Thoughts on Psalm 38
Oh Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage! Psalm 38:1NKJV
“For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God”
Psalm 38:15 NKJV
In this Psalm, David was expressing sorrow for his sin, which has brought upon him certain health challenges(verses 1-8). To further compound his suffering was the loneliness he experienced, being separated from God and deserted by family and friends. Certainly, this is not a place anyone would like to be.
But as dreary as the situation was, David’s conversation and disposition is a lesson we can glean from.
Furthermore, the Psalmist brings to fore the relationship between sin and sickness. David saw his anguish as judgement from God for his sins. While acknowledging that he was deserving of the punishment, he prayed that God would temper his discipline with mercy as he confessed his sin and repented.
One may argue that sickness as a direct consequence of sin happened under the old covenant and that God does not always send physical illness as a punishment for sin.
Yet, scriptures in the New Testament such as in Acts 12:21-23(NLT) and 1Corin 11:29-32(NLT) provide insights that are pointers to the effect of sin on the prosperity of our bodies. Sin can have physical or mental side effects that may bring pain and great suffering.
We, however, have an assurance from the word of God that when we repent of sin, He will forgive us and deliver us from its eternal consequences(1Jn 1:9).
As if his pain was not enough, the enemies of David tried to take advantage of his suffering to attack him. But as the saying goes, “he that is down need fear no fall.” Like a deaf and dumb, he did not attempt to justify himself against his attackers.
Regretfully, this appears to be a hard sell even among christian folks, where the urge to handle things the way we deem fit, gets in the way of the Lord.
Today’s Psalm challenges us to review actions taken in times past when we were vulnerable, with a view to making better choices when next we are faced with testy situations in our lives.
Especially where people tear us down, we perceive we have been unfairly treated or have been taken advantage of by others (whether within the household of faith or outside of it). In Luke 23:9-10, Jesus was silent before His accusers, He left His case in God’s hands(1 Peter 2:21-24).
Quite often, the natural inclination is to want to lash back to defend ourselves or protect our reputations. But as a believer in Christ, we can, through the help of the Holy Spirit, who is at work in us, make a choice to be silent and leave our cases in God’s hands, trusting Him to answer for us. The Lord, our salvation will make haste to help us in Jesus’ name 🙏
