Psalms 32:3

_WHEN I KEPT SILENCE, MY BONES WAXED OLD THROUGH MY ROARING ALL THE DAY LONG._ Here begins the main body of the psalm, detailing from his own case the grounds why the guilelessly-confessing and consequently forgiven sinner is to be regarded as "blessed" (Psalms 32:1). I KEPT SILENCE (in contrast to Psalms 32:5) ... WAXED OLD. When I tried to stifle the voice of conscience, and would not confess my guilt, my bodily frame was so affected by the torments of conscience, which would not be stilled, that it became powerless as that of an old man (Proverbs 17:22). His "silence" does not imply that he did not pray at all, but that he did not guilelessly ...

3._When I kept silence, my bones wasted away. _Here David confirms, by his own experience, the doctrine which he had laid down; namely, that when humbled under the hand of God, he felt that nothing was so miserable as to be deprived of his favor: by which he intimates, that this truth cannot be rightly understood until God has tried us with a feeling of his anger. Nor does he speak of a mere ordinary trial, but declares that he was entirely subdued with the extremest rigour. And certainly, the sluggishness of our flesh, in this matter, is no less wonderful than its hardihood. If we are not drawn by forcible means, we will never hasten to seek reconciliation to God so earnestly as we ought. In fine, the inspired writer teaches us by his own example, that we never perceive how great a happiness it is to enjoy the favor of God, until we have thoroughly felt from grievous conflicts with inwa...

3-7 It is very difficult to bring sinful man humbly to accept free mercy, with a full confession of his sins and self-condemnation. But the true and only way to peace of conscience, is, to confess our sins, that they may be forgiven; to declare them that we may be justified. Although repentance and confession do not merit the pardon of transgression, they are needful to the real enjoyment of forgiving mercy. And what tongue can tell the happiness of that hour, when the soul, oppressed by sin, is enabled freely to pour forth its sorrows before God, and to take hold of his covenanted mercy in Christ Jesus! Those that would speed in prayer, must seek the Lord, when, by his providence, he calls them to seek him, and, by his Spirit, stirs them up to seek him. In a time of finding, when the heart is softened with grief, and burdened with guilt; when all human refuge fails; when no rest can be...

Verse Psalms 32:3. _WHEN I KEPT SILENCE_] Before I humbled myself, and confessed my sin, my soul was under the deepest horror. "I roared all the day long;" and felt the hand of God heavy upon my soul....

WHEN I KEPT SILENCE - The psalmist now proceeds to state his condition of mind before he himself found this peace, or before he had this evidence of pardon; the state in which he felt deeply that he was a sinner, yet was unwilling to confess his sin, and attempted to conceal it in his own heart. This he refers to by the expression, “When I kept silence;” that is, before I confessed my sin, or before I made mention of it to God. The condition of mind was evidently this: he had committed sin, but he endeavored to hide it in his own mind; he was unwilling to make confession of it, and to implore pardon. He hoped, probably, that the conviction of sin would die away; or that his trouble would cease of itself; or that time would relieve him; or that employment - occupying himself in the affairs of the world - would soothe the anguish of his spirit, and render it unnecessary for him to make a h...

EXPOSITION THIS psalm has been selected by the Church for one of the "seven penitential psalms." It forms a part of the service of the synagogue on the great Day of Atonement. Yet it is almost as much jubilant as penitent. It opens with two beatitudes. The writer, while very sensible of his sin (Psalms 32:3), is still more sensible of the fact that his sin is pardoned (Psalms 32:1, Psalms 32:2, Psalms 32:7, Psalms 32:10). While his first words breathe content and gratitude, his last are a shout of rejoicing ...

WHEN I KEPT SILENCE,.... Was unthoughtful of sin, unconcerned about it, and made no acknowledgment and confession of it to God, being quite senseless and stupid; the Targum adds, "from the words of the law"; which seems to point at sin as the cause of what follows; MY BONES WAXED OLD; THROUGH MY ROARING ALL THE DAY LONG; not under a sense of sin, but under some severe affliction, and through impatience in it; not considering that sin lay at the bottom, and was the occasion of it; and such was the violence of the disorder, and his uneasiness under it, that his strength was dried up by it, and his bones stuck out as they do in aged persons, whose flesh is wasted away from them; see Psalms 102:3....

A Psalm of David, giving instruction. The thirty-second Psalm is a gospel benediction. It belongs not to the law; it is a word which can only come of sovereign grace to the guilty. The very first sentence tells us that, Psalms 32:1. _Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered._ Blessed would have been the man who never transgressed, who never sinned; but, be encouraged, O sinner, there is blessedness even for the likes of you! Blessed is he who, though he has transgressed, has had his transgression forgiven; who, though he has sinned, and sinned often, and sinned foully, yet, nevertheless, has had his sin covered. There is such blessedness in this forgiveness that scarcely can the bliss of an unfallen spirit excel it. There is a tenderness, a delicacy, a fragrance, a love, about the dealings of God with pardoned sinners, that even angels can scar

Psalms 32 Fullest Blessing _ 1. The blessedness of righteousness imputed (Psalms 32:1)_ 2. The blessedness of hiding-place (Psalms 32:6) 3. The blessedness of guidance and preservation (Psalms 32:8) Psalms 32:1. This is the first of the 13 Maschil Psalms, the Psalms of special instruction. They tell us of the understanding which the godly in Israel will have in spiritual things (Daniel 12:10). All these Maschil Psalms have reference to the last

XXXII. PARDON OF SIN. Psalms 32:1 f. The joy of Divine pardon. Psalms 32:3. Sin remitted on confession. Psalms 32:6 f. The security of the godly. Read, in time of stress and omit surely. Psalms 32:8_._ Their guidance by God. The general sense is Do not wait till affliction compels recourse to God. Psalms 32:9. Read, Be not like horse and mule which have no understanding, which must be brought to thee by bit and bridle. The rest of the verse is probably a gloss....