David prayed when he suffered. He knew only God could bring forgiveness and healing.  In the midst of our loneliness, despair, and confusion, we find hope in God alone.  God does care and loves us always and forever. His love is not based on our ability to “be good”!  Can I get an amen?!  God loves us because He created us in His own image. We are close to our Father God in heaven because He chose us to be His own. As His own, He wants His best for us.  His best is beyond our wildest dreams and certainly more than we can imagine.  To embrace His generous love and accept his profound and complete forgiveness no matter what we have done is to live in the “wide open spaces” of His mercy and grace. In our temporary setbacks that demand our attention, could we remember to step back, take a beat to pause and pray, and breathe in all who God is and wants to be in us. 

It’s His breath in our lungs that cause us to regroup, reset, and remember the depths of His love and care for us.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world,” says Jesus who King of kings and Lord of lords.  (John 16:33)  God arranged for His Son to be the sacrifice for our sin.  God sent us Help to live abundantly free with power unlimited through His Holy Spirit living in us!  There is no one like our God!  It is this God and our God to whom David expresses his sufferings honestly while seeking forgiveness from the God he loves.

Psalm 38, The Message

^1-2 Take a deep breath, God; calm down—
    don’t be so hasty with your punishing rod.
Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood;
    my backside stings from your discipline.

^3-4 I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months
    because of your accusation.
My bones are brittle as dry sticks
    because of my sin.
I’m swamped by my bad behavior,
    collapsed under an avalanche of guilt.

^5-8 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots
    because I’ve lived so badly.
And now I’m flat on my face
    feeling sorry for myself morning to night.
All my insides are on fire,
    my body is a wreck.
I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it—
    my life is a vomit of groans.

^9-16 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight,
    my groans an old story to you.
My heart’s about to break;
    I’m a burned-out case.
Cataracts blind me to God and good;
    old friends avoid me like the plague.
My cousins never visit,
    my neighbors stab me in the back.
My competitors blacken my name,
    devoutly they pray for my ruin.
But I’m deaf and mute to it all,
    ears shut, mouth shut.
I don’t hear a word they say,
    don’t speak a word in response.
What I do, God, is wait for you,
    wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer!
I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off,
    won’t smugly strut off when I stumble.

^17-20 I’m on the edge of losing it—
    the pain in my gut keeps burning.
I’m ready to tell my story of failure,
    I’m no longer smug in my sin.
My enemies are alive and in action,
    a lynch mob after my neck.
I give out good and get back evil
    from God-haters who can’t stand a God-lover.

^21-22 Don’t dump me, God;
    my God, don’t stand me up.
Hurry and help me;
    I want some wide-open space in my life!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

When perplexed and confused by those who do not tell the whole truth; turn to the Truth who was, is and always will be Truth.  God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do. It is tremendously freeing and refreshing to seek God, hear Him, then trust and obey His next direction by faith! 

Questions to ponder as we seek God, His will and wisdom are;

Do we really believe what God says to be really real? 

Do we really love Him because He first loved us?  Is our love growing?

Are we truly seeking His will or our fleeting wants and desires?

Are we working harder (doing things our way) or smarter, (taking His yoke upon us in surrender to His will which is lighter and easier which is His way)? 

Do I really believe His ways are perfect?

We can answer religiously from a place of obligation or relationally from a place of loving surrender to the God we love.  Either way our first response to whatever happens today will reflect what lies within our hearts. 

Lord,

Cleanse my heart, renew my mind, refresh my soul with your new mercies, and restore the joy of you in me and me in you abiding together in a growing, intimate forever relationship.

In Jesus Name, Amen