מדרש אויף תהילים 32:5

Chapter 11: Prophets [1] "The Lord's wrath I will bear [for I have sinned against Him]" (Micah 7:9). As it says, "I acknowledged my sin to You, and so on" (Psalm 32:5), the assembly of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the Universe, at first I said, 'I have not sinned,' and You brought suffering upon me, as it says, 'Now I will bring charges against you [because you say, "I have not sinned"]." (Jeremiah 2:35). But now I say, 'I have sinned, have mercy on me,' as it is written, 'The Lord's wrath I will bear, for I have sinned against Him,' and so on" (Micah 7:9). And when I went into exile, they said to me, "Who gave Jacob to the despoilment [and Israel to the plunderers]?" (Isaiah 42:24), "I said, isn't it God, we have sinned against Him" and so on (Isaiah 42:24). Even now I say, "For I have sinned against Him," and so on (Micah 7:9), for confession is pleasing to me, as it says, "He who conceals his sins will not succeed, but he who confesses and abandons them will find mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). When David committed that act and Nathan the prophet came and rebuked him, and David said to him, "I have sinned greatly in, what I have done" (2 Samuel 12:13), what did Nathan say to him? "The Lord has taken away your sin, you shall not die" (2 Samuel 12:13). And what did [Bathsheba] ask for? She said to him, "Just as you have brought Noah out of the darkness into the light, do the same for me, [bring me out into the light and I will see His righteousness]" (Micah 7:9). He said to her, "And so I will do." And once he heard this, he began to say, "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy," and so on (Micah 7:8).

On the first day of the week he went into the waters of the upper Gihon until the waters reached up to his neck, and he fasted seven weeks of days, until his body became like a species of seaweed. Adam said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Sovereign of all worlds ! Remove, I pray Thee, my sins from me and accept my repentance, and all the generations will learn that repentance is a reality. What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He put forth His right hand, and accepted his repentance, and took away from him his sin, as it is said, "I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah" (Ps. 32:5). Selah in this world and Selah in the world to come. Adam returned and meditated in his heart, and said: I know that death will remove me (to) "the house appointed for all living" (Job 30:28). Adam said: Whilst I am yet alive I will build for myself a mausoleum to rest therein. He planned and built for himself a mausoleum to rest therein beyond Mount Moriah. Adam said: If in the case of the tables (of stone), just because in the future they will be written by the finger (of God), the waters of the Jordan are destined to flee before them; how much more so will this be the case with my body which His two hands kneaded, and because He breathed into my nostrils the breath of the spirit of His mouth? After my death they will come and take my bones, and they will make them into an image for idolatry; but verily I will put || my coffin deep down beneath the cave and within the cave. Therefore it is called the Cave of Machpelah, which is a double cave. There Adam was put and his help-meet, Abraham and his help-meet, Isaac and his help-meet, Jacob and his help-meet. Therefore it is called "the city of four" (Kirjath Arba'); for four pairs (were buried there), and concerning them the verse says, "He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his up-rightness" (Isa. 57:2).

Rabbi Elazar said: The entire Torah is contingent on justice, that is why the Holy One blessed be He gave laws after the Ten Commandments. Because people pervert justice, He exacts retribution from them and teaches the entire world that He overturned Sodom only after it perverted justice, as it is stated: “[Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom…] pride, surfeit of bread and tranquil calm, [but she did not support the hand of the poor and indigent]” (Ezekiel 16:49). Jerusalem, too, was not exiled until she perverted justice, as it is stated: “They will not provide justice for an orphan and the cause of the widow will not come to them” (Isaiah 1:23).
Why did the Holy One blessed be He give the crown to Judah?⁷⁶The kings of Israel descend from the tribe of Judah. It is not that he was mightier than his brothers; were Simeon, Levi and the others not mighty? Rather, it is because he adjudicated a true judgment for Tamar;⁷⁷See Genesis 38:26. that is why he became a judge of the world.⁷⁸In ancient times, the king served as the highest judge in the land. This is analogous to a judge who adjudicated the case of an orphan girl that came before him and he exonerated her. So too, the case of Tamar came before Judah, and [her sentence was] to be burned, but he exonerated her because he found merit on her behalf. How so? Isaac and Jacob were sitting there, as well as all his brothers, and they were protecting him.⁷⁹Although they recognized that the signet ring, cords, and staff presented by Tamar (see Genesis 38:25) belonged to Judah, the presentation of these artifacts did not prove that she had not engaged in a forbidden relationship. Judah acknowledged the Omnipresent and said the truth of the matter, and said: “She is more righteous than I” (Genesis 38:26). The Holy One blessed be He appointed him king.
Likewise, ben Zoma would say and expound: You were shamed in this world; you will not be shamed in the World to Come in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is a consuming fire. Why? Because the shame in this world is nothing compared to the shame of standing [guilty] in the World to Come, as it is stated: “Therefore, everyone who is pious should pray to You [at the time of searching]” (Psalms 32:6).⁸⁰The time of searching is expounded to mean the day of death. The previous verse states: “I acknowledged my sin to You; I did not hide my iniquity. I said: I will confess my transgressions to the Lord. And You forgave the guilt of my sin, selah” (Psalms 32:5). Thus, this is understood to mean that every pious individual prays that he has the strength to confess his sins before he dies.