Structure
This psalm has a pattern, revealed by its grammatical switching of “person”:
- Verses 1-2: Being blessed. This is the “third person,” which refers to someone else, not the writer or the audience (you).
- Verses 3-5: Confession and forgiveness. This is in the “first person,” from the writer of the psalm speaking to the congregation.
- Verses 6-7: God saves: This is in the “first person,” from the writer of the psalm speaking to God.
- Verses 8-10: Instruction: This is in the “second person,” addressed to “you.”
- Verse 11: Conclusion: The result.
The descriptions of our sin as it relates to our life with God are rich: God’s heavy hand on me, one “dried up as by the heat of summer,” a flood, a stubborn animal (vs. 4, 6, 9). The imagery matches the content: The scorching summer wind saps the strength. The flood waters symbolize the threat to life besieging us sinners. To manage a mule, a person needs a bit and a bridle. So also are we to be with God’s guidance, not as an irrational animal in rebellion (see Psalm 73:22).
This psalm contains a series of threes. First, we find this in confession:
- my sin I made known to You,
- my guilt I did not cover, and
- I will confess my sins to Yahweh.
Next, the psalm contains three affirmations, which focuses its attention on God:
- You are a shelter for me,
- from trouble, You protect me, and
- You surround me with glad songs of salvation.
Three synonyms then accentuate the importance of what David will next say:
- I will instruct you,
- I will teach you, and
- I will counsel [you].
Next, God’s instruction, through David, come in the psalm from three lessons relating to a stubborn horse or mule (vs. 9):
- without knowledge of bit and bridle,
- an ornament to curb,
- which keep him from coming near you.
In the psalm’s conclusion, we have a triple-repeated exhortation of praise:
- rejoice,
- exult, and
- sing for joy.
The psalm is framed in the Hebrew through matching sounds: The opening “blessed” (ashrei) is echoed by the closing “upright” (yishrei). The upright person is blessed—and this is the result of what God does.
Scribal Notes
This is not part of the official psalm but worship notes for the musical director, denoting the instrumental accompaniment, the psalm tone for chanting, and the author of the psalm.
Of David: A maskil.
“maskil”: from the Hebrew root, which mean “to be prudent.” Outside the psalm scribal notes (Psalm 32, 42, 44, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142), it refers to a prudent, insightful person. From the word’s use in Amos 5:13, we find it is a joyous song, which he will not sing in times of evil.
In this psalm, the scribes may have used “maskil” for two reasons:
- The psalm was sung during public worship.
- Wordplay on the idea of being prudent and insightful: Maskil has the same Hebrew root as the word for “I will teach you” in verse 8: sakal.
Verses 1-2
Blessed is the one whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the one whom Yahweh does not hold guilty and in whose spirit is no deceit.
“blessed”: Hebrew, ashrei. This is more than being “happy.” The Hebrew root means “to go straight” or “march forward,” and indicates not so much a temporary condition but a state of being. In this psalm, the person’s blessedness is dependent on God’s forgiving grace. First, the passive voice in verse 1 shows this states of blessedness is a result of God’s action, not the person’s. God forgives and God covers. In verse 2, God restores the person back to a state of grace.
“rebellion”: Hebrew, pesha. Refers to an open and brazen defiance against God and a willful, knowledgeable violation of his ethical norms (see Psalm 5:10).
“forgiven”: Hebrew, nasa: lifted up. The person is no longer weighed down. Hebrew focuses on the result of forgiveness: The person is lifted up. In the Greek of the New Testament, forgiveness focuses on what happens to the sin: it is “left behind,” aphiami.
“sin”: Hebrew, chata’ah: miss the mark, fall short, a disqualifying error, or a disqualifying offense. All the Hebrew words for sin involve a standard: God’s Torah.
“spirit”: Hebrew, ruach. “Spirit” here functions as a synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part represents the whole. Here, “spirit” represents the person’s entire disposition (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9; Ezekiel 11:19, 18:31, 36:26; his inner life (Job 7:11; Psalm 78:8). This even includes someone’s opinions or desires (Ezekiel 13:3), mind (Psalm 77:6[), will (Proverbs 16:32); and motives (2 Chronicles 36:22).
The second line repeats the first and adds force. The triple repetition—rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is covered, and to whom Yahweh does not hold guilty—points forward to the result: his spirit has no deceit. God’s word does what it says! The forgiven sinner who confessed his sin can now breath without deceit, for he is lifted from his sin.
Verses 3-5
These verse contain a couplet (vs. 3-4) that presents the problem followed by the solution (vs. 5).
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away from my groaning all day long.
For day and night, Your hand was heavy on me. My vigor dried up into the droughts of summer.
Then I made my sin known to You,
my guilt I did not cover.
I resolved: “I will confess my sins to Yahweh.”
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
“I kept silent”: This signifies active, intentional silence. Because he did not cry out to God, he cried out loud in misery. This psalm presents us with powerful irony: when the psalmist refused to confess his sin by keeping silent, his anguished roaring of his sin became all the louder, louder than any shout.
“droughts of summer”: The Hebrew is a plural abstraction, which would literally be something like “summer parchednesses.”
“cover”: This connects back to verse 1. Those who do not cover (kasah) their sins and guilt experience being lifted up, forgiven.
In the Hebrew, we find God literally surrounding sin and guilt. Though we do not know its function in the psalm, “selah” means “lift up.” Forgive means “lift up.” “Lift up” surrounds guilt and sin.
Verses 6-7
So, let all the faithful pray to You at the time You may be found.
When the torrents of mighty waters flow, they will not reach him.
You are a shelter for me.
From trouble, You protect me.
You surround me with glad songs of salvation. Selah.
“faithful”: Hebrew, chasid, meaning faithful, kind, godly, kind. This is the faith one has affecting what he does. In this case, the faithful pray to God.
“at the time”: Literally, “at the time of finding,” meaning the time when the psalmist knows God has promised to be there for him and hear his prayer, the time God when may be found (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13, Isaiah 55:6). For us in the New Covenant, this is during the Divine Service.
“salvation”: Hebrew, pallet. This is bringing someone to safety from some type of danger. Thus, this deliverance is more than being rescued from something bad; it is also being brought into something good.
Before confession, David is dried out like the debilitating desert winds (vs. 4). When encouraging others to avoid the same by refusing to confess their sins, in God’s forgiveness, they will not experience the “torrents of mighty waters.” The extremes reinforce, not contradict: God’s forgiveness (His power to “lift up”) is strong enough for any sin or guilt.
Verse 8-10
Here, God now speaks through the psalmist.
I will instruct you and
I will teach you in the way you should go.
I will counsel [you] as my eyes are on you:
Don’t be like a horse or a mule,
without knowledge of bit and bridle,
an ornament to curb,
which keeps him from coming near you.
Many are the woes of the wicked,
but the one who trusts in Yahweh,
His faithful love surrounds him.
“I will instruct you”: The speaker is Yahweh and the person addressed is the psalmist.
“Don’t be”: Here, the psalm switches to the plural, shifting the focus to the congregation.
Here we find wordplay, which connects back to verse 6. The “faithful” (chasid) in vs. 6 receive their identity, not from what they do, but from God’s faithful love (chesed), which forgives and restores them.
Verse 11
Rejoice in Yahweh and
exult, O righteous ones.
Sing for joy, all you upright of heart.
The psalm ends with God’s people rejoicing. And why not? God has saved us once more! Our confession of sin does not save—God does. Because He does save, however, that leads us to confess our sins and be “lifted up,” forgiven. God’s forgiveness and salvation allow us to blessed and upright.
The “blessed” (ashrei) at the beginning of this psalm closes with an “upright” (yishrei). The blessed person is upright—and the upright person is blessed, which are both the result of what God does.
Christ in the Psalm
The Apostle Paul refers to Psalm 6: “David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions” (Romans 4:6). We are not righteous before God by what we do but because of what God does. Note the passive voice in Psalm 32:1-2: “forgiven… covered… does not hold guilty.” God is the doer. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself by not counting their sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
This is the correct understanding for praying the rest of the psalm: “Then my sin I made known to You, my guilt I did not cover. I resolved: ‘I will confess my sins to Yahweh.’ And You forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Our righteous standing before God is real because of what He does for us. That is why the psalm can speak of being blessed, faithful, righteous, and upright of heart. Because God’s forgiveness is real, it also had ongoing implications in how we live.
We have been “bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:20), so we no longer live as though we belong to ourselves: “Don’t you realize that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit… you are not your own” (6:19). “He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died and rose for them” (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Who we are starts with God. The passive voice in the beginning of the psalm makes that clear. Based on who we are, based on what God has done, we then are not to “be like a horse or a mule, without knowledge of bit and bridle.”
The forgiveness God grants us because of Jesus is the source of our confidence in life. For this same God will never abandon us: “He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all. How will He not also with Him grant us everything?” (Romans 8:32). This psalm speaks of the constant refuge we have in God’s salvation, no matter the trials we face.
Praying the Psalm
P Blessed is the one whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
C Blessed is the one whom Yahweh does not hold guilty and in whose spirit is no deceit.P When I kept silent, my bones wasted away from my groaning all day long.
C For day and night, Your hand was heavy on me.P My vigor dried up into the droughts of summer.
C Then I made my sin known to You, my guilt I did not cover.P I resolved: “I will confess my sins to Yahweh.”
C And You forgave the guilt of my sin.P So, let all the faithful pray to You at the time You may be found.
C When the torrents of mighty waters flow, they will not reach him.P You are a shelter for me. From trouble, You protect me.
C You surround me with glad songs of salvation.P I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way you should go.
C I will counsel you as my eyes are on you:P Don’t be like a horse or a mule, without knowledge of bit and bridle,
C an ornament to curb, which keeps him from coming near you.P Many are the woes of the wicked, but the one who trusts in Yahweh,
C His faithful love surrounds him.P Rejoice in Yahweh and exult, O righteous ones.
C Sing for joy, all you upright of heart.C Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
