I Am Bowed Down

Psalm 38
 
Let’s pray before we look into Psalm 38,

Lord Jesus, thank you for including Psalm 38 in Your Word.  Sometimes we do feel far away from You.  We allow our sin to separate us from You.  We desire to draw near to You.  I pray that You would speak to us this morning.  Teach us to enjoy sweet fellowship with You.  We ask this now in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I happened to give the message on Psalm 16 back in January.  I remember I complimented David for setting the example of not dwelling on his circumstances.  In the first verse of Psalm 16, David cries out to the Lord to keep him safe, but from there on, David praises God.  It is a good thing to “rejoice always.”  That is a clear exhortation from Philippians 4.

But Psalm 38 is an anguished and even desperate plea.  So, if the right thing to do is to “rejoice always,” why did God allow Psalm 38?  I think it’s here in part because it is real, it is genuine, and it is honest.  We are told to cast our cares on him because he cares for us.  Sometimes our cares are so big that we can barely articulate them much less speak of them with praise.

Let’s read the first 14 verses of Psalm 38.

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 

For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me. 

Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. 

My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. 

My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. 

I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. 

My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. 

I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. 

All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you. 

My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes. 

My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away. 

Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception. 

I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth; 

I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. 

Psalm 38:1-14

Pretty desperate circumstances, aren’t they?

In addition to the physical problems, he has been abandoned by his friends and his enemies are attacking him.  His situation is so desperate that he can no longer even understand or communicate.

Let’s go back and talk about what David attributes his problems to.  There in verse 3 he says, “because of my sin.”  In verse 4 he says, “my guilt has overwhelmed me.” In verse 5 he says his wounds “are loathsome because of my sinful folly.” 

Then, what does he say in verse 1?  He cries out to the Lord, do not rebuke or discipline in anger or wrath.  So, the arrows that pierced and the hand that came down on David were not the Lord’s rebuke or discipline.  He’s telling God, “My messed up circumstances and how they make me feel are all I can stand.”  Please don’t discipline or rebuke me more than the bad things that already happened to me because of my sin.

Many times, sin has direct consequences.  I don’t think that is a hard teaching for us.  You break the law by speeding, you get caught, you get a ticket.  Cause … effect.  I don’t get the feeling here that David is talking about one of these cause and effect situations.  His physical symptoms are not a direct result of sin.  Instead, his physical symptoms are causing him to be aware of his sins.  As a result of his sin, David is experiencing separation from God.  He says of himself that he is deaf and mute.  The psalm shows no praise of God.

Separation from God.  What happened to Jesus when he was separated from God?  Did he die because of the lashes?  Did he die because he was crucified?  Well yes and no.  Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”  He experienced anguish unimaginable because he had every moment walked with the Father.  At that moment, he was separated from God.  Remember the water and the blood that poured from his side?  Medically, this has been found to be the result of a ruptured heart.  Jesus literally died because his heart exploded.

In the garden before the crucifixion, just the thought of being separated from God resulted in great drops of sweat and blood.  Now, Jesus had no sin, so his separation was his choice in order to take our sins on himself. 

In Psalm 38, David writes about physical agonies because of his sin.  What about me, what is the result of my sin?  I’m afraid that the best I can describe is a malaise, a bad feeling that comes as a result of my sin. 

This is hard to understand, and I’m afraid I don’t even understand it enough to explain it.  I think Hebrews 5 shows us the way a bit farther.

In fact, … you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  Hebrews 5:12-13

I’m one who needs the elementary truths of God’s word explained to me again and again.  “Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life.”  And as a general rule, I’m much more eager to hear an upbeat and “encouraging” message than a challenging and difficult one.  “Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life.  All so freely given, wooing us to heaven.”

Don’t get me wrong.  Heaven forbid that I would try to nullify the gospel.  I depend on it with my very life.  Jesus is Savior.  Jesus sanctifies forever.  There is no hope apart from Christ.  He is the way and the truth and the life.  Jesus is the foundation, but everything else built on that will be tested by fire.

But look at the last sentence there.  Anyone who lives on milk is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

If a grown person lives on milk alone, first of all it would be weird.  We drink milk, but not only milk.  If someone lives on milk, why can’t they handle teaching about righteousness?  I think it’s mainly because an infant or immature believer as soon as they hear something about righteousness, they start confusing it with legalism.  If somebody starts talking about righteousness, do we think, “Uh oh, here come a bunch of rules and regulations that I’m going to have to follow?”  If so, I want you to know that’s not what righteousness is about at all.

Righteous living has nothing to do with following rules.  It has everything to do with dying to sin.  (I Peter 2:24)

Why should we shun sin?  Why should we want to die to sin?  Because when we do, then we can draw closer to God.  Sin is a barrier between us and God.  It causes us not to enjoy fellowship with him.  Even little things can be a hindrance in our relationship with God.

Let me try and tell a story and see if I can make this clearer.

I can be a shrewd negotiator.  I’m not always, but I can be.  So, years past when I would be traveling in a foreign country and I wanted to buy something, I would always work the seller down to the lowest possible price.  I once bought a hammock in Ecuador and even the Ecuadorians we were traveling with complimented me on the low price I had squeezed out of the vendor.

At some point, the Spirit convicted me that I shouldn’t negotiate so hard with people, especially in countries where the standard of living is much lower than in the U.S.  It wasn’t wrong, it just wasn’t necessary.  All things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial.

 As a result of this change, I now get taken advantage of.  So one time, I was in Hungary and I wanted to buy some nesting dolls for the kids.  I went up to an ancient looking man in this market place.  He had a shelf of mass produced nesting dolls, and I was paying face value which was still much less than you’d pay here.  When he went to pick up the doll to give it to me, I obviously saw him switch the doll he demo-ed with another.  Rather than confront him, I took the toy and went on my way.  Later, I opened it and sure enough the top half of the innermost doll was missing.

I’m not mad at the man.  I’m disappointed with him, of course, but not mad.  What about the man?  What is his feeling toward me?  He knows that he took advantage of me, so I find it hard to believe that we could have any kind of normal relationship.  If he could realize that I know I was taken advantage of,  apart from his repentance and asking forgiveness, how could we ever have a genuine relationship as friends much less as brothers.

What about our relationship with God?  Sin is taking advantage of God.  Righteousness is living in accordance with God, living at peace with God.  As believers, we live by the Spirit.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

I can’t stand up here and tell you about physical symptoms I experienced like David, but I can tell you about a general discouraging malaise that I experience when I stray from the Lord.  It’s a kind of spiritual malaise that I associate with boredom.  My usual reaction is to try and entertain myself with internet or television.  Just the act of choosing not to spend time with Him and instead spending time on worldly pursuits is enough to interrupt our fellowship with God.  It sounds kind of obvious doesn’t it?  Not spending time with God will weaken your relationship with Him.  The weird thing is that the less time you spend with God the more you find yourself trying to feed your soul with the wrong stuff.  The more we choose God the easier it becomes and the closer we come to Him.  The more we choose the wrong stuff, the more frequently we do and the farther we get from God.

I will insert a word of warning here.  If we can sin against God without any effect to us, if we don’t feel damage to that relationship requiring repentance and asking for forgiveness, that should disturb us. 

So why do we choose doing the wrong things, the not-God things?  Why do we as believers choose sin?  Why do we take advantage of God?

What does the Bible say about David?  What is the phrase that we see said about him again and again?  David is the man after God’s own heart.  Why in the world does “the man after God’s own heart” find himself crushed by his sin and needing to beg God not to discipline him?

 Carl shared something with me a week or two ago that explains it perfectly.  He actually called me on Friday, so I got a chance to ask him if it was okay for me to share it today, and he was glad it could be useful.  It is a sobering thought if you have not heard it before.  It comes from John 3:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  John 3:19

This is and will be the judgment of God.  Light came, but men rejected the light.  It says there that men loved darkness.  Do you know what Greek word for love is used there?  Agape.  Men agape darkness.  We unconditionally love darkness.  We overlook its faults when it brutally abuses us.  We come back to the darkness like a dog returns to its vomit.

We must each one come to the realization that we have to change our hearts, or allow our hearts to be changed.  We must consciously decide to love God, to agape God and not agape/love darkness.  That means when things look a little dicey when you are trusting God, don’t bail out on God.  Don’t accuse Him of cruelty or abuse.  Instead, overlook what you perceive as a fault against you and trust Him to do what is best.  And if you are overwhelmed, cry out to God as David did.

I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God. 

For I said, "Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips." 

For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. 

I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. 

Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous. 

Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good. 

O LORD, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God. 

Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior. 

Psalm 38:15-22

We’re going to take communion now.  Before you come and take the bread and the cup, I encourage you to take a moment to allow your soul to wrestle against your flesh.   Are you choosing things that are contrary to God?  If wrestle is too strong of a word for you, I encourage you to look down into the deep waters of your heart.  Is the water there crystal clear and pure, or do you find pollutants in the depths of your blood-bought eternal life.

If you need to confess something to the Lord, by all means, do.  If you just need to draw near to him, then call out to him because he is not far off.  He will answer.  Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, show us what true righteousness is.  You bore our sins in your body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.  We have been healed by your wounds.  May we live in such a way that we don’t crucify you again.  You are the worthy Lamb of God.  We thank you for our part in your sacrifice.  All praise and honor and glory is yours for ever and ever.  Amen.