For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 38

1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced me,
    and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
    there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
    like a burden too heavy to bear.

5 My wounds fester and are loathsome
    because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bowed down and brought very low;
    all day long I go about mourning.
7 My back is filled with searing pain;
    there is no health in my body.
8 I am feeble and utterly crushed;
    I groan in anguish of heart.

9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord:
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
    even the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
    my neighbours stay far away.
12 Those who want to kill me set their traps,
    those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
    all day long they scheme and lie.

13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
    like the mute, who cannot speak;
14 I have become like one who does not hear,
    whose mouth can offer no reply.
15 Lord, I wait for you;
    you will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, ‘Do not let them gloat
    or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.’

17 For I am about to fall,
    and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
    I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many have become my enemies without cause[b];
    those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 Those who repay my good with evil
    lodge accusations against me,
    though I seek only to do what is good.

21 Lord, do not forsake me;
    do not be far from me, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
    my Lord and my Saviour.

A. Find Out:

1. What does David ask of the Lord? v.1,21,22
2. What does he feel has happened? v.2
3. How does that affect him physically? v.3,5a,7,10,17
4. What does he see as the cause of this? v.3b,4,5b,18
5. How have his friends treated him? v.11
6. How have others responded to him? v.12,19,20

B. Think:

1. Why does David feel he’s opened himself to this?
2. What has the Lord done to him?
3. Yet what is his cry?

C. Comment:

     This is a song of anguish that has several faces.

    First there is the anguish of guilt . David is aware that he has sinned. He sees a direct link between his sin and the things that have now happened to him.

   Second, there is the anguish of ill-health . He feels absolutely shattered in his body. He aches, he feels weak, he feels utterly downcast.

   Third, there is the anguish of isolation . His friends have rejected him and his enemies have risen up against him. There is a sense of isolation about him. He is alone.

    Fourth there is the anguish of possible rejection . Because of his sin he feels the Lord is bringing these things upon him. He fears the Lord will forsake him, will leave him.

   When we sin unwittingly there is, for us, a sacrifice that takes away the sin and its effects. When we sin purposefully we deny the cross (Heb 10:26 ) and we take upon ourselves the consequences (Gal 6:7). What in fact happens is that God then disciplines us (Heb 12:4-6) to drive us back to Him. He temporarily lifts off His hand of protection and we may suffer the things David speaks of in this psalm.

D. Application:

1. Wilful sinning brings painful consequences.
2. Repentance is always the way back. The way is always there.