Psalm 32:1-6
“Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.”
To have the experience of David in all the diversified conditions of life faithfully submitted to us, is an advantage for which we can never be sufficiently thankful. There was scarcely any trouble, either of a temporal or spiritual nature, which he was not called to endure, and under which he has not stated to us the workings of his mind. We are accustomed to hear of his sins and his penitence, his sorrows and his joys.
But there is one particular frame of mind, in which he continued for many months, which we are apt, for the most part, to overlook, or to pass by with a mere transient observation; I mean, his state of impenitence and hardness of heart after the commission of his sin in the matter of Uriah. But this is an exceedingly profitable point of view in which to behold him, because of the general tendency of sin to harden the heart; and to see how he obtained peace at last is also of great advantage, inasmuch as it will show us how we may obtain peace, even after the commission of the greatest transgressions.
When David wrote this Psalm he had regained that blessed state from which he had fallen; and he here records, for the instruction of the Church in all future ages,
I. What true blessedness consists in.
A man who has no prospects beyond this present world, will seek happiness in the things of time and sense. But “a man’s life consists not in the abundance of the things that he possesses.” We are immortal beings, and are hastening to a state, where a period will arrive, at which our present existence, even though it should have been continued a thousand years, will have been only as the twinkling of an eye.
In that state either blessedness or misery awaits us, according as we enter upon it under the guilt of our former sins, or with our sins forgiven. We may justly say, therefore, that true blessedness consists, as our text informs us, in having our sins forgiven.
To elucidate this topic, let us consider the blessing here spoken of:
1. As a non-imputation of sin.
Who that is in the smallest degree conscious of the number and heinousness of his transgressions, and of the awful punishment due to him on account of them, must not regard it as an unspeakable mercy to have them all blotted out from the book of God’s remembrance? What in the whole universe can in his estimation be compared with this? If he could possess the world, yes, if he could possess ten thousand worlds—what comfort would the acquisition give him, if he had the melancholy prospect of being speedily plunged into the bottomless abyss of Hell?
If there were a large company of condemned criminals, some rich and noble, others poor and ignoble, and one of the lowest of them had received the king’s pardon while all the rest were left for execution; who among them would be accounted the happiest?
How much more then, when the death to which unpardoned sinners are consigned is an everlasting death in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone!
No one who reads the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, and sees the termination of their respective states, can for a moment hesitate to pronounce Lazarus, with all his miseries and privations, far happier in a sense of reconciliation with his God; than the rich worldling in the enjoyment of all his pomp and luxury!
2. As a positive imputation of Jesus’ righteousness.
In the words of David we should not have seen the doctrine of imputed righteousness, if Paul had not expressly told us that that doctrine was contained in them. He tells us in Romans 4:6-8, that in these words “David describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
Now this idea goes much farther than mere forgiveness; forgiveness exempts from punishment; but an imputation of the Redeemer’s righteousness to us insures to us an eternal blessedness in glory! 2 Corinthians 5:21. O how blessed must that man be who is clothed in the unspotted robe of Christ’s righteousness, and can, on the footing of that righteousness, claim all the glory and felicity of Heaven! He may look forward to death and judgment, not only without fear but with holy confidence and joy, assured, that in God’s sight he stands “without spot or blemish.”
Who, we would ask, can be blessed, like the man who has been begotten to a living hope, that in and through Christ, there is reserved for him an incorruptible, and undefiled, and never-fading inheritance in Heaven?
3. As a renovation of soul consequent on reconciliation with God.
Sin is pardoned, and righteousness is imputed, purely through the free grace of God to the chief of sinners, without any good works performed by them. Mark the expressions, “the ungodly,” “without works,” Romans 4:5-6—yet no pardoned sinner is left in an unholy state; on the contrary, he is “renewed in the spirit of his mind;” “a new heart is given unto him;” and he is made “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit.” If this were not the case, pardon itself could not make him happy. A soul under the dominion of sin could not be happy, even if it were in Heaven; sin would eat at his vitals, as does a canker. It is the restoration of the soul to the Divine image that constitutes a very principal part of its felicity; for when we are “holy, as God is holy,” then we are happy, as God is happy.
We must be careful however not to confound those different sources of blessedness. Paul was so jealous on this head, that when quoting the words of our text, be omitted these at the close of it, lest anyone should imagine that our sanctification were in any respect the ground of our justification before God. Sanctification is the fruit and consequence of our having received a justifying righteousness; and, though it in no respect procures our reconciliation with God in the first instance, (for that is procured solely through faith in Christ,) yet it is as inseparably connected with justifying faith, as good fruit is with a good tree; nor can the soul be blessed in a sense of the Divine favor, until it has this evidence of its acceptance with him.
But David proceeds to inform us,
II. How he himself attained unto blessedness.
For a long time he was altogether destitute of blessedness.
Partly through stoutness of heart, and partly through unbelief, he for a long time refused to humble himself for his heinous iniquities. But was he happy during that period? Hear his own representation of his state and feelings, “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my roaring all the day long; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer.”
The state of an impenitent sinner is fitly compared to the troubled sea, which cannot rest, but incessantly casts up mire and dirt. “There is no peace, says God, to the wicked.”
We have a striking elucidation of this point in the history of Judas and of Peter. Both of them had sinned grievously; but Peter, through the influence of faith, repented; while Judas, under the influence of unbelief, sought refuge in suicide from the accusations of his own mind.
Thus it is with many who are haunted with a sense of guilt, but will not abase themselves before God; they “roar all the day long;” and “howl upon their beds, like dogs; but they do not cry unto God from their inmost souls, Hosea 7:14.” Hence they can find no rest, or peace; and often precipitate themselves into the torments of Hell, to get rid of the torments of a guilty conscience. Ignorant people impute this despairing state to religion; but it is the lack of religion that produces this despair! It is the lack of true contrition that causes their guilt so to prey upon their minds. “God’s hand is heavy upon them,” because they will not humble themselves before him; and the longer they continue to defy God, the more may they expect to feel the pressure of his righteous indignation See Psalm 38:1-8; Psalm 102:3-7.
At last through penitence, David attained this blessed state.
“He at last acknowledged his sin, and confessed his transgressions unto the Lord;” and then God, who delights in mercy, spoke peace unto his soul. The transition was indeed surprisingly rapid, for he only said, “I will confess my transgressions,” and instantly God forgave the iniquity of his sin! See 2 Samuel 12:13.” Doubtless God saw the sincerity of his heart; he not only saw that David mourned over his past offences, but was determined through grace to give himself up wholly and unreservedly to the Lord; and therefore he would not delay to restore to him the light of his countenance, and the joy of his salvation.
We have a beautiful instance of this rich display of mercy in the parable of the Prodigal Son; as also in the converts on the day of Pentecost; and in the jailer, Acts 16:34. And similar displays of mercy may we ourselves hope for, if only we humble ourselves before him, and seek to be clothed in the Redeemer’s righteousness; for “he is rich in mercy unto all who call upon him!”
Having stated thus his own experience, David proceeds to tell us,
III. What improvement we should make of it.
Unspeakably encouraging is the record here given to us. We should take occasion from it:
1. To seek the Lord for ourselves.
“The godly” will make their prayer unto God; and the ungodly also should do it. If any man ever had reason to despair, David had, after having so grievously departed from his God. But he cried unto the Lord, and obtained mercy at his hands.
Shall the ungodly then say, “My sins are too great to be pardoned?” Or shall “the godly,” after the most horrible backslidings, sit down in despair, and say, “There is no hope?” No; the example of David absolutely forbids this. At the same time it shows the folly of delaying repentance; for there is no peace to the soul in an impenitent state; neither here nor hereafter can we be happy in any other way than that which God has marked out for us.
If penitential sorrow if painful, it never corrodes like impenitent obduracy; there is in it a melting of soul that participates of the nature of holy joy; and, if “weeping endures for a night, then joy is sure to come in the morning.” If then we would be truly blessed, let us flee to Christ as the Refuge set before us; he is “the Lord our Righteousness;” and the vilest sinner upon earth shall find his “blood able to cleanse from all sin,” and his righteousness sufficient to clothe our souls, so that the “shame of our nakedness shall never appear.” But let us take care,
2. To seek him while he may be found.
There is “a time wherein he may be found” by every one of us; and a time wherein he may not be found. This is a solemn truth; but it is attested by many passages of Holy Writ, “O that you had known, even you, at least in this your day—the things that belong unto your peace!” said our Lord to Jerusalem, “but now they are hidden from your eyes!” God may, and does, “give over many to a reprobate mind,” and to final impenitence, “So I gave them up.”
But if you have the least desire of mercy, we are warranted to say, “Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.” O then improve the present hour, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” “If you cover your sins, you cannot prosper; but if you confess and forsake them, you shall find mercy.” “If you say that you have no sin—then you deceive yourselves; but if you confess your sins—then he is faithful and just to forgive you your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”
Charles Simeon