Be Still And Know

Psalm 32:1 King David is very reflective in this psalm. Some commentators suggest that he wrote it some years after his disastrous adultery with Bathsheba. That agonising episode led to the murder of Bathsheba’s husband and caused untold grief. When Nathan the prophet confronted David with his sin the king turned back to God and discovered the wonder of his forgiveness (2 Samuel 12). It is thought that Psalm 51 was written at this critical time in David’s life. He pleaded to God for his mercy and forgiveness. He asked God to purify him and to wash him whiter than snow. He wanted God to restore him and to make him new. In Psalm 32 he appears to be standing back from the experience of forgiveness and reflecting on how completely wonderful it is. David thought back over those days when he had refused to confess his sin. He recalled how his body wasted away and how he had groaned all day long. His strength had evaporated like water on a summer’s day (vv 3–4). But when he confessed his sins, his life was t