Psalm 32 - giving understanding - Blessed is he whose transgression's removed
This Psalm is the 1st Maschil Psalm in the Bilble. There are 13 Maschil psalms (32, 44-45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88-89, 142). "Maschil" is the causitive (Hiphil) participle of the verb sakal, which means "understand" used in v8. Hence Maschil means "causing to understand" or "giving understanding".
This psalm is about the blessedness of having our sins forgiven by God (Rom 4:6-7). This is the only way to have a spotless conscience. The word here, as all Biblical words in context, gives no ground for irresponsibility on our part. However, the central message is that it is impossible to obtain this blessed state by works, but by trusting the Lord (v10).
v1 - "removed" is litterally "lifted".
v2 - verses 1-2 are quoted by Paul in Romans 4:6-8.
v3 - "concealed my guilt" is literally "kept silent".
Like many others, I believe this refers to David's sin agaist Uriah the Hittite when David committed adultery with Uriah's wife and had Uriah murdered. The prophet Nathan confronted David about this sin after the child conceived by adultery was born, so apparently David was suffering under God's hand for at least 9 months, maybe a year (2Samuel 12:9-15).
"Within my bones" indicates a very deep distress.
v4 - "life" is literally "moisture" or "life sap"
"heat" is literally "drought".
David was a king. He was living in luxury. Things were going very well for him externally, but he was miserable.
v5 - David acknowledged one particular sin, and then this led him to confess other sins.
v6 - literally "Upon this shall all saints
pray unto Thee in a time when You may be found. Only thus, when great waters overflow, they shall not come nigh him. "
v7 - The Lord is my hiding place, and He keeps me from trouble. This does not mean that we do not have troubles, but that in the troubles the Lord is with Me as Supplier and Protector. In v4 the Lord's hand was heavy upon me day and night. Here, in this verse, the type of songs that the Lord compasses me about with are songs of deliverance.
v8- Lit. "I will cause you to understand and will direct you in this way you should go. I will counsel you. ..."
The Hebrew verb for "cause you to understand" in this verse is the same as in the Psalm title, Maschil.
This is one of my all time favorite verses. It is the experience of the New Covenant (Heb 8:11; Isa 54:13). There is a wonderful hymn based on this verse, "Precious Promise God doth give thee" .
"My eye is upon you" is comforting and constraining. In what I am going through, the Lord's eye is upon me. Knowing that the Lord's eye is upon me causes me to live and think before the Lord.
v9 - "bridle" is literally "bit and bridle"
We should pray not only when we are in troubles. If we only pray when in troubles, we are like a horse or mule without understanding, only coming to Him when the environment constrains us to. David had been like a horse, not coming to the Lord until he was prodded to by Nathan's rebuke.
v10 - The opposite of "wicked" is to "trust the Lord". It is wonderful to have mercy surround us. Mercy surrounds each one individually who trusts the Lord.
Jonah had forsaken the Lord's mercy when he tried to run away from the Lord's presence. (Jonah 2:8)
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updated 4/26/2011
updated 3/16/2010 Steve Miller