Psalm 32: The Blessed Joy of Forgiveness

In just a few short days, as sisters in Christ, we will be celebrating the most sacred day of our Christian faith: the death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As a way to  prepare my heart for Easter, I’ve been meditating on Psalm 32 this week. Psalms were used both during the Old Testament time period and by the church in individual and corporate worship. Even though we can’t worship together physically, I thought that maybe by meditating on a Psalm together, we could unite in worship spiritually.

Psalm 32 is one of seven penitential psalms (or psalms of confession) found in scripture. Did you ever wonder what life would be like  if we never confessed our sin, or maybe never thought of ourselves as sinners? Would we seek a savior? Would we even sense the need to seek a savior? Would we live differently? Would Easter mean anything to us?

After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus announced, “The time promised by God has come at last!…The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:15 NLT). As you meditate on Psalm 32, David shares with us the joy and blessing that we can experience in confessing our sin and knowing that it is forgiven.

Read and reread this Psalm over the course of the week. Read it in multiple versions. Make a copy of the text so that you can write notes, thoughts or questions on it. After you have taken time to allow God’s word to penetrate your mind and heart, think about the following questions:

1. Looking at verses 1-2:
   1. Who does David, the author of this Psalm, consider “blessed” or “happy”?
   2. The apostle Paul quotes these two verses in Romans 4:7-8. What do these verses in Romans add to your understanding of Psalm 32? (See Romans 4:1-10 for context)
2. Looking at verses 3-7:
   1. David compares the effects of not confessing sin to confessing sin (vv. 3-5). What do you learn?
   2. Based on David’s findings in verses 3-5, what does he encourage us to do in verse 6? Note: David left us with a personal example of a prayer of confession in Psalm 51. Use this Psalm as a template for your own pray as you prepare your heart for Easter.
   3. According to 1 John 1:9, what is God’s promise to those who confess their sin to the LORD?
   4. What is David’s view of God in light of verses 1-7? What is your view of God?
3. Up to this point, David has been speaking to us, sharing his experiences. Notice that the speaker has changed in verses 8-9. Who is now speaking? What does he say?
4. Looking at verses 10-11:
   1. David compares the righteous with the wicked. What do you observe about these two groups of people?
   2. David ends this Psalm with praise and worship, confident that God heard his cry of confession, and did not count his sin against him. David trusted that God would forgive. Let me leave you with these words from 1 Peter 2:24: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” Take some time this week to respond in worship for what Jesus has done for you!

Please share your thoughts, what the Lord may be teaching you, questions you may have, etc. God intended us to learn from each other and encourage one another! May the Lord bless your week as you seek His face.

Love in Christ,

Kim Morgan