John Calvin Commentary Psalms 32

Blessed are they whose iniquity is forgiven. This exclamation springs from the fervent affection of the Psalmist’s heart as well as from serious consideration. Since almost the whole world, by turning away its thoughts from God’s judgment, brings upon itself a fatal forgetfulness and intoxicates itself with deceitful pleasures, David, as if he had been stricken with the fear of God’s wrath, so that he might turn to Divine mercy, also awakens others to the same endeavor by declaring distinctly and loudly that only those are blessed to whom God is reconciled, acknowledging as His children those whom He might justly treat as His enemies.

Some are so blinded with hypocrisy and pride, and some with such gross contempt of God, that they are not at all anxious about seeking forgiveness. Yet all acknowledge that they need forgiveness; nor is there a person in existence whose conscience does not accuse them at God’s judgment-seat and torment them with many stings.

Accordingly, nature itself extorts this confession even from wicked people: that all need forgiveness, because no one is perfect, and that it is well with us only then when God pardons our sins. But in the meantime, hypocrisy shuts the eyes of multitudes, while others are so deluded by a perverse worldly security that they are touched either with no feelings of Divine wrath, or with only a cold feeling of it.

From this arises a twofold error: first, that such people make light of their sins and do not reflect on even a hundredth part of their danger from God’s indignation; and, secondly, that they invent frivolous expiations to free themselves from guilt and to purchase the favor of God.

Thus, in all ages, it has been a prevailing opinion everywhere that although all people are infected with sin, they are at the same time adorned with merits intended to procure for them the favor of God. And although they provoke His wrath by their crimes, they have expiations and satisfactions ready to obtain their absolution.

This delusion of Satan is equally common among Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and other nations. Therefore, everyone who is not carried away by the vehement errors of the Papal system will admit the truth of this statement: that people are in a wretched state unless God deals mercifully with them by not charging their sins against them.

But David goes further, declaring that all human life is subject to God’s wrath and curse, unless He graciously grants by His own free grace to receive people into His favor. The Spirit who spoke through David is an assured interpreter and witness of this to us by the mouth of Paul (Romans 4:6).

Had Paul not used this testimony, his readers would never have penetrated the real meaning of the prophet. For we see that Roman Catholics, although they chant in their temples, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, etc., yet pass over it as if it were some common saying and of little importance.

But with Paul, this is the full definition of the righteousness of faith, as if the prophet had said: People are blessed only then when they are freely reconciled to God and counted as righteous by Him. Accordingly, the blessedness that David celebrates utterly destroys the righteousness of works.

The device of a partial righteousness with which Roman Catholics and others delude themselves is mere folly. Even among those who are lacking the light of heavenly doctrine, no one will be found so foolish as to claim perfect righteousness for themselves, as appears from the expiations, washings, and other means of appeasing God, which have always been in use among all nations. Yet they do not hesitate to impose their virtues upon God, as if by them they had acquired for themselves a great part of their blessedness.

David, however, prescribes a very different order: namely, that in seeking happiness, all should begin with the principle that God cannot be reconciled to those who are worthy of eternal destruction in any other way than by freely pardoning them and bestowing His favor upon them. And he justly declares that if mercy is withheld from them, all people must be utterly wretched and accursed. For if all people are naturally prone only to evil until they are regenerated, it is obvious that their whole previous life must be hateful and loathsome in the sight of God.

Besides, since even after regeneration no work that people perform can please God unless He pardons the sin that is mixed with it, they must be excluded from the hope of salvation. Certainly, nothing will remain for them but cause for the greatest terror.

That the works of the saints are unworthy of reward because they are spotted with stains seems a hard saying to Roman Catholics. But in this, they betray their gross ignorance in estimating, according to their own conceptions, the judgment of God, in whose eyes even the brightness of the stars is but darkness.

Let this, therefore, remain an established doctrine: that as we are accounted righteous before God only by the free remission of sins, this is the gate of eternal salvation. Accordingly, only those are blessed who rely upon God’s mercy. We must bear in mind the contrast I have already mentioned between believers who, embracing the remission of sins, rely upon the grace of God alone, and all others who neglect to resort to the sanctuary of Divine grace.

Moreover, when David repeats the same thing three times, this is no pointless repetition. It is indeed sufficiently evident in itself that a person whose iniquity is forgiven must be blessed; but experience teaches us how difficult it is to become persuaded of this in such a manner as to have it thoroughly fixed in our hearts.

The great majority, as I have already shown, entangled by devices of their own, push away from themselves, as much as they can, the terrors of conscience and all fear of Divine wrath. They undoubtedly have a desire to be reconciled to God; yet they shun the sight of Him, rather than seek His grace sincerely and with all their hearts.

Those, on the other hand, whom God has truly awakened so as to be affected with a vivid sense of their misery, are so constantly agitated and disquieted that it is difficult to restore peace to their minds. They indeed taste God’s mercy and endeavor to lay hold of it, yet they are frequently confounded or made to stumble by the many assaults made against them.

The two reasons the Psalmist insists so much on the subject of the forgiveness of sins are these: on the one hand, that he may raise up those who have fallen asleep, inspire the careless with thoughtfulness, and enliven the dull; and on the other hand, that he may calm fearful and anxious minds with an assured and steady confidence.

To the former, the doctrine may be applied in this manner: “What do you mean, O unhappy people, that one or two stings of conscience do not disturb you? Suppose that a certain limited knowledge of your sins is not sufficient to strike you with terror, yet how preposterous it is to continue securely asleep while you are overwhelmed with an immense load of sins!” And this repetition provides considerable comfort and confirmation to the feeble and fearful.

As doubts often come upon them, one after another, it is not sufficient that they are victorious in only one conflict. Therefore, so that despair may not overwhelm them amidst the various perplexing thoughts with which they are agitated, the Holy Spirit confirms and ratifies the remission of sins with many declarations.

It is now proper to weigh the particular force of the expressions used here. Certainly, the remission discussed here does not agree with satisfactions. God, in lifting off or taking away sins, and likewise in covering and not imputing them, freely pardons them. On this account, Roman Catholics, by thrusting in their satisfactions and what they call works of supererogation, deprive themselves of this blessedness.

Besides, David applies these words to complete forgiveness. The distinction, therefore, which Roman Catholics make here between the remission of the punishment and of the fault—by which they offer only half a pardon—is entirely irrelevant. Now, it is necessary to consider to whom this happiness belongs, which may be easily inferred from the context of the time.

When David was taught that he was blessed through the mercy of God alone, he was not an outsider to the community of God; on the contrary, he had advanced beyond many in the fear and service of God, and in holiness of life, and had exercised himself in all the duties of godliness.

And even after making these advances in religion, God so disciplined him that he placed the alpha and omega of his salvation in his free reconciliation to God. Nor is it without reason that Zacharias, in his song, represents “the knowledge of salvation” as consisting in knowing “the remission of sins” (Luke 1:77). The more eminently anyone excels in holiness, the farther they feel themselves from perfect righteousness, and the more clearly they perceive that they can trust in nothing but the mercy of God alone.

Hence it appears that those are grossly mistaken who believe that the pardon of sin is necessary only for the beginning of righteousness. As believers are every day involved in many faults, it will benefit them nothing that they have once entered the way of righteousness, unless the same grace that brought them into it accompanies them to the last step of their life.

If anyone objects that they are elsewhere said to be blessed “who fear the Lord,” “who walk in his ways,” “who are upright in heart,” etc., the answer is easy: namely, that as the perfect fear of the Lord, the perfect observance of His law, and perfect uprightness of heart are nowhere to be found, all that Scripture anywhere says concerning blessedness is founded upon the free favor of God, by which He reconciles us to Himself.

In whose spirit there is no guile. In this clause, the Psalmist distinguishes believers both from hypocrites and from senseless despisers of God, neither of whom care for this happiness, nor can they attain its enjoyment. The wicked are indeed conscious of their guilt, but still they delight in their wickedness, harden themselves in their impudence, and laugh at threats; or, at least, they indulge themselves in deceitful flatteries so that they may not be constrained to come into the presence of God.

Indeed, though they are made unhappy by a sense of their misery and harassed with secret torments, yet with perverse forgetfulness they stifle all fear of God. As for hypocrites, if their conscience stings them at any time, they soothe their pain with ineffective remedies, so that if God at any time summons them to His tribunal, they place before them I know not what phantoms for their defense; and they are never without coverings by which they may keep the light out of their hearts.

Both these classes of men are hindered by inward guile from seeking their happiness in the fatherly love of God. Furthermore, many of them rush perversely into the presence of God, or puff themselves up with proud presumption, dreaming that they are happy, although God is against them. David, therefore, means that no one can taste what the forgiveness of sins is until his heart is first cleansed from guile.

What he means, then, by this term, guile, may be understood from what I have said. Whoever does not examine himself as in the presence of God, but, on the contrary, shunning His judgment, either shrouds himself in darkness or covers himself with leaves, deals deceitfully both with himself and with God.

It is no wonder, therefore, that he who does not feel his disease refuses the remedy. The two kinds of this guile which I have mentioned require particular attention. Few, perhaps, are so hardened as not to be touched with the fear of God and with some desire of His grace; yet they are moved only coldly to seek forgiveness.

Consequently, they do not yet perceive what an unspeakable happiness it is to possess God’s favor. Such was David’s case for a time, when a treacherous security stole upon him, darkened his mind, and prevented him from zealously pursuing this happiness.

Saints often labor under the same disease. If, therefore, we are to enjoy the happiness which David here proposes to us, we must take the greatest care lest Satan, filling our hearts with guile, deprive us of all sense of our wretchedness, in which everyone who resorts to subterfuges must necessarily pine away.

When I kept silence, my bones wasted away. Here David confirms by his own experience the doctrine he had set forth: namely, that when humbled under the hand of God, he felt that nothing was so miserable as to be deprived of his favor. Through this, he intimates that this truth cannot be rightly understood until God has tested us with a sense of his anger.

Nor does he speak of a mere ordinary trial, but declares that he was entirely subdued with utmost severity. And certainly, the sluggishness of our flesh in this matter is no less remarkable than its stubbornness. If we are not drawn by forceful means, we will never hasten to seek reconciliation with God as earnestly as we should.

In short, the inspired writer teaches us by his own example that we never perceive how great a happiness it is to enjoy the favor of God until we have thoroughly felt, through grievous conflicts with inward temptations, how terrible the anger of God is. He adds that whether he was silent or attempted to heighten his grief by crying and roaring, his bones grew old; in other words, his whole strength withered away.

From this it follows that wherever the sinner may turn, or however he may be mentally affected, his affliction is in no way lightened, nor his well-being advanced, until he is restored to the favor of God. It often happens that those are tortured with the sharpest grief who chafe inwardly, devouring their sorrow and keeping it enclosed and shut up within themselves, without revealing it. Afterwards, however, they may be seized as with sudden madness, and the force of their grief bursts forth with greater impetus the longer it has been restrained.

By the term silence, David means neither insensibility nor stupidity, but that feeling which lies between patience and obstinacy, and which is as much allied with vice as it is with virtue. For his bones were not consumed by age, but by the dreadful torments of his mind. His silence, however, was not the silence of hope or obedience, for it brought no alleviation of his misery.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. In this verse he explains more fully from where such heavy grief arose; namely, because he felt the hand of God to be severely against him.

The greatest of all afflictions is to be so heavily pressed by the hand of God that the sinner feels he has to do with a Judge whose indignation and severity entail many deaths, in addition to eternal death.

David, accordingly, complains that his moisture was dried up, not merely from simply meditating on his severe afflictions, but because he had discovered their cause and source. The whole strength of men fails when God appears as a Judge and humbles and lays them prostrate by exhibiting the signs of his displeasure. Then is fulfilled the saying of Isaiah:

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it (Isaiah 40:7).

The Psalmist, moreover, tells us that it was no common chastisement by which he had been taught truly to fear the divine wrath, for the hand of the Lord did not cease to be heavy upon him both day and night. From a child, indeed, he had been inspired with the fear of God by the secret influence of the Holy Spirit, and had been taught in true religion and godliness by sound doctrine and instruction.

And yet this instruction was so insufficient for his attainment of this wisdom that he had to be taught again like a new beginner in the very midst of his course. Indeed, although he had now been long accustomed to mourn over his sins, he was every day reduced anew to this exercise. This teaches us how long it is before men recover themselves once they have fallen, and also how slow they are to obey until God, from time to time, redoubles their stripes and increases them from day to day.

If anyone asks concerning David, whether he had become callous under the stripes which he well knew were inflicted on him by the hand of God, the context provides the answer: namely, that he was kept down and fettered by perplexing griefs, and distracted with lingering torments, until he was well subdued and made meek—which is the first sign of seeking a remedy.

And this again teaches us that it is not without cause that the chastisements by which God seems to deal cruelly with us are repeated, and his hand made heavy against us, until our fierce pride—which we know to be untameable unless subdued with the heaviest stripes—is humbled.

I have acknowledged my sin unto thee. The prophet now describes the outcome of his misery, in order to show to all the accessible way of obtaining the happiness he mentions. When his feeling of divine wrath severely troubled and tormented him, his only relief was to sincerely condemn himself before God, and humbly to flee to Him to seek His forgiveness.

He does not say, however, that his sins merely came to his remembrance, for so also did the sins of Cain and Judas, although to no avail; because, when the consciences of the wicked are troubled with their sins, they do not cease to torment themselves and to fret against God. Indeed, although He forces them unwillingly to His judgment, they still eagerly desire to hide themselves.

But here a very different method of acknowledging sin is described; namely, when the sinner willingly turns to God, building his hope of salvation not on stubbornness or hypocrisy, but on supplication for pardon. This voluntary confession is always joined with faith; for otherwise, the sinner will continually seek hiding places where he may hide himself from God.

David’s words clearly show that he came sincerely and wholeheartedly into the presence of God, so that he would conceal nothing. When he tells us that he acknowledged his sin, and did not hide it, the latter clause is added, according to the Hebrew idiom, for emphasis. There is no doubt, therefore, that David, when he appeared before God, poured out all his heart.

Hypocrites, we know, so that they may downplay their evil deeds, either disguise or misrepresent them; in short, they never make an honest confession of them with a sincere and open mouth. But David denies that he was guilty of this wickedness.

Without any deceit, he made known to God whatever troubled him; and this he confirms by the words, I have said. While the wicked are dragged by force, just as a judge compels offenders to come to trial, he assures us that he came deliberately and with full intention; for the term said simply signifies that he deliberated with himself.

It therefore follows that he promised and assured himself of pardon through the mercy of God, so that terror might not prevent him from making a free and sincere confession of his sins.

The phrase upon myself, or against myself, suggests that David rejected all the excuses and pretenses by which men usually unburden themselves, transferring their fault to others or blaming other people. David, therefore, determined to submit himself entirely to God’s judgment and to make known his own guilt, so that being self-condemned, he might as one who humbly asks obtain pardon.

And thou didst remit the guilt of my sin. This clause is set in opposition to the severe and dreadful turmoil by which he says he was tormented before he approached God’s grace by faith. But the words also teach that as often as the sinner presents himself at the throne of mercy with sincere confession, he will find reconciliation with God waiting for him.

In other words, the Psalmist means that God was not only willing to pardon him, but that his example provided a general lesson that those in distress should not doubt God’s favor toward them as soon as they turn to Him with a sincere and willing mind.

Should anyone infer from this that repentance and confession are the cause of obtaining grace, the answer is simple: David is not speaking here of the cause but of the manner in which the sinner becomes reconciled to God. Confession, no doubt, is involved, but we must look beyond this and consider that it is faith which, by opening our hearts and tongues, truly obtains our pardon.

It is not to be conceded that everything necessarily connected with pardon is to be counted among its causes. Or, to speak more simply, David obtained pardon by his confession, not because he deserved it by the mere act of confessing, but because, under the guidance of faith, he humbly pleaded for it from his Judge.

Moreover, as the same method of confession should be in use among us today, which was formerly employed by the fathers under the Law, this adequately refutes that tyrannical decree of the Pope, which turns us away from God and sends us to his priests to obtain pardon.