Psalms 32:7 - Meaning and Application

David is drawing on his own experience of the comfort that comes from forgiveness. He speaks first to God and says that he trusts him and expects help from him (Psalm 32:7). Since he has tasted the sweetness of God’s grace to a sinner who repents, he cannot doubt that this grace will continue to a praying believer, and that it will bring both safety and joy.

He begins with safety: “You are my hiding place.” When faith turns to God, there is every reason to rest easy and to believe we are beyond the reach of any true harm. God will keep his people from trouble, from its bitter sting, and from its hardest blows, as far as is good for them. He will keep them from the same kind of trouble David had before, when he kept silent (Psalm 32:3). After God forgives our sins, if he left us to ourselves we would soon fall into debt again and sink back into the same deep trouble. So when we have received the comfort of forgiveness, we must keep fleeing to God’s grace, asking him to keep us from returning to folly and from having our hearts hardened again by sin’s deceit. God keeps his people from trouble by keeping them from sin.

David also speaks of joy. God will not only rescue him, but surround him with songs of deliverance. Wherever he looks, he will find reasons to rejoice and praise God. His friends will also gather around him in the great assembly and join him in those songs of praise. As everyone who is godly prays with him, so they will also give thanks with him.

Then David turns to people. Having himself been changed, he does what he can to strengthen his brothers, just as Jesus later told Peter to do (Luke 22:32). “I will instruct you,” he says, “whoever you are that wants instruction, and teach you in the way you should go” (Psalm 32:8). In another repentance psalm, he said that when God restored to him the joy of salvation, he would teach sinners God’s ways and help turn them back to God, while also comforting those who had already turned (Psalm 51:12, 13). When Solomon became penitent, he at once became a preacher (Ecclesiastes 1:1). Those who have experienced God’s grace for themselves are often best able to teach it to others. And those who have been taught by God should tell others what he has done for their souls (Psalm 66:16), and so teach them too.

“I will guide you with my eye” can be understood in two ways. Some take it as God’s own direction. He teaches us by his word and guides us by the quiet hints of his providence, which his people learn to understand. It is like a master making a servant know his mind with a glance. When Christ turned and looked at Peter, he guided him with his eye. But it is probably better taken as David’s promise to those under his care, especially his children and household: “I will counsel you, and my eye will watch over you.” He means, “I will give you the best counsel I can, and then I will watch whether you follow it.” Those who are taught the word should stay under the careful oversight of those who teach them. Spiritual leaders must also watch over souls.

In this way, David applies the truth about the blessedness of forgiven sin. He gives one word to sinners and one word to saints, and that is rightly handling God’s truth and giving each their proper portion.

Here is a warning for sinners, and a strong reason for heeding it. The warning is not to be stubborn and hard to control: “Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding” (Psalm 32:9). When David spoke against his own former sins, he compared himself to a beast before God, saying, “I was senseless and ignorant” (Psalm 73:22). So he warns others not to be the same. It is both our honor and our happiness that we have understanding, that we can be governed by reason and talk honestly with ourselves. We should use the minds God has given us and act sensibly.

Horses and mules must be controlled with bit and bridle, so they do not harm us, or, as some read it, so they will come near and serve us (James 3:3). We should not be like them. We should not let appetite and passion drag us against sound reason and our true good. If sinners would let reason and common sense rule them, they would soon become saints and would not go one step farther in sin. Where God gives renewing grace, there is no need for the bit and bridle of mere restraint.

The reason for this warning is that the path of sin ends in sorrow (Psalm 32:10). Many sorrows will come to the wicked. Their sinful pleasures will not only end, but they will have to pay dearly for them. If sin is not repented of, it brings sorrow, and that sorrow will last forever. It was part of the sentence, “I will greatly multiply your sorrows.” So be wise for your own sake, and turn away from wickedness, so that you may avoid those many sorrows.

There is also comfort for saints, and a strong reason for receiving it. If they will trust in the Lord and hold close to him, mercy will surround them on every side (Psalm 32:10). It will keep them from leaving God, because it will hold them in, and it will keep true evil from breaking in, because it will keep it out.

So they are commanded to be glad in the Lord and rejoice in him, even to the point of shouting for joy (Psalm 32:11). Let them be so filled with holy joy that they cannot contain it, and let that joy show others that a life spent in fellowship with God is the sweetest and most comforting life we can have in this world. This is the present happiness that belongs to the upright in heart, and to them alone.