3 When I have kept silence, become old have my bones, Through my roaring all the day.
I have been feeble and smitten -- unto excess, I have roared from disquietude of heart.
To the Overseer, on `The Hind of the Morning.' -- A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring?
and having gone on, he joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him to the fields to feed swine, and he was desirous to fill his belly from the husks that the swine were eating, and no one was giving to him.
And have not cried unto Me with their heart, but howl on their beds, For corn and new wine they assemble themselves, They turn aside against Me.
He hath worn out my flesh and my skin. He hath broken my bones.
Removed hath Judah because of affliction, And because of the abundance of her service; She hath dwelt among nations, She hath not found rest, All her pursuers have overtaken her between the straits.
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself, `Thou hast chastised me, And I am chastised, as a heifer not taught, Turn me back, and I turn back, For thou `art' Jehovah my God. For after my turning back I repented, And after my being instructed I struck on the thigh, I have been ashamed, I have also blushed, For I have borne the reproach of my youth.
We make a noise as bears -- all of us, And as doves we coo sorely; We wait for judgment, and there is none, For salvation -- it hath been far from us.
For the iniquity of his dishonest gain, I have been wroth, and I smite him, Hiding -- and am wroth, And he goeth on turning back in the way of his heart.
And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden. And Jehovah God calleth unto the man, and saith to him, `Where `art' thou?' and he saith, `Thy sound I have heard in the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I hide myself.' And He saith, `Who hath declared to thee that thou `art' naked? of the tree of which I have commanded thee not to eat, hast thou eaten?' and the man saith, `The woman whom Thou didst place with me -- she hath given to me of the tree -- and I do eat.' And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What `is' this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.' And Jehovah God saith unto the serpent, `Because thou hast done this, cursed `art' thou above all the cattle, and above every beast of the field: on thy belly dost thou go, and dust thou dost eat, all days of thy life; and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.' Unto the woman He said, `Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband `is' thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.' And to the man He said, `Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed `is' the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life, and thorn and bramble it doth bring forth to thee, and thou hast eaten the herb of the field; by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou `art', and unto dust thou turnest back.'
For consumed in smoke have been my days, And my bones as a fire-brand have burned. Smitten as the herb, and withered, is my heart, For I have forgotten to eat my bread. From the voice of my sighing Hath my bone cleaved to my flesh.
Soundness is not in my flesh, Because of Thine indignation, Peace is not in my bones because of my sin.
Favour me, O Jehovah, for distress `is' to me, Mine eye, my soul, and my body Have become old by provocation. For my life hath been consumed in sorrow And my years in sighing. Feeble because of mine iniquity hath been my strength, And my bones have become old.
My skin hath been black upon me, And my bone hath burned from heat,
At night my bone hath been pierced in me, And mine eyelids do not lie down.
and David goeth and taketh the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, from the possessors of Jabesh-Gilead, who had stolen them from the broad place of Beth-Shan, where the Philistines hanged them, in the day of the Philistines smiting Saul in Gilboa; and he bringeth up thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gather the bones of those hanged, and bury the bones of Saul and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in Zelah, in the burying-place of Kish his father, and do all that the king commanded, and God is entreated for the land afterwards.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 32
Commentary on Psalms 32 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 32
Ps 32:1-11. Maschil—literally, "giving instruction." The Psalmist describes the blessings of His forgiveness, succeeding the pains of conviction, and deduces from his own experience instruction and exhortation to others.
1, 2. (Compare Ro 4:6).
forgiven—literally, "taken away," opposed to retain (Joh 20:23).
covered—so that God no longer regards the sin (Ps 85:3).
2. imputeth—charge to him, and treat him accordingly.
no guile—or, deceit, no false estimate of himself, nor insincerity before God (compare Ro 8:1).
3, 4. A vivid description of felt, but unacknowledged, sin.
When—literally, "for," as in Ps 32:4.
4. thy hand—of God, or power in distressing him (Ps 38:2).
moisture—vital juices of the body, the parching heat of which expresses the anguish of the soul. On the other figures, compare Ps 6:2, 7; 31:9-11. If composed on the occasion of the fifty-first Psalm, this distress may have been protracted for several months.
5. A prompt fulfilment of the purposed confession is followed by a prompt forgiveness.
6. For this—that is, my happy experience.
godly—pious in the sense of Ps 4:3.
a time—(Isa 55:6); when God's Spirit inclines us to seek pardon, He is ready to forgive.
floods, &c.—denotes great danger (Ps 18:17; 66:12).
7. His experience illustrates the statement of Ps 32:6.
8. Whether, as most likely, the language of David (compare Ps 51:13), or that of God, this is a promise of divine guidance.
I will … mine eye—or, My eye shall be on thee, watching and directing thy way.
9. The latter clause, more literally, "in that they come not near thee"; that is, because they will not come, &c., unless forced by bit and bridle.
10. The sorrows of the impenitent contrasted with the peace and safety secured by God's mercy.
11. The righteous and upright, or those conforming to the divine teaching for securing the divine blessing, may well rejoice with shouting.