Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 32:5
I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
5. The way of restoration. Lit. I began to make known to thee my sin, and mine iniquity did I not cover. The tense of the first verb graphically represents the confession being made (Psa 25:8, note): the second verb is the same as that in Psa 32:1. Not until man ceases to hide his sin will it be hidden from God. “Quantum tibi non peperceris,” says Tertullian, quoted by Abp. Leighton, “tantum tibi parcet Deus.” “The less you spare yourself, the more will God spare you.”
and thou forgavest ] Thou is emphatic, and the form of the sentence expresses the immediateness of the pardon. “Vox nondum est in ore et vulnus sanatur.” St Augustine.
The musical interlude may have expressed the joy of forgiveness, and served to separate this record of experience from the application which follows.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I acknowledged my sin unto thee – That is, then I confessed my guilt. I had borne the dreadful pressure as long as I could. I had endeavored to conceal and suppress my conviction, but I found no relief. The anguish became deeper and deeper; my strength was failing; I was crushed under the intolerable burden, and when I could no longer bear it I went and made humble confession, and found relief. The verb used here is in the future tense, I will acknowledge my sin; but in order to a correct understanding of it, it should be regarded as referring to the state of mind at the time referred to in the psalm, and the resolution which the psalmist then formed. The words I said should be understood here. This he expresses in a subsequent part of the verse, referring doubtless to the same time. I said, or I formed a resolution to this effect. The idea is, that he could find no relief in any other way. He could not banish these serious and troublous thoughts from his mind; his days and nights were spent in anguish. He resolved to go to God and to confess his sin, and to see what relief could be found by such an acknowledgment of guilt.
And mine iniquity have I not hid – That is, I did not attempt then to hide it. I made a frank, a full confession. I stated it all, without any attempt to conceal it; to apologise for it; to defend it. before, he had endeavored to conceal it, and it was crushing him to the earth. He now resolved to confess it all, and he found relief.
I said – I formed the resolution.
I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord – I will no longer attempt to hide them, or to suppress the convictions of guilt. I will seek the only proper relief by making confession of my sin, and by obtaining forgiveness. This resolution was substantially the same as that of the prodigal son: I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned, Luk 15:18.
And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin – He found that God was willing to pardon; he no sooner made confession than he obtained the evidence of pardon. All the guilt, or the iniquity of his sin, was at once forgiven; and, as a consequence, he found peace. In what way he had evidence that his sin was forgiven he does not state. It may have been in his case by direct revelation, but it is more probable that he obtained this evidence in the same way that sinners do now, by the internal peace and joy which follows such an act of penitent confession. In regard to this, we may observe:
(a) The very act of making confession tends to give relief to the mind; and, in fact, relief never can be found when confession is not made.
(b) We have the assurance that when confession is made in a proper manner, God will pardon. See the notes at 1Jo 1:9.
(c) When such confession is made, peace will flow into the soul; God will show himself merciful and gracious. The peace which follows from a true confession of guilt before God, proves that God has heard the prayer of the penitent, and has been merciful in forgiving his offences.
Thus, without any miracle, or any direct revelation, we may obtain evidence that our sins are washed away, which will give comfort to the soul.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 32:5
I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou for-gavest the iniquity of my sin.
Confession
It is hard to look things in the face; yet we must do so; we must own our sins honestly.
I. To our own hearts–and then, down comes our pride. We thought ourselves tolerably good, and that we could pass muster as well as most; but beginning to look, we detect, here first, and then there, a blemish, an infirmity, a gross sin. It is best to be frank, and rather to make the most than the least of our faults. The iron-founder examines the huge mass of some iron girder, on which he has spent much labour; he sees one tiny crack, but passes it by, hoping, though with strong misgiving, that the real strength of the metal will not be affected; and ere long he hears that the bridge has fallen, and men have been killed by it, and that the disaster is traced to a flaw in the metal. He had better have faced the disappointment, and have had the piece re-cast, than have been responsible for the accident.
II. To others. When a man knows his own fault, he does not like others to know it: He would prefer to remain in their eyes the spotless man he once was in his own. It is a degrading thought that others should know that you have been guilty of a meanness, of intemperance, of passion, of untruthfulness; and yet by trying to conceal it from them, you may be adding deception to your former error. Not that we are bound to blaze abroad our faults; that might do more harm than good: but to cover them, or palliate them, so as to retain the good opinion of others, is fruitless and insincere. Bitter though it be to lose the good opinion of friends, still even that is better than disingenuousness.
III. To God. It is God whom we have offended: to God must our confession be made. With abject sorrow, and unfeigned shame that we should in any, the least, point have outraged the majesty, the purity, the honour of God; with body, soul, and spirit all bowed down; with reason silent, with no excuses, no special pleading, no attempt to set off against our faults any good things which we have done; but simply engrossed in our hatred of the evil thing we have done, and unreservedly acknowledging its wickedness.
IV. If you cannot quiet your conscience by secret confession to God, use the ministry of reconciliation. Something human the man craves, some human voice to tell him to his face that he is forgiven, to assure him, and to dispel doubts. (G. F. Prescott, M. A.)
Sin confesssd and unconfessed
I. sin unconfessed, working misery in the soul.
1. This misery was corporeally emaciating.
2. This misery lasted as long as the silence.
3. This misery was felt to be from God.
II. sin confessed, divinely removed from the soul.
1. The removal of sin from man is a possible act.
2. A blessed act.
3. An encouraging act.
4. A saving act,
(1) It makes safe in the greatest dangers.
(2) It secures the protection of God Himself.
(3) It encircles the life with Divine music. (Homilist.)
Relief afforded by confession
I. the psalmist had kept silence. In this he was wrong. Sin had been committed, and the fruits were fermenting and fomenting in his bosom, gendering turmoil and breeding corruption. So sin will dwell in our souls, and we fondle and turn it into a means of enjoyment. We have not the courage to look at these sins as sins, and to cast them out from what ought to be the temple of the Lord. We try as far as possible not even to notice them. We prefer thinking of our supposed excellences, of the good deeds we have done, of our talents, courage, prowess, generosity, and roll these as a sweet morsel under our tongue. We decline thinking on the abuse made of the gifts bestowed on us,–on our ingratitude, ungodliness, our lusts cherished, our envy, our evil temper, our selfishness. There will be times, indeed, when these iniquities are forced upon our attention by the accusations of conscience or the reproaches of our fellow men, or by the troubles into which they bring us. But on these occasions we put ourselves on the defensive and parry off the attack; and when these weapons of defence are wrested from us, then we bring excuses and urge palliations referring to extenuating circumstances, or pleading seductions, or pointing to the fairer side of the offence, to the pleasure it gave, or the kindness or frankness which characterized it. Under such pretexts as these we keep silence when we should speak out, when we should confess the sin and acknowledge the transgression, cast them out from our hearts and slay them before the Lord.
II. when he kept silence he was troubled. God speaks. He speaks in the conscience, saying, this deed, this thought was evil. He speaks in the Word, saying, The wages of sin is death. He speaks to us by His Spirit, striving to subdue the resistance. But the ear is stopped, that it may not hear; or when the voice is so loud that it cannot but be heard, no attention is paid to it, or it is openly disobeyed. There is now a terrible conflict. There is a voice commanding, but there is a determined effort to drown it, as loud and dismal as the sound of the gong which was used in Mexico to drown the cry of the tortured and bleeding human victims on the altar. What earnestness in the voice demanding, the voice entreating! but there is equal earnestness in the struggles resisting, and the hatred resenting. No wonder that the moisture is turned into the drought of summer. The terrible heat, exceeding that of a tropical sun, burns up every living thing. The soul is left as an arid waste, without a scrap of vegetation.
III. the psalmist confesses his sins.
IV. the psalmist had his sins forgiven. We are not to understand that the confession can merit the forgiveness. The confession can no more merit the forgiveness than the forgiveness can merit the confession. Both are gifts of God, and so bound together that you cannot have the one without the other. An old author represents Christ as coming to us with a gift in each hand. In the one hand He holds out forgiveness, free forgiveness; in the other hand He holds out repentance and confession. If we begin to say, We are very willing to take the one of these; we know we have sinned, and are most anxious to have the forgiveness; but as to this wringing repentance and its proper fruit, a humbling confession, we wish to avoid them, then Christ will give us neither. But if in simple faith we will only take both, we shall receive both without money and without price. At the same instant that we break silence and cry in faith for mercy, Heaven also breaks the awful silence, and the mercy is bestowed and received. And now the crowded bosom finds relief; the confined soul experiences enlargement; the fettered spirit is free; the prison doors are thrown open, and the soul walks at liberty and expatiates abroad, on before untrodden ground, and gazes on new and lovely scenes. New affections are called forth, and new-born feelings spring up. The evil burnouts have been let out, and the body feels health returning, and, with health, motive and activity. (J. McCosh.)
The forgiveness of sins
If you blot out of Davids psalms his profound sense of moral evil in all its bare, black iniquity, as the great reality of mans experience and life, you blot out those psalms at the same time from the literature of the world: their work is done, their power is dead. But it is the firmness with which he grasps the hand which redeems from this evil, which gives him such a wonderful hold on the heartstrings of humanity. Slave, beggar, soldier, scholar, statesman, priest, all feel equally that he belongs to them, because his experience is so profoundly human; because man the sinner, God the Saviour, are the great themes of his meditation, and of his vivid, burning utterance to the world. Sin and salvation must be the main burden of every gospel which lays masterful hold on human hearts. There are two aspects of sin which need sometimes to be separately considered, that we may see the true method of its Divine treatment, and trace the principles on which it rests.
I. its essential iniquity. The revelation of Scripture is that sin is a personal act against a person. It runs directly counter to our modern philosophizing on the subject. Man knows that he has sinned, himself has done it. I have sinned, I have perverted that which is right. That I means something which, whatever it may be, distinctly is not Nature and is not God (Psa 51:4). The heart may be broken at beholding the ruin and anguish sin has wrought, but the core of the matter is not reached until its iniquity, the wrong before God, is seen to be the essence of it. Only when the sin is comprehended in all its evil, can God the Redeemer begin its cure.
II. its disastrous fruits. Here is a second gauge of the evil of sin–the utter misery which it works (Gen 3:24; Gen 4:1-15). Let a man be selfish, envious, lustful, grasping, in the most hidden imaginations of his heart, he can no more help being the author of sorrow to every one who has intimate relations with him, than a dunghill can help breeding fever. It is a terrible subject, this inevitable fruit of sin. This is Gods ordinance about sin–its fruit shall be misery. It is the grand hold which He keeps on sinners. Sin is in their power; misery is in His; and it is the hand by which He withholds them from swift perdition (1Ti 1:15; Rom 7:1-25.; 1Jn 1:6-10). The text casts a valuable light on the essential nature of forgiveness. God forgives the iniquity of the sin, while the mischief which it has wrought He sets Himself to repair. This is and must be slow and toilsome work. It is the work of God in the government of the world, to repair the evil which sin has wrought. But the forgiveness is prompt, absolute and final.
III. the forgiveness of sin by God–
1. In its nature. It does not touch the accidents of the sin, but its very essence. The accidents will be cured in time. There are two elements to be dealt with–the Divine anger and the sense of alienation and wretchedness in the child. Now as to the first, God when He forgives declares that it is gone. The sinner is slow to believe this, but it is true, and God has His own ways of lodging the sense of it in penitent hearts.
2. Its conditions. How can God forgive sin? Not by ignoring it. The answer of the Gospel is that by mans righteousness, mans iniquity has been put away. Christ stands for man before God, and His righteousness has become a stronger part in humanity than Adams sin. One has undertaken for us, stands for us, who can make and will make Gods righteousness the dominant thing, the conquering thing, the characteristic thing, in humanity; and in Christ God justifies man. But what then has confession to do with it? It is the vital link between the soul and Christ. It is the plea of the soul to the Father, Behold me, sinner as I am, in Christ. My will goes with Him; in His obedience, His hatred of sin, I desire to share; make me partaker of His victorious life. Confession, as the fruit of penitence, transmutes the relation of the soul to Christ. From formal it becomes vital. The name becomes a power. It makes, by the stirring of the thought and will of a free being, the oneness with Christ a spiritual reality. It declares that through Christ there is born in the soul that which is not sinful, which is of the essence of holiness, and ever struggling upwards towards God. Confession rests on Christ, and connects us vitally with His righteousness.
3. Its fruits. Perfect, absolute, and eternal peace, if the sinner but keep firm hold on the fact, Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Man will forgive himself when God forgives him. The fruits of his sin may be there; a broken body, a stained name, poverty, struggle, and sad, sad memories. But all the anguish has gone out of the soul, all the dread, if God forgives. All things, even the bitter fruits of transgression, must work together for good to Gods justified children. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
The penitents progress
David describes three states of mind through which he passed.
I. A state of guilt. When I kept silence, etc. It was his own bitter experience. He darkly and sullenly turned away from God. Though a voice within him bade him turn, he would not. He hung back and shunned the presence of his God, like Adam in the garden. It is an unspeakably wretched state of mind. There are two cases in which a man may feel what David felt.
1. An awakened sinner may feel it–a sinner for the first time brought to a sense of his transgression.
2. The other case in which a man may experience what David did, is that of one who, after he has known somewhat of God and the comfort of religion, has unhappily in some degree departed from God again, and fallen into sin, and does not at once return to Him with earnest prayer for forgiveness, with full confession of his sin, with renewed applications to the blood of sprinkling. This was Davids case; and this, too, was Jonahs. It is easy even for a good man, through negligence and unwatchfulness, to fall into sin and consequent misery; it is not so easy for him to arise and regain the paths of righteousness; it is not so easy to betake himself indeed to the Saviour, and, through the penitent and believing application of His atoning blood, to recover peace of conscience, and with it renewed liberty in the service of God. But there is help for the penitent, help in the abundant mercy of God our Saviour for them that unfeignedly seek it.
II. For mark the next stage of Davids experience, as it is described in the text:–I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. A great change was here. David no longer kept silence. O happy is it, when the guilty mind comes to this resolution!
III. A state of holy joy at being reconciled to God. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose, etc. Then he represents himself as secure and happy under the guidance and protection of God. And then, once more, he has communion with God in prayer. Are any conscious of sin committed? Dissemble it not. Cloke it not. Go to God your Saviour; confess your sin; and ask forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Thus, and thus only, can you find peace. (E. Blencowe, M. A.)
Penitential confession of sin
I. Davids conduct.
1. It was deliberate. I said, I will, etc. He was not dull or unfeeling in his sense of sin; but, like one infirm in body, yet strong in courage, he resolved manfully to go through the operation, however painful, having respect to the recompense of the expected cure.
2. It was humble: I will confess. By this is signified his intention of owning, without any excuses, and specifying, his fault–as was required of the Israelite seeking pardon (Lev 5:5), of the high-priest making atonement (Lev 16:21); and as was practised by the people (1Sa 12:19), and by the prophet Daniel (Dan 9:3). With this would be connected submission to his trouble, as designed for punishment of his sin, and acknowledgment of its justice; to which course a particular promise was made under the law (Lev 26:40-42).
3. It was personal. My sin. Many, anxious to pass hastily and lightly over their own failings, try to effect their purpose by making stepping-stones of their neighbours faults. With the general confession, I am a grievous sinner, they couple the truth, and so are we all; and to the admission, I have done wickedly, they add the hackneyed saying, this is a wicked world we live in. Thus they seem to derive a false comfort from the number of their fellow-offenders, as though the crowd of criminals could screen them from the piercing eye, or the daring band of rebels protect them from the avenging hand of a long-suffering, but all-seeing and almighty Judge.
4. It was intelligent, i.e. with understanding: I will confess my transgressions. The word transgression implies a boundary-line to be passed, a fence to be broken; and, without knowing where this is fixed, a man will not be able to see and acknowledge his fault.
5. It was private: I will confess unto the Lord. David could abase himself before the prophet (2Sa 12:13) and his household (verses 16, 17); but on this occasion he carried his burden to the Lord. It may be asked, Where is the need of confessing to that Lord who trieth the hearts and reins and understandeth our thoughts afar off? We answer, The need is ours, and the benefit is ours. The exercise of mentioning our sins leads the mind to dwell longer upon them, discovering their guilt more fully; and helps to mortify our pride, though no mortal ear listens to the recital. It may be further remarked, that Davids confession to the Lord was an appeal to his judgment, as to his sincerity; and pledged the penitent to a forsaking the sins which he professed to lament.
6. The happy consequences: Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Here is a benefit, beyond the mere ease obtained by giving vent to the feelings; here is the entire removal of the guilt of acknowledged transgression.
II. application to ourselves.
1. In dwelling on Davids confession to the Lord, I would by no means neglect or undervalue the exhortation of the apostle (Jam 5:16) to well-chosen confidence and sympathy.
2. I would suggest to parents, sponsors, and teachers, as concerned in the training of the young, the importance of insisting on the duty of confession before they pardon their offences. (G. Newnham, M. A.)
A conscious sense of sin
I. A conscious sense of sin is accompanied with–
1. Self-abasement (Jer 2:26; Ezr 9:6; Jer 6:15). 2, Self-condemnation (Psa 51:3-7).
3. Such self-abhorrence must reduce the sinner, who is not altogether abandoned, to self-denial, and abstinence from his former course of wickedness. The trembling penitent adopts the language of Ephraim (Jer 31:18-20); and, prodigal-like (Luk 15:12-32), returns to his compassionate Father
II. The prodigal finding a kind reception, contrary to expectation, must be overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness. (J, Kidd, D. D.)
Repentance
1. Notice the elements of this repentance as they come out in this psalm:
(1) Clear consciousness of sin–I acknowledged my sin.
(2) Loathing sorrow for sin–Mine iniquity have I not hid.
(3) Confession of sin–I acknowledged my sin.
(4) Forsaking of sin (Psa 32:9).
2. Ask these questions:
(1) Having sinned, is not this the noblest possible way in which a sinner can treat his sin–to repent of it?
(2) Is it not far better and nobler thus to repent of it than heedlessly and blindly to go on in sin?
(3) Do you think that, going on in sin carelessly and blindly, it is possible to go on thus toward God?
(4) Therefore can you not see the necessity of repentance? (W. Hoyt, D. D.)
Selah.
Selah
The word signifies a vehement, a pathetic, a hyperbolical asseveration, and attestation, and ratification of something said before. Such, in a proportion, as our Saviours Amen, amen is, Verily, verily I say unto you; such as St. Pauls fidelis sermo, with which he seals so many truths, is, This is a faithful saying; such as that apostles Coram domino is, with which he ratifies many things, Before the Lord I speak it; and such as Moses, As I live, saith the Lord, and As the Lord liveth. And therefore, though God be in all His words, Yea, and Amen, no word of His can perish in itself, nor should perish in us, that is, pass without observation, yet, in setting this seal of Selah to this doctrine, He hath testified His will that He would have all these things the better understood, and the deeper imprinted, that if a man conceal and smother his sins, Selah, assuredly, God will open that mans mouth, and it shall not show forth His praise, but God will bring him to fearful exclamations out of the sense of the affliction, if not of the sin; Selah, assuredly, God will shiver his bones, shake his best actions, and discover their impurity; Selah, assuredly, God will suffer to be dried up all his moisture, all possibility of repentant tears, and all interest in the blood of Christ Jesus. (J. Donne, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. I acknowledged my sin] When this confession was made thoroughly and sincerely, and I ceased to cover and extenuate my offence, 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
At last I took up a full resolution, that I would no longer daily nor deal deceitfully with God, nor vainly seek to hide my sins from the all-seeing God, but that I would openly and candidly confess and bewail all my sins with all their aggravations, and humbly implore the pardon of them.
The iniquity of my sin, i.e. the guilt of my sin. Or, Thou didst take away the punishment (as this Hebrew word oft signifies) of my sin; or, my exceeding sinful sin; two words signifying the same thing, being here put together by way of aggravation, according to the manner of the Hebrews.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. A prompt fulfilment of thepurposed confession is followed by a prompt forgiveness.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 verses; his confession being of the same extent with pardon, and all these he calls his own; as nothing is more a man’s own than his sins are; and these the psalmist acknowledged to the Lord; or “made”, or “will make known” p to him: not that any sin is unknown to God, even the most secret ones; but they may be said to be made known to God, when a sinner makes a sincere and hearty acknowledgment of them before him, and expresses his own sense of them; how that they are with him, and ever before him, what knowledge rather he has of them, how much he is affected with them, and concerned for the commission of them; and such an acknowledgment the Lord expects and requires of his people, Jer 3:12;
and mine iniquity have I not hid; by retaining it as a sweet morsel under his tongue; for he not only acknowledged it, but forsook it; or by not confessing it, as Achan; for not confessing sin is the of hiding it; or by denying it, as Gehazi, Ananias and Sapphira; or by palliating and extenuating it; or by casting the blame on others, as did Adam and his wife; see Job 31:33; or by covering it with a guise of sanctify and religion;
I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; not unto men, though in some cases confession of sin is to be made to men; a confession of it in general is to be made to the churches, and administrators of ordinances, in order to admission into a church state, and to the ordinances of Christ, Mt 3:6; and in case of private offences, faults are to be confessed one to another, and forgiveness granted; and in case of public offences, a confession should be made to a church publicly; partly for the satisfaction of the church, and partly for the glory of divine grace; but confession is not to be made to a priest, or to a person in a ministerial character, in order for absolution; but to the Lord only, against whom sin is committed, and who only can pardon it: and this the psalmist saith in his heart he would do, and did do it; he not only confessed facts, but the fault of them, with their evil circumstances, and that he justly deserved punishment for them; and this he did from his heart, with abhorrence of the sins committed by him, and in faith, with a view to the pardoning mercy of God in Christ;
and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. That is, either the guilt of his sin, which he took away from him; or the punishment of it, which he delivered him from: moreover, this phrase may denote the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and so may both express the sense which the psalmist had of it, and exalt the grace of God in the forgiveness of it; by which must be meant a fresh manifestation and application of pardon to his soul: now, when confession of sin, and remission of it, are thus put together, the sense is not that confession of sin is the cause of pardon; it is not the moving cause of it, that is the grace and mercy of God; nor the procuring and meritorious cause of it, that is the blood of Christ: it is not for the sake of a sinner’s confession of sin, but for Christ’s sake, that sin is forgiven; but this is the way in which it is enjoyed; and such as truly repent of sin, and sincerely confess it, are the persons to whom the Lord manifests his forgiving love; such may expect it, Pr 28:13.
Selah; on this word, [See comments on Ps 3:2].
p “cognoscere feci te”, Pagninus, Montanus; so Musculus, Vatablus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, & Gejerus, to the same purport.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. I have acknowledged my sin unto thee. The prophet now describes the issue of his misery, in order to show to all the ready way of obtaining the happiness of which he makes mention. When his feeling of divine wrath sorely vexed and tormented him, his only relief was unfeignedly to condemn himself before God, and humbly to flee to him to crave his forgiveness. He does not say, however, that his sins merely came to his remembrance, for so also did the sins of Cain and Judas, although to no profit; because, when the consciences of the wicked are troubled with their sins, they cease not to torment themselves, and to fret against God: yea, although he forces them unwillingly to his bar, they still eagerly desire to hide themselves. But here there is described a very different method of acknowledging sin; namely, when the sinner willingly betakes himself to God, building his hope of salvation not on stubbornness or hypocrisy, but on supplication for pardon. This voluntary confession is always conjoined with faith; for otherwise the sinner will continually seek lurking-places where he may hide himself from God. David’s words clearly show that he came unfeignedly and cordially into the presence of God, that he might conceal nothing. When he tells us that he acknowledged his sin, and did not hide it, the latter clause is added, according to the Hebrew idiom, for the sake of amplification. There is no doubt, therefore, that David, when he appeared before God, poured out all his heart. Hypocrites, we know, that they may extenuate their evil doings, either disguise or misrepresent them; in short, they never make an honest confession of them, with an ingenuous and open mouth. But David denies that he was chargeable with this baseness. Without any dissimulation he made known to God whatever grieved him; and this he confirms by the words, I have said While the wicked are dragged by force, just as a judge compels offenders to come to trial, he assures us that he came deliberately and with full purpose of mind; for the term, said, just signifies that he deliberated with himself. It therefore follows, that he promised and assured himself of pardon through the mercy of God, in order that terror might not prevent him from making a free and an ingenuous confession of his sins.
The phrase, upon myself, or against myself, intimates that David put away from him all the excuses and pretences by which men are accustomed to unburden themselves, transferring their fault, or tracing it to other people. David, therefore, determined to submit himself entirely to God’s judgment, and to make known his own guilt, that being self-condemned, he might as a suppliant obtain pardon.
And thou didst remit the guilt of my sin. This clause is set in opposition to the grievous and direful agitations by which he says he was harassed before he approached by faith the grace of God. But the words also teach, that as often as the sinner presents himself at the throne of mercy, with ingenuous confession, he will find reconciliation with God awaiting him. In other words, the Psalmist means that God was not only willing to pardon him, but that his example afforded a general lesson that those in distress should not doubt of God’s favor towards them, so soon as they should betake themselves to him with a sincere and willing mind. Should any one infer from this, that repentance and confession are the cause of obtaining grace, the answer is easy; namely, that David is not speaking here of the cause but of the manner in which the sinner becomes reconciled to God. Confession, no doubt, intervenes, but we must go beyond this, and consider that it is faith which, by opening our hearts and tongues, really obtains our pardon. It is not admitted that every thing which is necessarily connected with pardon is to be reckoned amongst its causes. Or, to speak more simply, David obtained pardon by his confession, not because he merited it by the mere act of confessing, but because, under the guidance of faith, he humbly implored it from his judge. Moreover, as the same method of confession ought to be in use among us at this day, which was formerly employed by the fathers under the law, this sufficiently refutes that tyrannical decree of the Pope, by which he turns us away from God, and sends us to his priests to obtain pardon.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) I acknowledged.The fact that this verb is future, as also I will confess in the next clause, as well as the requirements of the passage, uphold Hupfelds suggestion that I said has changed its place, and should be replaced at the beginning of the verse. (Comp. Psa. 73:15, and Note.) The sense is,
I said, I will acknowledge my sin unto thee,
And I did not hide mine iniquity.
(I said) I will confess my transgression unto Jehovah,
And thou forgavest the guilt of my sin.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. I acknowledged my sin This evidently dates from the faithful reproof of the prophet Nathan. 2Sa 12:13. As the first verb of the verse is in the Hebrew future, ( I will acknowledge, etc.,) and all the others in the past tense, some suppose it to be expressive of a promise made in the past which he now fulfils; and this accords with the second part of the verse, I said, I will confess. But no intimation is elsewhere given of such a promise, and the text indicates that the resolve to “confess” was immediately followed by the confession, and this soon after, and in regular sequence, by pardon. It is better, therefore, to follow the common version, and most interpreters, and explain the verb in the past tense.
Iniquity of my sin Sin has a perverse and polluting effect upon the soul, as well as a penal relation to God’s law. To forgive the “iniquity of sin” is not only to remit its penalty, but to obliterate from mind and character its existence and evil effect.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Psalmist Comes To His Senses and Acknowledges His Sin Thus Finding Forgiveness (5).
Psa 32:5
‘I acknowledged my sin to you,
And my iniquity I did not hide,
I said, I will confess my transgressions to YHWH,
And YOU (emphatic) forgave the iniquity of my sin.’ Selah.
Coming at last to his senses David acknowledged his sin to God, and did not hide anything from Him. In other words He began again to ‘walk in the light’ (1Jn 1:7). He was totally open with God. And once he had genuinely said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to YHWH’, he was conscious that God had forgiven Him his sins. ‘If we walk in the light as He is in the light — the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin’ (1Jn 1:7).
The verb for ‘hide’ is the same as for ‘cover’ in Psa 32:1. It guarantees that if I uncover my sins to God, then He will step in and cover them so that they are remembered no more for ever. The words for transgression, iniquity and sin are also as in Psa 32:1-2.
It has been suggested that the Psalm is lacking because there is no reference to the grace of God, but David was undoubtedly conscious of the fact that for the kind of sins that he had committed his only hope lay in the grace of God. Strictly they warranted immediate judgment. And what he is therefore expressing here is the wonder of God’s grace, freely given on his coming to Him. He was relying totally on the mercy and active compassion of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
This is a beautiful verse. What a lovely view doth it give of a poor penitent! What a view doth it give of the clemency of God in Christ!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
Ver. 5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee ] Though it were long first, yet thou broughtest me to it. The soul is ready to hang her comforts on every hedge, to shift and shirk in every bycorner for comfort, rather than to repair to the right fountain. Lot should have escaped to the mountains at first; but he would needs go to Zoar; which yet was soon too hot to hold him: David should have acknowledged his sin ere this time; he should speedily have cast up the poison he had swallowed down, before it got to the vitals; but he had no mind to it till he had tasted of the whip, and then he agonized his sin unto the Lord, he put himself into the hands of justice, in hope of mercy. The properties or conditions of sound confession are these, say the schoolmen in this four lines of verse:
Sit simplex, humilis confessio, pura, fidelis,
Atque frequens, nuda et discreta, lubens, verecunda,
Integra, secreta, et lachrymabilis, accelerata,
Fortis, et accusans, et se punire parata.
And mine iniquity have I not hid
I said, I will confess, &c.
And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin
Per miserere mei, tollitur ira Dei.
Know you what? said Henry VIII to the duke of Suffolk, concerning Stephen Gardiner, when he had confessed his Popery, for which he should have been the morrow after sent to the Tower; he hath confessed himself as guilty in this matter as his man, and hath with much sorrow and pensiveness sued for my pardon. And you know what my nature and custom hath been in such cases, evermore to pardon them that will not dissemble, but confess their fault, &c. (Acts and Mon. fol. 1177).
Selah I acknowledged = I [made up my mind that I would] acknowledge.
have I not hid = did I not hide.
transgressions. Refers to 2Sa 12:13 (941 B. C). Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read it in singular.
Thou forgavest. Divine forgiveness follows immediately on true confession to Him. Compare 2Sa 12:13. Gen 44:16, Gen 44:17. Job 42:5, Job 42:6. Isa 6:5-7. Dan 10:10-12. Luk 5:8-10.
Selah. Connecting this Divine forgiveness with prayer and worship, which can be accepted only from those who have this experience. Compare Psa 32:4 and Psa 32:7; and see App-66.
acknowledged: Psa 38:18, Psa 51:3-5, Lev 26:39, Lev 26:40, Jos 7:19, 2Sa 12:13, 2Sa 24:10, Job 33:27, Pro 28:13, Jer 3:13, 1Jo 1:8-10
have: Job 31:33, Pro 30:20, Jer 2:23, Jer 2:35, Luk 16:15
I said: Isa 65:24, Hos 6:1, Luk 15:17-19, Luk 15:21
forgavest: Psa 30:5, Psa 86:5, Psa 86:15, Psa 103:3, 2Sa 12:13, Isa 65:24, Jer 31:20, Luk 7:47, Luk 15:20-23, Eph 4:32
iniquity: Psa 51:4, 2Sa 12:9, 2Sa 12:13, Mal 3:8
Reciprocal: Lev 5:5 – confess Lev 16:21 – confess over Num 5:7 – confess 1Ch 21:8 – I have sinned Ezr 10:1 – when he had Ezr 10:11 – make confession Neh 1:6 – confess Psa 34:2 – the humble Psa 41:4 – Lord Psa 51:13 – Then Psa 66:16 – and I will Psa 119:26 – declared Jer 14:20 – We acknowledge Dan 9:4 – made Dan 9:20 – whiles Mat 3:6 – confessing Mar 1:5 – confessing Luk 5:21 – Who can Luk 15:18 – will arise Luk 23:43 – To day Act 1:15 – Peter Act 19:18 – confessed 2Co 1:4 – that 1Jo 1:9 – we confess
32:5 I {e} acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
(e) He shows that as God’s mercy is the only cause of forgiveness of sins, so the means of it are repentance and confession which proceed from faith.
David finally confessed his sin to God rather than refusing to admit it. Confessing involves acknowledging that what one has done violates the will of God (cf. 1Jn 1:9). The Old Testament saint had the same responsibility to confess his sins to God that we do, and he also enjoyed the same promise of forgiveness we do (cf. Lev 5:5; Lev 5:10; Lev 16:21-22; Lev 26:40-42). However, God punished more sins with execution under the Old Covenant than He does under the New. If the background of this psalm is David’s sins against Bathsheba and Uriah, he evidently refused to acknowledge these sins for about a year after he had committed them (2Sa 12:13-15).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)