Psalm 32 Don't be a horse!

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Psalm 32 Of David. A maskil.[a]
1 Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
2 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.(b)
5 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.
6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule,
which have no understanding
but must be controlled by bit and bridle
or they will not come to you.

10 Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the Lord’s unfailing love
surrounds the one who trusts in him.
11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!


a. Psalm 32:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
b. Psalm 32:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verses 5 and 7

When I first read this.... I thought of David praying while Bathsheba's baby died. David says he couldn't "cover up his iniquity". I can just hear David now.... justifying whatever caused the death of that baby. I've said it before... and I'm saying it again... I think [no there is no Biblical evidence... just a gut feeling] I think David had Uriah killed and he made Bathsheba drink something or do something to do away with the baby. Solomon was supposed to be the next king.... David's affair with Bathsheba would mess all that up....

Ok... here's the commentary from the easy English site.

David probably wrote Psalm 32 after he had slept with Bathsheba. She was the wife of Uriah. David sent Uriah to die in battle. The David married Bathsheba. For a while he did not ask God to forgive him. As a result he was very unhappy. Then he told God that he was sorry. God forgave him. David became happy again. Christians have a special word for being sorry for their sins. The word is repentance. There are 7 Repentance Psalms. The others are 6,38 51,102, 130 and 143.​
Verses 1 – 2: Here David used 3 different words to describe disobeying God. I have translated them:​
· DISOBEDIENCE, or not doing what the Bible tells us to do: this hurts God​
· SIN, or doing what we want to do; often we cannot stop ourselves: this hurts God and us​
· DOING BAD THINGS which means doing things that may hurt other people: it also hurts God and us​
These 3 words include all the ways that we disobey God. "Disobey" means "not obey". Really, David’s 3 words mean the same thing; disobeying God. Christians usually call this by the word "sin". Sin is a small word with I (me) in the middle.​
David then uses 3 different words for what God does;​
· God FORGIVES our sin: he GIVES it to Jesus, who carries it AWAY​
· God COVERS our sin: he does not punish us for doing it​
· God does not PUT (or HOLD) our sin AGAINST US: he will save us from going to hell for doing it​
God forgives us because he loves us. He sent his son Jesus to earth to die for us. When Jesus died, God punished Jesus instead of punishing us. "Punish" means "hurt someone because they broke the rules". In this way God covers our sin. When we die nobody will be able to hold it against us, or use it to send us to hell. Hell is a place for punishment after people die. So, we must be like David. We must ask God to forgive us, to cover our sin and not hold it against us.​
Verses 3 – 5: At first, David did not ask God to forgive him. He knew that he had disobeyed God. This made David very sad. But then he did ask God to forgive him and God did. God will always forgive us if we ask him. It does not matter what we have done. Remember, Psalm 32:1-2 includes ALL the ways that we do not obey God.​
Verses 6 – 7: Now it is different. David did not feel God’s hand "heavy on" him. (verse 4) ("heavy on me" means that David thought that God was "angry with him".) David now felt free. So he tells everybody that loves God, "Pray to God". He means "if you sin ask God to forgive you; do not wait until you are very sad". David feels that God is his hiding place. The "great flood of water" are the "bad times". They will come, but will not hurt us. God will hide us and make us safe.​
Verses 8 – 9: These words are not David speaking to us. They are God speaking to us. It is a special promise of God. God will always show us what to do if we ask him. We must not be like animals, like the horse and the mule. We must be like people that God can talk to.
Verses 10 – 11: Though bad people will be sad, people that trust God will not be sad. The only way to be really happy is to ask God to forgive your sin. Then you will have a clean heart. Here, "the heart" means the "real you" inside you. "clean" means God sees you as "if you had never disobeyed him".​
I'm sure these things laid heavy on David's mind.... the loss of that baby must have plagued him the rest of his life. It's a good thing God can forgive those things.... even if we can't forget them.... even if we can't forgive ourselves.

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