Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 32:11

"Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, ye righteous; And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart." — Psalms 32:11 (ASV)

Be glad in the Lord - Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice that there is a God; rejoice that he is as he is; rejoice in his favor; find your joy—your supreme joy—in him. (Compare Philippians 3:1, note; Philippians 4:4, note).

You righteous - You who are willing to go to him and confess your sins; you who are willing to serve and obey him. (See the notes on Psalms 32:6). The meaning is that those who are inclined to confess their sins, and are willing to submit to him without being compelled by force, as the horse and the mule are, will find reason for rejoicing. They will find a God who is worthy of their love, and they will find true happiness in him.

And shout for joy - Give expression to your joy. Let it not remain merely in the heart, but give it utterance in the language of song. If any people on earth have reason for loud expressions of praise, they are those who are redeemed, whose sins are forgiven, and who have the hope of heaven. If there is any time when the heart should be full of joy, and when the lips should loudly express praise, it is when one weighed down by the consciousness of guilt and overwhelmed with the fear of wrath makes confession to God and secures the hope of heaven.

All you who are upright in heart - That is, those who are sincere in your confession of sin and in your desires to secure the favor of God. Such people have reason for joy, for to them God will show himself merciful, as He did to the psalmist when he made confession of sin; to them God will give the tokens of his favor and the hope of heaven, as he did to him. The experience of the psalmist, therefore, as recorded in this psalm, should be full of encouragement to all who are burdened with a sense of sin. Warned by his experience, they should not attempt to conceal their transgressions in their own hearts, but they should go at once, as he was finally compelled to do, and make full and free confession to God. By doing so, they will find that God is not slow to pardon them, and to fill their hearts with peace and their lips with praise.