Read Psalm 32 at Bible Gateway.
This psalm forms an elegant chiastic structure which highlights an interesting theme:
1a) Psa 32:1-5, Happy is the man whom the Lord forgives, in whose spirit is no guile:
1a) Psa 32:1-2, Happy is the man who transgression + sin is forgiven + covered/ in whose spirit there is no guile;
1b) Psa 32:3a, When I kept silent;
1c) Psa 32:3b, My bones waxed old through my groaning all the day long;
central axis) Psa 32:4a, For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; {n}
2c) Psa 32:4b, My vital moisture was turned into the drought of summer. Selah;
2b) Psa 32:5a-b, I acknowledge my sin/ my iniquity I have not hidden {n}/ I will confess unto the Lord; {n}
2a) Psa 32:5c, And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah;
1b) Psa 32:6-7, Two part theme repeated for emphasis: the righteous preserved through trouble:
1.1) Psa 32:6a, For this let every one that is godly pray unto You in a time when You may be found; {n}
1.2) Psa 32:6b, Surely in the floods of great waters they shall not reach unto him;
2.1) Psa 32:7a, You are my hiding place;
2.2) Psa 32:7b-c, You shall preserve me from the adversary; {n}/ surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah;
central axis) Psa 32:8-9, “I will instruct you in the way you should go/ Do not be as stubborn as a mule:”
1a) Psa 32:8a, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;”
1b) Psa 32:8b, “I will guide you with My eye;”
central axis) Psa 32:9a, “Do not be as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding;” {n}
2b) Psa 32:9b, “Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle;”
2a) Psa 32:9c, “Lest they come near to you;”
2b) Psa 32:10, Many are the sorrows of the wicked: but he that trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him;
2a) Psa 32:11, Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you that are upright in heart. {p}
The A pair: when the man kept silent by not confessing his iniquity and sin, he experienced a detrimental physical consequence in his body. There are many examples in Scripture which indicate that the spiritual state of a man, or influences around him in the spiritual world, act as a root cause with effects seen in the natural; in his circumstances, health, and life. Sometimes when the sick came to Jesus, He supernaturally healed their physical condition, and sometimes, He healed their physical condition by first forgiving them of sins, or casting out evil spirits. We can infer that while the spiritual is not the root cause of physical illness in every case, it sometimes is, and if we are seeking the Lord for healing for something, don’t close the door on a spiritual root cause.
When you confess your sin to the Lord, be honest (do not let deceit or guile remain in your spirit, be upright in heart). You can’t pull the wool over His eyes. When you are honest, He forgives you.
The B pair: It takes faith and trust in the Lord to be honest and confess sins. The wicked – those who presumably do not confess and do not seek to turn from sins and wicked ways, have sorrows. Sin carries with it its own reward: trouble, grief, and evil consequences. This is one reason God counsels man to flee from sin. God does not need to actively punish every sin committed, the sin itself, through its evil consequences, punishes enough. But what about the righteous? When they realize they have committed a sin, and confess it to the LORD, seeking His forgiveness, He forgives their sin, but what about the evil consequences of sin? Forgiveness does not automatically erase evil consequences.
This reminds me of a scene in the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The two convicts who have been baptized are trying to convince George Clooney to do so also:
“The preacher said it absolved us.”
“For Him, not for the law. I gave you credit for more brains than Delmar.”
“But witnesses seen us redeemed.”
“That’s not the issue, Delmar. Even square with the Lord, Mississippi’s hard-nosed.”
But then here is the point taught by the 1B pair: when your heart is turned, and you have confessed your sins and turned from them, make being in the presence of the Lord in prayer your secret place, your hiding place. When the flood of evil consequences comes, He will hide those who trust in Him.
The central axis teaches the solution to the problem of opening the door to evil in your life, through the evil consequences of sin. The Lord Himself will teach and instruct man how to walk, the path to go in, so that the door of blessing is opened to his life instead of the door of trouble, grief, and evil consequences. The Hebrew word “torah” simply means, “teaching, instruction.” He has revealed to us His way by the commandments of His perfect Law. This is the purpose of the Law. It cannot save. That was never the reason His teaching and instruction was given to man. (Israel was already “saved” when they received the Law on Sinai. They had already applied the blood of the Passover lamb to their doorposts, and walked through the Red Sea in a type of baptism.) But the teaching and instruction in the Lord’s ways, His Torah, was given so that His people would experience the natural consequences of obedience – BLESSING – rather than the natural consequences of sin – TROUBLE (Deu 28).
I always told my children growing up, “Learn by instruction, and not by consequences; it will be much less painful.” The Lord says here, Let Me guide you with My eye. Learn by instruction. Don’t make Me guide you like a man guides a mule, who won’t turn unless the bit in his mouth is yanked. Don’t learn by evil consequences.
A wise man learns by instruction, fools only learn when the bit in their mouths is yanked. Both learn, however. But if you are going to learn regardless, then let Torah instruct you in the way of uprightness and blessing. Submit voluntarily, and be preserved from the flood of many waters when they come; be surrounded with songs of deliverance and the Lord’s unfailing love. ♥
Leave a Reply