Psalms 32:1

The Bible says in Psalms 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.[2] Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” These are two of the greatest salvation verses in the Bible. The verses were quoted by Paul the Apostle when he wrote Romans chapter four: the great chapter in the Bible about the imputation of righteousness and justification by faith. The word “blessed” is found at the beginning of both of these verses. There is no greater blessing than to be forgiven of one’s sins. The word “forgiven” and the word “covered” are used in verse one. Both of these words demonstrate the completeness of salvation. The word “forgiven” means to be separated from or removed from. When you put your faith in Christ and God forgives you, He removes your sins from you so that when He considers you, He does not see your sins. He sees someone with no sins. Just to make sure that we understand that God does not see or consider our sins once we are forgiven, He uses the word “covered.” You cannot see something that is covered. If God does not “see” my sins nor consider them any more, then neither should I. If I know that I am forgiven, then I should forget my sins and enjoy my status that everyone that is forgiven can and should enjoy.

Verse two deals with a teaching that is often called imputed righteousness when it says that God “imputeth not iniquity” concerning the one that is forgiven. When Paul quoted Psalms 32:1-2, Paul gave an introduction to these verses written by David by saying in Romans 4:5-6, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.[6] Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” Psalms 32:2 gives one side of the coin: what is not imputed to the believer because of their faith in Christ. Iniquity is not imputed. Romans 4:6 gives what is imputed to the benefit of the believer because of their faith in Christ: righteousness. It is kind of like God has a list of every person’s name. God certainly knows every one’s name. Next to each name there is an accounting. Is this person sinful or is this person righteous? To be righteous means to be without sin. God can do anything. If God wants to take a sinner and say that the sinner is not a sinner, but is a righteous person, God can do that. God’s accounting of that person is: this person is righteous. That is the imputation of righteousness. God says that you are righteous, even though you are not if based upon your works. Like everyone else, you are a sinner based upon your deeds and actions. The only way to get into heaven is to be clean and pure and holy and righteous. We (the human race) have a problem: we are not righteous. But if you have imputed righteousness, then the problem is solved. God says you are righteous, and you will be allowed into heaven. That is, you will be allowed in if you put your faith and trust in Jesus.

Notice that this great forgiveness according to verse two will be given to those “in whose spirit there is no guile.” In other words to come to Jesus, you must be honest about your own sins and your own sinfulness. God knows that you have sinned, and He wants you to be honest with Him. Confession is saying the same things that God says about your sins. He says that you have sinned and your sins are wrong, and you need to be honest and say the same thing and confess to Jesus. When you admit the truth about yourself, you are enlightened about the truth about God.

The Bible says in Psalms 32:3-6, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.[4] For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.[5] I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.[6] For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.” No believer can walk with God if that believer has unconfessed sin in his or her life. No believer can be happy if he or she has unconfessed sin in his or her life. That is what David meant when he said, “I kept silence.” In other words there were one or more sins that he did not confess to God. That is not good for a believer. Not only will you lose fellowship with your Savior, but you will suffer some severe chastisements because God wants to wake you up. He wants you to stay in fellowship with Him because He loves you. Some of the chastisements will be physical and some will be spiritual. David said in verse three, “my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.” This is very well said. His “bones” represent his physical constitution. If you are not right with the Lord, it can affect your health. It says in First Corinthians 11:30, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”

David said to God in verse four, “For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me.” That is the chastising hand of God upon a believer. How do you avoid such a situation: always confess your sins and confess them quickly. That is how you keep walking with God and how you avoid His chastising hand. God’s chastisements are to wake you up to bring you back to Him. If you come back to Him on your own, then no chastisements are necessary. It says in First Corinthians 11:31-32, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”

How does anyone fix all the problems that can come from unconfessed sin in their life? Do what David did. He wrote in Psalms 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD.” When you know that you have sinned, there are two things that you can do. First, you can hide from your sins, attempt to justify them, and thus not confess them to Christ. Or second, you can do what David did and confess them. If you confess your sins to God, He will always forgive you. David said to God, “thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.”

Who will confess their sins? According to verse six, those that are “godly.” Confession of sin is what makes you godly. Failure to confess sins is what makes you evil and ungodly. A person might be very involved in religion, but does not confess their sins, and therefore, they are ungodly. When can a person confess their sins: at a time when God “mayest be found.” The time to turn to Jesus is when He touches your heart. If you harden your heart at that time, you do not know when He will come to you again, if ever. If you do turn to the Lord, not only do you gain the forgiveness of sins, but you also gain all the advantages of being a child of God who walks with Jesus: He will guide every step of your life, take care of you, and when you breathe your last breath, He will take you to heaven.

In Psalms 32:7 David talks about some of the benefits of knowing the Lord and being rightly related to Him, “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” It is interesting that God is called a “hiding place.” There are dangers in life. Where do you go to be safe from these dangers? The best place to go is to go to the Lord Jesus in faith and trust in Him. David said in verse seven that God would “preserve” him. How long will you live with all the dangers that a temporary life can experience. You will live as long as God has a use for your life and wants you to live. That truth should give you confidence and peace in the face of any “trouble.” It should also give you happiness and joy. David wrote at the end of verse seven, “thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” One of the important parts of a church service is the singing of hymns and gospel songs. As you learn these great songs written by people of faith, you can sing them to yourself anytime throughout the day. “Songs of deliverance” are gospel songs that tell the story of Jesus and His saving grace.

The Bible says in Psalms 32:8, “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” This is one of the reasons that we need the Lord. We need instruction. We needed to be guided by God’s grace and wisdom. God wants to guide us into His will for us. That is why He gave us the Bible. Jesus is the great Teacher. God has given us the Holy Spirit to enlighten us in the true meaning of God’s Word and to apply the Word to our hearts at just the right time and in just the right way to guide us. God promises to guide us, and He will keep that promise as long as we are rightly related to Him. That is very comforting. Whatever happens to you, God is involved in all things and using all things to guide your life.

Psalms 32:9 tells us one of the very important things to know so that we can be guided by the Lord. It says, “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” In other words be submissive to the Lord. Be ready to go His way. Do not be stubborn nor led by your will. Seek the will of the Master, and then you will find it.

The Bible says in Psalms 32:10, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.” This verse tells us the difference between a wicked person and someone who is not wicked. A wicked person does not trust in the Lord. A righteous person does trust in the Lord. Because a righteous person trusts in the Lord, the righteous person receives mercy from God. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Because the wicked do not trust in the Lord, they will have “many sorrows.” Some of the sorrows will come in this life because you reap what you sow. That is the law of consequences. And some of the sorrows will come in the next life as a result of the judgment. That will be a terrible day when a wicked person stands before God without mercy. When it says that “mercy shall compass” about the one who trusts in the Lord, it means that you will always have mercy from Christ as a part of your life. You do not have to worry that you will be punished for your sins. Instead of having the law of consequences to rule their lives, those who trust in the Lord have something much better: the law of mercy. Mercy means that you will not receive punishments that you deserve.

The Bible says in Psalms 32:11, “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.” God wants us to be happy. Since the Lord Jesus is the one individual who can never be taken from you, if you learn to be glad in the Lord, you can always be glad. If you lose something or someone, and it causes you to lose your joy, maybe you loved that person or thing too much. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. You can shout for joy because God says that you are “righteous.” And the only reason that He says that you are righteous is because Jesus counts you to be righteous because you trust in Him. Even though you are a great sinner, He accounts that you are righteous. That should always be a reason for great joy. When is the last time that you did “shout for joy” because you are in the Lord? Christians should be the happiest people in the world. We know that we are going to heaven because of Jesus. We know that God loves us. We know that God has given us all the promises of the Bible. We know that all things work together for good. We know that Jesus is always with us. Yes, definitely: be glad, rejoice, and shout for joy.

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