Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

    while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

    will not reach them.

7 You are my hiding place;

    you will protect me from trouble

    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

As we work through the remainder of Psalm 32, I want to highlight other blessings in the lives of the blessed! Those who experience the blessing of salvation, sins forgiven, a right relationship with God, experience other blessings too. The first of these is:

The blessing of (answered) prayer.

The word “Therefore” looks back to verses 1-5, and David’s answered prayer for forgiveness of sins. David is sharing his own experience as an encouragement to others.

I was speaking on this psalm recently, and afterwards someone rightly commented that prayer is a blessing in itself, aside from any answers we may receive. It is such a blessing to be able to talk to God about everything. That is true. I agree one hundred per cent. But I would still assert that it is primarily the blessing of answered prayer to which David refers here.

Consider these two excellent quotes on verse 5:

‘If prayer is sufficient to deal with the most serious problem of all – will not prayer solve every problem of life.’ Alec Motyer.

‘Remarkable answers to prayer very much quicken the prayerfulness of other godly persons. Where one man finds a golden nugget others feel inclined to dig.’ C.H. Spurgeon.

No doubt the experience of David, in his personal dealings with God, has encouraged many other people through the years who might otherwise have wallowed in despair.