Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 32 (MT) / Psalm 31 (LXX) is a Davidic maskil ('instruction') — a teaching psalm on the blessedness of forgiven sin. Augustine called it the psalm of beginning-wisdom and had it inscribed on his deathbed wall. It opens with the emphatic 'blessed' (makarios) beatitudes that Paul cites verbatim at Romans 4:7–8 as the non-circumcision-based imputation argument: David describes the blessedness of one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. The psalm's three-fold vocabulary for sin (transgression / sin / iniquity) matched by three-fold vocabulary for forgiveness (forgiven / covered / not counted) is the Psalter's most comprehensive confession-of-sin framework.
Notable Variants
32:1–2 'blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered' → Romans 4:7–8 Paul's imputation-proof-text verbatim from LXX; the three-fold sin / forgiveness vocabulary pairing; 32:5 'I said, I will confess … and you forgave' as the confession-forgiveness axiom.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 32 = LXX Ps 31. 12 verses (MT/LXX), 11 verses (English, omitting the superscription).
Of David. A maskil. Blessed is the one whose transgression is lifted away, whose sin is covered.
Masoretic (WLC)
לְדָוִד מַשְׂכִּיל אַשְׁרֵי נְשׂוּי־פֶּשַׁע כְּסוּי חֲטָאָה
Of David, a Maskil. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered
Septuagint (LXX)
τῷ Δαυιδ συνέσεως μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι
For David, of understanding. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered over
ROMANS 4:7 — PAUL'S IMPUTATION CITATION (PART 1). Romans 4:7 cites this verse verbatim in its LXX form: 'Makarioi hōn aphethēsan hai anomiai kai hōn epekalyphthēsan hai hamartiai' — 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered over.'
Paul deploys this 'Davidic' testimony IN SUPPORT of his Abrahamic argument (Gen 15:6 // Rom 4:3) that righteousness is reckoned apart from works. David describes the same imputation-reality Abraham embodies: God counts righteousness to those whose sins are merely covered, not those who have earned forgiveness. The Davidic covenant-participant is righteous-by-imputation, not by ethical-accomplishment.
The shift from singular (MT 'blessed is the one') to plural (LXX 'blessed are those') generalizes the blessing — the LXX's plural is what Paul cites, preserving the universal soteriological range.
Blessed is the person to whom the LORD does not count iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Masoretic (WLC)
אַשְׁרֵי אָדָם לֹא יַחְשֹׁב יְהוָה לוֹ עָוֹן וְאֵין בְּרוּחוֹ רְמִיָּה
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not count iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit
Septuagint (LXX)
μακάριος ἀνήρ οὗ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ δόλος
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will by no means count sin, nor is there deceit in his mouth
ROMANS 4:8 — PAUL'S IMPUTATION CITATION (PART 2). Romans 4:8 cites this verse: 'Makarios anēr hou ou mē logisētai kyrios hamartian' — 'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will by no means count sin.'
THE KEY VERB: LOGIZOMAI (logizetai). This is the same verb in Genesis 15:6 ('Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' — elogisthē autō eis dikaiosynēn). Paul's Romans 4 argument hinges on this verbal overlap: the LXX uses logizomai BOTH for crediting-righteousness (Abraham) AND for not-counting-sin (David). Two sides of the same imputation-coin. If both 'count righteousness' and 'not count sin' are divine acts of gracious reckoning, then the Abrahamic covenant-logic extends to Davidic forgiveness: both are received, not earned.
'IN HIS MOUTH' vs 'IN HIS SPIRIT.' The LXX substitutes 'mouth' (stoma) for MT 'spirit' (ruach), possibly a translational interpretation — deceit manifests most publicly in speech.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
'When I kept silent, my bones wasted away' tracks MT. The silence-of-unconfessed-sin produces bodily-wasting — the psychosomatic effect of covered-up sin. James 5:16 ('confess your sins to one another') extends the confession-as-healing theology.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was changed as in the dry heat of summer. Selah.
'Day and night your hand was heavy on me' tracks MT. Divine-hand-heavy as chastisement-image.
My sin I made known to you, and my iniquity I did not conceal. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the LORD' — and you lifted away the guilt of my sin. Selah.
Masoretic (WLC)
חַטָּאתִי אוֹדִיעֲךָ וַעֲוֹנִי לֹא־כִסִּיתִי אָמַרְתִּי אוֹדֶה עֲלֵי פְשָׁעַי לַיהוָה וְאַתָּה נָשָׂאתָ עֲוֹן חַטָּאתִי
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin
Septuagint (LXX)
τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἐγνώρισα καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου οὐκ ἐκάλυψα εἶπα ἐξαγορεύσω κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ σὺ ἀφῆκας τὴν ἀσέβειαν τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου
I acknowledged my sin, and I did not cover my lawlessness; I said, I will declare against myself my lawlessness to the Lord; and you forgave the ungodliness of my sin
CONFESSION-FORGIVENESS AXIOM. The structural parallel — I DID NOT COVER my iniquity (active covering-up) / you COVERED OVER my sins (passive-divine-covering, v. 1) — is the theological pivot: self-covering fails, divine-covering succeeds. Augustinian interpretation develops this as the first principle of confession.
The LXX's 'I will declare AGAINST myself' (exagoreusō kat' emou) sharpens MT's ordinary 'confess' — the psalmist becomes prosecutor of his own sin. 1 John 1:9 ('if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive') carries the pattern into NT sacramental theology.
Therefore let everyone who is faithful pray to you at a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters rise, they will not reach him.
'Therefore let all the godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found' tracks MT. The acceptable-time theology anticipates 2 Cor 6:2 ('now is the day of salvation') and Isaiah 55:6 ('seek the LORD while he may be found').
You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble. You surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah.
'You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble' tracks MT. Col 3:3's 'your life is hidden with Christ in God' develops the same divine-hiding-place theology.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
'I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go' tracks MT. The divine-first-person pedagogy — the wisdom-teacher voice — emerges in the psalm. Some interpreters read v. 8 as David's voice teaching readers; others as God's voice teaching David.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose movement must be curbed with bit and bridle — otherwise they will not come near you.
'Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding' tracks MT. The anti-brute-resistance teaching — willing obedience over forced-compliance with bit-and-bridle.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but the one who trusts in the LORD — faithful love surrounds him.
'Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD' tracks MT. The trust-and-chesed-pairing — a key LXX Psalms-theology axiom.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
'Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous' tracks MT. The closing call-to-rejoice formally matches the opening beatitude — blessed-and-rejoicing forming the psalm's thematic inclusio.