Psalm 32:2-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 32:1-6

This psalm is entitled Maschil, which some take to be only the name of the tune to which it was set and was to be sung. But others think it is significant; our margin reads it, A psalm of David giving instruction, and there is nothing in which we have more need of instruction than in the nature of true blessedness, wherein it consists and the way that leads to it?what we must do that we may be happy. There are several things in which these verses instruct us. In general, we are here taught... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 32:2

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity ,.... Or "does not think of it" F14 יחשב "cogitat", Piscator; "cogitando reputavit", Gejerus; so Ainsworth. ; with respect unto men, at least to the harm of them; his thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not of evil; their sins and iniquities he remembers no more; he does not charge them with them, he does not reckon them, or place them to their account, having imputed them to his Son; see 2 Corinthians 5:19 . The Apostle... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 32:3

When I kept silence ,.... Was unthoughtful of sin, unconcerned about it, and made no acknowledgment and confession of it to God, being quite senseless and stupid; the Targum adds, "from the words of the law"; which seems to point at sin as the cause of what follows; my bones waxed old; through my roaring all the day long ; not under a sense of sin, but under some severe affliction, and through impatience in it; not considering that sin lay at the bottom, and was the occasion of it; and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 32:4

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me ,.... Meaning the afflicting hand of God, which is not joyous, but grievous, and heavy to be borne; especially without his gracious presence, and the discoveries of his love: this continued night and day, without any intermission; and may design some violent distemper; perhaps a fever; since it follows, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer . That is, the radical moisture in him was almost dried up, as brooks in the summer season;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 32:5

I acknowledged my sin unto thee ,.... The sin of Adam, in which he was concerned; original sin, the corruption of his nature, the sin that dwelt in him, his private and secret sins, which none knew but God and himself; even all his sins, which were many, with all their aggravated circumstances; wherefore he uses various words to express them by, in this and the following clauses; as "sin", "iniquity", and "transgressions"; the same that are used in the doctrine of pardon in the preceding... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 32:3

When I kept silence - Before I humbled myself, and confessed my sin, my soul was under the deepest horror. "I roared all the day long;" and felt the hand of God heavy upon my soul. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 32:5

I acknowledged my sin - When this confession was made thoroughly and sincerely, and I ceased to cover and extenuate my offense, then thou didst forgive the iniquity of my sin. I felt the hardness of heart: I felt the deep distress of soul; I felt power to confess and abhor my sin; I felt confidence in the mercy of the Lord; and I felt the forgiveness of the iniquity of my sin. Selah - This is all true; I know it; I felt it; I feel it. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 32:2

Verse 2 2.In whose spirit there is no guile. In this clause the Psalmist distinguishes believers both from hypocrites and from senseless despisers of God, neither of whom care for this happiness, nor can they attain to the enjoyment of it. The wicked are, indeed, conscious to themselves of their guilt, but still they delight in their wickedness; harden themselves in their impudence, and laugh at threatenings; or, at least, they indulge themselves in deceitful flatteries, that they may not be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 32:3

Verse 3 3.When I kept silence, my bones wasted away. Here David confirms, by his own experience, the doctrine which he had laid down; namely, that when humbled under the hand of God, he felt that nothing was so miserable as to be deprived of his favor: by which he intimates, that this truth cannot be rightly understood until God has tried us with a feeling of his anger. Nor does he speak of a mere ordinary trial, but declares that he was entirely subdued with the extremest rigour. And... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 32:4

Verse 4 4.For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. In this verse he explains more fully whence such heavy grief arose; namely, because he felt the hand of God to be sore against him. The greatest of all afflictions is to be so heavily pressed with the hand of God, that the sinner feels he has to do with a Judge whose indignation and severity involve in them many deaths, besides eternal death. David, accordingly, complains that his moisture was dried up, not merely from simply meditating on... read more

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