Subtitle: A “Come to Jesus” moment.
Psalm 38:1-22 (GW)
O LORD, do not angrily punish me or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have struck me. Your hand has struck me hard. No healthy spot is left on my body because of your rage. There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me. Like a heavy load, it is more than I can bear. My wounds smell rotten. They fester because of my stupidity. I am bent over and bowed down very low. All day I walk around in mourning. My insides are filled with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body. I am numb and completely devastated. I roar because my heart's in turmoil. You know all my desires, O Lord, and my groaning has not been hidden from you. My heart is pounding. I have lost my strength. Even the light of my eyes has left me. My loved ones and my friends keep their distance and my relatives stand far away because of my sickness. Those who seek my life lay traps for me. Those who are out to harm me talk about ruining me. All day long they think of ways to deceive me. But I am like a person who cannot hear and like a person who cannot speak. I am like one who cannot hear and who can offer no arguments. But I wait with hope for you, O LORD. You will answer, O Lord, my God. I said, “Do not let them gloat over me. When my foot slips, do not let them promote themselves at my expense.” I am ready to fall. I am continually aware of my pain. I confess my guilt. My sin troubles me. My mortal enemies are growing stronger. Many hate me for no reason. They pay me back with evil instead of good, and they accuse me because I try to do what is good. Do not abandon me, O LORD. O my God, do not be so distant from me. Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my savior. (God’s Word, Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society, www.godsword.org)
O LORD, do not angrily punish me or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have struck me. Your hand has struck me hard. No healthy spot is left on my body because of your rage. There is no peace in my bones because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed me. Like a heavy load, it is more than I can bear. My wounds smell rotten. They fester because of my stupidity. I am bent over and bowed down very low. All day I walk around in mourning. My insides are filled with burning pain, and no healthy spot is left on my body. I am numb and completely devastated. I roar because my heart's in turmoil. You know all my desires, O Lord, and my groaning has not been hidden from you. My heart is pounding. I have lost my strength. Even the light of my eyes has left me. My loved ones and my friends keep their distance and my relatives stand far away because of my sickness. Those who seek my life lay traps for me. Those who are out to harm me talk about ruining me. All day long they think of ways to deceive me. But I am like a person who cannot hear and like a person who cannot speak. I am like one who cannot hear and who can offer no arguments. But I wait with hope for you, O LORD. You will answer, O Lord, my God. I said, “Do not let them gloat over me. When my foot slips, do not let them promote themselves at my expense.” I am ready to fall. I am continually aware of my pain. I confess my guilt. My sin troubles me. My mortal enemies are growing stronger. Many hate me for no reason. They pay me back with evil instead of good, and they accuse me because I try to do what is good. Do not abandon me, O LORD. O my God, do not be so distant from me. Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my savior. (God’s Word, Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society, www.godsword.org)
The weight of
the LAW is a crushing burden. It kills a mortal man because of his sin. Without
a savior we would all be without hope. If this psalm sounds like the nightmare
of a living hell, well that is the reality of living in sin in a sin filled
world. We have a few choices, but none of them will help us fix the problem. We
can try to drown the pain in alcohol or take the edge off with pain killers and
drugs. However, the reality of these attempts only mask the real problem and cause
more pain in the end.
Sin is like
an infection, unchecked it will only get worse. What is rotten on the inside
starts to ooze and smell and drive people away. The body cannot heal itself
without outside help. It needs the skilled hands of a surgeon to remove
infected tissue and clean up the surrounding area. There is only one who can do
this. This is the work of the one who created us in His image and who is able
to recreate us again. Our Lord and Savior Jesus is the only one who is able to
remove the sin and guilt from our lives and give us a new life in Him.
Jesus is able to
do this because He met the demands of the LAW by standing in the path of our
punishing blows and taking them upon himself. Our Savior died in our place to
set us free from the punishment of our sin. Death had no power over Him because
He lived without sin. He came back to life and gives eternal life to everyone
who trusts in the forgiveness and salvation He provides.
Sometimes we
have doubts and the guilt comes back to haunt us. We wonder out loud if God really
paid the full price for our sin. We let despair get the best of us and we try
to escape the pain on our own. We don’t like to hear the words that condemn us,
but we need to understand that they are meant for our good. We cannot by our
own power or strength believe in God or come to Him, we cannot come to Him with
anything to offer in exchange for our salvation, we can only come us beggars
pleading for mercy.
