Psalm 38 is a Penitent Psalm written by David. It detailed
for us his personal struggles. He suffered intensely and he identified his
struggles as a divine discipline. We need to know that God allow him to go
through difficult times only to straighten and develop his life. The struggles
David had were seen at many levels. Physically he seemed to be battling a disease.
Socially he was deserted by his loved ones, relatives and friends. Besides that,
he was being threatened by his enemies. Emotionally he was distressed and in deep
anguish. But wisely David turned to God and brought his lament before Him. He realized
that his only hope of coming out of the whole ordeal in one piece was to wholly
trust the Lord. It is difficult to ascertain the occasion for this Psalm. But
suffice to say that David had set us an example here for us to turn to God when
we encounter similar struggles. We should abandon ourselves to Him so that He
can develop us and help us to walk in His will and purpose for our life.
David’s first response to any adverse condition was
to bring his situation before God. He recognized that the negatives came upon him
only because of the wrongs he had committed and had offended God. Know that every
offence we commit in life is ultimately against God, and there is a cause and
effect in living. We know that things that happen to us can often be traced to a
cause. This cause and effect principle tells us that our experiences in life in
some ways are within our control. When we choose to walk in the direction prescribed
by the Lord, we will never need to encounter the needless consequences. Hence
it behoves us to be circumspect in our daily conduct. Like David, our lives are
ultimately in His hand and we will have to reckon with Him. He did not ask to be
spared of the chastening but that God would be merciful in delivering the
punishment.
Sin undealt with will affect one’s physical body. How
do we know? Verses 3-10 tells us so. David described the physical onslaught he
experienced because of his sin. His flesh was unwell, his bones had no health
and he even had festering wound that was foul smelling. Verse 6 tells us that
in posture, he was bent over and could not stand upright. And even his loins
had burning sensation. And his greatly troubled heart caused him to moan. Furthermore,
his eyes had dimed and he couldn’t see clearly. He identified the cause and he
said repeatedly that the folly of sin had caused all of these to come upon him.
Sin always exact a payment. We need to be wary of committing it.
In verses 11-20, David then dealt with the onslaught
that came on him from without. His loved ones, his friends and relatives abandoned
him and separated themselves from him. Verse 12 tells us that even his enemies
took advantage of his situation and came against him. They verbally hurled all
kinds of unkind things against him and schemed to get him down. So weighed down
by his condition that David chose not to respond to any of their accusations. He
felt that the best recourse he had was in God. So he just abandoned himself
into His merciful hands.
In the last two verses he turned to God for help
and asked for the experience of His presence. He asked to be quickly delivered
from all the onslaughts, for he knew that only God’s salvation could lift him
from the plight that he was experiencing. The lessons we take away from this Psalm
is that sins we wilfully commit has many negative effects upon our lives. (1) They
invite divine chastening that may include the loss of health. (2) They separate
us from our loved ones, our relatives and our friends. (3) They open up opportunities
for others, especially those who are against us to malign and reproach our God.
(4) The best cause of action when we have sinned and are encountering divine discipline
is to turn to our God and mercifully seek His deliverance. Let’s hide God’s
Word in our hearts that we may not sin against Him.
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