Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 32:1

"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered." — Psalms 32:1 (ASV)

Blessed is he ... - On the meaning of the word “blessed,” see the notes at (Psalms 1:1). See the passage explained in the notes at (Romans 4:7–8). The word “blessed” here is equivalent to “happy.” “Happy is the man;” or “happy is the condition—the state of mind—happy are the prospects, of one whose sins are forgiven.”

His condition is happy or blessed:

1. as compared with his former state, when he was pressed or bowed down under a sense of guilt;
2. in his real condition, as that of a pardoned man—a man who has nothing now to fear as the result of his guilt, or who feels that he is at peace with God;
3. in his hopes and prospects, as now a child of God and an heir of heaven.

Whose transgression is forgiven - The word rendered “forgiven” means properly to lift up, to bear, to carry, to carry away; and sin which is forgiven is referred to here “as if” it were borne away—perhaps as the scapegoat bore off sin into the wilderness. (Job 7:21; Genesis 50:17; Numbers 14:19; Isaiah 2:9).

Whose sin is covered - As it were, “covered over”; that is, concealed or hidden; or, in other words, so covered that it will not appear. This is the idea in the Hebrew word which is commonly used to denote the atonement—כפר (kâphar)—meaning “to cover over”; then, to overlook, to forgive (Genesis 6:14; Psalms 65:3; Psalms 78:38; Daniel 9:24). The original word here, however, is different—כסה (kâsâh)—though meaning the same: “to cover.” The idea is, that the sin would be, as it were, covered over, hidden, concealed, so that it would no longer come into the view of either God or man; that is, the offender would be regarded and treated as if he had not sinned, or as if he had no sin.