Psa 32:1 | KD | STEP | There are several prominent marks by which this Psalm is coupled with the preceding (vid., Symbolae §52). In both Psalms, with the word אמרתּי, the psalmist looks back upon some fact of his spiritual life; and both close with an exhortation to the godly, which stands in the relation of a general inference to the whole Psalm. But in other respects the two Psalms differ. For Ps 31 is a prayer under circumstances of outward distress, and is a didactic Psalm, concerning the way of penitence which leads to the forgiveness of sins; it is the second of the seven Psalmi paenitentiales of the church, and Augustine’s favourite Psalm. We might take Augustine’s words as its motto: intelligentia prima est ut te noris peccatorem . The poet bases it upon his own personal experience, and then applies the general teaching which he deduces from it, to each individual in the church of God. For a whole year after his adultery David was like one under sentence of condemnation. In the midst of this fearful anguish of soul he composed Ps 51, whereas was composed after his deliverance from this state of mind. The former was written in the very midst of the penitential struggle; the latter after he had recovered his inward peace. The theme of this Psalm is the precious treasure which he brought up out of that abyss of spiritual distress, viz., the doctrine of the blessedness of forgiveness, the sincere and unreserved confession of sin as the way to it, and the protection of God in every danger, together with joy in God, as its fruits. In the signification psalmus didascalicus s. informatorius (Reuchlin: ut si liceret dicere intellectificum vel resipiscentificum ), משׂכּי would after all be as appropriate a designation as we could have for this Psalm which teachers the way of salvation. This meaning, however, cannot be sustained. It is improbable that משׂכּיל, which, in all other instances, signifies intelligens , should, as a technical term, mean intelligentem faciens ; because the Hiph . השׂכּיל, in the causative meaning “to impart understanding,” occurs only in solitary instances ( , ) in the Hebrew of the period before the Exile, and only came into common use in the later language (in Daniel, Chronicles, and Nehemiah). But, that which is decisive against the meaning “a didactic poem” is the fact, that among the thirteen Psalms which are inscribed משׂיל, there are only two ( and Ps 78) which can be regarded as didactic poems. Ps 45 is called, in addition, שׁיר ידידת, and , תּפּלּה, two names which ill accord with a didactic intention and plan. Even , a passage of importance in the determining of the right idea of the word, in which משׂיל occurs as an accusative of the object, excludes the meaning “didactic poem.” Ewald observes ( Dichter des Alten Bundes , i. 31) that “in we have the safest guide to the correct meaning of the word; in this passage משׂיל stands side by side with זמּר as a more exact definition of the singing and there can be no doubt, that an intelligent , melodious song must be equivalent to choice or delicate , skillfully composed song.” But in all other cases, משׂיל is only found as an attribute of persons, because it is not that which makes prudent, but that which is itself intelligent, that is so named. Even in , where allusion is made to the Maskı̂l Psalms, it is the Levite musicians themselves who are called (שׂכל טוב) המשׂכילים (i.e., those who play skillfully with delicate tact). Thus then we are driven to the Hiphil meaning of pensive meditation in , cf. , ; so that משׂכּיל signifies that which meditates, then meditation, just like מכבּיר, that which multiplies, and then fulness; משׁחית, that which destroys, and then destruction. From the Maskı̂l Psalms, as e.g., from and , we cannot discover anything special as to the technical meaning or use of the word. The word means just pia meditatio , a devout meditation, and nothing more.

‏ Psalms 32:1

The Way to the Forgiveness of Sins

There are several prominent marks by which this Psalm is coupled with the preceding (vid., Symbolae §52). In both Psalms, with the word אמרתּי, the psalmist looks back upon some fact of his spiritual life; and both close with an exhortation to the godly, which stands in the relation of a general inference to the whole Psalm. But in other respects the two Psalms differ. For Ps 31 is a prayer under circumstances of outward distress, and Psa 32:1-11 is a didactic Psalm, concerning the way of penitence which leads to the forgiveness of sins; it is the second of the seven Psalmi paenitentiales of the church, and Augustine’s favourite Psalm. We might take Augustine’s words as its motto: intelligentia prima est ut te noris peccatorem. The poet bases it upon his own personal experience, and then applies the general teaching which he deduces from it, to each individual in the church of God. For a whole year after his adultery David was like one under sentence of condemnation. In the midst of this fearful anguish of soul he composed Ps 51, whereas Psa 32:1-11 was composed after his deliverance from this state of mind. The former was written in the very midst of the penitential struggle; the latter after he had recovered his inward peace. The theme of this Psalm is the precious treasure which he brought up out of that abyss of spiritual distress, viz., the doctrine of the blessedness of forgiveness, the sincere and unreserved confession of sin as the way to it, and the protection of God in every danger, together with joy in God, as its fruits.

In the signification psalmus didascalicus s. informatorius (Reuchlin: ut si liceret dicere intellectificum vel resipiscentificum), משׂכּי would after all be as appropriate a designation as we could have for this Psalm which teachers the way of salvation. This meaning, however, cannot be sustained. It is improbable that משׂכּיל, which, in all other instances, signifies intelligens, should, as a technical term, mean intelligentem faciens; because the Hiph. השׂכּיל, in the causative meaning “to impart understanding,” occurs only in solitary instances (Psa 32:8, Pro 21:11) in the Hebrew of the period before the Exile, and only came into common use in the later language (in Daniel, Chronicles, and Nehemiah). But, that which is decisive against the meaning “a didactic poem” is the fact, that among the thirteen Psalms which are inscribed משׂיל, there are only two (Psa 32:1-11 and Ps 78) which can be regarded as didactic poems. Ps 45 is called, in addition, שׁיר ידידת, and Psa 142:1-7, תּפּלּה, two names which ill accord with a didactic intention and plan. Even Psa 47:8, a passage of importance in the determining of the right idea of the word, in which משׂיל occurs as an accusative of the object, excludes the meaning “didactic poem.” Ewald observes (Dichter des Alten Bundes, i. 31) that “in Psa 47:8 we have the safest guide to the correct meaning of the word; in this passage משׂיל stands side by side with זמּר as a more exact definition of the singing and there can be no doubt, that an intelligent, melodious song must be equivalent to choice or delicate, skillfully composed song.” But in all other cases, משׂיל is only found as an attribute of persons, because it is not that which makes prudent, but that which is itself intelligent, that is so named. Even in 2Ch 30:22, where allusion is made to the Maskı̂l Psalms, it is the Levite musicians themselves who are called (שׂכל טוב) המשׂכילים (i.e., those who play skillfully with delicate tact). Thus then we are driven to the Hiphil meaning of pensive meditation in Psa 106:7, cf. Psa 41:2, Pro 16:20; so that משׂכּיל signifies that which meditates, then meditation, just like מכבּיר, that which multiplies, and then fulness; משׁחית, that which destroys, and then destruction. From the Maskı̂l Psalms, as e.g., from Psa 54:1-7 and Psa 142:1-7, we cannot discover anything special as to the technical meaning or use of the word. The word means just pia meditatio, a devout meditation, and nothing more.