A Psalm of David, giving instruction. The thirty-second Psalm is a gospel benediction. It belongs not to the law; it is a word which can only come of sovereign grace to the guilty. The very first sentence tells us that,
Psalms 32:1. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed would have been the man who never transgressed, who never sinned; but, be encouraged, O sinner, there is blessedness even for the likes of you! Blessed is he who, though he has transgressed, has had his transgression forgiven; who, though he has sinned, and sinned often, and sinned foully, yet, nevertheless, has had his sin covered. There is such blessedness in this forgiveness that scarcely can the bliss of an unfallen spirit excel it. There is a tenderness, a delicacy, a fragrance, a love, about the dealings of God with pardoned sinners, that even angels can scarcely tell the excessive sweetness of it. They have never known the joy of redeeming grace and dying love; and although they are blessed, yet peculiarly and especially is he blessed «whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin, is covered.»
Psalms 32:2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
He is blessed twice over; God multiplies the blessing, He blesses him effectually, he blesses him emphatically, he blesses him in body, he blesses him in soul. He is blessed; he has iniquities, but God does not impute them to him. They have been of old imputed to Another, who stood in the sinner's place, and bore the sinner's guilt, and put it all away by his own expiatory sufferings. Therefore, as these deeds were put to Christ's account, they are not laid to the account of the Lord's people: «Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity.» But even pardon and deliverance from guilt would not be sufficient; to make a man blessed if they stood alone, for, as long as our heart is full of sin and deceit, and follows crooked ways, there can be no true rest to us. Renee the blessedness comes to the man «in whose spirit there is no guile,» no falsehood. The guile and the guilt have gone together, and the gall is gone, to, Now the man is truthful, so he confesses his sin; he is also trustful, so he lays hold on the sinner's Substitute, and thus he finds peace. Dear friends, do you all know this blessedness? If you do not, I pray that you may, for it is heaven begun below, the heaven of a poor sinner whose sin is covered, and whose heart is purified from guile. Now see the way by which we come to this blessedness:
Psalms 32:3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
Sin was in his heart but he would not confess it. He was silent before God in hardness of heart; and then his sorrow grew worse and worse, till not only his flesh began to fail, but his bones the most solid part of his frame, began to grow old, too. He felt like a man prematurely aged, melting away into the grave.
Psalms 32:4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.
When a man gets God's hand on him, I warrant, you that he will want no other burden. This hand of God goes with him wherever he goes, it is like his own shadow. Whenever you meet with persons who are self-righteous, you may pray God to lay his hand on them; that will drive the ride and unbelief out of them. David says that he was so pressed under God's hand that the very essence of his soul was squeezed out of him.
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; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sins. Selah.
«And thou forgavest» blessed «and.» How very simple it was! The floods of divine wrath were swelling; he just pulled up the sluices of confession, the floods ran away, and all was quiet. Oh, what a simple plan this is! But; pride cannot brook it; to humble oneself, and confess before God that one is utterly undone and ruined and sinful, is what our proud spirit will not bring itself to do if it can help it. Yet, that is the way of peace. Down, down, down, flat on your face! «He that is down need fear no fall.» But we do not like that going down, that acknowledgment of transgression. Still, we must come to it: and the sooner, the better. The Lord bring; every proud soul here to a full acknowledgment and confession of sin, and then forgiveness will surely follow.
Psalms 32:6. 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.
The fact that God hears us at the first and gives us a great deliverance when we, are; under a sense of sin, makes us pray to him as long as ever we live. We shall never forget how God heard us then; and something whispers into our heart, «its heard you then; he will hear you now.» One thing I know, if you do not. I never can come to God again in such a plight as I came to him at the first. Whatever happens to me, if I am bereaved a thousand times, if I am covered, from head to foot with sores, and sit like Job on a dunghill, I can never be brought so low as I was when, in my despair, I was ready to lay violent hands on myself rather than live any longer under a sense of sin. I looked unto him, and I was lightened; and that first grand deliverance ensures that, in every other time of trial, in every other flood of great waters, when I cry unto God, he will deliver me.
Psalms 32:7. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Here is a threefold declaration: «Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.» «Yes,» says God, «I will;» and now he speaks to his servant. When we speak to God, we may expect that God will speak to us; and what a happy dialogue it is when a soul can pray, and praise, and magnify the Lord, and then the Lord condescends to speak to his poor servant after this fashion!
Psalms 32:8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go
«I have led you so far; I have brought you up out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay; I will not let you perish now; I will not leave you to your own folly.»
Psalms 32:8. I will guide thee with mine eye.
It is a very gentle way of guidance when a mistress just turns her eye towards her servant, who understands her without a word. So God is quite willing to guide his people with his eye, if they are willing to be so guided.
Psalms 32:9. 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.
Alas! there are some hard-mouthed Christians; they will not take a hint from God. They do not watch God's eye, and so do not learn by that gentle means; and therefore they require to have a bit and a bridle, and such things are not at all nice in one's mouth. Some Christians must always be in trouble, or else they would be in sin. It seems as if some could never be allowed a furlough from sorrow, or else they would spend it in the tents of wickedness: «Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule.» Be tender-mouthed; be willing to be guided; yield to the gentle admonitions of the Divine Spirit that you may have a truly happy life.
Psalms 32:10. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked.
It is all merriment with them now; they «count it one of the wisest things, to drive dull care away.» But hark to this knell of all their joys, «Many sorrows shall be to the wicked.» If not today, or tomorrow, yet by-and-by, and in that day, it shall be so. All the future is dark to the wicked; the further they go, the worse they will grow.
Psalms 32:10. But he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
«He that trusteth in the Lord,» he is the very opposite of the wicked. Do you trust in the Lord, my friend? If not, you will have to be put among the wicked, for there are only two sorts of people in the world, the wicked, and those that trust in the Lord. If you are not a believer in Christ, you must go with the other company. «He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.» Mercy shall go all round him, before him, behind him, above him, beneath him, within him, and around him everywhere. As you see the moon sometimes with a halo around it, so shall you be; you shall have brightness within and round about you, mercy shall compass you about.
Psalms 32:11. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
If anybody has a right to be glad, you have; so indulge the gladness, and magnify the name of the Lord.