# 27 2016 Dev. Ps. 32:11 The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God by memorizing selected passages of Scripture. Further, to view the passage in context and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living with family, friends and others. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Psalm 32:11
“Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;
sing, all you who are upright in heart!”
Psalm 32 is a liturgical Ps. that falls into the category of Penitential Psalms (Ps. 6; 32; 38; 51; 130; 143). The structure is concentric (2,3,2,3,1). Starting with the first two verses David is speaking to an audience and sounding much like a call to worship.
The next 3 verses speak to God and is the theological heart of this Psalm. It is about the results of a stubborn refusal to acknowledge one’s sins. Both Peter and Judas acknowledged their sin but only one repented. There is Christian repentance and there is worldly repentance. David here does not hide his sin, “I will confess… to the Lord”, he goes straight to the Creator the only one who has the power to forgive and does forgive in Christ Jesus.
The next 2 Verses (6,7) describes the blessings in verses 1,2, but it begins with prayer, “everyone who is godly”. Does God listen to us? (Jas. 5:16). David addresses the audience again but in verse 7 he addresses God, yet he is still talking about the blessings of true repentance.
In the next section vs. 8,9,10 David is speaking for God. Here God is also speaking to us! It is a promise to guide and to protect. God also tells us to leave our stubborn ways giving the horse and the mule as the example of stubborn. God ends this section with a comparison of the life of the wicked and the life of those who trust in Him highlighting His unfailing love. That love is what David experiences and is the love we should experience as followers of Jesus.
Therefore, we are given the command to rejoice v.11! “Rejoice in the Lord you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!”. That should be a given and is based on all that goes before in this Psalm. For followers of Jesus, righteousness is kind of automatic isn’t it? No it is not! During Jesus’ time on earth the religious leaders pretended to be righteous but Jesus exposed their unrighteousness and they did all they could to be rid of Him. They succeeded but they did God’s work for Him.
Today we have no problem to consider ourselves righteous but often we lack the joy. We cannot just read verse 11, the whole Psalm applies here. We have attended and conducted worship serves in Africa and there is much joyful singing and dancing in the church. Many come out of a pagan culture and at one time pagan practices, now they are set free and rejoice in the Lord! We thank God! We need to again understand as David did that we all are sinners and have no right to look down at those overwhelmed with life.
Our righteousness and the uprightness of our hearts is directly related to our confessions, our repentance and our trust in Christ. Our relationship with Christ underpins our compassion for those struggling to find their way, that is the way of Jesus. We are His body and His light to all around us. Rejoice! Dance and sing! God is glorified!
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