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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 32

1 By David; a well-written song. How blessed is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, whose sin is pardoned. 2 How blessed is the one whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, in whose spirit there is no deceit.⁠ 3 When I refused to confess my sin, my whole body wasted away, while I groaned in pain all day long. 4 For day and night you tormented me; you tried to destroy me in the intense heat of summer. (Selah) 5 Then I confessed my sin; I no longer covered up my wrongdoing. I said, “I will confess my rebellious acts to the Lord.” And then you forgave my sins. (Selah) 6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers should pray to you while there is a window of opportunity. Certainly when the surging water rises, it will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you protect me from distress. You surround me with shouts of joy from those celebrating deliverance. (Selah) 8 I will instruct and teach you about how you should live. I will advise you as I look you in the eye. 9 Do not be like an unintelligent horse or mule, which will not obey you unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit. 10 An evil person suffers much pain, but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him. 11 Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly! Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright!

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 32:2 and John 1:47

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Psalm 32 describes a person in whose spirit there is no deceit, language Jesus uses in John to praise Nathanael as an Israelite without deceit, highlighting how the gospel shapes its story around the patterns of the Hebrew Bible.

Passages

Psalm 32:2

Hebrew Bible
1 By David; a well-written song. How blessed is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven, whose sin is pardoned. 2 How blessed is the one whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish, in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I refused to confess my sin, my whole body wasted away, while I groaned in pain all day long. 4 For day and night you tormented me; you tried to destroy me in the intense heat of summer. (Selah)
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

John 1:47

New Testament
43 On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed, “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

References

"... The words “righteous” (tsedeq) and faithful (emet, “truth”) in Hebrew are synonymous with “blameless.” Righteousness is a dynamic term describing God or humans in relationship with people. The righteous do what is right; they live in accordance with God’s expectations. The phrase “truth from his heart” reveals fidelity between the “heart,” as the seat of one’s being, and speech (“who speaks”), which expresses one’s inner being. The wise are people of integrity in all of their relationships and activities. For a contrast, see 12:2. The activities of walking, doing, and speaking are participial forms. As I observed in Psalm 1:1, the three activities are not to be isolated as separate expressions of the righteous path; rather, they express synthetically that everything the wise do is in harmony with the expectations of God and human beings. There is no guile in them (compare John 1:47) ..."
Willem A. VanGemeren, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008), 279–280.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Psalm 32:2 and John 1:47

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