Sin tears us up. The guilt and burden it brings can be all
consuming.
We don’t know what sin David was dealing with
when he wrote this psalm, but it is clear that it shook him. The images he used are powerful: rebuke, arrows sunk in, rotting flesh,
stinking sores, and mourning. This is
not an, “I’m okay. You’re okay” message.
David is lying on the ground before the LORD, and he feels broken, ruined, and thoroughly
wretched.
This is a good psalm for us. Often when we think of sin – if we think
about sin – we act like it is no big deal.
The modern opinion of sin makes me think of what God said through the
prophet Jeremiah: “Are they ashamed of
their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know
how to blush.” (Jeremiah 8:12 NIV) We take God’s forgiveness for granted, and
are in danger of cheapening God’s grace.
Sin is destructive, scandalous, disgusting, and poisonous. We should be embarrassed of our sin, quick to
confess it, and eager to receive God’s forgiveness.
Take note that God does discipline us in our
sin. David leaves no doubt of this. His pain, sorrow, and even his enemies are
tied to the consequences of his own sin.
God is using these consequences to get David’s attention, and He uses
consequences and the shame of our sin to get our attention to.
Why?
To rub our noses in it? To show
us how unworthy we are? To put us in our
place? Of course not!
God disciplines us in our sin to lead us to
repentance. His desire is that we turn
away from our sin and turn back to Him. Consequences
for sin are at the heart of all our problems, natural disasters, tragedies and
the like. We see the horrific
consequence of sin, and we should cry out in response, “LORD, have mercy! Forgive us and save us!”
Nowhere do we see the consequences of sin
more clearly than in Jesus’ cross. On
the cross, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV) On the cross
Jesus became the greatest sinner of all time.
There He experienced the full consequence of sin – our sin – including physical
pain, sorrow, separation from His family, shame, torment, and ultimately
separation from God Himself. He cried
out, “My God! My God! Why have You forsaken me?” The Father had poured out on Him the full
consequence of our sin. He hardened His
face toward Him, even as His heart broke at the torment of His beloved Son, so
that He could smile upon us in love and mercy.
Psalm 38 is a penitential psalm; one of
seven. Knowing what it cost to redeem
us, and seeing how serious our sin is should help us to use this psalm in all
sincerity. No more should we thoughtlessly
confess, “I, a poor miserable sinner ….”
God’s Law means to strike us at the heart! “My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and
the light of my eyes – it also has gone from me.” We cry out, “Do not forsake me, O LORD!” I truly am a miserable sinner! Do not turn your back on me because of my
sin! You’ve already done that to
Jesus! I cannot bear it, so He bore the
burden for me!
Then hear the words, “Your sins are forgiven …,”
as the sweetest words from God’s lips to your ears. “I will never leave you or forsake you! You are my child and I love you. I have saved you in Christ.”
Father, help me to confess my sins.
Let me know the seriousness of my sin as I look at Jesus on the Cross;
even more, let me see Your love and compassion there, for He has won my
salvation. Amen.
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