Psalm 32: Blessed Is the Forgiven

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Three words for wrongdoing (pesha', hata'ah, 'avon) and three for forgiveness (lifted, covered, not counted) open the psalm.

"When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 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."

"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. Thou art my hiding place… Selah." Then a new voice: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle."

"Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart."

Maskil

Psalm 32 is the first of thirteen psalms titled maskil (from sakal, "to be wise, to understand"). It may mean "a skilful psalm," "an instruction," or a musical style. The Greek has synesis, "understanding" (Vulgate "intellectus"). Fittingly, v. 8 uses the verb: "I will instruct thee (askilkha)."

Silence and the body

The psalm connects concealed guilt with physical distress: bones wasting, strength drying like summer heat. It does not claim all illness comes from sin, but it describes the relief of confession in bodily terms.

A penitential psalm

Christian tradition (from Cassiodorus in the 6th century) grouped seven "penitential psalms": 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143. Augustine's biographer Possidius records that in his last illness Augustine had the penitential psalms of David copied and fixed to the wall where he could read them. Paul quotes 32:1–2 in Romans 4:7–8 as an example of righteousness counted without works.

Selah

Psalm 32 has selah three times (vv. 4, 5, 7). Selah appears 71 times in the Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk 3. Its meaning is unknown: proposals include a pause, a raising of voice or instruments, or a repeated refrain. The Greek translated it diapsalma, perhaps "interlude."