Psalm 38 New American Standard Bible 1995
Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.
A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
38 O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath,
And chasten me not in Your burning anger.
2 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me,
And Your hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities are gone over my head;
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My [a]wounds grow foul and fester
Because of my folly.
6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down;
I go mourning all day long.
7 For my loins are filled with burning,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am benumbed and [b]badly crushed;
I [c]groan because of the [d]agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is [e]before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me;
And the light of my eyes, even [f]that [g]has gone from me.
11 My [h]loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me;
And those who seek to injure me have [i]threatened destruction,
And they devise treachery all day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For I [j]hope in You, O Lord;
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,
Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.”
17 For I am ready to fall,
And my [k]sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I [l]confess my iniquity;
I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and [m]strong,
And many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 And those who repay evil for good,
They oppose me, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
As I was preparing my presentation for Good Friday, I was reading the Psalms.
I eventually got to reading David’s disquieting words from Psalm 38 and there was my profound reaction to a reaction by David that leaped off the page at me.
His reaction was over his sin, and when I read it, I thought deeply about how we view sin in our lives.
I know how we often view sin in other people’s lives, many times being quick to highlight it, even quicker to cancel its relevance, or quicker to condemn them.
My concern is not about sin found in other people, but for us to consider what happens within our own hearts, souls and spirits when we sin in our own lives.
King David in and throughout the Old Testament had his fair share of suffering.
That’s clear from Psalm 38, described as “a psalm of David.”
He speaks often of being wounded and filled with pain.
Friends and neighbors abandon him. Enemies hate him and accuse him.
Even his own family dynamics turns against him as his son Absalom kills his brother and gathers an angry army against his father to over throw him as King.
Many are sick and tired of all the intrigue emanating from his throne room.
Many do not believe he is not the least bit worthy of such a high office as a King.
Some want to kill him.
It’s “because of my sin,” he says.
And he’s painfully right.
Not every sin leads to a particular suffering.
And not all suffering is from particular sins.
But rebellion against God’s ways does unleash a torrent of suffering into our human experience. So David the sinner suffers, and from the very throne of his self inflicted suffering he cries out to God. Maybe you know what that’s like.
We are no different in our own ways making questionable choices, decisions and getting people all hopping mad, consistently questioning our motives.
God certainly knows all about His creation’s sinfulness. (Genesis 3)
Jesus certainly knows having in these last days of his own life witnessed the fickleness of the human heart and soul, limitless depths of human depravity.
It’s all profoundly expressed there in Psalm 38.
Perhaps Psalm 38 was rolling through Jesus’ heart and soul in Gethsemane.
Yes, this psalm is about sin.
And no, Jesus himself never sinned.
But he did suffer enormously – echelons more than anyone else in all history.
He suffered because the full weight of all the sins of the world, including my sins and yours, were laid on him. He carried that immense burden to the cross.
One cannot imagine the measure of weight of all that sin upon his shoulders.
The silent anguish, the pounding heart, the failing strength, the pained cry of forsakenness—it’s all right there in Psalm 38, and it was all there on the cross.
But that was not the end. From his own suffering, Jesus cried out to God.
And his cry was heard. On the third day, God raised him from the dead.
Jesus had won the ultimate victory over sin.
Yes, we still sin.
And we still suffer.
But sin no longer has the power to separate us from God. Jesus saw to that!
Have we lost our Psalm 38 Grief over our own Sins?
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 New American Standard Bible 1995
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
I am wondering where that attitude toward sin has gone in our westernized interpretation of “Christian” culture – where sin is dismissed all too easily.
The Sheer Horror of Sin Has Not Changed one bit
Hebrews 13:5-8 New American Standard Bible 1995
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” 6 so that we confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?”
7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the [a]result of their conduct, imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Regardless of how the world feels, or refuses to believe about God and sin, the way God feels about it has not changed and we should expect, will never change.
It seems as if the church has slowly been adopting worldly attitudes toward sin.
Instead of living out our call as “Ambassadors”, calling people to repentance, and reconciliation, it is as if we give people justifications for continuing in sin.
Yet, the way God sees sin is still the same.
He hates it.
He hates it because it destroys you and also because it drives a wedge in your relationship with him because he is a holy God.
I want to be clear, I am not saying we become judges of people in the world.
We need to spare no amount of personal effort and suffering to share the gospel with them and to allow the Holy Spirit to convict them of their sinful condition.
We also shouldn’t expect people in the world to react like David did over his sin.
But, for those in the church, it is a different story.
We have God, we have the Word of God and we have the Spirit of God, so our personal mindset towards sin should radically differ from those in the world.
Instead of focusing on what people in the world are doing first, instead of our cancelling everyone left and right, I am saying we start by calling the people in the church to repent because we all need to change our attitude towards sin.
Psalm 38 questions to ask yourself about our own Sin
As I stated earlier, I don’t want this to be a focus on someone else.
I want you to ponder about yourself.
Here are some questions that are introspective.
Ask them of yourself, as I am doing the same thing.
- When was the last time you felt guilt over sinful behavior?
- When was the last time you grieved over sin?
- When was the last time you felt burdened because of sinful actions you had taken?
Think on these questions for a moment, but go to the micro level.
So often we think of the big sins, maybe adultery or some kind of fornication, but we miss the little things such as how we love our neighbor or harbor anger towards someone – up to and including the worst kind of anger against “self.”
When was the last time your heart was anguished over those “insignificant” sins that are just as destructive?
I don’t know the answer to these questions in your life, I do not have all the answers about myself, but I know if we are not careful, the attitudes the world displays toward sin can become the attitude those in the church display towards it as well.
Key Motivators for Changing Your Attitude toward Sin
1. Because You Love Him
John 14:12-15 New American Standard Bible 1995
12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
Could it be that part of David’s anguish and grief over his sin was because he knew God and loved him?
I think so.
After all, the Bible called him a man after God’s own heart.
When you love God, then you know how much sin hurts him and if you love the Lord, why would you want to hurt him?
I have colleague and I can see the disappointment that wells up in their eyes when they do something that they feels lets so many people down.
They are devastated over it.
For those of us who claim to love Jesus, we simply cannot continue to have casual attitudes towards sin in our lives.
Again, I am not saying we become judges of others; I am saying we become too harsh a judges of ourselves.
2. Because You Know Him
1 John 3:1-8 New American Standard Bible 1995
Children of God Love One Another
3 See [a]how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or [b] knows Him. 7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; 8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil [c]has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
If you claim to know God, then sin cannot be an ongoing part of your life.
These verses are not saying you will never sin.
These verses are saying you don’t live to sin or for sin.
When you do sin, your response becomes like David, one of grief and a call to repentance. This happens because you know him and are in fellowship with him. When that fellowship is broken, you quickly seek to repent and restore it.
3. Because His Life Is in You
Since God’s life is in you, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and you have been born of God, this should change your attitude toward sin.
If your attitudes towards sin are growing lukewarm, then maybe you need more of God’s Spirit working in your life. Remember, he has not changed, nor has his attitude toward sin. If yours has, then we know exactly where the problem lies.
Psalm38 Final Thoughts
This devotion is not about judgment or condemnation.
This devotion is really about a call to holiness.
We must be holy because God is holy.
For those who don’t know what that means, holiness is not a state of perfection.
Holiness is when you are set apart for God’s use.
When we are walking in holiness, we see sin the way God sees it and we see people the way God sees them.
I can’t say where, when, or how the church got off course, but the remedy is simple.
Return to your first love.
It is mu personal belief it’s long past the time we should suffer for Christ as Christ suffered for us to rekindle that love for Jesus we had when we first got saved, that deep passion that sought to please him in every area of our lives.
When we get back to that place, then our attitudes towards sin will change. Not only will we turn away from it, but we will grieve over it should we fall into it.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 13 New American Standard Bible 1995
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 