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Psalm Thirty-two
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 32
cf15I A Psalm, of David, Maschil. This is the first of the
psalms that bears this title: some think it is the name of a musical
instrument, on which this psalm was sung; others the first word of a song, to
the tune of which it was sung, as Aben Ezra; some say it is so called, because
it was explained by an interpreter, as Jarchi; and the RabbinsF11Elias
Levita in Tishbi, p. 271. say, that every psalm that is called
"Maschil" was dictated by an interpreter: the Targum renders it
"a good understanding"; and the word properly signifies
"instruction", or "causing to understand"F12משכיל "erudiens", Musculus, Munster, Vatablus,
Montanus; "informans", Gejerus; "an instructing psalm",
Ainsworth. ; and it may be the apostle has some reference to this title in 1 Corinthians 14:15;
It is an instructive psalm; a didascalic ode, as Junius renders it: it gives an
account how the psalmist was instructed under a dispensation of Providence; and
was brought to a sense of sin, and acknowledgment of it; and was favoured with
a discovery of pardoning grace; and in it he takes upon him to instruct others,
Psalm 32:8, and
does instruct in the doctrine of the pardon of sin by the grace of God.
Psalm 32:1 Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is
covered.
YLT
1By David. -- An
Instruction. O the happiness of him whose transgression [is] forgiven, Whose
sin is covered.
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,.... Or
"lifted up"F13Verbum נשא
"elevavit quaudoque idem est ac condonavit", Gejerus; נשוי "ablata est", Piscator, Cocceius. ; bore and
carried away: sin is a transgression of the law; the guilt of it charged upon
the conscience of a sinner is a heavy burden, too heavy for him to bear, and
the punishment of it is intolerable: forgiveness is a removal of sin, guilt,
and punishment. Sin was first taken off, and transferred from the sinner to
Christ, the surety; and who laid upon him really and judicially, as the sins of
the people of Israel were put upon the scapegoat typically; and was bore by
him, both guilt and punishment, and taken away, finished, and made an end of;
and by the application of his blood and sacrifice it is taken away from the
sinner's conscience; it is caused to pass from him, and is removed afar off, as
far as the east is from the west; it is so lifted off from him as to give him
ease and peace, and so as never to return to the destruction of him; wherefore
such a man is a happy man; he has much peace, comfort, calmness, and serenity
of mind now can appear before God with intrepidity, and serve him without fear;
no bill of indictment can hereafter be found against him; no charge will be
exhibited, and so no condemnation to him. The same is expressed, though in
different words, in the next clause;
whose sin is
covered; not by himself, by any works of righteousness done by him; for
these are a covering too narrow; nor by excuses and extenuations; for
prosperity and happiness do not attend such a conduct, Proverbs 28:13; but
by Christ; he is the mercy seat, the covering of the law; who is the covert of
his people from the curses of it, and from the storm of divine wrath and vengeance,
due to the transgressions of it; his blood is the purple covering of the
chariot, under which the saints ride safe to heaven; the lines of his blood are
drawn over crimson and scarlet sins, by which they are blotted out, and are not
legible; and being clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness, all their
sins are covered from the eye of divine Justice; not from the eye of God's
omniscience, which sees the sins of all men, and beholds those of his own
people; and which he takes notice of, and corrects for, in a fatherly way; but
from vindictive justice, they are so hid as not to be imputed and charged, nor
the saints to be condemned for them; such are unblamable and unreproveable in
the sight of God, and are all fair in the eyes of Christ; and their sins are
caused to pass away from themselves, and they have no more sight and conscience
of them; and though sought for at the last day, they will not be found and
brought to light, nor be seen by men or angels. There is something unseemly,
impure, nauseous, abominable, and provoking in sin; which will not bear to be
seen by the Lord, and therefore must be covered, or the sinner can never stand
in his presence and be happy.
Psalm 32:2 2 Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord
does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
YLT
2O the happiness of a man,
To whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,.... Or
"does not think of it"F14יחשב
"cogitat", Piscator; "cogitando reputavit", Gejerus; so
Ainsworth. ; with respect unto men, at least to the harm of them; his thoughts
are thoughts of peace, and not of evil; their sins and iniquities he remembers
no more; he does not charge them with them, he does not reckon them, or place
them to their account, having imputed them to his Son; see 2 Corinthians 5:19.
The Apostle Paul interprets this as inclusive of the imputation of
righteousness without works; even of the righteousness of Christ, in which the
blessedness of a man lies, Romans 4:6; for
such an one is accepted with God, is justified in his sight, and is secure from
condemnation and wrath; it is well with him at all times, in life, at death,
and at judgment; he is an heir of eternal life, will enter into it, and be for
ever glorified;
and in whose spirit there is no guile: for being
thoroughly convinced of sin, he is sincere in his repentance for it, without
deceit and hypocrisy in his confession of it; as David, the Apostle Paul, and
the publican were, when they acknowledged themselves sinners; his faith, in
looking to Christ for pardon and righteousness, is from the heart, and is
unfeigned, and so is his profession of it before God, angels, and men; and
whatever hypocrisy and guile are remaining in the old man, there is none in the
new spirit put into him; in the new man, which is created in him, and which
sinneth not: as the other phrases are expressive of pardon and justification,
this points at internal sanctification, and which serves to complete the
description of the happy man; such an one as David himself was; and this
happiness he illustrates from his own experience in the following verses.
Psalm 32:3 3 When I kept silent, my
bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.
YLT
3When I have kept silence,
become old have my bones, Through my roaring all the day.
When I kept silence,.... Was unthoughtful of
sin, unconcerned about it, and made no acknowledgment and confession of it to
God, being quite senseless and stupid; the Targum adds, "from the words of
the law"; which seems to point at sin as the cause of what follows;
my bones waxed old; through my roaring all the day long; not under a
sense of sin, but under some severe affliction, and through impatience in it;
not considering that sin lay at the bottom, and was the occasion of it; and
such was the violence of the disorder, and his uneasiness under it, that his
strength was dried up by it, and his bones stuck out as they do in aged
persons, whose flesh is wasted away from them; see Psalm 102:3.
Psalm 32:4 4 For day and night Your
hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
YLT
4When by day and by night
Thy hand is heavy upon me, My moisture hath been changed Into the droughts of
summer. Selah.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me,.... Meaning
the afflicting hand of God, which is not joyous, but grievous, and heavy to be
borne; especially without his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his
love: this continued night and day, without any intermission; and may design
some violent distemper; perhaps a fever; since it follows,
my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. That is, the
radical moisture in him was almost dried up, as brooks in the summer season;
his body was parched, as it were, with the burning heat of the disease; or with
an apprehension of the wrath of God under it, or both: and so he continued
until be was brought to a true sense of sin, and an acknowledgment of it, when
he had the discoveries of pardoning love, as is expressed in Psalm 32:5. The
Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions read, "I am turned into distress,
through a thorn being fixed"; and so Apollinarius paraphrases the words,
"I
am become miserable, because thorns are fixed in my skin;'
reading
קוץ for קיץ; and which
SuidasF15In voce ακανθα. interprets
"sin", that being like the thorn, unfruitful and pricking; see 2 Corinthians 12:7.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 32:5 5 I acknowledged my sin to
You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my
transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
YLT
5My sin I cause Thee to
know, And mine iniquity I have not covered. I have said, `I confess concerning
My transgressions to Jehovah,' And Thou -- Thou hast taken away, The iniquity
of my sin. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,.... The sin of Adam, in
which he was concerned; original sin, the corruption of his nature, the sin
that dwelt in him, his private and secret sins, which none knew but God and
himself; even all his sins, which were many, with all their aggravated
circumstances; wherefore he uses various words to express them by, in this and
the following clauses; as "sin", "iniquity", and
"transgressions"; the same that are used in the doctrine of pardon in
the preceding verses; his confession being of the same extent with pardon, and
all these he calls his own; as nothing is more a man's own than his sins are;
and these the psalmist acknowledged to the Lord; or "made", or
"will make known"F16אודיעך
"cognoscere feci te", Pagninus, Montanus; so Musculus, Vatablus; so
Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, & Gejerus, to the same purport. to him:
not that any sin is unknown to God, even the most secret ones; but they may be
said to be made known to God, when a sinner makes a sincere and hearty acknowledgment
of them before him, and expresses his own sense of them; how that they are with
him, and ever before him, what knowledge rather he has of them, how much he is
affected with them, and concerned for the commission of them; and such an
acknowledgment the Lord expects and requires of his people, Jeremiah 3:12;
and mine iniquity have I not hid; by retaining it as a
sweet morsel under his tongue; for he not only acknowledged it, but forsook it;
or by not confessing it, as Achan; for not confessing sin is the of hiding it;
or by denying it, as Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira; or by palliating and
extenuating it; or by casting the blame on others, as did Adam and his wife;
see Job 31:33; or by
covering it with a guise of sanctify and religion;
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; not unto men,
though in some cases confession of sin is to be made to men; a confession of it
in general is to be made to the churches, and administrators of ordinances, in
order to admission into a church state, and to the ordinances of Christ, Matthew 3:6; and in
case of private offences, faults are to be confessed one to another, and
forgiveness granted; and in case of public offences, a confession should be
made to a church publicly; partly for the satisfaction of the church, and
partly for the glory of divine grace; but confession is not to be made to a
priest, or to a person in a ministerial character, in order for absolution; but
to the Lord only, against whom sin is committed, and who only can pardon it:
and this the psalmist saith in his heart he would do, and did do it; he not
only confessed facts, but the fault of them, with their evil circumstances, and
that he justly deserved punishment for them; and this he did from his heart, with
abhorrence of the sins committed by him, and in faith, with a view to the
pardoning mercy of God in Christ;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. That is,
either the guilt of his sin, which he took away from him; or the punishment of
it, which he delivered him from: moreover, this phrase may denote the exceeding
sinfulness of sin, and so may both express the sense which the psalmist had of
it, and exalt the grace of God in the forgiveness of it; by which must be meant
a fresh manifestation and application of pardon to his soul: now, when
confession of sin, and remission of it, are thus put together, the sense is not
that confession of sin is the cause of pardon; it is not the moving cause of
it, that is the grace and mercy of God; nor the procuring and meritorious cause
of it, that is the blood of Christ: it is not for the sake of a sinner's
confession of sin, but for Christ's sake, that sin is forgiven; but this is the
way in which it is enjoyed; and such as truly repent of sin, and sincerely
confess it, are the persons to whom the Lord manifests his forgiving love; such
may expect it, Proverbs 28:13.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 32:6 6 For this cause everyone
who is godly shall pray to You In a time when You may be found; Surely in a
flood of great waters They shall not come near him.
YLT
6For this doth every saintly
one pray to Thee, As the time to find. Surely at an overflowing of many waters,
Unto him they come not.
For this shall everyone that is godly pray unto thee,.... Meaning
either that the success he had met with, in acknowledging his sin, would
encourage others also to take a like step, and make their supplications to the
Lord also; or that every godly person should pray to God for the same blessing
of pardoning grace likewise. Pardon of sin is to be prayed for; not only Moses,
David, Daniel, and other Old Testament saints, prayed for it; but Christ has
directed his disciples and followers, under the Gospel dispensation, to do the
same, Luke 11:4; and
which must be understood of praying for the manifestation of it to their
consciences; for God has by one eternal act forgiven all trespasses at once,
for Christ's sake; nor can any new act of pardon arise in the mind of God, or a
fresh one pass in the court of heaven, nor the blood of Christ be shed again
for the remission of it. Moreover, godly men will, in this sense, pray for it,
as they have daily occasion to do: a godly man is a man that is created after
the image of God, is born of him, and is possessed of internal powerful
godliness, and has all things pertaining to it; and particularly has a godly
sorrow for sin, and the fear of God in his heart, and before his eyes: and such
a man is a praying one; having the spirit of grace, he has the spirit of
supplication, and prays with the Spirit and with the understanding; and his
praying for the pardon of sin shows that he is not without it, but daily
commits it, and so needs fresh discoveries of forgiving love: and which he
prays for
in a time when thou mayest be found; which is to be
understood, not of any particular stated times of prayer, as morning, noon, and
night; for the throne of grace is always open, and God is to be found, and
grace and mercy with him at all times; and much less does this respect a day of
grace for particular persons, which, if improved, and the opportunity taken,
they may have pardon; but if neglected till it is over, then there is no pardon
for them; for there is no such day of grace: the whole Gospel dispensation is a
day of grace; and that will not be over until all the elect of God are gathered
in; and until then it is, and will be; now is the accepted time, now is the day
of salvation; but it designs a time of need, of soul distress, in which, when
persons call upon God in truth, and seek him with their whole heart, he is
found by them, and they find grace and mercy with him to relieve them in their
distress; the Targum is,
"in
an acceptable time;'
surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto
him; that is, unto the godly man; not but that afflictions, which are
comparable to great floods of waters, do reach godly persons; but not so as to
overwhelm them and destroy them; they are delivered out of them. The phrase
seems to denote safety in the greatest calamities; that though even a deluge of
vengeance and awful judgments should come upon the world, yet the godly man is
safe; his place is the munition of rocks; he is in the hands of Christ, and is
enclosed in the arms of everlasting love, from whence he can never be taken by
men or devils: the Targum interprets these "waters of many people";
and adds, so as "to do any evil", or "hurt".
Psalm 32:7 7 You are my hiding
place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of
deliverance. Selah
YLT
7Thou [art] a hiding-place
for me, From distress Thou dost keep me, [With] songs of deliverance dost
compass me. Selah.
Thou art my hiding place,.... In time of trouble;
see Psalm 27:5; so
Christ is said to be, Isaiah 32:2.
"Thou shall preserve me from trouble"; not from having it; for in
this world the saints must have tribulation, and through it enter the kingdom,
but from being swallowed up with it; the Lord will bring them safe out of it,
and of them it shall be said, "these are they that came out of great
tribulation", Revelation 7:14;
thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance; or gird with
gladness, as in Psalm 30:11; the
meaning is, that God would give him abundant reason for praise and
thankfulness; and an opportunity of attending him with songs of praise for
deliverance out of the hands of his enemies, and from trouble; and that both in
his house below, where the saints, his loving people and faithful subjects,
would join with him, in the midst of whom he should stand encompassed with
their songs of praise; or in heaven above, where he should sing the song of
Moses, and of the Lamb, and be surrounded with the hallelujahs of angels and
glorified saints; Aben Ebra interprets these songs of the voices of angels.
Selah; on this word; see Gill on Psalm 3:2.
Psalm 32:8 8 I will instruct you and
teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.
YLT
8I cause thee to act wisely,
And direct thee in the way that thou goest, I cause mine eye to take counsel
concerning thee.
I will instruct thee,.... Or "cause thee
to understand"F17אשכילך
"intellectum tibi dabo", V. L. Musculus; "intelligere faciam
te", Pagninus, Montanus; so Ainsworth. . These are by many thought to be
the words of the Lord, who gives to a man an understanding of spiritual things;
he instructs by his providence, and even by afflictive dispensations of
providence; and by his word, which is written for the learning of men, and is
profitable for doctrine and instruction in righteousness, and by the ministers
of it, who are therefore called instructors in Christ; and by his Spirit, when
he instructs effectually and to purpose; by him he instructs men in the
knowledge of themselves, and of himself in Christ, and of peace, pardon,
righteousness, and salvation by Christ; and leads into all truth as it is in
Jesus; and opens the understanding to understand the Scriptures, and the
doctrines contained in them;
and teach thee in the way which shall go; the path of
duty, from whence men are apt to wander; when the Lord hedges up the way they
would go with thorny providences, and by his ministers, word, and Spirit,
directs them in the right way; saying, this is the way, walk in it; and the way
of truth, which is clearly pointed to in the Scriptures of truth, and by the
Spirit of truth; and also the way of life and salvation by Christ, revealed in
the Gospel and which the preachers of it show to the sons of men;
I will guide thee with mine eye; as a master guides his
scholar; or as "mine eye"F18איעצה
עליך עיני "consulam
tibi sicut oculo meo", Drusius. : with as much care and tenderness as if
thou wert the apple of mine eye; see Deuteronomy 32:10;
or the words may be rendered, "I will counsel", or "give
counsel"; as he does, who is wonderful in counsel, and that by his Son,
who is the wonderful Counsellor; and by his word and testimonies, which are the
delight of his people, and the men of their counsel: "mine eye is
upon thee"F19"Consulam, super te est oculus meus",
Cocceius, Gejerus, Ainsworth; so the Targum. ; as the eye of the Lord is upon
the righteous, to watch over them for good, to provide for them, guide and
direct them. These words may very well be considered as the words of David, in
which he determines to act a part, agreeable to the title of the psalm,
"Maschil"; which signifies instructing, or causing to understand; and
as he thought himself bound in duty to do, under the influence of the grace and
mercy he had received from the Lord, in the forgiveness of his sins; and which
he elsewhere resolved to do in a like case, and which is an instance parallel
to this, Psalm 51:13; he
here promises to "instruct" men in the way of attaining to the
blessedness he had been speaking of, by directing them to take the steps he
did; namely, to go to the, Lord, and acknowledge and confess their sins before
him, when they might expect to find pardoning mercy and grace, as he did; and
to "teach" them the way of their duty upon this, to fear the Lord and
his goodness, and to serve him in righteousness and holiness all the days of
their lives; and to "guide them with his eye"; by declaring to
them the gracious experiences he had been favoured with, by telling them what
he himself had seen and known.
Psalm 32:9 9 Do not be like the horse or
like the mule, Which have no understanding, Which must be harnessed with
bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you.
YLT
9Be ye not as a horse -- as
a mule, Without understanding, With bridle and bit, its ornaments, to curb, Not
to come near unto thee.
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have
no understanding,.... The design of this exhortation is to direct men how to
behave under the instructions given; not as brutes, which have no rational
faculties, but as men; that they should not show themselves thoughtless,
stupid, and unteachable, as these animals, or worse than they; nor stubborn and
obstinate, refractory and untractable, resolving not to be taught, stopping the
ear, and pulling away the shoulder; nor ill natured and mischievous; not only
hating instruction, casting away the law of the Lord, but kicking and spurning
at, and persecuting such who undertake to instruct them; as these creatures sometimes
attempt to throw their riders, and, when down, kick at them;
whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come
near unto thee; to do mischief, bite or kick; or "because they do not come
near to thee"F20בל קרב אליך "quia non accedunt
ad te", Grotius. ; and that they may come near, and be brought into
subjection, and become obedient; therefore such methods are used; see James 3:3; there is
in the words a tacit intimation, that men are commonly, and for the most part,
like these creatures, stupid, stubborn, and mischievous; and therefore severe
methods are used by the Lord, sore chastenings, to humble and instruct them;
see Jeremiah 31:18; the
mule, more especially, is remarkable for its stupidityF21"Mule,
nihil sentis----", Catullus. ; and though the horse is docile, yet he is
sometimes stubborn and refractory.
Psalm 32:10 10 Many sorrows shall be
to the wicked; But he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround
him.
YLT
10Many [are] the pains of the
wicked; As to him who is trusting in Jehovah, Kindness doth compass him.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked,.... Who will
not be instructed and reformed, but are like the horse and mule, without
understanding; many outward sorrows or afflictions attend them; loathsome and
consuming diseases come upon their bodies by intemperance and debauchery; and
they and their families are brought to a piece of bread, through their vicious
courses; and inward sorrows, horror and terror of mind, seize them when their
consciences are at any time awakened, and are open to conviction; when a load
of guilt lies on them, what remorse of conscience they feel! and what severe
reflections do they make! and how are they pierced through with many sorrows!
And though indeed, for the most part, wicked men have their good things in this
life, and are in prosperous circumstances, and are not in trouble, as other
men; yet what they have is with a curse; and they have no true peace, pleasure,
and satisfaction in what they enjoy; and the curses of a righteous law; and
everlasting destruction is prepared for them in the other world, when they will
have many sorrows indeed; their worm will not die, and the fire of divine fury
will not be quenched; there will be for ever indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, upon every soul of man that does evil;
but he that trusteth in the Lord; not in his wealth and
riches, in his wisdom and strength, in himself, and his own righteousness; for
such are wicked persons; but in the Lord; in his righteousness to justify him,
in his blood to pardon him, in his strength to support him, and in his grace to
supply him with everything necessary for him;
mercy shall compass him about; not only follow him and
overtake him, but surround him; he shall be crowned with lovingkindness and
tender mercies: the phrase denotes the abundance of mercies that shall be
bestowed upon him here and hereafter, as both grace and glory.
Psalm 32:11 11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,
you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
YLT
11Be glad in Jehovah, and
rejoice, ye righteous, And sing, all ye upright of heart!
Be glad in the Lord,.... The Targum renders
it, "in the Word of the Lord"; in Christ the essential Word; in him
as the Lord their righteousness, and because of his righteousness imputed to
them, by which they become righteous; and in him as their Saviour and Redeemer,
and because of the salvation which he has wrought out for them; see Isaiah 61:10;
and rejoice, ye righteous; in the Lord, as before;
for this is not a carnal, but spiritual joy, which is here exhorted to, the
same as in Philemon 4:4; and
"righteous" ones, who are excited to it, are such who are not
righteous in appearance only, or in their own conceit, or by the deeds of the
law, or in and of themselves; for there is none righteous this way: but who are
made righteous by the obedience of Christ, and are righteousness itself in him;
under a sense of which grace they live soberly, righteously, and godly; and
these have great reason to rejoice and be glad;
and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart: who have the
truth of grace, and the root of the matter in them, oil in the vessels of their
hearts, with their lamps; whose faith is unfeigned, whose hope is without
hypocrisy, and whose love is without dissimulation; and who worship the Lord in
spirit and in truth, and draw nigh to him with true hearts, and call upon him
in the simplicity of them; these ought to rejoice, and even shout for joy,
because of the grace that is wrought in them, and bestowed upon them, and the
glory they shall be partakers of; for both grace and glory are given to these,
and no good thing is withheld from them; the end of these upright souls is
peace; and when they have done their work, they shall lie down and rest in
their beds, and each one shall walk in his uprightness, Psalm 84:11.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)