, penitent, praying people have, are
so guarded, so advanced, that no waters—no, not great waters—no, not floods
of them, can come nigh them, to hurt them. As the temptations of the
wicked
one touch them not (1 Jn. 5:18), so neither do the troubles of this evil
world; these fiery darts of both kinds, drop short of them.
Verses 7-11
David is here improving the experience he had had of the comfort
of pardoning mercy.
I. He speaks to God, and professes his confidence in him and
expectation from him, v. 7. Having tasted the sweetness of divine grace to a
penitent sinner, he cannot doubt of the continuance of that grace to a praying
saint, and that in that grace he should find both safety and joy. 1. Safety:
"Thou
art my hiding-place; when by faith I have recourse to thee I see all the
reason in the world to be easy, and to think myself out of the reach of any real
evil.
Thou shalt preserve me from trouble, from the sting of it, and from
the strokes of it as far as is good for me.
Thou shalt preserve me from
such trouble as I was in
while I kept silence," v. 3. When God has
pardoned our sins, if he leaves us to ourselves, we shall soon run as far in
debt again as ever and plunge ourselves again into the same gulf; and therefore,
when we have received the comfort of our remission, we must fly to the grace of
God to be preserved from returning to folly again, and having our hearts again
hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. God keeps his people from trouble by
keeping them from sin. 2. Joy: "Thou shalt not only deliver me, but
compass
me about with songs of deliverance; which way soever I look I shall see
occasion to rejoice and to praise God; and my friends also shall compass me
about in the great congregation, to join with me in songs of praise: they shall
join their songs of deliverance with mine. As
every one that is godly shall
pray with me, so they shall give thanks with me."
II. He turns his speech to the children of men. Being himself
converted, he does what he can to
strengthen his brethren (Lu. 22:32):
I
will instruct thee, whoever thou art that desirest instruction,
and teach
thee in the way which thou shalt go, v. 8. This, in another of his
penitential psalms, he resolves that when God should have restored to him the
joy of his salvation he would teach transgressors his ways, and do what he could
to convert sinners to God, as well as to comfort those that were converted, Ps.
51:12, 13. When Solomon became a penitent he immediately became a preacher,
Eccl. 1:1. Those are best able to teach others the grace of God who have
themselves had the experience of it: and those who are themselves taught of God
ought to
tell others what he has done for their souls (Ps. 66:16) and so
teach them.
I will guide thee with my eye. Some apply this to God's
conduct and direction. He teaches us by his word and guides us with his eye, by
the secret intimations of his will in the hints and turns of Providence, which
he enables his people to understand and take direction from, as a master makes a
servant know his mind by a wink of his eye. When Christ turned and looked upon
Peter he guided him with his eye. But it is rather to be taken as David's
promise to those who sat under his instruction, his own children and family
especially:
"I will counsel thee; my eye shall be upon thee"
(so the margin reads it); "I will give thee the best counsel I can and then
observe whether thou takest it or no." Those that are taught in the word
should be under the constant inspection of those that teach them; spiritual
guides must be overseers. In this application of the foregoing doctrine
concerning the blessedness of those whose sins are pardoned we have a word to
sinners and a word to saints; and this is rightly dividing the word of truth and
giving to each their portion.
1. Here is a word of caution to sinners, and a good reason is
given for it. (1.) The caution is, not to be unruly and ungovernable:
Be you
not as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding, v. 9. When the
psalmist would reproach himself for the sins he repented of he compared himself
to a
beast before God (
so foolish have I been and ignorant, Ps.
73:22) and therefore warns others not to be so. It is our honour and happiness
that we have understanding, that we are capable of being governed by reason and
of reasoning with ourselves. Let us therefore use the faculties we have, and act
rationally. The horse and mule must be managed
with bit and bridle, lest they
come near us, to do us a mischief, or (as some read it) that they may come
near to us, to do us service, that they
may obey us, Jam. 3:3. Let us not
be like them; let us not be hurried by appetite and passion, at any time, to go
contrary to the dictate of right reason and to our true interest. If sinners
would be governed and determined by these, they would soon become saints and
would not go a step further in their sinful courses; where there is renewing
grace there is no need of the bit and bridle of restraining grace. (2.) The
reason for this caution is because the way of sin which we would persuade you to
forsake will certainly end in sorrow (v. 10):
Many sorrows shall be to the
wicked, which will not only spoil their vain and carnal mirth, and put an
end to it, but will make them pay dearly for it. Sin will have sorrow, if not
repented of, everlasting sorrow. It was part of the sentence,
I will greatly
multiply thy sorrows. "Be wise for yourselves therefore, and turn from
your wickedness, that you may prevent those sorrows, those many sorrows."
2. Here is a word of comfort to saints, and a good reason is
given for that too. (1.) They are assured that if they will but trust in the
Lord, and keep closely to him,
mercy shall compass them about on every
side (v. 10), so that they shall not depart from God, for that mercy shall keep
them in, nor shall any real evil break in upon them, for that mercy shall keep
it out. (2.) They are therefore commanded to
be glad in the Lord, and to
rejoice
in him, to such a degree as even to
shout for joy, v. 11. Let them be so
transported with this holy joy as not to be able to contain themselves; and let
them affect others with it, that they also may see that a life of communion with
God is the most pleasant and comfortable life we can live in this world. This is
that present bliss which the upright in heart, and they are only, are entitled
to and qualified for.
Psalm 32:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Spurgeon
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
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