Psa 32:5-7 | KingComments | STEP | Then comes the moment of surrender. It is the moment of stepping down from the throne of pride followed by humiliation before God with acknowledgment of sin. Surrender here means full confession, without belittling or excuses. The meaning of the Greek word for confession is ‘to say the same thing’, that is, to see and name sin in the same way as God does. The silence is broken and the sin is made known to God. Of course, even before David makes his sin known, God knows of its existence. But God wants the sinner to see his iniquity in the full light of the truth and no longer to keep silent and cover it up. When the sinner no longer covers his sin, God covers his sin, as it says in . That the sinner confesses his sin is seen here from the side of the confessor, who says “I said”. David has made a decision of will. He decided to confess his “transgressions to the LORD” and did it. We see the same thing with the prodigal son. He says he will get up and go to his father to confess his sins. He does so and is received with open arms by his father ( ). David sinned against Uriah, but above all he sinned against God. We need forgiveness from God, not just from men. If the sinner acts as God says, God also acts: He forgives the guilt of the sin (cf. ). By the way David puts it here, we see that forgiveness immediately follows confession. Hardly has the sin been confessed and forgiveness is there. There is great gratitude resounding in what the sinner emphatically says: “And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” What a relief, what a burden drops from him. It is like the father of the prodigal son who longs for the return of his son ( ). This is how God longs for the confession of our sins, so that we can once again return into the arms of our God and Father.

‏ Psalms 32:5-7

Confession and Forgiveness

Then comes the moment of surrender. It is the moment of stepping down from the throne of pride followed by humiliation before God with acknowledgment of sin. Surrender here means full confession, without belittling or excuses. The meaning of the Greek word for confession is ‘to say the same thing’, that is, to see and name sin in the same way as God does.

The silence is broken and the sin is made known to God. Of course, even before David makes his sin known, God knows of its existence. But God wants the sinner to see his iniquity in the full light of the truth and no longer to keep silent and cover it up. When the sinner no longer covers his sin, God covers his sin, as it says in Psa 32:1b.

That the sinner confesses his sin is seen here from the side of the confessor, who says “I said”. David has made a decision of will. He decided to confess his “transgressions to the LORD” and did it. We see the same thing with the prodigal son. He says he will get up and go to his father to confess his sins. He does so and is received with open arms by his father (Lk 15:17-20).

David sinned against Uriah, but above all he sinned against God. We need forgiveness from God, not just from men. If the sinner acts as God says, God also acts: He forgives the guilt of the sin (cf. 1Jn 1:9). By the way David puts it here, we see that forgiveness immediately follows confession. Hardly has the sin been confessed and forgiveness is there. There is great gratitude resounding in what the sinner emphatically says: “And You forgave the guilt of my sin.” What a relief, what a burden drops from him.

It is like the father of the prodigal son who longs for the return of his son (Lk 15:20). This is how God longs for the confession of our sins, so that we can once again return into the arms of our God and Father.

Songs of Deliverance

When fellowship with God is fully restored in this way, it will have a direct effect on the prayer life of the “godly” (Psa 32:6). David here indirectly communicates his experience to everyone who is godly and encourages them to pray to God. In this context, this exhortation to pray will primarily mean confessing sin to God in prayer. In a broader sense, it means that we will pray to be kept from falling into sin, as happened to David. That David speaks of a “godly” means that it refers to a believer who lives set apart (again) for God.

Prayer is fellowship with God, the certain consequence of which is that “a flood of great waters … will not reach” the praying believer. The praying believer who confesses his sin gets out of the enemy’s reach. The enemy has lost his grip on him. Whatever the enemy tries to do to regain control of the restored and praying believer, all fails. The praying believer who prays to be kept, stands firm when powerful temptations to sin come upon him. This is not a one-time prayer, but a continuous prayer, a life lived prayerfully.

We must remain aware that we can be caught in any trespass (Gal 6:1). If that happens, the key is to confess that trespass as soon as possible (cf. Isa 55:6). As long as it is the favorable time, a person can appeal to God’s grace (2Cor 6:2). God sets a limit to the time He lets Himself be found (Lk 19:44; Jer 46:17). This means that prayer will not be in vain, but that God will let Himself be found and will answer prayer and grant forgiveness! Sin in life causes a break with God, a break that is only repaired after confession.

For the believer who walks this path of confession, God is a “hiding place” from the flood of the great waters of Psa 32:6, preventing them from reaching him (Psa 32:7; cf. Rev 12:15-16). He is preserved by God from trouble. He may be in trouble, but he will not perish in it.

While he is surrounded by enemies who trouble him, he does not see those enemies, but people who sing “songs of deliverance” with and for him. One who is impressed by the deliverance from his sins will feel that the entire atmosphere around him is filled with music from heaven. He is full of happiness inside and he experiences that everything and everyone around him shares in that happiness.