ETB Psalm 32:1-11

Session 10: God’s Forgiveness - p.87

Our book starts off with these statements:

There is nothing like the joy believers experience when they are walking in fellowship with God. In contrast, there is nothing that robs believers of joy more than living unrepentantly in sin. [ETB:PSG Sum'25]

Discuss: What does guilt feel like? What does forgiveness feel like?

Guilt and forgiveness are both interesting concepts and difficult to describe.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Guilt

guilt

■ noun

1 the

Concise Oxford English Dictionary Forgive

forgive

■ verb (past forgave; past participle forgiven) stop feeling angry or resentful towards (someone) for an offence or mistake

Notice how both can be a statement of fact or a feeling. One is objective and one is subjective. Although those dictionary definitions are accurate and reveal a connection between guilt and forgiveness, they lack any biblical content.

One of the definitions I like came from older dictionary. It said guilt is-

Dictionary of the Bible Guilt

the abiding result of sin than sin itself

Forgiveness is not as easy to define biblically since there are multiple Hebrew and Greek words translated into English as “forgiveness.” It does not appear to mean the removal of guilt, but to put one in a state before God that as being righteous. Our guilt is removed as we have faith in God’s declaration of forgiveness that has been granted.

Have you ever continued to feel guilty even though you know God has forgiven you?

Maybe today’s Psalm can help us all have more faith and trust God’s truth of forgiveness over our guilty feelings in the future.

Understand the Context

Like Psalm 38 (which we studied last week), Psalm 32 is a penitential psalm. The psalms in this category develop the theme of confession and forgiveness. Penitential psalms express the remorse of believers who come to grips with their sins. Also, they convey the necessity of confession, the grace of forgiveness, and the joy of a renewed relationship with God. 

David wrote another psalm in which he developed the same theme of confession and forgiveness. Psalm 51 pointed specifically to his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. According to 2 Samuel 11–12, King David tried to hide his sin, but the prophet Nathan exposed his evil behavior. [LifeWay Adults (2025). Explore the Bible: Adult Leader Guide, Summer 2025]

One of my commentaries reminded me that Scripture calls David, “a man after God’s heart.” Maybe a hundred plus pages of the Old Testament was written about or by this man. Yet he also sinned terribly. Because of this one sin, he experientially knows the path back into fellowship with God. This gives me greater appreciation for the instruction and worship found in today’s Psalm.

It is unclear whether the sin with Bathsheba is what inspired today’s Psalm or if it was another undocumented sin that David was remembering as the Holy Spirit guided his thoughts and writing. Whatever the memory, God used His servant to pen a song lyric that helps us even today learn more of God’s desire for our confession and restoration to His presence.

Explore the Text

Psalm 32:1–2 ESV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Blessed

We have looked at this word before as it was how the entire Book of Psalms began, and it is found often in all its chapters.

The Hebrew word for blessed (‘esher) has also been translated “joyful” or “happy.” It conveys elation and gratitude for receiving a gracious gift. However, such a blessing from God does not always produce immediate happiness. Rather, David infers that while God always cares for the ones He blesses the happiness sometimes is delayed. [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Which do you experience more often this blessing or the guilt we first talked about?

I think that God, through David, is trying to help us see that our guilty feelings and state of being do not have to remain at the “front” of our thoughts but that His blessing of forgiveness can be.

Opening Up Psalms The Relief of Confession (v. 5)

But the promise of God to forgive his repenting people must be believed. Right here is where many of God’s people go astray. Even though they have God’s promise to forgive them, they cannot forgive themselves. So they keep dredging up their sin and feeling guilty about it. And Satan gets the victory because, while they are feeling guilty over their sin, they are virtually useless to the cause of Christ.

What shall we say to such people? God has told us that when we repent of our sins, he casts them as far as the east is from the west (

Ask: What is the source of joy in these verses? What would it take for you to personally experience this joy?

I think memorizing these verses and others similar could help overcome inappropriate feelings of guilt. Repeating them to allow God’s truth to penetrate our hearts and minds to overwrite the enemies lies.

While we may stop feeling guilty, the effects of sin on us should not be forgotten as it can be an excellent deterrent to future temptations.

Along with the word for blessing appearing often, many different words for sin also appear in the Psalms. Especially in these that are categorized as “penitent.”

Transgression

A transgression (pasa) implies a rebellion against authority. The Hebrew wording suggests the actions of a disobedient, defiant heart. A transgression could begin with a solitary act of rebellion; but, over time, unchecked rebellion runs the risk of becoming a lifestyle. [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

I relate this to something like a “misdemeanor” or speeding. We see the sign, but we don’t do it. After we do it once, it becomes easier to do it again the next time we get behind the wheel. Soon we are not even trying to obey the posted limitations. This analogy fails though as it is not an act directly again another person which the biblical use suggests.

The most serious transgressions involve one’s relationship with God. When His people transgress His law, they rebel against Him. The prophets warned about the consequences of transgressions against God (see Isa. 66:24; Hos. 7:13; Amos 1-2). [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Sin

This particular Hebrew word (chataah) conveys the idea of aiming at a target but missing the mark or falling short of it. [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

I have done a lot of target archery and became quite proficient for a time. I did not, however, ever “Robin Hood” any arrows in all my years of shooting. To be without “sin” would be to place every arrow in the exact center of the target every time, with each arrow splitting the one before it. Even Olympic archers do not do this more than once. The word is the one that helps me maintain a graphic image of just how impossible it is to be “without sin” without God’s help.

David testified that God had covered his sin. It’s not that God hid or ignored David’s sin. Rather, He forgave it. Jesus’s blood provides the ultimate covering for our sin. [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Iniquity

This too is a type of rebellion against God, but it also includes a “twisted, perverted path of disobedience and self-satisfaction.”

Keeping our archery analogy, if sin is missing the bullseye, then transgression would be refusing to shoot. Iniquity would be aiming at a completely different target. David knew all three, and then some.

Deceit

Sin starts with a heart that is filled with deceit. Jeremiah stated that the human heart is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9), and Paul quoted several Old Testament passages to underscore the incredible depravity of our hearts (Rom. 3:9-18). [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Most of us have probably more than once “deceived ourselves” into thinking we are better off than we really are. “Putting on a good front” when you are not doing well is a form of deceit and therefore a sin in God’s eyes.

David does not focus on the sins in these verses but how God has dealt with them.

Believer’s Bible Commentary Psalm 32: Forgiven!

He is not speaking about a righteous man who earns or deserves salvation. He is talking about a sinner who has been forgiven. And he makes no mention of works in describing the blessedness of the forgiven man. Through the Holy Spirit Paul deduces from this that David is describing the happiness of the one to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works altogether (

Notice the progression of God’s actions over the psalmist’s sins. Forgiven, covered, not counted, and without deceit. He acts judicially and removes the mark against us. Then He takes Christ’s blood and covers our sins never to be “counted” against us again. They are so removed from us that He now sees us a untainted, unblemished, and without any trace of sin that may “deceive” His perception of us. We are not just blessed, or doubly blessed, but infinitely blessed.

Transition: David found incredible joy in forgiveness and responded to God with praise and worship. But while he rejoiced in forgiveness, he never forgot how sin had tormented him.

Psalm 32:3–5 ESV

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged 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. Selah

Some of the same wording and imagery in today’s Psalm was in the one we studied last week.

When I kept silent

What is it that David is keeping silent about? Who is he not talking to?

David reflected on the long, agonizing days and nights when he tried to keep his sin to himself. He remained silent in the hope that his sinful behavior would not be exposed. While he said nothing about his sin, his body registered the harsh reaction to his silence. He groaned constantly, and His bones wasted away. In contrast, Job wisely asserted that he did not try to hide his sins (Job 31:33).  [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

It is difficult to tell from this Psalm if the distresses were literal as described or embellished for poetic impact. Either way, David’s description lets us know that these feelings were not mild or quick but built up over a period of time. Understanding these “ailments” as a repercussion of sin is key to being able to quickly come to the Lord for forgiveness.

Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50 The Cover-up of Sin Will Bring Discipline (Psalm 32:3–4)

Sin has a simple, basic spiritual law: confess it and you will be blessed; conceal it and you will be disciplined. In David’s life and in ours, the pain and sorrow of sin’s cover-up can take several paths of punishment.

Ask: Other than deep distress, what indicators let us know that we have sinned?

Once the sin is recognized and the effects that it is having on us and those around us, David moves on to the “cure.”

I acknowledged… I confess

The Hebrew word for acknowledged (yada) has also been translated “confessed” (NLT) and suggests making something known. Confessing sin always starts with a decision. Instead of burying his sin in his heart, David decided to come clean before the Lord. (2 Sam. 12:13). In the New Testament, John urged believers to confess their sins to the Lord and to find forgiveness in Him (1 John 1:9). [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Verse 5 is the cure or remedy for verses 3 and 4.

In the first verse of the Psalm, it says that a person is happy when his sin is covered. Here David says that he does not cover his sin, partly because of the way it made him feel as described in the verses before.

What is the difference between the 2 “coverings” of sin?

The Applied Old Testament Commentary Psalm 32

We must beware of making a “cheap confession.” It’s easy to say to God, “I’ve sinned; please forgive me.” Confession with our lips must always be accompanied by REPENTANCE, a turning from our sin. Furthermore, our confession must be made with a broken and contrite heart (

The ESV Study Bible Chapter 32

Note how several words here appear in a mirror pattern, which binds all five verses together: “forgiven … covered [

Ask: What was the result of David’s confession?

You forgave

Acknowledging sin opened the door to forgiveness. Using the same Hebrew word for forgave (nasa) that he had used previously, David testified that the Lord picked up his sin and carried it away, never to be seen again. Just as remarkable, the Lord not only took away the sin, but He also removed the guilt that accompanied it. Therefore, the accountability and the punishment that would result from David’s iniquitywould be removed too. Jesus said that a believer who had been forgiven so lavishly would love Him just as extravagantly (Luke 7:47). [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Psalm 32:6–11 ESV

6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 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. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Ask: According to this Psalm, what should be our first action when recognizing our sin? 

Offer prayer

From the structure of the Hebrew of verse 6, we see how the first phrase and last phrase contrast as do the two middle ones. Meaning there are times when God is easily “found” but when the “rush” comes it is not as easy. Either from His removal from the situation or our distraction by the situation.

Because of the poetic nature of the verse, I was unsure if “they” was the waters reaching the one praying or if it is the godly person’s prayers not reaching God. From the context of the remaining verses, this first one seems to fit the best as it would be another form of protection and deliverance.

When we take this verse in the opposite direction it is a clear indicator that “foxhole” or “last minute” prayers for deliverance will not work. Because if there are times when the “godly” can pray and not “find” God, then those who are “ungodly” have no chance of being heard and would only be delivered by a Gracious God, not because of any prayers offered.

Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50 The Cure for Sin Is Discovered through Prayer (Psalm 32:6–7)

The problem for most of us is not that the Lord is unavailable; the problem is we do not go to him. We do not make ourselves available to spend time with our Lord and Savior. As James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus, reminds us, “You do not have because you do not ask” (

What were some of the specific promises God revealed to David? (v.8) Has God “made good” on any of these in your life?

What steps must we take to experience these promises in our lives? (v.9)

The Moody Bible Commentary B. The Availability of Divine Forgiveness (32:6–7)

The image of great waters depicts extreme distress (

In verses 6 & 7 David is giving any who will listen instruction about our relationship with God and how to preserve it. Then he moves to proclaiming how God takes part in preserving that relationship.

Believer’s Bible Commentary Psalm 32: Forgiven!

There is a question as to whether verses 8 and 9 are the words of David or of the Lord. If we interpret them as David’s language, then they remind us, in Jay Adam’s words, that “the natural response of forgiveness is to help others by sharing one’s own experience and specifically by counseling others in trouble.” If we adopt the other view, then it is the Lord replying to David’s worship with a promise of guidance and a lesson on the need for constant yieldedness. It is the Father spreading a feast for the returned backslider. He offers supervised instruction about the pathway ahead and personal counsel in all the decisions of life.

In verses 8 & 9 we get a different kind of instruction, closer to commands to be followed. Although they may have come from David’s heart and pen, they are directly from God to any that will listen. First God tells us what He will do, then He tells us what we should not do.

Be not like a horse or a mule

If you have spent any considerable time around and working with either of these animals, the metaphor is immediately obvious. If you have not, there is a reason that the phrase “stubborn as a mule” is still being used today.

The challenge for God’s people is not His involvement in their lives. Instead, the greatest obstacle is their own unwillingness to listen to and obey His instruction. Through David, the Lord warned them about being like a stubborn horse or mule. These animals require a bit in their mouths and a bridle around their heads to obey their master’s commands. Similarly, believers always run the risk of nurturing stubborn hearts determined to rebel against Him (Jer. 5:23) [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

David finishes the psalm with the same tone as he started, rejoicing in God’s favor. At the beginning it was more of an observation or statement, here it is closer to a command than a reminder.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice

The centerpiece of gladness was the Lord with whom His people had nourished an intimate relationship. As Hannah expressed her gratitude over the birth of Samuel, she testified that she rejoiced “in the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:1). Paul echoed Hannah’s testimony when he instructed believers to “rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11).

For God’s people, intimacy with Him began when He made them right with Him. At one time, they were burdened by sin; but they turned to the Lord, confessed their sin, and became upright. [ETB:ALG Sum'25]

Philippians 4:4 “4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

We have already discussed how understanding biblical forgiveness is difficult for us as believers. That’s what makes the question in the book a good one to consider.

Ask: How would you describe God’s forgiveness to an unbeliever?

Helping an unbeliever understand how different God’s forgiveness is from the world’s could be the means that leads the to understand and accept Christ’s atoning work for their eternal souls.

Apply the Text

Opening Up Psalms The Wisdom of Experience (vv. 6–11)

It has often been said that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We have in David a very clear history on the matters of sin and forgiveness. If we ignore it, we doom ourselves to walk the same miserable path he walked. The course of wisdom is to learn from him, to learn what creates guilt and avoid it, to learn to confess our sin, and to learn to rejoice in God’s gracious forgiveness.

According to King David in Psalm 32, such joy and gladness are found through the forgiveness that comes when we confess and repent of our sin. Here is a video of a few verses to “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcKlYUL5B0E

Sing along or read and listen to the words that describe how God brings us His joy.

“Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; Drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, Fill us with the light of day.”

Pray: God, we acknowledge our sins to You and we know that no matter how hard we may try to cover them, You still see them. Lord, we confess to You both those sins for doing what we should not have and not doing what we should. Thank You for allowing us to know that they are now forgiven and that You no longer hold them against us. God, when the feeling of these sins or the ones to come begin to burden us again, remind us to come to You quickly that we may experience Your forgiveness that is assured. Holy Spirit, empower us to speak boldly about that forgiveness to others that they may experience it as well.