O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. (vv 1-2)
In another psalm of penitence, David cries out to God in the middle of his suffering. His sins have brought God’s anger upon him, but instead of hiding, David turns to God in penitence. His doesn't try to avoid discipline, but prays that God should temper his anger with mercy. He owns up to his responsibility for the sickness that ravages his body, and asks for forgiveness. There are several lessons to be learned from meditating on this psalm:
- When we sin, God gets angry:- the loving nature of God shouldn't blind us to His holiness. (See Prov 6: 16-19 ). God is long-suffering, and in His mercy does not always respond to our sins in the way we deserve, but we should not take that to mean He doesn’t detest sin.
- Even when we ask for forgiveness, we may still face the consequences of our sins. David acknowledges that his disease directly results from his sins; he is also frank about the fact that he deserves to be punished. In 2 Samuel 24:1-17, David sinned against God, and even though he immediately repented, God would not let the nation go scot-free:
"‘This is what the Lord says: …Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you… three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land.” (vv 12-13)"
- God will temper His justice with mercy: In 2 Samuel 24, David, knew he could not escape punishment and chose God’s wrath, which led to a three day plague upon the nation. But in verse 16:
“... as the angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! That is enough!”
Perhaps David was hoping the Lord would have mercy and change His mind when he chose God’s direct punishment. Fully aware of the consequences of God's wrath, and knowing he deserves anger, he does the same thing in Psalm 38. He could have suffered silently, hidden his sin from God, ridden out the sickness, or ignored his conscience; but David boldly approaches God to confess what he has done. In similar terms to Psalm 51:4, he determines that his sin is first and foremost against God – and that is where he must make amends.
The sincere Christian will be quick to acknowledge sin in their lives. Christ died so that we might be forgiven of our sins, but until we are made perfect, we will sin occasionally. When we suffer the consequences of our sins, we might want to disguise our culpability, or explain away our actions. But like David, we should be asking the Lord for forgiveness, and throwing ourselves upon His mercy.
When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse us from our wickedness. (1 John 1:9)
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