Who Will The Lord Help?

David was king in Hebron for seven years. He had many wives and children born to him during this time. When his opposition was taken away he took over Jerusalem as his city. He had many battles with the enemies around him. It was years after he became king that he decided to stay at home instead of going into battle. As I was studying about this Psalm I have come to believe that this happened after David had his affair with Bathsheba.

Who Will the Lord Help? Psalm 38:1-22

A psalm of David, to bring us to the Lord's remembrance.

This Psalm is one of the penitent Psalms. There are six others. We get out word penitentiary from this word. People are put there to think about the evil they have done and that they might feel guilty for what they have done and change their ways. David is quite repentant in this Psalm. We see here what should be a pattern for one who sins. A sin as the Bible states is a disobedience of God’s law.

1. We see how David sinned. Vs. 1-3 He states, “O Lord, don't rebuke me in your anger! Don't discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.” David was guilty of at least two sins which were adultery and murderer. A lot of people think that their sins are of only a private doing. I can recall a president who was accused of committing adultery and when the proof was displayed denied it at first but then admitted he had sinned. Yet he felt what he did was his own business and he should not have to pay for his sin. He felt he was still able to be president and to my understanding it is OK to hold an office in our country and what you do outside is alright. No one should be punished if he sinned when no one else saw the sin. Num. 32:23 states “But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.” We have seen modern day examples of this with baseball players saying they did not use drugs. A minister of big church who was caught in sexual sin. Most recently a church in California that filed for bankruptcy when they were 50 million dollars in the red. It matters not who you are the Bible says, “be sure your sin will find you out.”

David found out that even though one is king, sin will still be found. I do not know how much David suffered after he committed his sin but the Bible says that a prophet named Nathan came before the king with a story. When David recognized the wrongness in the story, Nathan proclaimed, “You are the man!”

David cried out, “O Lord, don't rebuke me in your anger! Don't discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.”

2. We see David’s Sufferings. Vs. 4-8 "My guilt overwhelms me; it is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. My days are filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.

As we see from vs. 4 the load David was carrying was crushing him. He did not place the blame on someone else. It was his sin that caused his suffering. Many today have gone for medical help for the cure of their sinful problems and will be told they are experiencing a chemical imbalance and if they will but take a drug prescribed and follow counseling they will be just fine. This not the way that God has prescribed for our healing. Guilt cannot be taken care of through drugs or therapy. Guilt crushes us physically and emotionally. David knew this and that is why he is crying out to the Lord. Sin can shorten our lives. David knew he had to pay for his sin. 5 My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. The Bible is not clear on what disease David was suffering from. His whole body ached, he had wounds that were festering and gave off a bad odor and he had a raging fever. David did not blame anyone else for what he had done. He said my guilt overwhelms me. It is only when we confess I have sinned that we can get help. I read of a story of a Christian that went through a prison trying to help those in there. It seems all he came to blamed someone else for their being there. He found one man who said, “I am guilty and regret what I have done. He was able to help this man. David’s days were filled with grief or we could say he went around mourning. This would mean he also was suffering mentally. He had a raging fire in him which tells me that his body was full of infection and the result was a high temperature. He also was groaning out loud and that no doubt drew the attention of those around him. Satan had tempted David to commit a sin and that he would get away with it. Satan is the father of liars Jesus stated. So when sin is committed not only does the person suffer but those around that person suffer. I spoke with a lady this week who said that alcohol has been the ruin of many people that live on this reservation.