What If Your Sins Lead To Sorrow? Part 2 (Psalm 38:9-22)
GIST: Remember: Jesus knows you, loves you, and is working in your life even when you’re falling apart.
This morning, we’re going to wrap up Psalm 38. I don’t have another great starter video for this part. However, if you missed last week, you will definitely want to check this out: Tim Hawkins on Psalm 38:7 ☺️ Today, we’re going to look at verses 9-22.
“9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me. 11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off. 12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long. 13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes. 15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 16 For I said, "Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!" 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. 19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good. 21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”
As a bit of a recap, David wrote this psalm from a dark place. Because of sin, he is struggling not only emotionally, but physically. He knows that this is punishment for him messing up. Nonetheless, in that state, he cries out to the God he knows and loves, and the God he knows still loves him. Last Sunday, we just camped out in the first 9 verses and had these takeaways: 1) Not all illnesses or struggles are the result of your personal sin… but some are. However→ 2) all struggles and pain are the results of sin broadly speaking. So, while living in this broken world, please remember→ 3) you don’t need to sugarcoat your struggles in prayer. But→ 4) you do want to bring all your sorrow openly to Jesus...who desires to restore.
Building on our same driving question (What if sin leads to sorrow?) here’s our gist for this morning→ Remember: Jesus knows you, loves you, and is working in your life even when you’re falling apart.
Like last week, we’re going to walk through the passage and then hit some takeaways. I want to make sure we pay special attention to how this psalm reminds us of our God who→
I. Knows, Loves, & Is Working In Your Brokenness
We ended with verse 9 last week, but it’s a bridge of sorts between the sections in this psalm...and it’s such a beautiful truth, I thought it would be worth our time to revisit it briefly. “9 O Lord, all my longing is before You; my sighing is not hidden from You.” This is key. Jesus knows you intimately. He sees your heart & knows your desires and struggles. Don’t take this for granted or overlook how big of a deal this is. David was specifically struggling with the effects of his personal sin here. You might be struggling with something else entirely right now. Loss. Stress. Confusion. We could keep going. No matter what you’re facing, no matter what you’ve done, He knows and still loves you. You might be struggling with the scars of your sin or trying to make sense of living in this broken world. Either way, He has not forgotten you. You’re not hidden from His sight, or His compassion.
This is further emphasized in how honest David continues to be in this psalm. Look at the next few verses. “10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me. 11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.” Again, there is no sugarcoating here. He’s hurting, and he admits it. We also see another layer of his pain here. Not only are there the physical effects we talked about last week, but for whatever reason, he is also experiencing complete and deep rejection. His friends, companions, and even family— those who go through life with him— are abandoning him in his suffering. Maybe you can relate to that. God’s still with you in those moments too, and He will never abandon you.
As we keep moving through this we’ll see that beyond his physical pain and abandonment, he was facing personal attacks “12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.”
Yet, in this hardships, he has a reaction, that isn’t… very natural for us. “13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. 14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.” He’s not trying to defend himself. Are we like that? When people abandon us or mistreat us or plot against us, don’t we want to fight back and defend ourselves? He isn’t crying out for them to be merciful, but instead turning to the One whose opinion really matters. That’s how he wraps up here too.
“15 But for You, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. 16 For I said, "Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!" 17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me. 18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. 19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully. 20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good. 21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”
Two observations here→
1. He is expecting God to be God. This is one of the most common themes in the psalms: waiting with eager expectancy for God to be… who He always is. He is the One True God who will answer. Guys, God still hasn’t changed. The powerful, just, and loving God He has always been...He remains. We can trust Him to be faithful even when our world is being flipped upside down, and even when we know that’s happening because we made a mess of things.
2. He expects God to move even though his situation has not changed. This is a dynamic perspective shift. I feel like I talk about perspective a lot, but all I do is walk us through Scripture, so clearly it keeps coming up! It’s so important to fix our eyes on Him and remember what really matters. David is still broken in this passage. He’s ready to fall. The world is turning against him because he’s coming to God with his suffering. Nonetheless, his priority is calling on the One who can save Him! His life is crumbling, but his eyes are focused on the unshakable God. This isn’t a fairytale ending. This is real life. Let’s just unpack this in some summarizing→
TAKEAWAYS
Jesus knows you intimately. He sees your heart, knows your desires and struggles, and loves you perfectly anyway.
We can face sorrow with expectancy because He suffered in our place. This might have sounded familiar, but David faced his accusers with silent resolve to please God and not man. “5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:5-7)
Salvation changes our position & perspective even when our circumstances remain unchanged. He is still in the midst of earthly sorrow here...and is facing additional persecution for standing with Christ in this. Nonetheless, he has redirected his focus and knows from where his salvation comes. I want to close by reading the verses from John Newton’s Hymn, “Approach, My Soul, The Mercy Seat”
1 Approach, my soul, the mercy seat
where Jesus answers prayer;
there humbly fall before his feet,
for none can perish there.
2 Thy promise is my only plea;
with this I venture nigh:
thou callest burdened souls to thee,
and such, O Lord, am I.
3 Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
by Satan sorely pressed,
by war without and fears within,
I come to thee for rest.
4 Be thou my shield and hiding place,
that, sheltered near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
and tell him thou hast died.
5 O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
to bear the cross and shame,
that guilty sinners, such as I,
might plead thy gracious name!
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