Psalms of Honesty and Truth

We sin. We all sin. Sin creates a mess of our lives. Our believing friends and family don’t want to be a part of it, so they keep their distance. We don’t like it, but we have to live with the consequences of our sin. David shows us three responses to the misery of sin and it’s mess.

1. We Can Focus on Ourselves and Experience Sin’s Painfulness (vv. 1-8). Seeing nothing but the mess we put ourselves in just makes it worse.
2. We Can Focus on Others and Experience Sin’s Loneliness (vv. 9-14). We see others as having it better than we do. Groans and general negativity consumes us, making us hard to live with so others avoid us.
3. We Can Focus on the Lord and Experience Sin’s Forgiveness (vv. 15-22). We can look up to our Savior, the One and Only, who can save and restore us, confess our mess and allow Him to work salvation throughout every crevice of our being. Yes, confession is good for the soul, our attitude and even our physical health.

David has three requests at the end of this psalm of confession:
Be with me, Be near me, Be for me and help me. God answers these prayers of sincere hearts with a YES as we draw near to Him, humbly confessing our own messes.

Psalm 38, NLT

A psalm of David, asking God to remember him.

1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage!
2 Your arrows have struck deep,
and your blows are crushing me.
3 Because of your anger, my whole body is sick;
my health is broken because of my sins.
4 My guilt overwhelms me—
it is a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds fester and stink
because of my foolish sins.
6 I am bent over and racked with pain.
All day long I walk around filled with grief.
7 A raging fever burns within me,
and my health is broken.
8 I am exhausted and completely crushed.
My groans come from an anguished heart.

9 You know what I long for, Lord;
you hear my every sigh.
10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails,
and I am going blind.
11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.
Even my own family stands at a distance.
12 Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me.
Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me.
All day long they plan their treachery.
13 But I am deaf to all their threats.
I am silent before them as one who cannot speak.
14 I choose to hear nothing,
and I make no reply.

15 For I am waiting for you, O Lord.
You must answer for me, O Lord my God.
16 I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies gloat over me
or rejoice at my downfall.”
17 I am on the verge of collapse,
facing constant pain.

18 But I confess my sins;
I am deeply sorry for what I have done.
19 I have many aggressive enemies;
they hate me without reason.
20 They repay me evil for good
and oppose me for pursuing good.
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord.
Do not stand at a distance, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my savior.

Taking his own advice from Psalm 37, David becomes silent to his enemies, confesses his own sins to the God and then WAITS for God to work, trusting in Him.

What situation do you need to place in God’s hands today? I’ve got my own.

Dear Heavenly Father, Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who merely offend us as believers. God haters do not like God lovers. Help us to place all our concerns and worries about our future in your hands right now, at this very moment in the quiet of this room, and then wait for You to work Your best for us. Thank you, Lord for drawing near to us as we draw near to You. Abide in us as You promised. Your servant is listening…
In Jesus Name, Amen