Thoughts for the Day

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,
or discipline me in your wrath.
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.

There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.

My wounds grow foul and fester
because of my foolishness;
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all day long I go around mourning.
I am utterly spent and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

O Lord, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs, my strength fails me;....

For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin......

Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me;
make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalm 38 is one of seven penitential psalms, which includes Psalms 6, 32, 51, 102, 130 and 143. All but one are ascribed to King David. Psalm 38 shows us a man who is both physically and spiritually sick. It is a dark psalm full of pain and guilt. As King David draws near to God he is aware that God's hand 'presses down' upon him and his arrows 'pierce' him, yet he hopes not for judgement, but for a parent's correction. He does not use the word 'Yahweh' for God, but 'Lord' which means 'master'.

At church and on our own we recite the words of the confession, but do we ever feel like David? Do we ever see our sin as a physical pain? Do we see it as creating separation from God? It is not that David's sin is greater than ours, for our sins of arrogance, selfishness, pride and lack of humility may indeed be worse than his. But David's closeness and commitment to God is so great that when he falls away and sins his distress and agony of soul is the greater. The only other person who shows us this in our Bible, is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, where his agony of soul and body was for the sins of the whole world.

As an 18th century Bishop, George Horne, said in his commentary on the Psalms: “Sin is the wound of the soul, which must be washed with the tears of repentance, cleansed by the blood of Christ, and healed by the Spirit of the Holy One."

Heavenly Father,
may we truly acknowledge our sin -
sin that we commit again and again.
May we feel the agony of separation from You
as well as the overwhelming desire to draw near.
May we come to You open and honest in our failure
to live a life that You call us to live.
May we come to worship You
knowing what we need to confess,
and may we know the joy of being united
with You once more.
Amen.