Psalm 32:2

Verse 2. In whose spirit there is no guile. When once pardon is realized, the believer has courage to be truthful before God: he can afford to have done with guile in the spirit. Who would not declare all his debts when they are certain to be discharged by another? Who would not declare his malady when he was sure of a cure? True faith knows not only that guile before God is impossible, but also that it is no longer necessary. The believer has nothing to conceal: he sees himself as before God, stripped, and laid open, and bare; and if he has learned to see himself as he is, so also has he learned to see God as he reveals himself. There is no guile in the spirit of one who is justified by faith; because in the act of justification truth has been established in his inward parts. There is no guile in the spirit of him who sees the truth of himself in the light of the truth of God. For the truth of God shows him at once that in Christ he is perfectly righteous before God, and in himself he is the chief of sinners. Such a one knows he is not his own, for he is bought with a price, and therefore he is to glorify God. There is no guile in the spirit of him whose real object is to glorify Christ and not himself. But when a man is not quite true to Christ, and has not quite ceased to magnify self, there may be guile, for he will be more occupied with thoughts about himself than with the honour of Christ. But if the truth, and honour, and glory of Christ be his supreme care, he may leave himself out of the question, and, like Christ, "O commit himself to him that judgeth righteously." J. W. Reeve, M.A., in "Lectures on the Thirty-second Psalm," 1860.

Verse 2. No guile. Sincerity is that property to which pardoning mercy is annexed. True, indeed, it is that Christ covers all our sins and failings; but it is only the sincere soul over which he will cast his skirt. Blessed is he whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. None will doubt this; but which is the man? The next words tell us his name; And in whose spirit there is no guile. Christ's righteousness is the garment which covers the nakedness and shame of our unrighteousness; faith the grace that puts this garment on; but what faith? None but the faith unfeigned, as Paul calls it. 2 Timothy 1:5 . "Here is water," said the eunuch, "what doth hinder me to be baptized?" Ac 8:36. Now mark Philip's answer, Acts 8:37 , "If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest;" as if he had said, Nothing but an hypocritical heart can hinder thee. It is the false heart only that finds the door of mercy shut. William Gurnall.

Verse 2. Guile. The guile of the spirit is an inward corruption in the soul of man, whereby he dealeth deceitfully with himself before God in the matter of salvation. Thomas Taylor.

HINTS FOR PASTORS AND LAYPERSONS

Verse 1-2. The nature of sin and the modes of pardon.

Verse 2. Non imputation, a remarkable doctrine. -- Prove, explain, and improve it.

Verse 2. No guile. The honesty of heart of the pardoned man.