Psalm 32 - The 7 greatest needs of man

This wonderful Psalm tells us of the 7 great spiritual needs of man which are all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. What are they?

The needs are:

1. The need for forgiveness
2. The need for righteousness
3. The need for relationship with Father God
4. The need for protection
5. The need for guidance

6. The need for faith
7.The need for joy

1. The need for forgiveness.

Ps 32:1 "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered". We need to confess our sins to receive forgiveness. Sins weigh us down heavily but the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins.

Sometimes we may not remember all our sins (particularly moral sins when we first came to the Lord) but the Lord will gently remind us of them when we walk with Him. The key is to be quick to confess them when the Lord brings them to mind.

Once our sins are confessed there will come upon us such a lightness in our soul. Such freedom, such blessed peace! Confession of sins is health to our soul and adds years to our life.

In fact, v3 & 4 tells us the consequences of not confessing our sins to God. Physical illness could result from us refusing to acknowledge our sins before God. We might feel vitality drained from us. 

For e.g. it is often thought that the manifestation of backache is a result of us not forgiving someone.

Whether sickness is a spiritual problem or a natural problem of diet or stress or environmental factors, there is no harm in us confessing our sins to God.

Ps 32:5 "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" and You forgave the iniquity of my sin"

A lady with whom I did baptism class felt convicted to write down all her sins item by item before going down into the water. She listed down all the key sins in her life. After confession, she felt such joy, liberty and freedom and went down into the waters of baptism delivered and cleansed.

I saw a vision of her standing before the throne of God. Angels lined up at the side of this huge staircase leading up to the throne. I heard Father God said to her "All your sins have been forgiven. I remember them no more. Do not mention them to me anymore. The slate has been wiped clean"

2. The need for righteousness.

Psalm 32:2 "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit"


Righteousness is a gift from God. We are clothed with the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness. It is God who justifies us who is he who condemns us?

3. The need for relationship with Father God

We are all made with a vacuum for Father God. Our heart yearns and longs for a relationship with a greater spiritual being, greater than us, mightier than us & more powerful than us. 


In our finite mind, we want to know a God who is infinite. In a way we can say that man desires spiritual enlightenment from a higher source/being.

When we have experienced the forgiveness of God and receive the righteousness of Christ as a free gift, we will have free access into the presence of God the Father.

Righteousness is the springboard for godliness.

Ps 32:6 "For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found, surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him"

Prayer is relationship with God. Prayer fulfils the need of ours to relate to God as our heavenly Father.

4. The need for protection

Great floods will not overwhelm us - Ps 32:6.

God is our hiding place, He preserves us from trouble and surrounds us with songs of deliverance - Ps 32:7 "You are my hiding place, You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with songs of deliverance"

Ps 32:10 "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him"

We may be in the midst of trouble. We may be in the midst of a great storm (the enemy may come in like a flood) but the ultimate fact is that, we will surely be delivered!

He not only preserves us but He delivers us. In the end, we come out of our trials with songs of deliverance.

5. The need for guidance

Ps 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go. I will guide you with My eye"


Ps 32:9 "Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you"

God says He will show us the way we need to go. He will guide us with His eye. We need to be sensitive to the Holy spirit, listen to His gentle warnings. we should not be rash like the horse or stubborn like the mule. Rather, we should be led by the Spirit.

6. The need for faith

Ps 32:10 "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him"

It is so important to trust in God no matter what the circumstances. We need to watch the confession of our mouth. We need to keep on confessing the Word of God over our situation and circumstances no matter what is happening in the natural. 

I have osteo knees. Sitting down and standing up can be really painful. At times I can hear the knees click as though the ends of the knee bones are brushing against each other hence the source of the pain.

Lately I have been confessing this prayer "Lord I command the cartilage to grow. Lord Jesus I rebuke the pain"

Even though the pain is still there, I will not let it get me down. The cartilage has to obey the Word of God! After all God created it and it can regenerate at God's command.

7. The need for joy

The Psalm ends with a wonderful note of joy. It is a threefold note of joy - be glad, rejoice, shout for joy. We are the righteous, the saints of God, having been justified by faith, cleansed by the blood of Jesus. there is every reason to rejoice!

Ps 32:11 "Be glad in the lord and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart"

Psalm 34 - Many are the problems of a righteous man

Psalms 34 seems to contain a whole list of problems of a righteous man:

1. Fearful v4 - a righteous man can be fearful. Fear can come in many forms, fear of failure, fear of man, fear of death. As long as we are in the place of seeking God, we will be delivered from all our fears. "I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears"

2. Shameful v5 - there are times when we are made to feel ashamed. I felt ashamed when my boss took in a more senior staff who leapfrogged over me in hierarchy. I really felt that I must have failed miserably as her no 2 a position she promoted me too.

I did not do my part to be her 2nd man thus forcing her to look for someone else. 

I felt ashamed when I accidentally taped a conversation with my hubby (arguments) and sent it to a whatsapp group thus exposing my family problems to others. We cannot avoid being shamed or feel shameful because of mistakes that we have been made in the past.

3. Troubles v6 & v17 - a righteous man has many troubles causing him to be poor in spirit and to cry out to God to save him. As long as he cry out, the Lord will hear him and the promise in v17 is that he will be delivered out of all his troubles.

4. Broken heart v18 - a righteous man can be so broken hearted because of things that happen to him. Hurts, disappointments, bitterness, resentment, abuse....we cannot avoid them.

5. Contrite spirit v18 - a righteous man in a place of contrition will be rescued by God. "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit". May our troubles drive us to contrition & humility.

6. Afflictions v19 - a righteous man has many afflictions. The Lord will deliver him out of them all.

7. Sickness v20 - we may be sick but our bones will not be broken nor will we be driven to the point of death. "He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken"

8. Hated by others v 21 - there are those who hate us but the scripture describe their end "..those who hate the righteous shall be condemned"

A righteous man is not a trouble-free but he is God-focused & God-dependent even while in the midst of his problems. As long as he magnify God and exalt God even in the midst of his problems, he will experience deliverance!

Quotable quotes on praying for the lost

"The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer" FB Meyer

"The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray" SD Gordon

"Prayer can never be in excess" CH Spurgeon

"The man who mobilizes the Christian Church to pray will make the greatest contribution to world evangelization in history" Andrew Murray

"One day George Mueller began praying for five of his friends. After many months, one of them came to the Lord. Ten years later, two others were converted. It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved. Mueller persevered in prayer until his death for his 5th friend and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ! His faith was rewarded, for soon after Mueller's funeral the last one was saved"

Why we should pray for the lost - Because Jesus prayed for the lost & the prayer for the lost has great impact

One powerful prayer by the Lord Jesus at the Cross turned many millions to Christ!



What was that prayer? It was in Luke 23:34 "Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do"

To me this is the greatest direct prayer in the Bible. It is a prayer that has impacted the lost many times over and still impacting the world today!

There are 222 direct prayers in the Bible. By this I mean actually worded prayers written by rote. They do not include instructions on prayer or references to prayer or teaching on prayer. It is prayers which are written as the characters in the Bible prayed it.

72 of these prayers are found in the Psalms. Jesus Himself prayed directly to God about 25 times in the Bible. Other than the Lord, we had the Jabez prayer, Moses prayer for the people, Daniel's prayer for his people and Ezra prayed also for his people. 

100% of such prayers have all been answered.

Another prayer quite similar to the prayer on the Cross is the prayer that Stephen prayed while he was being stoned to death. It was not a prayer in anger seeking retribution like asking God to curse them, judge them or destroy them but a prayer which echoed mercy and forgiveness.

Stephen prayed this prayer while in the presence of Saul of Tarsus who was consenting to his death.

Acts 7:57 "Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord, and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul"

Acts 8:1 "Now Saul was consenting to his (Stephen's) death...."

Later in Acts 9, Saul became Paul and met Jesus on the way to Damascus.

Acts 7:59-60 "And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin" And when he said this, he fell asleep"
God answered the prayer on the Cross, 3000 people repented on the day of Pentecost. 

God answered the prayer of Stephen - Paul got miraculously converted. Today there are 2.8 billion Christians worldwide vs 6 billion of the world population!