Psalms 32: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

This psalm describes the relief of having wrongdoing forgiven. The speaker tells how staying silent about his sin wore him down, and how confessing it brought forgiveness. He then urges others to pray while God can be found, promises instruction on the right path, warns against being as stubborn as a horse or mule, and calls the upright to be glad.

Claim by Claim

1. 32:1
   • This psalm is ascribed to David.
   • This psalm is designated a maskil, a skillful or instructional composition.
   • The one whose transgression is lifted away is blessed.
   • The one whose sin is covered is blessed.
2. 32:2
   • The person to whom the LORD does not reckon iniquity is blessed.
   • The person in whose spirit there is no deceit is blessed.
3. 32:3
   • The speaker says that when he kept silent, his bones wore away.
   • The speaker says this happened through his groaning all day long.
4. 32:4
   • The speaker says that day and night God's hand was heavy upon him.
   • The speaker says his life-moisture was turned into the dryness of summer.
   • The word Selah stands here.
5. 32:5
   • The speaker says he made his sin known to God.
   • The speaker says he did not cover his iniquity.
   • The speaker says that he said he would confess his transgressions to the LORD.
   • The speaker says God lifted away the guilt of his sin.
   • The word Selah stands here.
6. 32:6
   • Because of this, every faithful one should pray to God.
   • Such prayer is to be made at a time when God may be found.
   • When great waters flood, they will not reach him.
7. 32:7
   • The speaker says God is a hiding place for him.
   • The speaker says God will preserve him from trouble.
   • The speaker says God will surround him with shouts of deliverance.
   • The word Selah stands here.
8. 32:8
   • The speaker says he will instruct the hearer.
   • The speaker says he will teach the hearer in the way he should go.
   • The speaker says he will counsel the hearer with his eye upon him.
9. 32:9
   • The hearers are told not to be like a horse or a mule.
   • The horse and mule have no understanding.
   • The horse and mule must be curbed with bit and bridle.
   • It is unclear whether the bit and bridle keep the animals from coming near or are what makes them come near.
10. 32:10
    • The wicked has many sorrows.
    • The one who trusts in the LORD is surrounded by steadfast love.
11. 32:11
    • The righteous are told to be glad in the LORD.
    • The righteous are told to rejoice.
    • All who are upright in heart are told to shout for joy.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

32:1

Three different Hebrew words for wrongdoing run through the opening verses: one that pictures rebellion or breaking away from an authority, one that means missing the mark or failing, and one that means something bent or twisted. English translations shuffle them among "wrongdoing," "sin," "guilt" and "iniquity." "Covered" is the ordinary Hebrew word for putting something out of sight, the same image used of concealing a stain; it says the sin is no longer on view, not that it is being hidden by the sinner.

32:2

"Does not count against him" translates a bookkeeping term: to enter an amount in a ledger against someone's name. The picture is of a debt that is never written down.

32:3

In Hebrew poetry "bones" stands for the whole physical self, the frame that holds a person up, and so their strength. Saying the bones wore out is a way of saying the speaker was falling apart bodily, not a claim about a specific ailment.

32:4

"Your hand was heavy on me" is a standard Hebrew image for pressure or affliction coming from a power greater than yourself. "Selah" is a Hebrew word left untranslated because nobody now knows what it meant. It appears mostly in the Psalms and is generally taken to be a direction to the musicians or singers: perhaps a pause, perhaps a louder passage or an instrumental break.

32:5

To confess means to say out loud what you did wrong instead of keeping it secret.

32:6

"While you can still be found" renders a phrase that could mean either at a time when God is available to be approached, or in the time of distress, the Hebrew is compressed and both readings are old. Rising floodwaters are a stock image in Hebrew poetry for overwhelming danger, drawn from the flash floods that filled dry valleys in a storm.

32:7

"Songs about being rescued" translates a word meaning ringing cries or shouts. It is not clear whether these are shouts of triumph the rescued person makes, or the songs others sing around him.

32:8

The Hebrew of the last phrase is literally "I will counsel you, my eye upon you." That may mean guidance by a look or glance, or simply watchful care. It is also unclear whether verses 8 and 9 are God speaking or the psalmist speaking to his hearers.

32:9

A bit is the metal bar placed in an animal's mouth; a bridle is the strapping on its head that the reins attach to. Together they are how a rider forces a horse or mule to go where he wants. The end of the verse is difficult in Hebrew: it can be read as "or they will not come near you" (the animal must be restrained before it will approach) or "otherwise it will not stay near you."

32:10

"Faithful love" translates the Hebrew word *hesed*, which has no single English equivalent. It means loyal, committed kindness of the sort owed within a binding relationship, older translations render it "mercy," "lovingkindness" or "steadfast love."

32:11

"Upright in heart" is not about feelings. In Hebrew the heart is where you think, decide and intend, closer to what we would call the mind or the will, so the phrase means people whose intentions are straight rather than crooked.