Year One, October 2

My Sighing Is Not Hidden From You1

David probably wrote this during these sad times when he was fleeing from his son Absalom.

  

Psalm 38

A Psalm of David, for the Memorial Offering.

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

I deserve to be rebuked, but Lord be gentle with me. I richly deserve to be chastened,2 but do not strike me so heavily that I perish.

2 For your arrows have sunk into me,

and your hand has come down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh

because of your indignation;

there is no health in my bones

because of my sin.

Spiritual distress is extremely painful. However sweet sin may have been in David’s mouth, it was bitter enough when it reached his inner being.

4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;

like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds stink and fester

because of my foolishness,

His conscience struck blow after blow until his soul was wounded in a thousand places. And the wounds became repulsive as well as painful. No infected blisters or foul-smelling sores can compare to the extreme suffering that our sin causes us.

6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;

all the day I go about mourning.

7 For my sides are filled with burning,

and there is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am feeble and crushed;

I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

Those who truly regret their sinning feel real pain because of it. Unbelievers feel none of this, but go singing merrily down to hell. Those whom the Lord loves are never allowed to find comfort in sin.

9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

The good Physician understands our case without our needing to explain it to him:

“He takes the meaning of our tears,

The language of our groans.”3

10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.

Here begins another story of sadness. While he was in pain on the inside, he was forsaken and persecuted by those he thought were friends.

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.

He would not listen to Shimei and punish him for what he said. A deaf ear is often a great blessing.

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.

He would not deny that he was in the wrong, even though he was innocent of the worst charges of which he was accused.

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!

God is not only our Savior, but our salvation. The one who has the Lord on their side already has salvation. In this last sentence, the eye of faith sees her prayers as being already answered and begins to glorify God for the mercy she expects to receive. Our heavenly Father will never forsake us. His grace will come to the rescue, and before long we will magnify his name for saving us out of all our troubles. Have we all repented of sin? Are we all resting by faith in him?

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¹ Psalm 38:9

² chasten, chastening or chastisement - The act of discipline which may include scolding, criticizing or pain inflicted for the purpose of correction or moral improvement.

³ Taken from Spurgeon’s The Treasury of David.