Psalm 32 - The Final Word

At last, we've reached the final post in the series on Repentance and Amazing Grace in Psalm 32. As a closing meditation, I'd like to offer the words of a song written by one my favorite singer/songwriters. This interpretation by Steve Bell captures the essence quite well:

Psalm 32
By Steve Bell

How blessed are those whose sins are fully forgiven
How blessed are those to whom Yahweh harbors no ill
To whom His Spirit is known

I said not a word
While my bones wasted away
From groaning all day and night
Your hand lay heavy upon me
My heart grew thirsty so I ...

Made myself known to You, I did not hide
My shameful soul, my darkest side
And You loved me, and held me
And you forgave my sin

That is why each one of Your faithful ones prays to You
In times of distress, though dark rivers overflow
You'll never loosen Your hold
For I know it's true
You are a refuge always for me
You guard me with hope
With songs of deliverance surrounding me, so I ...

Make myself known to You, I will not hide
My shameful soul, my darkest side
For You love me, and hold me
And You forgive my sin

Psalm 32:11 - A Changed Heart

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.

David finishes his celebration of repentance with a call for all repentant sinners to take stock of what God has done for them. He highlights the new thinking under which they now operate. This new thinking can be seen in their perspectives on righteousness, their own hearts, and God.

Repentant sinners know a different kind of righteousness

David addresses this verse to "righteous ones." Of whom does he speak? Our cultural conceptions of righteousness present some peculiar distortions. In North America, it is commonly believed that a "righteous one" is a person who is generally virtuous, is active in church, does not sin in overt ways or follows a strict moral code (also, he is boring, uptight, angry and out of touch). Biblical repentance knocks the stuffing out of that view. A person who fits the cultural definition has no need of repentance, he is probably too "good" for it. But the outward goodness man can achieve is very different from the righteousness God requires. What is the Biblical concept?

The words, "upright in heart" offer a clue as to what David had in mind when he spoke of "righteous ones." There is an inner righteousness which consists in aligning one's heart to the perfect standard of righteousness: God. This righteousness starts with a confession of our sinfulness. Compared to God, each one of us is a wretched mess. Whether we have sinned in gross and overt ways is not the point. There is a vast ocean of moral perfection separating God and man. Some are swimming in the water, and some are contentedly relaxing on the beach. But ALL are on the wrong side of the ocean and NONE can swim across it. At the end of the day, we all need a shower, and God's perfection remains way beyond the farthest horizon we can see.

True righteousness moves from confession of sin to an acknowledgement of God's perfect goodness. In and of Himself, He is pure, He is holy, He is good, He is the measure of goodness and truth. To make the point very clear to us, God has revealed His transcendent perfection through creation. But He didn't stop there - He also sent us the living epitome of righteousness in human form through the incarnation of Christ.

True righteousness finds its culmination in sinners being justified by grace through faith. Righteousness is not something we achieve and offer to God. It's what He has achieved and now freely offers to us as a gift. This is the simple and wonderful message of the Gospel. Verse 11 is tied to verse 10, and we see that the inner RIGHTEOUSNESS of the heart comes from the MERCY which is given to those who TRUST God. David succinctly expresses the Gospel in these two verses, and Paul later expands the concepts found here into the first 5 chapters of the book of Romans. Paul calls it "The Righteousness of God," a righteousness that is MORE THAN just. It justifies sinners, in spite of their sinfulness (meaning they don't deserve it) and because of their sinfulness (meaning they can't do it for themselves, only He could do it).

For believers, the outward acts of righteousness which form a righteous character are built upon this inner righteousness. They are the fruit of the righteousness which comes to them as a gift from God. Any other kind of outward righteousness is false and useless, as every repentant sinner knows.

Repentant sinners see the significance of the heart

David recognizes that his sinful choices were the natural outflow of a depraved heart. He has learned something new about himself: he is sinful to the core. Now he is much more aware of the desires of his heart, much more grateful for any evidence of grace, and much more deliberate about rooting out evil thinking.

When we see our hearts as the idol factories that they are, we stop believing our own selfish thinking and no longer trust ourselves. Instead, we believe the testimony of the Word of God. We give serious consideration to the advice of others who see us more objectively than we see ourselves. We cry out to God for mercy every day - knowing many seeds of wickedness lie within us. More than that: we confess that we don't even realize the seeds of wickedness that lie dormant in our hearts.

We also realize that the transforming work of God happens in our hearts as He creates new desires within us. All our desire for good is evidence of His inner work of grace.

Consider the meaning of the Hebrew word for upright:

Upright = Heb YASHAR - straight, level, smooth, by impl. pleasing.

YASHAR can describe a road that is clear and unobstructed, hence smooth. In the context of this psalm, the connotation is that God is pleased when our hearts have a clear, unobstructed path to Him. In other words, we must reveal our hearts to Him, leaving nothing hidden or unconfessed. We must keep open communication with Him. We must bring down every high thing (such as our proud, defensive thinking), and raise up every low place (our hidden deeds). In this way we will maintain an intimate communion with the Father, which is an unfailing spring of delight.

Repentant sinners find overwhelming joy in God

All joy has a cause, and David calls us to rejoice for the very best reason: God Himself. Earlier in the psalm God was pressing a firm hand down on us, bringing us to a barren and desolate place of intense thirst. He seemed to be terrorizing our consciences, and we found no joy in Him. But now He becomes the ground of our gladness, the reason for our rejoicing, the basis of our blessedness.

Here are a few reasons why you will see repentant sinners rejoicing with unbridled enthusiasm:

~ God was patient and did not give us what we deserve. While we sinned, He granted time for repentance.
~ God completely and freely forgave us for all the ways we sinned in act, word and thought.
~ God covered our sinful nature by imputing Christ's righteousness to us.
~ God made atonement for our sin by offering a perfect sacrifice in our place.
~ God proved the sufficiency of the atonement by raising our perfect representative from the dead, thereby guaranteeing our forgiveness and acceptance before Him.
~ God granted us renewed fellowship with Himself.
~ God accepts us exactly as we are.
~ God loves us too much to leave us as we are. He promises to change us as we walk with Him.
~ God has promised to help us in our ongoing struggle against sin. He has given us a great High Priest Who offers continued forgiveness and help.
~ As we struggle with the ongoing destruction of a sinful world, the spiritual powers of evil that rule here, and the corruptions of our own hearts, God remains the stable and steadfast ground of our hope, a changeless fountain of grace, our wise Guide, our caring Shepherd, our loving Father and our faithful Friend.

David ends on this triumphant note of joy to remind us that repentance is all about restored fellowship with God. As John Piper's famous axiom reminds us: sin is what we do when we are not satisfied in God. All our righteousness and joy come from being filled with Him, satisfied in Him, alive through Him, grateful for Him, focused on Him, thoughtful of Him, inclined toward Him, dependent on Him.

Dear friend, rest your weary soul in His everlasting grace today.

Psalm 32:10 - The Joys of Repentance

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.

By the time one gets to the end of Psalm 32, repentance starts to look wonderful. And it is.

Here in verse 10, we find that godly sorrow helps us to avoid ultimate sorrow. We see that repentance brings joy, while the anguish of sin only multiplies through unbelief and continued rebellion. It is indeed a paradox that our real and lasting joy rises out of sorrow. Until we have experienced sorrow for sin, we cannot know the joy of the Lord. Repentance is the way to true happiness - the abiding, eternal happiness that comes from a life lived in God's presence. Paul touches on this in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

For believers, sorrow is a step on the path toward the good things that are coming. But for the world, sorrow is just a bleak reflection of the bad things that have happened - and a reminder that more bad things are on the way.

Psalm 32:10 is a good example of the inherent beauty of Biblical poetry. The Hebrews, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were deft and careful with their words. They often used parallel constructions and grammatical structures to pack amplified meaning into every phrase. In essence, the parts of a verse become a lens through which the other parts are magnified and clarified. Consider this brief color-coded analysis:

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him.

"wicked" is put against "He who trusts in the LORD." These are contrasting phrases, showing us these things: at a root level, the only way to turn from wickedness is to trust in the LORD. Trustful dependence (a.k.a. "faith") characterizes those who repent, while wickedness characterizes those who do not trust God. Faith always treats sin with repentance, and repentance always defeats sin with faith. All sin reveals our lack of trust in God, and unbelief always leads toward sin. These are broad principles that give us direction when we are at our wits' end, struggling with the turmoil of life's challenges. These truths form the subject matter of our confession before God. "Lord, I lied because I do not trust You as I should. I should have spoken the truth as You command. Please forgive me, and help me to change."

"Sorrows" is put against "lovingkindness." Another set of telling contrasts. Here David uses the word HESED, the famous Hebrew term for mercy (it's discussed at length in the post on verse 6). The sorrow brought on by sin is a result of separation from God's mercy. Repentance and faith reconnect us with that mercy. Put another way, our relationship with God is governed by this principle: BY GRACE (or MERCY), THROUGH FAITH (or TRUST). The reformers cried out "Sola Gratia" (by grace alone) and "Sola Fide" (through faith alone), reflecting Paul's words in Ephesians 2:8-9. These principles pervade the whole of Scripture from beginning to end.


"Many" is placed parallel to "surround." Rather than a contrast, here we have mutually descriptive terms (i.e., the two words function as synonyms). From this we understand that the wicked are surrounded by many sorrows, and those who trust in the LORD receive many mercies - so many that they become surrounded by them.

Note the double-edged promise in this verse. For the unrepentant, many sorrows are forecast. But for those who repent, mercy is guaranteed. And it is not guaranteed on the ground of our good works, but on the ground of our faith.

All of this leads us back to the overall theme of Psalm 32: God's mercy is so great that we can trust Him with our worst sins. We can go to Him. We can confess. We can find His forgiveness. We can have restored fellowship with Him. We can be changed through repentance and faith. We can overcome sin. We can walk with God. All of these things we CAN do because of His unfailing mercy, which surrounds us and prevails over us like a flood.

Psalm 32:9 - The Results of Repentance

Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.

In verse 8, God promises to personally teach and train the repentant sinner. Now He gives us the details of this training, and the intended results of repentance, including a contrasting example of what our training does NOT involve. This path leads us to a change which affects our entire person - mind, will, and affections.

Before we examine this, let's remind ourselves of one clear fact drawn from verses 1, 2, and 5: the person in this training program is already forgiven. He does not embark on this path to obtain clemency - he follows the divine teaching because he has already received mercy and now trusts his Teacher to steer him right. He is a HASID - a person whose identity is grounded in divine mercy.

Repentance brings a lasting change of mind with new thinking.

God's teaching moves us from folly to wisdom. The horse and mule have no wisdom or understanding. They act according to their nature and instincts, not a reasoned course of intelligent reflection. The animal's life is a continual quest for survival and is aimed at preserving independence. But Christ calls His followers to death and surrender.

Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Luke 14:33 "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions."

For the Christian, life is paradoxically found only through dying with Christ, and freedom is attained only by surrendering to the sovereign God. And the only way to arrive at this enlightened view of things is by divinely imparted wisdom. Fallen human nature cannot comprehend the things of God, and will instead rise up in pride, independence, self-reliance and the perpetual pursuit of easy pleasure. Our sinful flesh despises the hard road of discipleship.

Animals can be tamed and domesticated so that they will outwardly conform to the demands of their masters, but they will never voluntarily surrender themselves. Amazing tricks can be achieved by channeling an animal's instincts, but this is not the result of any wisdom they have gained. It is nothing more than the same old animal thinking brought into a new set of circumstances which are carefully manipulated by the master. God's ways are higher than this. He does not "break" us like a horse is broken. He aims for inward transformation. He does not employ threat and manipulation to force us into behavioral change. Rather, He invests us with His Own Spirit and renews our minds through His Word to bring about an entirely new nature - one that loves Him and receives His teaching with delight.

Psalm 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

Psalm 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

God teaches our hearts so that we become willing to do His will.

Repentance brings us beyond mere external motivation through a transformed will.

There is hardly a more stubborn animal than a mule. These creatures are uncommonly recalcitrant. Yet with the use of a painful bit and bridle, even this beast will become obedient - at least on the outside. When repentance is external and fear-driven, our obedience is all on the surface. But when repentance reaches our hearts, we become obedient from within (Romans 6:17). Our will changes. The desire for sin decreases, the choice to sin becomes less appealing, and the love for sin gets broken. We grieve over our sin, not because it wreaks havoc on our happiness, but because it breaks God's heart. We cannot conceive of any happiness apart from Him. Sins like pride and envy become abhorrently abominable to us, even though they do not seem to affect our outward lives in dramatic ways. We plead with God to help us overcome these sins. We hate our sin because we look at the cross and see what it did to Jesus Christ. We loathe our sin because it works death in us, leaving us with a tormenting sense of separation from God. Only the Gospel can cure this.

At the same time, we begin to love God because we find Him to be pure and untainted and utterly innocent. We delight in His Word because it is completely holy. We are captivated by an incarnate Christ Who walked spotlessly through our fallen world. The temptations that have so easily capsized us didn't even draw his interest.

Has curiosity taken us into sin? He limited His knowledge and yet did not succumb to sin through curiosity. Has pleasure carried us to sinful excess? He experienced daily suffering and never turned to sinful pleasure for relief. Have bodily drives and hungers driven us into wickedness? He had all of them, too, yet He never made provision for the flesh. Have riches become a snare to us? He became entirely poor, and never once complained or worshipped the Mammon idol of money that makes the world "go 'round." Has loneliness opened a door for evil in our lives? After half a lifetime filled with rejection, the God-Man Jesus Christ hung on the cross by Himself and endured the ferocious and hellish alienation brought about through rejection by both God and man - without ever having a stray thought, word or deed. His is a perfect and intrinsic and inherent and irresistible holiness.

When we see the destructiveness of sin, and when we see the pure magnificence of Christ, our will changes. Not because we are threatened, but because we are captivated. We do not hate sin because it "hurts" us in this life (though it certainly does). We hate sin because sin is Christ's enemy, and we have become His friends. This changes our will, so that we are transformed from the inside out.

Repentance brings us near to God with new affections.

God points our attention to a specific characteristic of horses and mules: of their own accord, they will not come near you. A wild horse can only run wild. A wild mule will only resist. Fear drives these animals and causes them to keep their distance from us.

In the same way, all fallen human beings are averse to God. We naturally despise, hate and turn from Him. We naturally view ourselves as His mortal enemies. But for a repentant sinner there is one important difference: grace. By grace, we have the ability to draw near to God. By grace, the dividing wall of hostility is removed. By grace, He forgives us. By grace, He draws us. By grace, He accepts us. By grace, He makes us His own children. We are not His pets, or work animals, or slaves, or prisoners. We are beloved sons!

And when we realize just how loved and forgiven we are, we willingly submit to our Father and offer ourselves as His slaves. We WANT to be kept in the boundaries of His will. We LOVE to be His.

What sweet joys fill our hearts as we walk with Him. It is not under the restraints of bit and bridle that we walk, but in the light and easy yoke of Christ. In this yoke, He walks next to us all the way, lending the strength we lack and encouraging our weary hearts to keep on. There can be absolutely no freedom for man, except in being bound to Christ by the eternal bonds of love and mercy. In these blessed bonds, we are freed from the slavish drudgery of sin and secured forever by grace.

Repentance, Substitution and Replacement

Here are a few thoughts to add to yesterday's post on Psalm 32:8 . . .

Repentance is turning, not just FROM SIN, but also TO CHRIST. In repentance, we turn from "irresistible" sin to an irresistible Savior. We draw back from the fleeting pleasures of sin and run headlong into the eternal joys of Christ. He becomes the object of our pursuit, the Friend from Whom we cannot bear to be distant, the delight and satisfaction of our souls. As we were smitten with sin, and willing to give all for it, we are now smitten with HIM and willing to give all for this Wonderful One. He amazes us! Repentance leads us to Christ, not merely as the Substitute Who was punished in our place, but as the replacement for the sin that we formerly cherished. Every desire we have had for sin should rightly have been directed toward Him. Every enjoyment of earthly pleasure should have been an enjoyment of Him. All the love we have had for worldly things should have been love for Him. The self-importance with which we puffed ourselves up should have been ascribed to Him as glory and honor and worship. The proud confidence we have wasted on ourselves should have been dependence on His grace and faith in His goodness. All the service and submission we have given to sin should have been His. Rather than slavishly laboring for sin, we should have surrendered to His sovereign lordship. Repentance says these things.

By our sin, we have expressed a low view of Christ. Now, in repentance, we again see Him enthroned, glorious, exalted, worthy, attractive, beautiful, capable, wise, desirable and perfect. He is the SUBSTITUTE for the sinner and the REPLACEMENT for the sin. He captivates us!

We are not to begin repentance by replacing sin with good works. We are to begin by replacing our love for sin with love for Christ, and we are to replace our acts of sin with acts of devotion to Him. As you read these words, do you see in yourself a lack of zeal and devotion for Jesus Himself? Do you seem to fall short of this high view of Him? Dear friend, do not despair - simply fall before Him and tell Him what you lack. Tell Him you don't even know what you lack. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Him, and He will give you whatever you need. He will BE whatever you need!

As we come to Christ in this way, new desires are born in us. We begin to taste the goodness of God and sin becomes less appetizing (and eventually downright disgusting). As I Corinthians 1:30 declares, Christ "has become for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption . . ." and whatever else we may need. It is all in Him. Until this truth becomes real to us, our repentance remains incomplete. But once it is embraced, the embrace is forever! You'll find it in the arms of Jesus, as He becomes more to you than He ever was before.

Psalm 32:8 - God's Training Program

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will counsel you with My eye upon you.

Although the text does not indicate who is speaking, it seems that this is God's answer to David. Note the three verbs: INSTRUCT, TEACH, COUNSEL

Instruct - Heb. SAKAL – to make wise, intelligent, skillful; to give insight, understanding. The word is used in Genesis 3:6, where the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was “desirable for gaining [SAKAL].” It “never concerns abstract prudence, but acting prudently.” (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, OT, “To Understand”)
Teach - Heb. YARAH – to shoot or throw; to point; to teach
Counsel - Heb. YA'ATS – to advise, counsel

All three words are stated in the imperfect mood, indicating there is a process at work. In response to our repentance, God forgives, He protects - and He puts us in His training program for godliness. He knows we need to change, but He does not expect this to happen apart from His own direct involvement. He teaches us with His eye upon us. He is not placing us under scrutiny with some sort of probation. He is watching over us to guarantee the effectiveness of our training.


Why does God teach us in this way? Did we sin for lack of teaching? Was it for want of information? Do we simply need to know more theology? Is “education” the answer to our sin problem? Certainly it is a lack of wisdom that led us into our sins, but it is not primarily for our education that God places us in His training program. Nor is it about “behavior modification.” Rather, this is our opportunity to know Him better. Developing an intimate and dependent relationship with Christ is the great remedy for our sinful ways. The more closely we walk with God, the less we practice sin. The more we incline our ear to His Words, the less we pay heed to the voices of temptation. The more we gaze into His burning eyes of grace, the less we are drawn by this world's glitter. It is not a matter of learning more facts – it's a matter of learning Christ.

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

The Holy Spirit is the divine Counselor Who helps us learn Christ. We desperately need His help. There is no other way to change. Consider the glorious promise in these words: “Walk by the Spirit, and you WILL NOT CARRY OUT the desire of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). No wonder David cried out in Psalm 51, “Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me!” Speaking of this sin-conquering Counselor who dwells in us, Jesus said

John 16:14-15 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”

"The mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit is that such a life is continually and ever more and more occupied with Christ, that Christ is becoming greater and greater as time goes on. The effect of the Holy Spirit's work in us is to bring us to the shore of a mighty ocean which reaches far, far beyond our range, and concerning which we feel - oh, the depths, the fullness, of Christ! If we live as long as ever man lived, we shall still be only on the fringe of this vast fullness that Christ is. Now, that at once becomes a challenge to us before we go any further. These are not just words. This is not just rhetoric; this is truth. Let us ask our hearts at once, Is this true in our case? Is this the kind of life that we know? Are we coming to despair on this matter? That is to say, that we are glimpsing so much as signified by Christ that we know we are beaten, that we are out of our depth, and will never range all this. It is beyond us, far beyond us, and yet we are drawn on and ever on. Is that true in your experience? That is the mark of a life governed by the Holy Spirit. Christ becomes greater and greater as we go on. If that is true, well, that is the way of life. If ever you and I should come to a place where we think we know, we have it all, we have attained, and from that point things become static, we may take it that the Holy Spirit has ceased operations and that life has become stultified. . . . So God, right at the beginning, brings Christ forth, presents Him, attests Him, and in effect says, This is that to which I will conform you, to this image!" (T. Austin-Sparks, The School of Christ)

More of the Spirit's teaching is found in the next verse of Psalm 32 . . .

Psalm 32:7 - Hidden

You are my hiding place;
You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.

David takes us a step further into God’s boundless mercy, showing us that God not only forgives repentant sinners, but actually receives them into His protection. He does not merely cover our sin with His grace – He covers US with HIMSELF. Dear friends, needy ones such as you and I will find no better refuge than the Lord.

David expands the idea of a hiding place in two ways: as that which preserves us, and as that which surrounds us.

GOD PRESERVES US. A notable characteristic of sin is that it destroys, decays and deteriorates what God has made. Apart from grace, we would be literally consumed by sin. Sin always brings trouble with it. But God preserves those who trust in Him. This word “trouble” can also be translated “adversary” or “foe.” Sin always fights us, opposes us, deceives us, pursues us, flatters us, lies to us, accuses us, harms us, binds us and tries to destroy us (see Romans 7 for a detailed description of this). Sin is indeed our greatest enemy, but God has become our Great Friend. He has become our Protector, our Advocate, our Defender and Savior from the very sins we formerly chose and cherished. He has taken sin’s destruction off of us and placed it on a substitute Who suffered in our place.

GOD SURROUNDS US. Every saint who has fought the daily battle with sin knows that it comes at us from every side, it appears unexpectedly, it reinvents itself, it snipes at us and it intimidates like a hell-bent terrorist – all in an attempt to make us its slave again. God is prepared for our struggle, and responds by surrounding us with loud cries of deliverance. What comfort we feel as we are encompassed not only by the enemy, but also by the truth of divine grace! What joy and hope as we hear the songs of the Lord! What encouragement as we are filled with the knowledge of His delivering power! Intimidating and enticing voices call out to us from every side, but our ears also hear TRUTH.

Who sings these songs? Is it God Himself? Is He singing over us in “Surround Sound?” Is it the angels? Are they telling of the wondrous deeds of the Lord, even as they marvel at God’s redeeming grace at work in us? Is it other believers? Are they all around us, testifying to the mercy they have received? Are they telling about their sinful ways and God’s redeeming love? Is it perhaps all three – God, angels, and our brothers and sisters in Christ? Who is telling YOU that God is able to save?

If you are a repentant sinner, you are preserved and surrounded by a God Who is a Hiding Place for all who come to Him in faith. And there are only two kinds of people in the world: repentant sinners who live by amazing grace, and unrepentant sinners who abide in their chosen condemnation.

Psalm 37:39-40 But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.

Psalm 32:6 - The Prayer of the Godly Man

Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.

The wording of this verse seems confusing at first. “Therefore” refers us back to what David has already said: bring your sins to God and He will forgive you. It's a call for sinners to confess their sins. So, what's the connection between this and the idea that a “godly” person should pray while the Lord “may be found”? And what does it mean that there is a time when He may be found? Is there a time when He cannot be found? I was under the impression that He finds us, so what is this saying, anyway? The confusion partly stems from a misunderstanding of the word "godly," and our sense of this verse hinges on the meaning of that word.

In Hebrew, "godly" is the word HASID (ever heard of a Hasidic Jew?). This word is related to the Hebrew word HESED, which some scholars consider to be the most important word in the Old Testament. HESED is usually translated as mercy, lovingkindness, kindness, merciful kindness, steadfast love or loyalty. It is a rich Hebrew word that calls for prayerful study. Don't assume a mere lexicon or Hebrew dictionary can teach you the depths of its meaning, but seek this word out in the text of the Bible and find its usage according to the Holy Spirit. Having said that, let's look at a few helpful observations from the scholars and have a brief Hebrew lesson about this word, HESED:

“. . . [It is] one of the most important words in the Old Testament . . . the basic idea is that of an act of kindness, love or mercy shown to someone. The quality of the kindness shown is usually that reserved for close friends and family members, but [it] can be shown to anyone. . . . [It] is central to God's character. It is closely tied to His covenant with His chosen people; in fact the covenant may be thought of as the relationship from which [HESED] flows.” (Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Old Testament, Lexical Aids article for Strong's number 2617)

“The term is one of the most important in the vocabulary of Old Testament theology and ethics. . . . In general, one may identify three basic meanings of the word, which always interact: “Strength,” “steadfastness,” and “love.” Any understanding of the word that fails to suggest all three inevitably loses some of its richness. . . . The word refers primarily to mutual and reciprocal rights and obligations between the parties of a relationship. But HESED is not only a matter of obligation; it is also of generosity. It is not only a matter of loyalty, but also of mercy. The weaker party seeks the protection and blessing of the patron and protector, but he may not lay absolute claim to it. The stronger party remains committed to his promise, but retains his freedom, especially with regard to the manner in which he will implement those promises. HESED implied personal involvement and commitment in a relationship beyond the rule of law. . . . It is one of [God's] most central characteristics. . . . The entire history of Yahweh's covenant relationship with Israel can be summarized in terms of HESED.” (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Old Testament section edited by Merrill F. Unger and William White, Jr., article on Loving-Kindness)

“The nearest New Testament equivalent to the Heb. HESED is CHARIS (grace q.v.), as Luther realized. . . . God's loving-kindness is that sure love which will not let Israel go. Not all Israel's persistent waywardness could ever destroy it. Though Israel be faithless, yet God remains faithful still. This steady, persistent refusal of God to wash his hands of wayward Israel is the essential meaning of the Heb. word which is translated loving-kindness. . . . The story of God's people throughout the centuries is that her waywardness has been so persistent that, if even a remnant is to be preserved, God has had to show mercy more than anything else.” (A Theological Wordbook of the Bible, edited by Alan Richardson, article on Loving-Kindness)

The word HASID is usually translated with words like “godly” or “saint,” but it actually means “one who trusts in God's HESED mercy."

“The adjective HASID, derived from HESED, is often used to describe the faithful Israelite. God's HESED provides the pattern, model, and strength by which the life of the Hasid is to be directed.” (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words)

The truly godly people are those who live by God's mercy. So the verse might read, "Therefore, let everyone who trusts in Your mercy pray to You . . ." Ah, that makes more sense, doesn't it?

When should these mercy-dependent people pray? David's answer is, "In a time when He may be found." The phrase could also be translated "in a time of finding out." David's sin was "found out" rather embarrassingly when Nathan said "You are the man" and revealed that David's hidden sin was not hidden at all. The time when God may be found IS the time of finding out. In fact, God will only allow Himself to be found by sinners. Jesus said "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." When you find out you are a much worse sinner than you ever thought possible, when you find out your flesh is still warring against God, when you find out your heart is indeed sinful and unbelieving - then you must pray! This is also the time of finding out about God, that He is more merciful, kind, patient and generous than you ever imagined. That He is indeed nothing like you. If you find yourself without finding Him, you will collapse under the weight of your sin.

What is the result of this discovery, this "finding out"? The HASID who finds his own weakness and prays to the Great Giver of Mercy is protected from harm. The toxic sea of self-knowledge does not overwhelm him. The great flood of condemnation doesn't even touch him. He is set on higher ground and kept by the power of grace.

In Psalm 117, we find these words "His HESED prevails over us." Prevailing - isn't that the very same thing the waters of Noah's flood did to the earth? Prevailed over it? Now that's some kind of mercy! Instead of sin flooding over us, grace prevails.

It's no wonder David cannot contain his jubilation through the next verses. I'll bet he danced before he ever finished writing this love poem to his Lord. And so shall we . . .

Psalm 32:5 - Confession and Forgiveness

I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

David reaches a turning point here. The work of conviction which God has accomplished in His soul has reached its culmination, and David takes action. He does not begin with an attempt to reform himself, trying to clean himself up or making promises to change. He begins instead with a simple, honest confession of sin. And God responds.

David uses the same words for sin found in verses 1-2.

Sin – Heb. CHATA’AH – The general word for sin, missing the mark, inability to reach God’s requirement. This shows sin as that which generally characterizes us.
Iniquity – Heb. AVON – deep depravity, intrinsic sinfulness, evil nature, perversity, twistedness. This shows sin as that which corrupts our nature.
Transgression – Heb. PESHA – an act of sin, a crossing of the line, a deliberate act against God’s command. This shows sin as that which motivates and defines our actions.

It is interesting to see the way David builds a triangle out of these words, and the order in which they are mentioned: SIN - INIQUITY - TRANSGRESSION - INIQUITY - SIN. Hebrew poets were fond of this type of construction. It serves as a literary device that lends emphasis and calls our attention to the subject. David is fully convinced of his sin and he is earnestly confessing it.

Notice the way David approached each facet of his sin.

First, he acknowledged - or knew - his sinfulness. As sinners, we are prone to avoid this. We would rather not KNOW our sinfulness. We tend to focus on whatever good we see in ourselves instead. Or we strive to grow in other areas of knowledge, taking pains not to know ourselves. But knowing our sinfulness is the first step toward godliness. The knowledge of one’s sinfulness is a great gift from God - a gift to be cherished and received with gratefulness. Why? Because apart from this knowledge we never overcome our sin – it overcomes us. And apart from this knowledge we remain deceived, never realizing what it is in us that makes the cross a necessity. The best way to discover one's sinfulness is to spend time in the Word of God and to stay close to Jesus Christ. Focusing on the sins of others does not help at all. Oddly enough, sinning more does not always show us our sinfulness, either. When we practice sin, we generally become blind to its presence. This is known as "the deceitfulness of sin," and it leads to a hardened heart that gradually grows insensitive to evil.
Second, David did not hide his iniquity. When we see our deep depravity and the fact that we are by nature bent utterly toward evil, the typical reaction is to cover up. This is exactly what Adam and Eve did after they fell into sin in the garden. They found some fig leaves. By covering their bodies outwardly, they were painting a picture of what was going on in their hearts. They did not want to be known intimately, to be seen for what they were. Outwardly and at the heart, their most sensitive and emotionally responsive parts were now hidden from view. Between one another, they could decide if and when the outward parts would be seen. And between their souls and God, they could decide when their inward parts would be exposed. God has allowed man this capacity to hide from his Creator. We can separate ourselves from Him, hold back our honesty, and remain hard-hearted. Of course He still knows everything about us, but He doesn't KNOW US. It is sobering to realize that many will hear those very words, "I never knew you." The alternative is to lay our hearts bare and let Him truly know us as we are. Unbelievers NEVER lay their hearts bare before God, and indeed they cannot do so. As believers, we have the choice. And God’s response to our self-disclosure is to know us, love us, share Himself with us, and cover our unpresentable parts through His own self-sacrifice.
Third, David confessed his transgressions. He named the specific ways he had acted according to his depraved nature. He brought it into the light by speaking it with his own mouth and hearing it with his own ears. Our sins strike us in a new way when we hear ourselves tell of them in complete honesty. We can never confess all of our sin – that would be impossible. But laying out before God all that we know of our wicked acts is both healthy and necessary. The Puritans encouraged this as a daily habit. But we must never do this with the cross out of focus, or we will drown in a toxic sea of self-knowledge.

Note God's quick response. Before David even finished confessing, his sins were forgiven. He had only "said" he would confess his transgressions, but God had already rushed to meet Him in his repentance. God always meets repenting hearts, just as the father RAN to meet the prodigal son.
Note also the extent of the forgiveness David experienced. God forgave the INIQUITY of his sin. David was not only forgiven for his sinful acts, but for his depraved nature. God accepted him AS HE WAS and removed his guilt right down to the roots. See this clearly: Our great high priest does not merely forgive sins - He JUSTIFIES SINNERS! Let this fact settle in on your guilty heart for just a moment, and your joy will be unquenchable. Go ahead, let the truth about grace saturate your mind and heart! The Gospel IS Good News, my friend! God lavishes grace upon us (Ephesians 1), gives us more grace (James 4), pours His love into our hearts (Romans 5), and stands at our side as the One Who is FOR US (Romans 8)!

Up to this point, Psalm 32 has placed a lot of emphasis on the bitter experience of sin. Now, as David speaks of his repentance, we begin to see the wondrous blessings of grace displayed with a fresh and captivating beauty. As we move ahead to examine the benefits and results of repentance, may God break our hearts and draw us to Himself with a renewed appreciation for Who He IS and what He does in the soul of every penitent sinner.

The bad news of our sin is tough to face, but it makes the good news REALLY GOOD! Before offering us a complete makeover in the image of His Son, God sets us in front of the mirror. It's a very ugly mirror indeed, because it's perfectly accurate. But this is only the launch pad for what lies ahead.

Psalm 32:4 - Dried Up

"My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah." (NASB)
"My strength was dried up (Heb. changed) as by the heat of summer. Selah." (ESV)
"My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer. Selah." (ASV)

I was employed by an orthodontist for several years and often had the privilege of putting braces on peoples' teeth. It was interesting work, to say the least. If one learns anything working in an orthodontic clinic, it's that bonding metal onto teeth requires extreme dryness. We went to great lengths to ensure that the teeth we were working on stayed dry, often resorting to elaborate setups that included cotton, bursts of air, suction, plastic lip retractors, and even chemical drying agents. All of this paraphernalia was deployed with the intent of keeping the teeth extremely dry. If a patient happened to move his tongue and swipe a tooth, the whole process had to be started over again. For me, this was a bit frustrating at times. But after a brace has been bonded to a properly dried tooth, a great deal of force is required to remove it. It typically requires a special pair of plyers to take the brace off, followed by high speed drilling at over 20,000 RPMs to clean up residual adhesive. In many cases, braces will remain in place for 2-3 years before being removed. However, if the slightest bit of moisture is allowed to remain, the brace will usually fall off within a few minutes. If you think about it, most bonding processes involve some type of drying. Paint, caulking, glue, paste and flooring adhesives are all good illustrations of this. Heat is also commonly used in bonding processes such as hot laminating, window sealing, automotive finishes, etc. And most bonding process involve the application of firm pressure at some stage.

What does all of this have to do with Psalm 32, you ask. It's a great question. To answer it, let's consider the elements of verse 4: A heavy hand. Heat. Moisture evaporating. Drying out. Sound familiar? Could it be a bonding process of sorts? Is it possible that God's work in David's life during the time of tormenting guilt was preparation for a stronger bond between the two of them? Was God perhaps transitioning David from a mere taped-on attachment to an orthodontic-style union? Was God pressing him, heating him, and drying him out in order to make his repentance stick? Perhaps I'm applying a modern concept to a primitive text, but the parallels are unmistakable.

David felt like he was dying. He sensed his life and strength draining away. His feelings reflected a sobering reality: every step away from God is a step in the direction of eternal death. God takes this seriously, and if He has lain His hand upon you it is with the purpose of uniting you to Himself and keeping you near Him forever. He will let you die a thousand humbling deaths in the knowledge of your iniquity if that will ultimately draw you closer to Him. We appreciate grace much more when once we have lived for a season without it. Even as believers, we may have these experiences where grace seems absent. In reality, we know we have not been abandoned, but we nevertheless feel the sting of what could be if we were lost eternally.

As one of the great Puritan authors noted, "Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet." (Thomas Watson, The Doctrine of Repentance)

Dear friend, if God has allowed you to die under the weight of your guilt, believe and know that His intent is to draw you to Himself, to sanctify and transform you, to securely fasten you to Himself. What blessedness there is in this! Take hold of this truth and flee to Him now - with the resolve illustrated by David in the next verses of Psalm 32.

Psalm 32:4 - The Heavy Hand of God

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me.

This post will deal only with the first half of verse 4. We'll take look at the second part of the verse in the next post.
Under the weight of his guilt, David felt the heavy hand of God upon him. Sin is always against God, and God is always against sin, so the responsibility for dealing with sin is God's. He is the Great Moral Judge Who writes the Law which charges us and He declares the judgment which condemns our sin. His heavy hand is a hand of stark justice, and because of our depravity we rightly feel condemned under the weight of it.
But was God's heavy hand on David ONLY exercising the justice of condemnation? Certainly not. Let us examine the ways in which it was a revelation of mercy.
First, note that it was a measured heaviness. David was not squashed under it, killed and immediately sent to hell as strict justice would have demanded. He was allowed to feel an uncomfortable pressure that was designed to lead him toward repentance. It was a display of God's patience in withholding the full judgment that was deserved.
Second, it represented the touch of God that remained on David's life. David was still in direct contact with God. God's hand was correcting, not condemning him. At this time in David's life, God's touch was heavy and severe, but it wasn't absent. God had not abandoned him to his sin.
Third, it was the beginning of God's saving work in David's behalf. What felt like a crushing weight to David was actually God's hand laying a secure hold on him in preparation for the rescue that was to follow. Those who save lives as part of their daily work understand this all too well. Rescue workers are trained to take a firm grasp of the person who is in jeopardy and hold on tenaciously. Our perseverance in faith is directly linked to God's perseverance in grace. If He ever let go of us, we would be lost. But the heavy hand is God's firm grip preparing to pull us from the clutches of sin.

Dear friend, thank God for all the conviction of sin you have ever felt. Praise Him for any sense you have ever had of the crushing weight of your iniquity. Be grateful for the humbling and humiliating knowledge of transgression that feels unbearable to you. These are indications of the glorious, heavy hand of God that refuses to leave you perishing and resists every step you take toward destruction. Do not mistake His severity for an intent to destroy. It is not for your destruction, but for your salvation that He lays a heavy hand upon you. If it was God's purpose to destroy you, He would never convict you of sin.

Calvin offers this insight: "[David] was kept down and fettered by perplexing griefs, and distracted with lingering torments, until he was well subdued and made meek, which is the first sign of seeking a remedy. And this again teaches us, that it is not without cause that the chastisements by which God seems to deal cruelly with us are repeated, and his hand made heavy against us, until our fierce pride, which we know to be un-tameable, unless subdued with the heaviest stripes, is humbled." (Comment on Psalm 32:4)

Great and merciful Lord, I thank You for the heavy hand which humbles my fierce and un-tameable pride - and draws me back to You again and again. Amen.

Psalm 32:3 - Wasted Bones

When I kept silent about my sin my body [lit. bones] wasted away through my groaning [lit. roaring] all day long.

David remembers his experience of unconfessed sin as a time of spiritual and physical deterioration, agonizing pain and intense suffering.

The concept of "bones" in Hebrew poetry can sometimes refer to the physical skeleton, but often it is used figuratively. In this sense, it is reserved for the most intense experiences of life. The Hebrews were keen on using words like "heart" and "soul" to describe their inner state, but when they said "bones" it was meant to deliberatly take things a step further. We use similar expressions in English, when we say something is "bad to the bone," or an insulting remark "cuts to the bone." It indicates something concentrated, forceful, incisive, deep-seated or severe. The word as used in the Hebrew also connects the soul to the body. To put it in modern terminology, it indicates a "psycho-somatic" experience that is so deep it affects the whole person, inside and out. Here are a few brief examples:

Job 4:14 Dread came upon me, and trembling, and made all my bones shake.
Job 30:17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest.
Job 33:9 At night it pierces my bones within me, and my gnawing pains take no rest.
Psalm 6:2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.
Psalm 31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and my body [lit. bones] has wasted away.
Psalm 102:3 For my days have been consumed in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth.
Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, but passion is rottenness to the bones.
Proverbs 15:30 Bright eyes gladden the heart; good news puts fat on the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
Jeremiah 20:9 But if I say, "I will not remember Him or speak anymore in His name," then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it.
Jeremiah 23:9 My heart is broken within me, all my bones tremble; I have become like a drunken man, even like a man overcome with wine, because of the LORD and because of His holy words.
Habakkuk 3:16 I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble.

For a child of God, moments spent outside of conscious fellowship with Him are like a time warp in which the body and soul seem to age at an accelerated pace. In such a state, the decay of thoughts and desires is sharp and quick. It's excruciating. We cannot bear the enmity we feel. Sins that began with promises of pleasure, status, self-fulfillment, riches and glory end up crushing us with deep spiritual pain as our guilt intensifies. Some people have literally dropped dead over the effects of guilt.
David feels this so strongly that he can only roar, or moan, in sorrow and shame. His conscience is killing him. This is the rotting fruit of unbelief. This is the result of failing to draw near to God - in the knowledge of His mercy and grace - just as we are.
Christ carried the cross and bore our sin upon it. But even for the sinless Son of God, the act of carrying sins was one which left Him pierced and crushed. In fact, He died. What will happen to you, if you try to carry your sins?
Dear friend, do not wallow in the shame of your depravity, awaiting a favorable time to repent. The favorable time is NOW. Do not hold back, but come to the risen Christ and be healed. For He is "good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon [Him]." (Psalm 86:5)

Making Confession: A Practical Note on Psalm 32:1-2

The two previous posts on Psalm 32 lead to some practical principles which we may apply in daily life. I pray these encouragements will give you aid in your struggle against indwelling sin and spur you on to love and good deeds.

1. Confess Sin Quickly. Our spiritual maturity can be gauged by the speed with which we flee to Christ in the face of temptation and sin. If we respond to temptation by sinning, and then wait awhile before taking our sin to the Lord, we hinder our progress in sanctification. With maturity and a better understanding of grace, we will confess quickly whenever we sin. But we must take it a step further.

Grace ensures both the forgiveness and the change we need. It teaches us to "deny [that is, say "no" to] ungodliness and worldly desires" and to "live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age." (Titus 2:11-12) As we grow in grace, we learn to overcome sin by going to God in confession as soon as we are tempted - and before we actually commit sin. By doing this we can avoid much of the bitterness of sin, and we can turn our temptations into opportunities to lay hold of grace. In essence, the closer the confession gets to the actual root of the sin, the less we sin. In this way, those who practice sin the least tend to confess their sinfulness the most. And those who sin the most tend to blame others, avoid responsibility and minimize their faults the most.

Let it be stated clearly: by grace, we fight sin in cooperation with God. The alternative is to legalistically fight a losing battle in our own strength. A legalistic approach says, "Win the battle against sin and you will be accepted by God." Grace says, "You have already been accepted by God, therefore you can win the battle against sin with His help."

2. Lay Hold of Grace Immediately. Do not stop at confession of sin. This is not enough. David tells us we are blessed not because we confess sin but because we experience the forgiveness God offers. We fall into a dangerous trap when we confess sin over and over without laying hold of the grace God is extending to us.

When you face temptation, do not merely say "God, I am a terrible sinner." You will probably give yourself into the hands of the temptation if you stop on that point. Instead, say "My Father, I am a terrible sinner, but You are giving me grace to overcome my sin. Thank you for this grace. I know that You forgive my tendency to sin, and my desire to commit this sin. You have forgiven all my past sins, and You have promised me the grace to fight sin now. I am tempted to [for example: steal something], but by Your grace I'm going to do the opposite. I'm going to [give something away] right now." And thus we overcome temptation, putting sin to death by the grace of God. In this way God turns the temptation into an opportunity to do His will.

It is mere unbelief that prevents us from confessing sin quickly and laying hold of grace immediately. The delay caused by this unbelief hinders our spiritual growth. Let it not be so in your case, dear friend. Pray this prayer of faith: "Lord, I believe. Help me overcome my unbelief!" And take the advice of Hebrews 4:16 ...

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

If you have been going to a throne of law, you may be feeling defeated, condemned and unhelped. Turn from that throne, it is not the place where Christ sits. He is on the throne of grace - turn there without hesitation and receive His boundless mercy!

Psalm 32:2 - Honest to God

Psalm 32:2 - How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!

In verse one, David referred to human sinfulness in two ways:

~Transgressions - Heb. PESHA - deliberate acts of crossing the line and breaking the commandment of God, acts of rebellion. These are "forgiven," i.e. lifted from us and carried away.

~sins - Heb. CHATA'AH - the more general word for sins, often described as "missing the mark." We commit sins because we are unable to attain to God's standard. These are "covered," i.e. hidden by God.

Now David adds a third concept to the description of our sinfulness:

~Iniquity - Heb. AVON - perversity, depravity. It comes from a word that means "to twist, to distort, to bend, to pervert." Iniquity describes the depraved sinful nature of fallen man. This goes beyond what we do and reaches to the very core of what we are. We are not as God originally created us. We have become a twisted version of it. We no longer bear the image of God, but we can bear that image. We are still human, but we are not good. In the New Testament the word "iniquity" is often translated as "lawlessness." It implies that there is no principle of restraint in us. In our natural state, we can only sin.

How does God deal with our innate evil when he forgives us? He simply "does not impute" it. This means He does not think of it, does not charge us with it, does not take it into account. It is the blessed "unremembrance" of God, wherein He deliberately removes the thought of our sin from His mind. He replaces thoughts of our depravity with thoughts of Christ's righteousness.

Think of it! In Christ, God does not think of us in terms of sin anymore. Instead, He thinks of us in terms of righteousness. This is Paul's point in Romans 4, where he quotes Psalm 32:1-2 ...

Romans 4:6-8 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."

So God no longer views us in terms of our depravity. Instead, He sees us as righteous. But the righteousness is not from us, it's all Christ's. It's revealed in the cross, proved in the resurrection, and it comes to us by grace alone, through faith alone.

David adds one final note to our blessedness, and this is the part that makes all the difference in our daily experience. He declares the person blessed "in whose spirit there is no deceit." The word translated "deceit" implies both negligence and deception. Because of our depraved nature, we typically don't take sin seriously. We ignore it, let it go, pretend it isn't there. We deceive ourselves and present a false image to others. Worst of all, we lie to God by failing to confess our sin to Him. After walking this hard and bitter road, David learned that this course is both dangerous and destructive - it's described in verses 3 and 4.

All the blessings of forgiveness and mercy are available to us, but without the faith that honestly confesses sin to God we cannot know them as present realities. David's earnest repentance calls us to rip the cover off of our hearts before God and make ourselves known to Him - exactly as we are. In the open confession of sin, you will discover a marvelous response from God. As you mourn over sin, God Himself will comfort you. As you declare your spiritual poverty, God Himself will enrich you. As you fall down broken before Him, He will heal and restore your soul. This is the blessedness known only to those who humbly remove all the deceit from their spirit by telling God the truth about themselves.

Psalm 32:1 - A Blessing for Sinners

When God calls a sinner to Himself, the initial response is often terror. The knowledge of sin. The feeling of guilt. The sense of responsibility. The grave realization of depravity. No man can reach the safety of salvation until he has passed through the dread wasteland of spiritual poverty.
Should it be otherwise? We have willfully and willingly rebelled against God's Words. We have hated the One Who is love. We have defied the Sovereign One. We have loved and served and devoted ourselves to evil, and filth, and destruction, and everything that is less than God and therefore unworthy of our devotion. We have made evil out of good. We have lied to ourselves and to others. We have selfishly taken whatever we have desired. And on top of all this, we are proud of ourselves. I don't know about you, but for me this is just scratching the surface of the sins I know I have committed. No wonder we are terrified by the call of a holy, perfect and pure God.

God's law, which is "holy, righteous and good," reveals our guiltiness and condemns us to the judgment we truly deserve: to be separated from the presence and glory of the living God forever. We have good reason to be afraid of the voice of God.
But God does not call sinners to Himself in order to deal out the justice they deserve. He calls us with the distinct intention of blessing us. You may be thinking, "What? How can God bless a sinner?" God blesses sinners by forgiving them when they come to Him. This is the profound realization of amazing grace which led David to cry out with these words:

Psalm 32:1 "How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!"

Every repenting sinner is moved by the realization of two great needs. The need to be forgiven, and the need to change. This was David's cry in Psalm 51, as he expressed the need for forgiveness here . . .

Psalm 51:1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.

and the need for change here . . .

Psalm 51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.

The Hebrew word used here suggests that David is literally asking God to stomp the sin out of him. It pictures the ancient method of laundering clothing by trampling the dirt out in a field of lye. And the word "thoroughly" is added to this already rugged concept. David is desperate to change, and he's not praying rosy little prayers about it. I'd like very much to see this verse on a devotional poster, with a picture of people in a third world country doing their laundry the old-fashioned way.
In Psalm 32, we deal primarily with the need to be forgiven. However, this experience of forgiveness is a necessary step toward change. One who has not been forgiven cannot possibly change in the ways prescribed by Biblical repentance.
As we work through the verses of this psalm, I pray that we may come to the understanding that it is ALWAYS right and best to name every shortcoming we find in ourselves exactly as God does: as SIN. And it is always right and best to take every sin directly to Him in confession and repentance, without delay or hesitation.
The sight of one's own sinfulness can be daunting. "Am I really this bad?" we ask ourselves. It's best to admit the truth. No, I am not this bad. I am much worse. By grace, most of my sin remains inside. I am not even conscious of most of it. But if my heart were fully revealed, every kind of sin would be found there.

Matthew 7:21-23 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

When we call our faults by any name other than sin (or the other Biblical classifications like transgression, wickedness, evil, abomination, etc.), we separate them from the remedy offered in the cross. Jesus did not bear our "disorders" or "syndromes" or "slips" or "mistakes" or "things that aren't really my fault." He bore our sins. OUR sins. We chose them, we own them, we are responsible for them.
We have trained ourselves to blame others - our parents, society, friends, enemies, the devil, the dog, the door man. Anyone but ourselves. If we place the responsibility for our sins outside of ourselves, we won't apply the remedy where it is most need: in our hearts.
We tend to avoid facing our responsibility before God by busying ourselves with work, or play, or entertainment, or study, or reading, or sleeping, or talking. Anything but direct confrontation with ourselves and God. If we run and hide, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, we rob God of the opportunity to restore us; and we rob ourselves of the opportunity to grow in grace.

It doesn't have to be this way . . .
Look! There, for all to see, stands a blood-stained cross and an empty grave. Christ has tasted death and been raised to life. He has carried our sins away and covered them with His own blood! Dear friend, the cross means your sins are gone. Christ has bought us and reconciled us to God with NO WRATH REMAINING against us! He has called us friends, called us righteous, called us His very own! The just sentence of the Law has been fulfilled because He died in our place. All has been paid, and we now owe nothing for our sins. He has purchased our forgiveness, and we are affectionately loved by God, adopted into His family, accepted in Christ. We are placed next to the Son of God as the Father's beloved children.

Look again! Christ is seated in the center of heaven, and all who trustingly come to Him receive a forgiveness without bounds. He wants to bless us. He wants to reassure us. He wants to bring us out of the perilous swamp of sin and guilt. These are the blessings found by those who cast themselves - as sinners - at His feet.
In our text, sin is dealt with in two ways: it is forgiven and it is covered. The word "forgiven" means carried away, removed from sight and consideration. The word "covered" indicates that God hides our sin. It's the same word David uses in verse 5, where he says that by confessing he "did not hide" his sin from God. If we cover our sins, we remain unforgiven. But if we confess our sins to God, He covers them! God is much better at dealing with sin than we are, so we must trust Him. This is the message of the cross, and this is how God deals with sin when we bring it to Him.
Dear friend, do not run and hide from the God Whose desire is to bless you with grace, pardon, forgiveness and mercy. The shame that drives you away from Him will disappear when you look into His eyes. Those all-seeing eyes burn with a passionate will to show mercy to approaching sinners.