Day 195: Psalm 38

SCRIPTURE LINK: Psalm 38

BACKGROUND

David had sinned and his conviction of it caused him physical, emotional, and mental suffering . A personal lament, this psalm is also grouped with six others ( Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143) as a Penitential Psalm, a psalm that expresses sorrow for sin.

REFLECTION

Is this psalm difficult for you to read? It was for me. I think it’s because I've absorbed some of the pervasive mindset that doesn’t treat sin as something truly offensive against God and that uses euphemisms for sin such as “mistake” or “bad decision” or “dysfunction”. We trivialize sin as something we do to each other or as something that hurts us, but often overlook the most important dimension, the verticle one. Sin is an offense against God, first and foremost. If we are His, He will convict us. Sometimes conviction of sin causes depression and even physical symptoms – showing that sin does hurt us. But those symptoms are God’s arrows, designed to prick us to make things right with Him.

“God's law applied by the Spirit to the conviction of the soul of sin, wounds deeply and rankles long; it is an arrow not lightly to be brushed out by careless mirthfulness, or to be extracted by the flattering hand of self righteousness. The Lord knows how to shoot so that his bolts not only strike but stick. He can make convictions sink into the innermost spirit like arrows driven in up to the head. It seems strange that the Lord should shoot at his own beloved ones, but in truth he shoots at their sins rather than them….”

So David is weighed down by his sin, and recounts just how that feels in the first ten verses of the psalm. He knows that God understands his heart and hears his sighs (9). He feels alone, deserted even by his closest friends (11). His enemies want him to fall further and they meditate on ways to trip him up (12); they’re goading him to sin more. Perhaps David wants to defend himself to them, or justify himself, or give his side of the story. Whatever it is they’re doing, look at David’s response. “But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;/ And I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth./ Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,/ And in whose mouth are no arguments./ For I hope in You, O LORD; /You will answer, O Lord my God.” (13-15) Rather than responding to his enemies, he turns to God. He doesn’t seek to “look good” or to justify himself. He confesses his sin to the One who matters (18). I think we often care more what other people think about us than what God thinks about us. Sometimes in trying to defend ourselves, or give our side of the picture, we end up sinning even more.

Perhaps you can take the time to reread this psalm and as you do, note the times David turns to God and speaks to Him. What does he say to God each time? Look at David’s progression of faith here.

APPLICATION

Please understand that I don’t think the psalm is saying that ALL sickness or depression or mental or emotional stress is because of sin. But the psalm makes it clear that conviction of sin does cause us distress in all those realms. I don’t think we’ll have to look very far to see if our anguish of soul and body is the result of sin.

If you are heartsick and even feeling physically ill because of sin that you haven’t dealt with, turn to God and confess your sin to Him – put your hope in Him. He is merciful and forgiving. I am convinced that much of our soul anguish is caused because we don’t want to call sin sin. We gloss over it, excuse it, rationalize it, call it something else – when what we need to do is really quite simple – turn to our Lord and confess it and realize that He gave Himself for us because we are unable to save ourselves.

If you are feeling alone, turn to God – He hears your sighs and your desires are laid out before Him.

If you have been foolish and sinned in spite of wanting to grow in the Lord, and you are tempted to explain and justify and “be understood” by those about you who might judge you or use your sin against you – be very careful! Turn to God and find your help in Him.

Face the bad news so that you can hear the good news.

Look at that last verse. What is God called there? What a foreshadowing of Jesus! David calls God “my Salvation”! He is our remedy for sin.

PRAYER

LORD, help us to be honest before you. Give us tender hearts. Help us to see our sin as an offense against You, not simply something that harms us or other people. You have given Your law as a plumb line to help us to see our sin for what it is, and You have given Yourself to save us from ourselves. We put our hope in You. You are our salvation!