Introduction
Psalm 32 is one of eight Thanksgiving Psalms.
A Psalm of Thanksgiving may be defined as “a song offering gratitude to God because he has counteracted suffering, oppression, sin, or another threat. Thanksgiving hymns typically speak of God’s ongoing love and faithfulness” (David Seal, “Thanksgiving Hymns,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary [Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016]).
However, Psalm 32 also has other notable characteristics.
Psalm 32 is the second of the seven penitential Psalms: 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.
Another notable characteristic of Psalm 32 is taken from its superscription, which reads as follows: “A MASKIL OF DAVID.”
Psalm 32 is the first of thirteen psalms that use the term “MASKIL” in its title. The Psalms that use “MASKIL” in its title are Psalms 32, 42, 44, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142.
The footnote in the ESV Bible says that a “MASKIL” is “probably a musical or liturgical term” (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016]).
Some commentators suggest, however, that “MASKIL” could also mean “the giving of instruction” (James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary[Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005], 277).
What was the occasion for writing Psalm 32?
At the height of his career, King David was in Jerusalem. One afternoon, he saw a beautiful woman bathing. He learned that her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a soldier in King David’s army who was fighting against the Ammonites.
David sent for Bathsheba and committed adultery with her.
Later, Bathsheba informed David that she was pregnant.
David then arranged for Uriah to be killed.
After a suitable time of mourning, David married Bathsheba.
David tried to deceive people into thinking that the child that was to be born was the product of their marriage and not of their adultery.
David tried to cover up his sin.
“But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord” (2 Samuel 11:27).
Probably about a year after David’s adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, the Lord sent Nathan, the prophet, to expose David’s sins.
David confessed his sins to Nathan, saying, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13a).
Nathan assured David that the Lord had forgiven him.
David immediately wrote Psalm 51 to confess his sin to God. Psalm 51 is perhaps the best expression of a confession of sin in the Bible. It exudes the emotion of one who knows that God has forgiven his sins.
In his commentary, James Montgomery Boice notes:
Psalm 32 seems to have been written later than Psalm 51, after some reflection, and may, therefore, as Leupold suggests, be “the fulfillment of the vow contained in Psalm 51:13: ‘Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.’ ” That “teaching” may be the maskil which is Psalm 32 (James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary[Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005], 277).
Scripture
Let’s read Psalm 32:1-11:
A MASKIL OF DAVID.
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Lesson
Psalm 32:1-11 teaches us fundamental truths about sin that causes believers to give thanks to God for the forgiveness of their sins.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. The Blessing of Forgiveness (32:1-2)
2. The Misery of Silence (32:3-4)
3. The Pathway of Deliverance (32:5-7)
4. The Joy of Submission (32:8-11)
I. The Blessing of Forgiveness (32:1-2)
First, let’s look at the blessing of forgiveness.
Psalm 32 does not begin with a recitation of King David’s sins.
Instead, David begins by expressing his joy because his sins have been forgiven.
In verses 1-2, David said, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
This is the second time since Psalm 1 that a Psalm begins with the word “blessed.” The Hebrew word is plural. The one whose transgression is forgiven has not just one blessing but many blessednesses.
But the blessedness in Psalm 32 is more significant than in Psalm 1.
Why?
Because in Psalm 1, the blessing is for the obedient person, whereas in Psalm 32, the blessing is for the forgiven person.
David hid and concealed his sins for almost a year before he confessed them and received the Lord’s forgiveness.
But now, having received forgiveness from the Lord, David was bursting with joy and was telling the world about the blessing of forgiveness.
David’s “maskil” or “instruction” is seen immediately in these two opening verses.
David used three words for sin and three corresponding terms for how God deals with sin.
The first word for sin is “transgression” (peshah), which indicates a “violation of a law or a duty or moral principle.”
“Transgression” is not only against people whom we hurt by our sin, but it is primarily against God. That is why David said to God in Psalm 51:4a, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
Alexander Maclaren captures the force of the word “transgression” when he writes,
You do not understand the gravity of the most trivial wrong act when you think of it as a sin against the order of Nature, or against the law written on your heart, or as the breach of the constitution of your own nature, or as a crime against your fellows. You have not got to the bottom of the blackness until you see that it is a flat rebellion against God himself (Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, vol. 3, part 1, Psalms 1–49 [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959], 197).
The second word for sin is translated as “sin” (chattah), which refers to “a missing or falling short of the mark.”
In the ancient world, “sin” was used in archery to describe a person who shot at a target but whose arrow fell short of it or missed it altogether.
Biblically, the target is God’s law, and “sin” is missing or falling short of doing what the law requires of us.
The third word of sin is “iniquity” (hawon), and it means “corrupt,” “twisted,” or “crooked.” This word refers to the corruption of our nature, which we call “original sin.”
Boice has a helpful summary of these three words for sin. He writes:
The first describes sin in view of our relationship to God. It pictures us as being in rebellion against him. The second word describes sin in relation to the divine law. We fall short of it and are condemned by it. The third word describes sin in relation to ourselves. It is a corruption or twisting of right standards as well as of our own beings. That is, to the degree that we indulge in sin we become both twisted and twisting creatures (James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary [Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005], 278).
David now instructs the readers of Psalm 32 with three corresponding terms for how God deals with sin that is confessed to him.
The first word to describe how God deals with sin confessed to him is “forgiven,” which means “to have our sins lifted off.”
Before we confess our sins, we carry them like a great burden. But when we confess our sins to God, he forgives us by lifting the burden of sin off our shoulders.
This idea is wonderfully captured in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. He writes:
Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load [of sin] on his back.
He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending; and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more (John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which Is to Come [Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995], 56).
God does this when we confess our sins to him. He lifts the burden off our shoulders, and we feel that a great burden has been lifted off our shoulders.
The second word to describe how God deals with sin confessed to him is “covered,” which means “to put out of sight.”
The word comes from the imagery on the Day of Atonement. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest took the blood from the lamb that was killed into the Holy of Holies. That is where the Ark of the Covenant was, and it was said to represent the presence of God.
The Ark was a box containing the Law of God. It was closed with a lid.
The high priest sprinkled the blood on the lid, “covering” the law that the sinful people broke to shield the people from the righteous judgment of God.
So, God covers sin when it is confessed to him, and he puts our sin out of his sight.
The third word to describe how God deals with sin that is confessed to him is “counts,” which means “reckons” or “imputes.”
It is a term from bookkeeping. The idea is that God does not count our sins against us; he cancels our debt of sin.
So, to summarize, as Boice writes, “There is no greater blessedness than to know that our sin has been forgiven and covered over by the blood of Christ and it is no longer counted against us” (James Montgomery Boice, Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary[Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005], 279).
Interestingly, the Apostle Paul used Psalm 32:1-2 in Romans 4:6-8 as an Old Testament example of God’s justification of the sinner by his grace through faith, entirely apart from the works of the sinner.
I have spent a lot of time examining these two verses because they are essential to understanding the blessing of forgiveness.
So, let me ask you: Have you confessed your sin to God?
Do you know the blessing of God’s forgiveness experientially in your life?
II. The Misery of Silence (32:3-4)
Second, let’s note the misery of silence.
In verses 3-4, David said, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah”
David’s sin was crushing him.
Remember, David had tried to hide his sin for about a year before Nathan confronted him, and David confessed his sin.
During that year, David became a physical wreck. His “bones wasted away.” He “[groaned] all day long.”He felt the heavy hand of God upon him. His “strength was dried up.”
David was utterly miserable.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “God does not permit his children to sin successfully.”
Spurgeon also said, “Only let a man once feel sin for half an hour, really feel its tortures, and I warrant you he would prefer to dwell in a pit of snakes than to live with his sins.”
My dear Christian brother and sister, have you felt the misery of silence regarding some sin in your life?
You may have committed adultery. Or perhaps you knowingly slandered someone. Or you have been deliberately deceptive. Or you have knowingly disobeyed someone in authority over you.
You sense that something is not right in your life.
You feel miserable.
You feel a weight hanging over you.
You have lost all joy in your life.
If that describes you, let me tell you I have good news for you.
That brings me to my next point.
III. The Pathway of Deliverance (32:5-7)
Third, let’s look at the pathway of deliverance.
What did David do when Nathan confronted him with his sin?
David immediately recognized that he had been found out.
David did not try to hide what he had done. He did not try to shift the blame to someone else. He did not make excuses for his wrongdoing.
David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Samuel 12:13).
David wrote in verse 5, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”
Did you notice that David again used the three words for sin in this verse?
When David confessed his sin, God's forgiveness was immediate.
The burden of his transgression had been carried away, the debt was canceled, the twist was made straight, and God did not count David’s sin against his record.
The pathway to deliverance is confession.
The Puritan Richard Sibbes once said, “The way to cover our sin is to uncover it by confession.”
When you confess your sins to God, he forgives your sins. He restores you to fellowship with him. And it is sweet.
Let me urge you to confess your sins to God so that you can know the blessing of forgiveness.
IV. The Joy of Submission (32:8-11)
And fourth, let’s see the joy of submission.
God speaks to David in verses 8-9, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”
God wants David to walk in obedience to him so that he will know the joy of submission.
David states what is found to be true in life in verse 10, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.”
A person is “wicked” who does not submit to God. A “wicked” person is not a child of God. That person does what is contrary to God’s word and will.
On the flip side, David affirmed that God’s “steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” God’s covenant love—God’s smile—shines on the person who surrenders in obedience to God.
That is why David concluded this Psalm in verse 11, “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!”
Quoting Spurgeon again, who says, “Joy in God is the happiest of all joys.”
There is no greater joy in all of life than to know that your sins are forgiven and that you are right with God.
You may be here today, knowing you are not right with God.
You may wonder if God will accept you because of your sin.
Let me assure you that no sin is so big that cannot forgive. If God forgave David for the sins of adultery and murder, he can surely forgive your sins, no matter how big.
So, turn to God.
Confess your sins to him. Ask him to forgive you of all your sins.
When you do, you will discover that he will forgive you for all your sins.
And you will discover the joy of submission to God.
The Congregational minister, Nathaniel Emmons, rightly said, “Submission to God is the only true balm that can heal.”
Conclusion
Psalm 32:1-11 teaches us fundamental truths about sin that causes believers to give thanks to God for the forgiveness of their sins.
Psalm 32 teaches us about the blessing of forgiveness, the misery of silence, the pathway of deliverance, and the joy of submission.
As President Richard Nixon's "hatchet man," Chuck Colson was deeply involved in political maneuvers and unethical practices that eventually led to the Watergate scandal.
In 1974, Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to prison.
This period marked a profound low point in his life, filled with shame, guilt, and despair.
Just before his imprisonment, Colson had a life-changing encounter.
A friend gave him a copy of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, and Colson began to read it.
Colson knew that he was a sinner. He turned to God in repentance and received God’s forgiveness.
Colson became a committed Christian and experienced a profound sense of peace and purpose.
While in prison, Colson's faith deepened, and he began to feel a strong calling to help his fellow inmates.
After his release, he founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, which grew to become the world's largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families.
Through this ministry, Colson worked tirelessly to bring hope, rehabilitation, and the message of God's forgiveness to countless inmates.
Let me encourage you today to turn to God and confess your sins to him if you are struggling with sin—any sin—in your life.
You will learn the blessing of forgiveness and the joy found in submission to God. Amen.
