Don’t Forget to Remember!
Psalm 38
Introduction:
Memory = beautiful gift from God.
Amazing = how we have the tendency to forget what we should remember and remember what we should forget.
Psalm 38 = A Psalm of Remembrance
Note = Divinely inspired title – “A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.”
“Remembrance” = comes from a Hebrew word – ‘to call to mind’ or ‘to bring into the mind.”
David = there are some things in life that we need to remember!
Psalm 38 = penitential in nature – a Psalm of confession… Psalmist dealing with matter of sin – 1 of 7 Penitential Psalms – Psalm 51 most famous or best known.
Psalm 38 = “Don’t Forget to Remember!”
David = when it comes to this matter of sin and confession there are…
Two Facts Never Forget:
1) How terrible sin is.
2) How good and merciful God has been.
TS: Don’t forget to remember….
1. God Takes Our Sin Seriously and So Should We!
Psalm = intensely personal – David refers to himself no less than 66x’s using personal pronouns – “I”, “me”, “mine.”
Full of emotion as David remembers the pain, sorrow, guilt, that sin brings.
Look: vv.1-3
David = casting himself upon the mercy of God.
Sin = deserved more than he got.
God = doesn’t punish His children – He chastens them.
“Rebuke & Chasten” = child rearing terms – to correct, discipline, admonish.
Sin = different in the life of a Christian! Right! It’s worse! Because we know better!!
Proverbs 29:15 – “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
God = doesn’t leave His children to themselves… He loves us too much to let us have our own way. If we had our own way destroy ourselves.
Proverbs 3:11,12 – “My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”
God’s chastening is part of the restorative process.
Restorative Process = God’s working in our lives to bring us back into fellowship with Him… to accomplish His desired purposes to conform us to the image of His Son!
2. Sin Always Comes with A Price!
Look: v.4
Reminds = awfulness of sin – understand sin and its consequences keep us from going back to it.
Sin = always has consequences… rippling effect in our lives.
Story Behind Psalm:
Not told the exactly what David’s sin was. Only speculate. Not going to do that.
What we do know is that no Christian is immune to sin and its consequences.
David = broken man – what sin does.
Other Psalms David is broken because of his enemies… what someone else does to him.
Psalm 38 = David is broken because of his sin… what he did to himself.
Reminds = greatest enemy is our own flesh – take us places, cause us to do things we can’t even imagine!
Unconfessed Sin:
a. Steals our Peace (3)
b. Overwhelm us with guilt (4)
c. Grieves our Heavenly Father (5)
d. Rob our joy (7,8)
e. Break our Fellowship…
- With God
- With Others
f. Gives Occasion to the enemy (12-14)
Sin = caused David to be vulnerable to the enemy… sought an advantage over him… use his sin and failure against him.
Our sin emboldens the enemy of our souls!
Satan = use our sin as an opportunity to gain an advantage over us.
3. Restoration is Always Possible!
Look: v.15 – shift in tone… move from guilt note to gladness note.
Note: how differently Psalm ends than it began…
Psalm 38 = begins and ends with an “O” – a groan!
~ 1st O = groan of sin (v.1)
~ 2nd O = groan of faith (v.15)
Good News = with God there is forgiveness and cleansing – sin doesn’t have the final say in our lives!
Where sin abounds; grace much more abounds.
Never forget that God’s grace is greater than all our sin!
Christian = no matter the sin, situation, circumstances – there is always hope!
God = never leaves us without a way back.
Psalm 23:3 – “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”
Look: vv.16-18
David = limping spiritually… about ready to fall… desperately cries out to God in repentance and confession… didn’t want his sin and enemies to consume him.
Repentance & Confession = way of life for the child of God.
Keep short accounts with God!!!
1John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
David = owned his sin – confession is simply agreeing with God.
Admission = like David own our sin.
Confession = agree with God about our sin.
Acceptance = receive the forgiveness and go forward!
4. God Never Casts Us Off!
Look: vv.21,22
“Forsake me not” = something need never fear!
Sin = grieves Him but He will never leave us!
Glad = God doesn’t throw the clay away!
God = always ready and willing to help us!!
Conclusion:
Some truths must never forget to remember…
- God takes our sin seriously and so should we.
- Sin always comes with a price.
- Restoration is always possible.
- God never casts us off.
