Latest / Reformed Thinking / When Sin and Suffering Press the Soul (Psalm 38) | Charles Spurgeon
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to Reform Thinking. This is the deep dive where we
- 0:03take critical source material and break it down for you,
- 0:06providing the focused knowledge and analytical synthesis you
- 0:09need right now. Today we are opening Charles
- 0:11Spurgeon exposition of Psalm 38, drawn from his classic work The
- 0:15Treasury of David. The Psalm, well, it stands as
- 0:19one of the most intense descriptions of spiritual agony
- 0:22in all of Scripture. It really is a stark accounting
- 0:25of conviction, affliction and a desperate penitence.
- 0:29And that intensity is built right into the Psalm's very
- 0:31title. Right.
- 0:32It's called a Psalm of data to bring remembrance.
- 0:35And that title immediately sets the tone for our work today.
- 0:38You know David isn't writing a casual reflection here.
- 0:41No, not at all. He's documenting a spiritual
- 0:43crisis. He's doing it to ensure he
- 0:45never, ever forgets the reality of God's holiness and, well, the
- 0:50weight of his own sin. So our assignment for this deep
- 0:52dive is to distill what what it was David needed to recall this
- 0:56crushing, visceral experience of personal iniquity.
- 1:01And the necessity of divine correction.
- 1:04And then the painful but necessary path back towards
- 1:07solace, A solace found only in confession.
- 1:10It's a very messy process, isn't it?
- 1:12It's not some neat four step devotional you might find
- 1:15somewhere. Not at all.
- 1:17Spurgeon's structural overview of this Psalm really shows us a
- 1:21soul in turmoil. The Psalm doesn't just resolve
- 1:24linearly. No.
- 1:25It starts with a desperate prayer, then it collapses into
- 1:28this lengthy complaint. And then there's a pause, just a
- 1:31quick glance heavenward before he plunges right back into
- 1:34another wave of sorrow. Finds a momentary word of hope,
- 1:37and then a third flood of grief hits him.
- 1:40It finally closes with a renewed urgent petition.
- 1:43That back and forth structure is so key I think.
- 1:45It is, It reveals that the true process of conviction is rarely
- 1:49a straight line. It is wrestling.
- 1:51It involves falling back into despair.
- 1:53And then the persistent, agonizing work of crying out
- 1:56again for God's grace it. Shows us that David's faith
- 1:59wasn't passive, it was a desperate activity undertaken
- 2:02while his soul was under extreme pressure.
- 2:05OK, let's unpack this weight. Let's start immediately with the
- 2:08opening prayer. David is pleading for mercy, but
- 2:12the theological stakes are just incredibly high in this opening
- 2:15verse. They really are.
- 2:17We begin with verse one. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy
- 2:21wrath, neither chasten me in my hot displeasure.
- 2:24You might read this quickly and just think, oh, David doesn't
- 2:27want to suffer. But the reality is so much more
- 2:29complex. He is not seeking exemption from
- 2:32correction, is he? No, he understands that
- 2:34correction is absolutely due. He recognizes the relationship.
- 2:38God is the sovereign Father and David is the errant child.
- 2:41A father corrects his children. So the plea is not don't correct
- 2:45me. It's more like please exercise
- 2:47gentleness. Exactly.
- 2:48Don't allow the necessary correction to become
- 2:51overwhelming retribution. He is asking not to be dealt
- 2:55with as an enemy, but to be maintained within the Covenant
- 2:58as a Son who needs discipline. And this distinction is just
- 3:01crucial and reformed thought. It's the difference between
- 3:04discipline that restores and judgment that destroys.
- 3:07Spurgeon highlights this difference perfectly, and when
- 3:09we look at the specific terms used for this divine activity,
- 3:13the weight of the request becomes startlingly clear.
- 3:18Let's slow down here then, because the Hebrew terms really
- 3:21reveal the depth of David's sphere.
- 3:23Does that word for chasten imply?
- 3:25Well, the Hebrew word here is jessar, and it is far heavier
- 3:30than simply being lightly instructed or even, you know,
- 3:33slapped on the wrist. Jessar often means to bind, or
- 3:37to fetter, or even to imprison. So you should think of
- 3:41correction not just as a painful lesson, but as a restricting,
- 3:44limiting, or even crushing experience.
- 3:47Something that places the individual in a kind of
- 3:49spiritual bondage, Yes. That sounds paradoxical, though.
- 3:52If the correction is restorative, how can it feel
- 3:54like spiritual slavery? Isn't God setting us free?
- 3:57This is the very paradox the sufferer has to wrestle with.
- 4:00The correction itself is holy, but the experience of receiving
- 4:04it reveals the bondage that sin has already placed on the soul.
- 4:07When God's hand presses down, as we'll see in the next verse, he
- 4:10is exposing the spiritual fetters.
- 4:13He's showing David his inability to rise, his inability to pray
- 4:17or to feel true peace, all things that the unrepented sin
- 4:21had already secured. So the pressure of Joe Izar
- 4:24forces David to confront his own spiritual helplessness.
- 4:27Right. The discipline feels like
- 4:29bondage because it removes all self-sufficiency.
- 4:32It forces David to stare directly at his own spiritual
- 4:36bankruptcy. And then we have that other
- 4:37phrase, the language of hot displeasure.
- 4:40The term used here is shamath, and it is frighteningly strong.
- 4:44It can literally signify poison itself.
- 4:47The fear David harbors is that God's displeasure, if it's
- 4:51unrestrained by mercy, can lead to what theologians call
- 4:54operation. Spiritual Hardening.
- 4:56Yes, and that is the ultimate terror, isn't it?
- 4:58It's not the physical suffering, it's the spiritual poisoning
- 5:01where the correction actually burns out the capacity for
- 5:04repentance. So the greatest penalty isn't
- 5:06pain, it's the loss of feeling. Absolutely.
- 5:09Chamath is a fire that can and dry up holy tears, render the
- 5:12conscience inert, and burn the soul to ashes until nothing good
- 5:16can grow there anymore. That's the definition of God's
- 5:19anger turned loose in a way that leads to final infinite
- 5:23impenitence. It is David is petitioning God.
- 5:26Don't let this necessary correction turn into the
- 5:29spiritual death that I fear. So it's a high stakes
- 5:32theological conversation carried out through prayer, and David's
- 5:35defense against this overwhelming wrath is founding,
- 5:38clinging to the covenant itself. Yes, he petitions, and I'm
- 5:42quoting Spurgeon's paraphrase here.
- 5:44Bring to remembrance thy covenant, thy fatherhood, and my
- 5:47feebleness, and spare the servant.
- 5:49He's using his weakness in God's promise as his argument.
- 5:52He is, he's saying. I know I deserve the full
- 5:54poison. But remember the relationship,
- 5:56remember the fableness of the creature you made, and spare me.
- 5:59And not because he's worthy. Not at all.
- 6:01Spare me because you are faithful.
- 6:03That's the plea. This fear of of hardening and
- 6:05the plea for covenant of mercy, this sets the stage for the
- 6:08physical manifestation of conviction in verse 2.
- 6:12For thine arrows stick fast in me.
- 6:14What a remarkable image. These are not random
- 6:16afflictions. They are the specific targeted
- 6:19arrows of God, right? And Spurgeon identifies these as
- 6:22the Lord's law applied by the Holy Spirit.
- 6:25They wound, and they wound very deeply.
- 6:28These are the sin killing shafts, as the source material
- 6:31puts it. They Pierce the conscience,
- 6:33aiming directly at the iniquity. Yes, they're driven in up to the
- 6:36head, sinking into the innermost spirit, and critically, they
- 6:39rank along. They are not easily extracted by
- 6:42a quick, comforting word. Or, as Spurgeon calls it, the
- 6:46flattering hand of self righteousness.
- 6:48Right, self justification just doesn't work when these arrows
- 6:51are embedded. You can't just explain it away.
- 6:54It seems counterintuitive though.
- 6:55Why would the Lord shoot at his own beloved ones?
- 6:57Well, the distinction is vital. He shoots at the sins residing
- 7:01within the beloved person, not at the person himself, as an
- 7:04object of final condemnation. This is a painful mercy.
- 7:07A very painful mercy. David believes those who feel
- 7:10these wounds now, the deep spiritual pain of conviction,
- 7:14will be spared the ultimate hot thunderbolts in the next World.
- 7:17So the pain is actually proof that the Holy Spirit is still
- 7:20operating, still aiming for the corruption.
- 7:22Yes, and the experience is not just sharp, it is crushing.
- 7:27The verse continues. Thy hand presseth me sore.
- 7:30So it's a dual experience. It is the conviction of sin is
- 7:33piercing like the sharp arrows of the law, and at the same time
- 7:36it is crushing like the heavy pressing weight of God's hand.
- 7:40The terrors of the Lord are both smarting and crushing.
- 7:42They leave no rest, no strength. They utterly destroy a person's
- 7:47ability to resist or cope on their own.
- 7:49The pressure forces the confession out.
- 7:51This totalizing effect continues right into verse 3, where the
- 7:55spiritual agony trans translates directly into physical ailment.
- 7:59This isn't just, you know, mind over matter.
- 8:01No, it's a theological statement about the brokenness of the
- 8:03entire Hiniga system. There is no soundness in my
- 8:06flesh because of thine anger. The Reformed view asserts that
- 8:09sin fundamentally breaks the whole human being, body and
- 8:12soul. It does the intense spiritual
- 8:14sickness of guilt and divine displeasure.
- 8:17It creates or fosters physical disease.
- 8:20The soul's malady manifests in the flesh.
- 8:22Reflecting the reality that divine anger is a fire that
- 8:26dries up the very marrow. It sets the blood boiling with
- 8:29misery and exhausts the physical frame.
- 8:31And it penetrates to the deepest parts, describing pain deep in
- 8:35the skeletal structure. Neither is there any rest in my
- 8:38bones because of my sin. When an illness penetrates the
- 8:41bones, it suggests an ailment that is vital, systemic, and
- 8:45utterly relentless. Spurgeon notes the two sad
- 8:49deficiencies that are characteristic of an awakened
- 8:51conscience. No soundness and no rest.
- 8:55A man tossed by pain deep in his system can't find a posture of
- 8:58peace. He's worn out with agony,
- 9:00constantly searching for rest but finding none.
- 9:03And that search for rest, that is where the horrible unrest
- 9:06resides. Yes, the source describes this
- 9:08unrest with frightening clarity, an inner anguish which cannot be
- 9:12exceeded except by hell itself. It's the constant miserable
- 9:15tossing of a soul that knows it has offended infinite
- 9:17righteousness, and the agony searches the secret hidden parts
- 9:21of the being. So the affliction isn't some
- 9:23external calamity. No, it is internal, penetrating
- 9:27and exhausting turmoil and it's directly tied to the individuals
- 9:32recognized sin and the righteousness of God's response
- 9:35to it. This exhaustion then moves David
- 9:37to describe the overwhelming scale of his iniquity.
- 9:41And that takes us directly into Section 2, where David moves
- 9:44from describing the internal physical symptoms of conviction
- 9:47to the absolutely overpowering scale and loathsomeness of his
- 9:51sin. The shift is from sharp pain to
- 9:54sinking depth, starting with verse 4.
- 9:57The sense of being utterly overwhelmed here is palpable.
- 9:59This is not waiting in a puddle. This is drowning.
- 10:02For mine, iniquities are gone over mine head.
- 10:05The language here is of an unstoppable flood, like waves of
- 10:08the deep sea or black mire. The sin rises above hope, above
- 10:11strength, and above life itself. David has utterly sunk.
- 10:15And this reveals the difference between an unawakened person and
- 10:18one who is truly convicted. Oh, absolutely.
- 10:20The unawakened person perceives their sins as shallows.
- 10:22You know, manageable errors they can wade through with a bit of
- 10:25effort. But genuine conviction reveals
- 10:27the horrifying engulfing depth of iniquity.
- 10:31It's an ocean where there is no bottom and no shore.
- 10:34And the imagery then moves from the liquid flood to a solid
- 10:37physicalized weight, as in heavy burden.
- 10:40They're too heavy for me. For sin to become an intolerable
- 10:44load that burdens the person beyond endurance is actually a
- 10:48necessary sign of spiritual life.
- 10:49It is. It's the cry of one who feels
- 10:51utterly undone by transgression. If you can carry your sin
- 10:55casually, you haven't seen its weight.
- 10:58The person is crushed, forcing them to shatter their
- 11:01self-reliance. And rely entirely on external
- 11:03rescue, which is the only place the burden can be transferred.
- 11:06Spurgeon includes that very insightful reference to
- 11:09Augustine here, which helps breakdown the sensation of being
- 11:12overwhelmed into two distinct problems.
- 11:15Let's make sure we clarify those Latin concepts for you.
- 11:17Certainly Augustine separates the gone over mine head idea
- 11:20from the heavy burden. The gone over mine head in Latin
- 11:23supergress a super connects the experience to ignorantium,
- 11:28ignorance. So he didn't see it coming.
- 11:30He didn't. David wasn't monitoring his
- 11:33spiritual state, and suddenly he realized the tide had swelled
- 11:37and he was completely overflowed and surrounded.
- 11:39He was surprised by the depth. A spiritual shock at the scale
- 11:43of sin you thought you had under control.
- 11:44Yes and the heavy burden gravitate super connects to
- 11:49difficult Tatum. The difficulty or inability.
- 11:52You are under the water, touching no ground, having no
- 11:55air to see or hear. So the conviction hits you from
- 11:582 directions. It does.
- 12:00You didn't see the danger coming until it was too late, and now
- 12:02you have no personal capacity to fight it or recover yourself.
- 12:05It's a complete description of total human inability under the
- 12:09recognized burden of sin, a core principle of Reformed faith.
- 12:13It is, and that sets us up for the truly visceral part of this
- 12:16segment, the foulness described in verse 5.
- 12:19This is beyond weight or depth. It's act of corruption.
- 12:22My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
- 12:25This is intense figurative language.
- 12:27It describes the sheer vileness and pollution of iniquity.
- 12:30Conscious doesn't just sting, it lays stripe upon stripe until
- 12:34the wound, well, it suppurates. The corruption within grows
- 12:37offensive. And the crucial linkage here is
- 12:39that the corruption stems from foolishness, David's moral
- 12:43failing, not just a random misfortune.
- 12:46So the consequence of this moral failing is a corruption so deep
- 12:50that the man stinks in his own nostrils.
- 12:52He begins to loathe himself. And this required self loathing
- 12:55is essential for genuine repentance.
- 12:57If you still find yourself admirable despite your sin, you
- 13:00have not grasped its foulness. Spurgeon drives this point home
- 13:04by comparing this spiritual corruption to physical diseases.
- 13:08He says that no ulcers, no cancers or putrefying sores can
- 13:11match the unutterable vileness and pollution of iniquity.
- 13:15And that isn't just hyperbole. No, it's a theological
- 13:18statement. Sin is the worst, most repulsive
- 13:20element in the universe. The soul shudders to realize
- 13:23that so much moral filth lies festering deep within its own
- 13:26nature. It's a profound shame that
- 13:28becomes utterly self isolating. This internal corruption then
- 13:31forces the Sinner into the physical and mental posture of
- 13:34the mourner which dominates it. Verses 6 through 8.
- 13:38I am troubled. I am bowed down greatly.
- 13:40The troubled spirit writhes with pain and sore travail on account
- 13:44of the revealed sin. And this recognition of sin and
- 13:47the attendant divine displeasure, it pulls a man down
- 13:50from all loftiness, crushing his pride.
- 13:52He is brought grievously low, frightfully depressed and
- 13:57physically humbled. And the sorrow is relentless.
- 14:00It defines his entire existence. I go mourning all the day long.
- 14:04The picture painted is of the Oriental mourner, clothed in
- 14:07squalor, bowed over, covered in sackcloth and ashes.
- 14:10Even if the individual is carrying out their daily
- 14:12business, the soul's sorrow is incessant.
- 14:15Every word and mannerism is 1 of lamentation, reflecting a soul
- 14:19that cannot find lightness. This internal suffering is then
- 14:22described as a loathsome disease, deep and vital for
- 14:25seven for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and
- 14:29there is no soundness in my flesh.
- 14:31This spiritual affliction is like a hot, dry, parching
- 14:34disorder, an internal fire that erupts when the evil of the
- 14:37heart is laid bare. And the seat of the evil is
- 14:39described as being deep and vital.
- 14:41It's not a skin ailment. No, it fills the very core of
- 14:44the man. Then verse 8 introduces that
- 14:46fascinating contradiction. In his physical state he is
- 14:49feeble or be numbed, yet he is suffering from internal burning.
- 14:53Yes, strange incongruities meet in a sick body and a distracted
- 14:57mind. The individual seems alternately
- 14:59parched with heat and pinched with cold.
- 15:02Rushing from the heat of fear to a chill of horror.
- 15:05It's the torture of internal conflict, a flaming desire for
- 15:09relief coupled with a horrible insensibility to the things of
- 15:12grace. This dual agony brings the
- 15:14convinced Sinner to death's door.
- 15:17And the climax of this internal agony is the noise he makes.
- 15:20I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
- 15:23When sorrow is that deep, the voice often becomes inarticulate
- 15:26and terrible. It's the heart groaning what
- 15:28cannot be uttered, the voice failing to form human speech.
- 15:31It's the sound of complete desperation.
- 15:33It is, but it's comforting, isn't it, to know that even when
- 15:36our sorrow is so deep, it's inarticulate, more animalistic
- 15:39than spiritual. The Father still listens.
- 15:41That's a powerful image of grace.
- 15:43It is absolute grace. The consolation is that these
- 15:45groans, even though they appear to fail as human speech, are
- 15:49heard and recognized by the pitiful Father.
- 15:52So this entire section is a complete, raw portrait of an
- 15:55awakened soul, so accurate that it couldn't possibly be a
- 15:58description of merely outward or physical disorder.
- 16:01The turmoil is spiritual, and that turmoil inevitably impacts
- 16:04the external world. That internal state naturally
- 16:08forces a confrontation with the outside world, which leads us
- 16:11into Section 3, abandonment, malice, and sacred silence.
- 16:16David first turns his focus away from men and toward God in verse
- 16:209. This is a wonderful pivot.
- 16:22It shifts the entire narrative from the vertical struggle with
- 16:24God to the horizontal struggle with man.
- 16:26And it begins with an appeal to divine omniscience.
- 16:30Lord, all, my desire is before Thee, and my groaning is not hid
- 16:33from thee. This is the essential difference
- 16:36between human and divine listening.
- 16:38The groans may be unintelligible to men, but God reads the
- 16:41longings of the heart, even if they are unspoken or unformed.
- 16:44So the psalmist is consciously appealing to heaven to confirm
- 16:48that his suffering is real, not exaggerated.
- 16:50And this provides solace in a moment of utter loneliness.
- 16:53When the heart is broken hearted, the Lord remains the
- 16:56companion. He spies out the sorrow and the
- 16:59hidden anguish that the sufferer is trying to hide from human
- 17:02observation. The good physician understands
- 17:04the symptoms and the hidden evil.
- 17:07This means the case is safe in his hands, even if David himself
- 17:11cannot speak clearly. But the reality of suffering,
- 17:14especially affliction related to sin, often pushes people away.
- 17:19Verses 10 and 11 address the brutal relational consequence.
- 17:231st the physical collapse returns.
- 17:25He describes himself at the brink of expiration.
- 17:28My heart panteth, my strength faileth me, and the light of
- 17:31mine eyes. It also is gone for me.
- 17:33Distraction and disease have taken their toll.
- 17:36The acute sense of sin combined with the realization that no
- 17:39human power can help is enough to bring a person to death's
- 17:42door. Hope, the spiritual equivalent
- 17:44of the last lamp of night, is ready to be extinguished.
- 17:46And then the relational consequence in verse 11.
- 17:49My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my
- 17:51kinsmen stand afar. This is profound spiritual
- 17:55isolation. Friends and relatives keep their
- 17:57distance. They fear they might suffer from
- 18:00his calamities, like standing clear of a sinking vessel, lest
- 18:03it draw their own boats down with the suction.
- 18:06That's a strong image. This loneliness is intrinsic to
- 18:09deep soul trouble. The affliction David describes
- 18:12is a spiritual leprosy and. No one wants to approach it, not
- 18:16just because they fear the physical contagion, but because
- 18:18they fear the spiritual mess. Correct.
- 18:21The source notes that even the most affectionate friends cannot
- 18:24enter into the full suffering or bind up the sores of a tender
- 18:27conscience. They can offer comfort, but they
- 18:31can't offer atonement. Exactly.
- 18:33And often relatives actively hinder seekers after Jesus, or
- 18:36at the very least look on with unconcern, incapable of leading
- 18:39the penitent to Christ. This is the ultimate isolation,
- 18:43surrounded by people, yet utterly alone in the spiritual
- 18:46anguish. And while David is internally
- 18:48collapsing and externally isolated, his enemies are
- 18:51active. That's detailed in verse 12.
- 18:53This is the persistent malicious activity that often compounds
- 18:57affliction. They also that seek after my
- 18:59life lay snares for me. The affliction proves an
- 19:02opportunity for the wicked. They resort to foul means.
- 19:06The vile business of the devil's own poachers, seeking his
- 19:09downfall by any means necessary. And their malice is relentless.
- 19:13This isn't a one time attack. They speak mischievous things
- 19:16and imagine deceit all the day long.
- 19:20They are never done. Their forge is going from
- 19:22morning till night, constantly scheming and plotting ways to
- 19:25undermine him. Malice, unlike Virtue, is
- 19:28characterized by an unremitting mighty energy aimed specifically
- 19:32at the Saint when he is most weak and vulnerable.
- 19:35The external opposition compounds the internal
- 19:37suffering. It does, but Davidde response to
- 19:40this persecution is truly the most remarkable pivot in the
- 19:42entire song. It's described in verses 13 and
- 19:4514, The Wisdom of Deafness. But I as a deaf man heard not,
- 19:49and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
- 19:52This is not an act of cowardice or paralysis.
- 19:54It is an intentional strategic refusal to engage.
- 19:58Spurgeon labels this sacred indifference to slander,
- 20:01defining it as true courage and wise policy.
- 20:05It is an acknowledgement that defending oneself in this state
- 20:07would only escalate the conflict and distract from the primary
- 20:10battle, which is internal. So David chose to be bravely.
- 20:14Yes, he refused to engage in self-defense against the taunts
- 20:18of the cruel, thereby imitating Christ before Pilate, and this
- 20:22is incredibly difficult for the natural man.
- 20:25Our instinct when we're slandered is to rush to defend
- 20:28our reputation. Of course.
- 20:29So what makes this silence so wise beyond simple non
- 20:33engagement? What's the theological principle
- 20:35underpinning it? Well, the wisdom lies in supreme
- 20:38trust. The believer has an advocate,
- 20:41and the Lord will rebuke the foes far more effectively than
- 20:44David could. Since vengeance belongs to him,
- 20:47the believer finds strength in sitting still.
- 20:49David consciously refrained from all reproof, leaving the
- 20:51vindication entirely in God's hands.
- 20:55By remaining silent, he declares his absolute reliance on God as
- 20:58the just arbiter. Refusing to dirty his hands with
- 21:00the mud of their accusation. Right, right.
- 21:02And this action requires incredible self-control,
- 21:05especially when he's suffering from internal distress.
- 21:08He is putting his whole reputation in the hands of the
- 21:10very God who is currently chastening him.
- 21:12That is the ultimate act of faith demonstrated in this
- 21:15section. It is He submits to God's
- 21:17process even while it hurts, and simultaneously submits his
- 21:21reputation to God's protection even while his enemies are
- 21:23actively tearing him down. His silence is a loud statement
- 21:27of faith in God's sovereignty over both his affliction and his
- 21:30vindication. And that focus on God is the
- 21:33just arbiter, and ultimate hope brings us right into Section 4,
- 21:37Confession, contrition, and the final petition, the shift from
- 21:41despair back toward the light. Verse 15 marks the foundation of
- 21:45renewed hope. He's turning away from the
- 21:47failures of man and focusing entirely on the judge.
- 21:49For in the O Lord, do I hurt, thou wilt hear, O Lord, my God.
- 21:54He is committing himself to him that judgeth righteously.
- 21:57Hope and belief in the power of prayer become the two most
- 22:00blessed stays to the soul in time of adversity.
- 22:03And this hope is active. He's waiting upon the sovereign
- 22:05Lord, who is also his covenant God.
- 22:07The slandered characters like a Pearl cast into the IT.
- 22:10May be temporarily obscured, but it will shine again when the
- 22:13Lord makes up his jewels. He is telling you, the listener,
- 22:18rest O slandered one, and let not your soul be tossed to and
- 22:22fro with anxiety, because God is faithful to restore what man has
- 22:25spoiled. But David is still suffering,
- 22:28and this hope doesn't negate his present vulnerability.
- 22:31He immediately prays for upholding grace and 2nd birdie,
- 22:35verses 16 and 17 recognizing the practical consequences of
- 22:38spiritual weakness. He greads, giving the wicked and
- 22:41occasion to triumph, And this fear becomes a legitimate
- 22:44argument in prayer. He notes When my foot slippeth,
- 22:47they magnify themselves against me.
- 22:49That imagery is so vivid, Spurgeon vividly warns us, that
- 22:53just a nearest trip of the foot is enough to set all the dogs of
- 22:56hell barking. It underscores the absolute
- 22:58necessity of upholding grace. If we stumble, the enemy seizes
- 23:02the opportunity to mock both us and our God.
- 23:05We become sport for our enemies, like Blind Sampson.
- 23:07And the fear of causing scandal or bringing shame upon the
- 23:10covenant is a mighty incentive for sustained prayer.
- 23:13And the internal state justifies this fear, for I am ready to
- 23:16halt. He is like one who limps or
- 23:18totters, ready to give up in despair.
- 23:20His spirit is so depressed that he stumbles even at a straw.
- 23:23He describes himself as dry Tinder for the sparks of sorrow.
- 23:27He is in such a raw, sensitized state that he is ready to warn
- 23:30and cry upon any occasion, and that internal agony of
- 23:33conviction is ongoing. My sorrow is continually before
- 23:37me. So deep conviction refuses to
- 23:40leave. It won't accept a patched up
- 23:42peace. No, it cries war to the knife.
- 23:44Until the Holy Spirit applies the blood of Jesus, the truly
- 23:47awakened Sinner remains covered with raw wounds that cannot be
- 23:51healed until Christ provides full relief and reconciliation.
- 23:54And this ongoing pain leads directly to the proper active
- 23:58response in verse 18. Penitent acknowledgement.
- 24:01For I will declare mine iniquity.
- 24:03I will be sorry for my sin. Open confession is restorative
- 24:06for the soul, and when this sorrow results in a hearty
- 24:09penitent acknowledgement of transgression, it is deemed
- 24:12blessed sorrow, A genuine mark of grace.
- 24:15The confession must be salted with briny tears.
- 24:17It has to be genuine, deep repentance.
- 24:19Not just regret over being caught or suffering the
- 24:22consequence. Right.
- 24:23It is better, as the source suggests, to denounce the sins
- 24:26at the root of our sorrow than to simply complain about the
- 24:28sorrows themselves. Sorrow for sin is not atonement,
- 24:32but it is the right spirit in which to repair to Jesus, who is
- 24:35the only reconciliation. David then draws A harsh
- 24:38contrast between the Saints weakness and the opposition
- 24:41strength in verse 19. But mine enemies are lively and
- 24:45they are strong. This is an essential reality
- 24:48check and a motivation for continued reliance on God, the
- 24:52enemies of the believer, the world, the flesh and the devil.
- 24:55They are never afflicted with debility or inertness.
- 24:58There are powerful Trinity of evils.
- 25:00They labor with mighty, unremitting energy to overthrow
- 25:03the believer, and not only are they active, but they are
- 25:06multiplied. Wrong as the cause of evil is,
- 25:09it is a popular one. The Kingdom of Darkness
- 25:11continually grows in adherence and power.
- 25:13And this context of overwhelming opposition makes David's
- 25:17continued hope and confession all the more striking.
- 25:19David then makes a crucial distinction and verse 20
- 25:22clarifying his position relative to man while holding fast to his
- 25:26guilt before God. They also that render evil for
- 25:28good are mine adversaries because I follow the thing that
- 25:31good is. This is a plea affirming his
- 25:34innocence toward his fellow men despite his deep confession of
- 25:38guilt before God. It is not inconsistent.
- 25:40He's saying I have done wrong before you, O God, but these men
- 25:44hate me simply because I pursue righteousness.
- 25:46Yes, if men hate us for following what is good, we may
- 25:49actually rejoice, as their wrath is an unconscious homage
- 25:53rendered by vice to virtue. The entire agonizing experience
- 25:56builds to the final urgent petition in verses 21 and 22.
- 26:01David needs God, and he needs him now.
- 26:04Forsake me not, O Lord, be not far from me.
- 26:08When sickness, slander, and sin all besiege a St.
- 26:11General comfort is insufficient. Specific, immediate aid is
- 26:14needed. He needs to feel God standing
- 26:16right at his side. He needs the light of God's near
- 26:18and dear love shining through the darkness.
- 26:20And the urgency is undeniable. Make haste to help me.
- 26:23Delay would mean destruction. His sorrow has quickened his
- 26:26importunity, driving the believer with eagerness and
- 26:29desperation to God. And the song concludes not with
- 26:32a question, but with an affirmation of certain victory
- 26:34in the closing phrase. O Lord, my salvation.
- 26:37This shifts the perspective from desperate need to present
- 26:40possession. Faith foresees the blessed
- 26:42issue. Knowing the Lord means salvation
- 26:45is a present possession despite the current agony.
- 26:48Grief is melted into gratitude, and gratitude gives rise to a
- 26:51joy that cannot be spoken even while the sorrow remains.
- 26:55The believer recognizes that they had not one trial too many
- 26:59or one paying too severe. Because it all served to drive
- 27:02them for the only reliable source of rescue.
- 27:04So that brings us to the synthesis of this intense deep
- 27:06dive into Psalm 38, viewed through the lens of Spurgeon's
- 27:10conviction centered commentary. What we see is that true
- 27:13penitence is intensely personal. It's physically manifested, and
- 27:18it involves both the agony over the vileness of sin and external
- 27:22tribulation. The experience is terrible, but
- 27:24it is a vital sign of spiritual life.
- 27:27It is defined as a spiritual leprosy, A crippling internal
- 27:30disease that no known physical malady can match in its
- 27:33repulsiveness and consuming nature.
- 27:35Our sources clearly state that sin is the procatarctic cause,
- 27:39the exciting driving cause of all human misery, and God's just
- 27:43anger is the necessary result. Yet if that sorrow successfully
- 27:47leads to open confession or repairing to Christ, it becomes
- 27:50blessed sorrow. So what does this concentrated
- 27:53look at David's suffering mean for you as you grapple with your
- 27:56own spiritual state? Well, ponder this.
- 27:59If the sheer scale and vileness of sin must be felt, if that
- 28:03horrible unrest is required to rightly appreciate the joyful
- 28:07sound of the gospel, how might we cultivate the necessary
- 28:10humility to allow the Holy Spirit's conviction to truly
- 28:13sink in? Do we allow ourselves to feel
- 28:16the weight of just are, or do we seek easy self justification?
- 28:19Affliction in this life, according to this Psalm, is
- 28:21intended to lead us to repentance, not destruction,
- 28:24transforming that crushing weight into the necessary
- 28:27blessed sorrow that precedes genuine salvation.
- 28:29That is the critical, painful work of grace.