In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne committed adultery while her husband was away. Her sin was exposed when she gave birth to her daughter, Pearl. As punishment, Hester was forced to stand on a scaffold, so all could see her shame. She was also made to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her clothes. At the same time, the local minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, became low sick. No one but Hester’s secretly returned husband made the connection. In the climax, Dimmesdale regains his strength and preaches his best sermon ever. Then he climbed the scaffold, confessed his sins, and died in Hester Prynne’s arms. Unconfirmed rumors spread that he had carved the letter “A” into his chest. Hester Prynne’s dignity in exposed sin was better than Arthur Dimmesdale’s torment in hidden guilt. 

Psalm 32 is the true story of David’s struggle with guilt, confession, and forgiveness. 1 Kings 15:5is David’s epithet: “David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.” 

David committed adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant. David schemed to hide his sin by reuniting Uriah and Bathsheba. But Uriah had more integrity than David. David conspired to have Uriah killed in battle. After Uriah’s death, David married Bathsheba. David’s sin remained a secret for a year until the prophet Nathan confronted him. Recognizing his hidden sin was a scandal in heaven, David repented. 

Psalm 51 is David’s prayer of repentance. It is one of seven Penitential Psalms, which includes Psalm 32. Both psalms were written after David’s confrontation with Nathan. Psalm 32 is more a song of thanksgiving than a prayer of repentance. Michael Travers summarized: “Psalm 51 is the journey, Psalm 32 the destination.” In Psalm 32, David thanks God for answering his prayer for mercy in Psalm 51. The heading reads: “A Maskil of David” – a meditation intended to teach others. The lesson is clear: Confession is good for the soul. 

Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Psalm 32 teaches five benefits of confessing your sins to the God who forgives. 

True Blessings 

Psalm 1:1 declares the righteous blessed: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” No one has walked, stood, or sat in perfect righteousness but Christ. Psalm 32 declares the redeemed blessed. It is a better blessing. Psalm 1blesses the one who follows the right path without straying. Psalm 32 blesses the one who strays away but comes to God and receives forgiveness. 

Verses 1-2 record a double blessing: “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.” “Blessed” means to be happy or fortunate. It is plural: blessedness. True blessedness has nothing to do with physical health, financial prosperity, or personal success. To be blessed is to be forgiven.

These verses describe human sin. It is transgression – willful rebellion against divine authority. It is sin – to miss the mark like an archer who misses the bullseye. It is iniquity – to be bent or twisted. “Transgression” and “sin” describe our sinful ways. “Iniquity” describes our sinful nature. It is original sin that results in sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. David was guilty of all three. Verse 2 indicates David was also guilty of deceit. For a year, David tried to hide his sin from God. He was only fooling himself. The Lord knew what David had done. Yet the Lord did not treat David as his sin deserved. 

These verses also describe divine forgiveness. David’s transgression was forgiven. God lifted the burden of guilt and carried it away. David’s sin was covered. God covered the ugliness of David’s sin under the blood of atonement. David’s iniquity was not counted against him. God wrote off David’s sin debt and credited his account with righteousness. This is what God does for sinners who trust Christ for salvation. 

Romans 4:4-8 says: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those who lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sin is covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’’ This is what it means to be blessed!

Spiritual Peace 

In verses 1-2, David stands on a mountaintop and rejoices in the blessing of forgiveness. In verses 3-5, David looks down into the dark valley of his past guilt. David recalls the year between his sin with Bathsheba and his confrontation with Nathan. Verse 3 describes that period candidly: “I kept silent.” In Psalms, silence is suspicious. The godly pray, confess, lament, praise, and testify. David refused to come clean with God and suffered terrible consequences. 

Verse 3 says, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day.”Sickness is not necessarily the result of sin. Some physical, emotional, and psychological problems are the result of unresolved guilt. Psychologists call certain diseases “psychosomatic” – physical problems rooted in nonphysical factors. David says, “My bones wasted away.” He became sick and aged prematurely because he was “groaning all the day.” His conscience roared at him nonstop. This is the inescapable reality of unconfessed sin: Deal with your guilt, or guilt will deal with you.

Verse 4 explains David’s torment: “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.” This anthropomorphism makes it clear that God may let you get by, but he will not let you get away. God will hold you down until you confess. Verse 4 says, “My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” David was depressed. Like unwatered grass during a summer heat wave, his strength dried up. Galatians 6:7-8 is right: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life.”

Verse 5 marks the turning point: I acknowledge my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” Using the same words for sin used in verses 1-2, David told God like it was. This is the key to deliverance from guilt. Either cover your sin, and God uncovers it. Or uncover it, and God covers it. Divine forgiveness requires personal confession. It is not the human act of confession that makes the difference. It is the divine act of forgiveness.

Verse 5 ends, I said, “I will confess my transgression to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. When David confessed, God’s forgiveness was free, complete, and immediate. God forgave the iniquity of David’s sin. God did not just treat the symptoms. God healed the sickness. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Perfect Security 

Psalm 32 neatly divides into two sections. In verses 1-5, David testifies about his confession and forgiveness. In verses 6-11, David uses his experience to teach others. Psalm 51:13 says, “Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will return to you.” David fulfills that vow in Psalm 32. You can run, but you cannot hide from God. You can run to God and hide in God. Verses 6-7 teach that perfect security is found in believing prayer. 

Pray urgently. Verse 6 says, “Therefore, let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.” Godliness is not sinless perfection. It is demonstrated by how you respond to sin. When godly people sin, they pray to God while he may be found. God is always present. But God is not always available. When can God not be found? Godly people do not know and do not want to know. Isaiah 55:6-7 says: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” 

Why pray urgently? Verse 6 says: “Surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach them.” The ancients did not know when floodwaters would come. They trusted God to keep the floods from swallowing them. Likewise, God will not keep you out of the storm. But in the storm, he will keep you!

Pray confidently.  Verse 7 says, “You are my hiding place; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.” David needed a hiding place from God. But the God of the heavy hand became the God of the helping hand. Is God your hiding place? Because God is holy, sin must be punished. Every sin will be punished in hell or pardoned in Christ. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s hiding place is a person: The Lord Jesus Christ. Run to the cross and hide in the atoning blood of Christ.

David says, “You preserve me from trouble.” This statement does not deny the reality of trouble. It predicts the outcome of trouble. Trouble does not come to trouble you. Trouble comes to take you out. God preserves us so that we survive. David says, “You surround me with shouts of deliverance.” People count you out when trouble comes. God is able to make others shout about your deliverance. Psalm 40:3 says, “He put a new song in my mouth; a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”

Divine Guidance 

In verses 1-7, David talks to and about the Lord. In verses 8-9, the Lord speaks to David. God’s grace forgave David of his sin. God’s guidance sought to keep David from falling into sin again. Psalm 23:3 says, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Lord issues a call to submission and a warning against rebellion. 

A call to submit to God’s guidance. Verse 8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” This promise of divine guidance is not about picking a college, finding a mate, or choosing a vocation. It is moral guidance. God wants to keep you from going the wrong way. How does God guide?

• God’s guidance is personal: “I will….” 
• God’s guidance is assured: “I will….” 
• God’s guidance is wise: “I will instruct you and teach you.”
• God’s guidance is right: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.”
• God’s guidance is unfailing: “I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

God does not just give direction. He travels with you to ensure a safe arrival. Psalm 34:15 says, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry.” When you lose focus on the Lord, he never loses focus on you. God will keep his eye on you. Charles Spurgeon said, “It is not our eye on Him which is our great protection, but His eye on us.”  

A warning not to resist God’s guidance. Verse 9 warns, “Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”

• A horse impulsively rushes ahead. 
• A mule stubbornly lags behind. 

Both animals describe David’s sinfulness. When David saw Bathsheba bathing on that rooftop, he galloped into sin like a wild horse. Then he became like a stubborn mule kicking against God’s call to repent. Don’t be like David! When we act like horses and mules, God does not let us have our own way. He curbs us with bit and bridle. The bit is lodged in the mouth. The bridle steers by use of the bit. The warning is that God knows how to put you in your place. Proverbs 26:3 says: “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.” The bit and bridle are used to get the horse or mule to stay near you. God is not trying to lead you to a place, person, or possession. God is trying to lead you closer to him. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

Abundant Joy

Psalm 53:13 prays, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Sin is the thief of joy. No one takes your joy. You give it away. David wanted his joy back. God answered his prayer, forgave his sin, and restored his joy. In the closing verses of Psalm 32, David identifies abundant joy as the distinguishing mark between the wicked and the righteous. 

The sorrow of the wicked. Verse 10 says: “Many are the sorrows are the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” There are two ways to live. You can be wicked and live in will rebellion against God. But there are consequences: “Many are the sorrows of the wicked.” Sin is fun. But it will not last. This is the folly of the Devil’s lies. All the pleasure is up front. It will cost you later. Sin brings sorrow. Many are the sorrows of the wicked. There is another way to live. You can trust in the Lord. The opposite of wickedness is not holiness. It’s trust. Wicked people trust in themselves. Godly people trust in the Lord.

In verse 7, David says, “You surround me with shouts of deliverance.” Verse 10 says, “Steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” God’s covenant-keeping love surrounds the one who trusts in him. Lamentations 3:22-23 says: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

The joy of the righteous. Verse 11 exhorts: “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” This call to joy is addressed to the “righteous” and “upright in heart.” They are not perfect people. They are not good people. They are not deserving people. They are forgiven people. Joyful praise is the proper response to divine forgiveness. W. Graham Scroggie calls it “holy hilarity.” Forgiven people should “be glad in the Lord,” not things, people, or circumstances. True joy is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiven people should also rejoice. Philippians 4:4 says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!” Forgiven people should “shout for joy.” True believers cannot remain silent. 

• The guilty believer makes the noise of confession. 
• The troubled believer makes the noise of lamentation. 
• The needy believer makes the noise of supplication.
• The blessed believer makes the noise of praise. 
• The forgiven believer makes the noise of thanksgiving. 

Divine revelation is the root of worship. Spiritual joy is the fruit of worship. Psalm 107:1-2 says: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.”