Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psalm 32:2 continues and deepens the blessedness declared in verse 1. David has already announced the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered (v.1). He now adds two joined marks of that blessed man: the LORD does not impute iniquity to him, and there is no guile in his spirit. The “and” must not be missed. The first clause declares God’s legal accounting. The second clause describes the inward honesty found in the man whom God has made alive and brought to sincere confession. Legal justification removes the charge of iniquity before God; vital grace regenerates the sinner by imparting a new heart and a right spirit, which breaks the power of guile that hides, excuses, and deceitfully covers sin; practical confession then brings the comfort of a released conscience.
“Blessed is the man.” This is true happiness, the happiness of a conscience released before God. Men call many things blessed: wealth, ease, reputation, health, family, success, and safety. But David places blessedness first where guilt is answered. A man may have riches and still be miserable before God. A man may have trouble and still be blessed if his sin is forgiven. Paul quotes this verse to describe “the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). Therefore, this blessedness is not light emotion. It is the joy of divine pardon.
“Unto whom the LORD.” The matter is entirely before Jehovah. LORD in capitals is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the ancient Hebrew tetragrammaton, JHVH. Sin is against Him, and forgiveness must come from Him. David confessed, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalm 51:4). Pastors, friends, rituals, memories, excuses, tears, vows, reformations, and religious labors cannot remove guilt unless the LORD forgives. The blessed man is blessed because Jehovah Himself has dealt with his iniquity.
“Imputeth not iniquity.” To impute is to reckon, account, charge, or place to one’s account. Iniquity is unrighteousness, with the guilt and inward corruption that belong to it. David’s blessed man is not one who never had iniquity. He is one to whom the LORD does not impute it. The guilt exists in the man by nature and practice, but God does not charge it against him. Paul makes the doctrine unmistakable when he uses this verse in Romans 4: “David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). The blessedness is God’s accounting: iniquity is not charged, and righteousness is imputed without works.
This is legal blessedness before God. It is not earned by confession, tears, vows, reform, suffering, religious labor, or faith considered as a human act. Faith is the fruit and evidence of legal justification, not the cause of it. Legal justification rests wholly on God’s grace, Christ’s obedience, Christ’s blood, Christ’s death, Christ’s resurrection, and God’s righteous imputation. God does not impute iniquity because Christ bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). God does not ignore sin. He laid it on Christ. Therefore, the believer may say, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth” (Romans 8:33).
This doctrine gives strong comfort. If the LORD does not impute iniquity, no enemy can successfully charge it. Satan may accuse. Memory may accuse. Conscience may tremble. Men may remember old failures. But the Judge has not charged the iniquity to the forgiven man. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Faith does not create this standing; it receives and rejoices in it. The blessedness is not that sin was small, but that God has dealt with it fully in Christ.
“And in whose spirit.” The Spirit joins this to the first clause. The “and” is necessary. David does not describe a man who claims legal pardon while making peace with inward deceit. Nor does he describe a man whose honest confession causes legal justification. He describes the same blessed man from two sides. Before God’s court, iniquity is not imputed. Within the man’s spirit, guile is not cherished. The legal standing is God’s gracious accounting in Christ; the inward honesty is the fruit of God’s life and grace in the soul.
“There is no guile.” Guile is deceit, craft, falseness, and dishonest covering. In Psalm 32, guile especially appears in refusing to deal plainly with sin before God. David had tried silence, and God’s hand was heavy upon him (vv.3-4). Then he acknowledged his sin, refused to hide his iniquity, confessed his transgressions unto the LORD, and found forgiveness in practical experience (v.5). That is the opposite of guile. The guileless spirit does not deny sin, rename sin, excuse sin, blame others for sin, lessen sin, or hide sin under religious speech. It owns guilt before God.
This guileless spirit is not natural to fallen man. Men hide sin by instinct, as Adam hid himself after transgression and shifted blame to the woman God gave him (Genesis 3:8-12). Regeneration changes this inward posture. When God gives life, He gives a heart that can no longer settle down under deceit as its refuge. The man still sins, but he cannot honestly rest in guile. He must come into the light, for “he that doeth truth cometh to the light” (John 3:21). Therefore, the second clause has vital and practical force: vital, because a guileless spirit is the fruit of God’s inward work; practical, because it shows itself in confession, forsaking deceit, and obtaining comfort in the conscience.
This does not mean the blessed man is sinless. David himself was not sinless, for this psalm was born out of guilt, chastening, confession, and restoration (vv.3-5). Solomon wrote, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). John wrote that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). No guile does not mean no remaining corruption. It means no deceitful covering of corruption before God. The blessed man is legally cleared by God’s imputation in Christ, vitally changed so that he hates deceit about his sin, and practically comforted when he confesses it honestly before the LORD.
Here is a necessary warning. A man may speak of grace while hiding sin. He may praise forgiveness while refusing confession. He may condemn sin in others while covering it in himself. He may want the comfort of pardon without the shame of plain dealing before God. But David’s psalm allows no such hypocrisy. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). The only safe covering for sin is God’s covering. Man’s covering is guile.
The order must be guarded. A man is not legally justified because he confesses without guile. He confesses without guile because God has dealt graciously with him. Legal non-imputation is God’s act in Christ. Guileless confession is the fruit of grace in the heart. Released conscience is the practical joy that follows honest confession. Thus Psalm 32:2 does not teach justification by confession. It describes the blessed man as one whose iniquity is not charged by the LORD and whose spirit does not hide from the LORD under deceit.
Jesus Christ is the perfect contrast to guile. He “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). In Him there was no deceit because in Him there was no sin. His people cannot claim that sinless perfection in themselves, but they are blessed in Him. He bore their sins, so they need not hide them in despair (1 Peter 2:24). He is their righteousness before God, and His grace teaches them to come honestly before God. Christ had no guilt to confess; His people have much. But because Christ has answered for them, they may confess without hopelessness and find mercy without deceit (1 John 1:9).
This verse also disallows the careless abuse of grace. Some hear that God imputes not iniquity and imagine they may continue in hypocrisy. David’s own psalm forbids that conclusion. The man whose iniquity is not imputed is also the man in whose spirit there is no guile. Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” and answers, “God forbid” (Romans 6:1-2). Free justification does not produce false dealing with God. It produces honest confession, hatred of sin, and thankful obedience.
Psalm 32:2 therefore gives a double blessing: no charge in heaven and no guile in the heart. The LORD does not impute iniquity to the man He has justified in Christ, and the man so blessed is brought to deal honestly with God about his sin. He does not cover sin by deceit, for God has covered it by mercy. He does not hide in guile, for grace has taught him to confess. Blessed indeed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Psalm 32:2 continues and deepens the blessedness declared in verse 1. David has already announced the blessedness of the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered (v.1). He now adds two joined marks of that blessed man: the LORD does not impute iniquity to him, and there is no guile in his spirit. The “and” must not be missed. The first clause declares God’s legal accounting. The second clause describes the inward honesty found in the man whom God has made alive and brought to sincere confession. Legal justification removes the charge of iniquity before God; vital grace regenerates the sinner by imparting a new heart and a right spirit, which breaks the power of guile that hides, excuses, and deceitfully covers sin; practical confession then brings the comfort of a released conscience.
“Blessed is the man.” This is true happiness, the happiness of a conscience released before God. Men call many things blessed: wealth, ease, reputation, health, family, success, and safety. But David places blessedness first where guilt is answered. A man may have riches and still be miserable before God. A man may have trouble and still be blessed if his sin is forgiven. Paul quotes this verse to describe “the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). Therefore, this blessedness is not light emotion. It is the joy of divine pardon.
“Unto whom the LORD.” The matter is entirely before Jehovah. LORD in capitals is the King James Bible’s usual way of representing the ancient Hebrew tetragrammaton, JHVH. Sin is against Him, and forgiveness must come from Him. David confessed, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest” (Psalm 51:4). Pastors, friends, rituals, memories, excuses, tears, vows, reformations, and religious labors cannot remove guilt unless the LORD forgives. The blessed man is blessed because Jehovah Himself has dealt with his iniquity.
“Imputeth not iniquity.” To impute is to reckon, account, charge, or place to one’s account. Iniquity is unrighteousness, with the guilt and inward corruption that belong to it. David’s blessed man is not one who never had iniquity. He is one to whom the LORD does not impute it. The guilt exists in the man by nature and practice, but God does not charge it against him. Paul makes the doctrine unmistakable when he uses this verse in Romans 4: “David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” (Romans 4:6). The blessedness is God’s accounting: iniquity is not charged, and righteousness is imputed without works.
This is legal blessedness before God. It is not earned by confession, tears, vows, reform, suffering, religious labor, or faith considered as a human act. Faith is the fruit and evidence of legal justification, not the cause of it. Legal justification rests wholly on God’s grace, Christ’s obedience, Christ’s blood, Christ’s death, Christ’s resurrection, and God’s righteous imputation. God does not impute iniquity because Christ bore the sins of His people in His own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24). God does not ignore sin. He laid it on Christ. Therefore, the believer may say, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth” (Romans 8:33).
This doctrine gives strong comfort. If the LORD does not impute iniquity, no enemy can successfully charge it. Satan may accuse. Memory may accuse. Conscience may tremble. Men may remember old failures. But the Judge has not charged the iniquity to the forgiven man. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Faith does not create this standing; it receives and rejoices in it. The blessedness is not that sin was small, but that God has dealt with it fully in Christ.
“And in whose spirit.” The Spirit joins this to the first clause. The “and” is necessary. David does not describe a man who claims legal pardon while making peace with inward deceit. Nor does he describe a man whose honest confession causes legal justification. He describes the same blessed man from two sides. Before God’s court, iniquity is not imputed. Within the man’s spirit, guile is not cherished. The legal standing is God’s gracious accounting in Christ; the inward honesty is the fruit of God’s life and grace in the soul.
“There is no guile.” Guile is deceit, craft, falseness, and dishonest covering. In Psalm 32, guile especially appears in refusing to deal plainly with sin before God. David had tried silence, and God’s hand was heavy upon him (vv.3-4). Then he acknowledged his sin, refused to hide his iniquity, confessed his transgressions unto the LORD, and found forgiveness in practical experience (v.5). That is the opposite of guile. The guileless spirit does not deny sin, rename sin, excuse sin, blame others for sin, lessen sin, or hide sin under religious speech. It owns guilt before God.
This guileless spirit is not natural to fallen man. Men hide sin by instinct, as Adam hid himself after transgression and shifted blame to the woman God gave him (Genesis 3:8-12). Regeneration changes this inward posture. When God gives life, He gives a heart that can no longer settle down under deceit as its refuge. The man still sins, but he cannot honestly rest in guile. He must come into the light, for “he that doeth truth cometh to the light” (John 3:21). Therefore, the second clause has vital and practical force: vital, because a guileless spirit is the fruit of God’s inward work; practical, because it shows itself in confession, forsaking deceit, and obtaining comfort in the conscience.
This does not mean the blessed man is sinless. David himself was not sinless, for this psalm was born out of guilt, chastening, confession, and restoration (vv.3-5). Solomon wrote, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). John wrote that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). No guile does not mean no remaining corruption. It means no deceitful covering of corruption before God. The blessed man is legally cleared by God’s imputation in Christ, vitally changed so that he hates deceit about his sin, and practically comforted when he confesses it honestly before the LORD.
Here is a necessary warning. A man may speak of grace while hiding sin. He may praise forgiveness while refusing confession. He may condemn sin in others while covering it in himself. He may want the comfort of pardon without the shame of plain dealing before God. But David’s psalm allows no such hypocrisy. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). The only safe covering for sin is God’s covering. Man’s covering is guile.
The order must be guarded. A man is not legally justified because he confesses without guile. He confesses without guile because God has dealt graciously with him. Legal non-imputation is God’s act in Christ. Guileless confession is the fruit of grace in the heart. Released conscience is the practical joy that follows honest confession. Thus Psalm 32:2 does not teach justification by confession. It describes the blessed man as one whose iniquity is not charged by the LORD and whose spirit does not hide from the LORD under deceit.
Jesus Christ is the perfect contrast to guile. He “did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). In Him there was no deceit because in Him there was no sin. His people cannot claim that sinless perfection in themselves, but they are blessed in Him. He bore their sins, so they need not hide them in despair (1 Peter 2:24). He is their righteousness before God, and His grace teaches them to come honestly before God. Christ had no guilt to confess; His people have much. But because Christ has answered for them, they may confess without hopelessness and find mercy without deceit (1 John 1:9).
This verse also disallows the careless abuse of grace. Some hear that God imputes not iniquity and imagine they may continue in hypocrisy. David’s own psalm forbids that conclusion. The man whose iniquity is not imputed is also the man in whose spirit there is no guile. Paul asks, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” and answers, “God forbid” (Romans 6:1-2). Free justification does not produce false dealing with God. It produces honest confession, hatred of sin, and thankful obedience.
Psalm 32:2 therefore gives a double blessing: no charge in heaven and no guile in the heart. The LORD does not impute iniquity to the man He has justified in Christ, and the man so blessed is brought to deal honestly with God about his sin. He does not cover sin by deceit, for God has covered it by mercy. He does not hide in guile, for grace has taught him to confess. Blessed indeed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.