Guilt Buster! Psalm 32

Of David. A Maskil.
This psalm was probably written in the style of a Davidic psalm, possibly a form of the famous confession psalm, 51, which reads, “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord.” We don’t really know what “maskil” means. It is used in the title of thirteen psalms. It could refer to a musical instrument, or it could

Blessed is he whose rebellion is forgiven
Whose sin is covered
Blessed is the one whose sin Yahweh does not record
And in whose spirit there is no guile.
To be blessed is to gain favor from God, to have God’s fullness and greatest. The one who has God’s best are those who are forgiven. The image described is that of God who has every action every person does is written down. But the one who is blessed is the one who does not have his sinful actions recorded. Notice that it does not say this about the one who doesn’t sin. This is because such a person doesn’t exist. No one is without sin, everyone has failed God in one way or another. So the one who has God’s favor is the one who had their sins written down, but God has erased or crossed out the sin previously written down.
There are two words for sin that are used here. One is a general term, “het”, which means all kinds of sins. The other word, “pesha”, however, is more specific: this is an act of rebellion. This is a sin that a person does, knowing that God isn’t allowing the person to do it, and the person says, “I don’t care! I’m not going to have God tell me what to do!” And they do specifically what God tells them not to, possibly even because God told them not to. This isn’t just an accidental sin, or a sin one does because one is weak and can’t help it. This is an act done to reject God.
The amazing thing is that the psalmist says that this sin is forgiven as well. The question the readers should ask is, “How does this sin get forgiven?” The psalmist tells us this by telling his story:

When I kept silent, my body wasted away
As I moaned all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me,
My moisture is turned dry as the drought of summer
Then I confessed my sin to You
And my guilt I did not hide.
I said, "I will confess my rebellions to the Lord."
And you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Selah)
The result of sin is guilt and the result of guilt is self-destruction. To try to ignore one’s guilt is to wither away in self-hatred, self-loathing. We can literally destroy ourselves in guilt, not able to live with ourselves. Often we don’t let anyone know what our problem is, then we will be self absorbed and destructive to ourselves and our relationships will be falling apart and no one will know what is going on and possibly wonder what they did.
The answer to this cycle is confession. We need to swallow our pride, set aside our fear and talk about what we have done. Often we think that if we share the terrible things we do that it would harm our relationships, but the honest truth is that our relationships are probably already harmed—to be open about our sin and our disgust at our actions will only bring truth and openness in our relationships. As difficult as it is, it will help, not harm
And this is more so with God. God already knows our sin, already knows our attitudes, already knows our shame, and is just waiting for there to be an open relationship with Him again. Because of what we have done, often we want to hide from God, and not to talk to Him, not to be open. But God wants us to pursue him, to tell Him what he already knows. If we confess our sins, He will erase them from his records and they will never be brought up again.

Therefore let every faithful one pray to You in a time of finding
The flood of mighty waters will not reach them.
You are my hiding place
You preserve me from peril;
You surround me with shouts of deliverance.
So the psalmist wants to let people know, that if we want any kind of relationship with God, we must be open with Him. We have to not hide, but be ready to tell Him everything. If we do, then God will be ready to protect us from harm. God will be a fortress to hide in, and a bodyguard to protect us.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way to go.
I will counsel you; my eye will be upon you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule which lack understanding
Who must be curbed with bit and bridle, else they do not come near to you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked
But he who trusts in Yahweh, lovingkindness will embrace him."
Now God is speaking to us directly. He tells us that if we confess our sins, then He will give us daily instruction through His word and through His Spirit. He is there to teach us. If we don’t pay attention to Him, then we will be idiots—like animals that should only be led for their own self-preservation. Again, God is not expecting us to be perfect. Rather, he is telling us the direction we should be pointed in. If we face away from God, then we will taking in sorrow and mourning in our lives. But if we keep ourselves focused on Him—even if we blow it—then God will always be there for us. If we mess up, then we can still trust that we will be forgiven and we can even forgive ourselves.

Rejoice in Yahweh and celebrate, O you righteous!
Shout for joy all who are upright in heart!
We are to rejoice in God and shout for him. Why? Because even though we are sinners, we can still be counted as the righteous, as those who are accepted by God. Even though we have failed God, we can still be considered right in our hearts because we keep trusting in God. The blessed are not those who are perfect, who don’t make mistakes. Rather, they are those who trust in God through the failings they have.