Pain of Our Sin
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Introduction
Introduction
Many times the full extent of the damage of sin is never fully contemplated. Only the immediate fulfillment of our flesh. It has been said by more than a few of sin - that sin sin always takes you further than you expected to go, costs more than you wanted to pay, and keeps you longer than you intended to stay. One other aspect of sin is that we never contemplate the pain of our sin.
Due to its dealing with confession of sin this Psalm has been included in the list of penitential psalms. There is also the idea that unconfessed sins can bring about great physical, mental and emotional maladies. The more repressed the sin and guilt the greater the manifestation in physical, mental or emotional form. Jay Adams in his book competent to counsel talks about this experience as he discusses nouthetic counseling principles - explicitly biblical method of problem solving.
David is identified as the author of this Psalm and the only objections to his authorship stem from the idea that the psalm concerns a severely sick man and there is no account of David being severely ill. This psalm from David is here to help us by bringing our sin into the light so that by exposing it and confessing it we might find healing from the pain of our sin.
1 Lord, do not punish me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has pressed down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my body because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear. 5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. 6 I am bent over and brought very low; all day long I go around in mourning.
7 For my insides are full of burning pain, and there is no soundness in my body. 8 I am faint and severely crushed; I groan because of the anguish of my heart. 9 Lord, my every desire is in front of you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded. 11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction, and my relatives stand at a distance. 12 Those who intend to kill me set traps, and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me; they plot treachery all day long.
13 I am like a deaf person; I do not hear. I am like a speechless person who does not open his mouth. 14 I am like a man who does not hear and has no arguments in his mouth. 15 For I put my hope in you, Lord; you will answer me, my Lord, my God.
16 For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me— those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.” 17 For I am about to fall, and my pain is constantly with me. 18 So I confess my iniquity; I am anxious because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and powerful; many hate me for no reason. 20 Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good. 21 Lord, do not abandon me; my God, do not be far from me. 22 Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation.
Sentence For Our Sin
Sentence For Our Sin
1 Lord, do not punish me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has pressed down on me.
David begins by crying out to the LORD - so overtaken by the pain of his sin David can only cry out to God. In his cry notice that David calls on God to not punish him in His anger, nor to discipline him in His wrath. David is not questioning the legitimacy of his suffering but the severity of it. David is not asking the LORD to not punish him at all. David is also not asking the LORD to not discipline him at all. For both those requests would go on unanswered for it is only what we ask according to the LORD (in His name) that we shall receive. God will not allow sin to go unpunished and will not allow His children to go undisciplined. David is merely asking that the LORD not punish in anger or wrath. Anger being the word used to describe intense non-subsiding anger of an epic scale. Wrath being the fury of the LORD.
24 Discipline me, Lord, but with justice— not in your anger, or you will reduce me to nothing.
David was calling on God to merciful. David is not faulting God one bit. He knows He deserves anger and wrath but is asking for mercy. Mercy is only merciful when it is not deserved. The proper way to appeal to God is through His mercy, it is always right to ask for mercy for it cannot be demanded - we do not deserve it - but God is a merciful God and He has never turned away an honest cry.
Without mercy sin is punished and those who belong to God and sin are disciplined. It will be as David describes - arrows sunk into him - embedded deeply into him. It is as a hand pressed down - struck or come down on one.
Punishment by God is divine retribution in response to sin
4 Look, every life belongs to me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.
Romans 6:23 (CSB)
23 For the wages of sin is death...
God will and God must punish or discipline for sin.
Suffering In Our Sin
Suffering In Our Sin
Physical Pain or Sickness
Physical Pain or Sickness
3 There is no soundness in my body because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear. 5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.
Here we see David describing physical sickness that he is suffering from and verse 3 and 5 leave no doubt that David counted this suffering and this illness as being judicial. He was being punished for a serious transgression. Although we are never told the specific sin for which David is suffering it must be said this isnt a recent committed sin but one that had been hidden long and remained unconfessed until it was festering and foul as displayed in the physical wounds David had.
It must be noted not all sickness is punishment, most sickness is not. Physical suffering can lead us to make connections of past sins and present suffering that may not exist. Our minds must be drawn to remember Job. Job suffered as a righteous man.
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
Also remember what Jesus said in the New Testament in John 9.
1 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.
Jesus shares that God used this man’s suffering to glorify Himself by having Jesus heal him.
Neither of these is the explanation of David’s suffering but was necessary to mention - David was in fact suffering for sin. Since we are all sinners we must also note that this indeed is a possibility for us as well. If we suffer physical sickness or pain because of sin God will make that clear to us just as God made it clear to David.
David says there is no health in his bones because of his sin. Health is the Hebrew word Shalom. Which is not a peace from conflict or war - but an abiding peace that brings rest
17 The result of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.
Righteousness brings peace and if you are uneasy or restless deep within perhaps there is unconfessed sin. Restless in body may indicate a restlessness within your heart.
Mental or Emotional Anguish
Mental or Emotional Anguish
6 I am bent over and brought very low; all day long I go around in mourning. 7 For my insides are full of burning pain, and there is no soundness in my body. 8 I am faint and severely crushed; I groan because of the anguish of my heart.
Not only does David describe physical pain but he also experiences mental and emotional anguish. Verse 6 may indicate that David was dealing with a heavy bout of depression - being bent over and brought low and all day long going around in mourning. I am bent over could also be translated I am troubled and brought low - downcast. Mourning all day long insides full of burning - perhaps IBS perhaps stress related anguish such as an ulcer. Whatever David was experiencing he says there is no soundness in his body.
Hollywood shows us the supposed pleasure and joy if the sins rarely are the entire ramifications of the sinful behavior shown. Life at home after the actions, betrayals, addictions. Shattered trust, broken marriages and torn apart families. The effects of actions on others.
Sin is devastating and all too often we underestimate its corruptive and destructive power far beyond the physical. David describes his faint self being crushed under the immense weight and groaning because of the anguish of his heart.
Isolation
Isolation
9 Lord, my every desire is in front of you; my sighing is not hidden from you. 10 My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded. 11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction, and my relatives stand at a distance.
David appeals to the LORD saying you know my desire - it is not hidden from you. My sighing is not hidden either - the sighing as one who is uttering disapproval or disgust at the situation. Its like the teenager sigh maybe with a little bit of the aaaaarrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh. David describes his heart as racing and strength leaving him - his anxiety increases as his strength decreases and the light of his eyes - whether it be his sight or his very life dimming.
In his situation he has no comfort from family or friends. If you want to know who your real friends are - look around when things are bad or you get into trouble - the real ones will still be there. David’s friends and family stand back from his affliction providing no comfort, no compassion. They stand at a distance just watching. Psychiatrists tell us that people do not like to be around those who are suffering because they imagine themselves being in the same condition and do not like to think along those lines. So they stay away. This is probably true and undoubtedly also explains why people make cruel jokes about retarded people, people who are crippled, and others who have suffered physical misfortunes. But even if people do not do that, they at least prefer the company of those who are prospering and having a good time. This is what David experienced.
13 He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me. 14 My relatives stop coming by, and my close friends have forgotten me. 15 My house guests and female servants regard me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer, even if I beg him with my own mouth. 17 My breath is offensive to my wife, and my own family finds me repulsive. 18 Even young boys scorn me. When I stand up, they mock me.
19 All of my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me. 20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
18 You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me; darkness is my only friend.
12 Those who intend to kill me set traps, and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me; they plot treachery all day long. 13 I am like a deaf person; I do not hear. I am like a speechless person who does not open his mouth. 14 I am like a man who does not hear and has no arguments in his mouth.
This paragraph, stanza or strophe from David can be viewed one of two ways. One is a testimony to David’s depression. Shutting people out, closing down. David does not hear blocking out communication like a mute he refuses to respond. Second is that David is deaf and dumb more passive aggressive. Not a response to the sickness but to the people’s rejection. David no longer hears or speaks to them.
Rescue From Our Sin
Rescue From Our Sin
15 For I put my hope in you, Lord; you will answer me, my Lord, my God. 16 For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me— those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.” 17 For I am about to fall, and my pain is constantly with me.
18 So I confess my iniquity; I am anxious because of my sin. 19 But my enemies are vigorous and powerful; many hate me for no reason. 20 Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good. 21 Lord, do not abandon me; my God, do not be far from me. 22 Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation.
In not speaking to the people - David now turns to speak to God. David declares that he will put his hope in the LORD and he says the LORD will answer - not in a demanding way but this spoken with a certainty of faith and trust in the LORD his God.
Though others may turn away from you, the LORD is always near. David knew even in his sin God was his hope. Though the LORD was the one punishing and disciplining David also knew God would be the one to rescue him.
In dealing with his physical problems, David relied solely on the Lord. So too, whenever we’re hurting physically, we can truly count on the fact that the Lord hears our prayers and will heal us absolutely. But it might not be immediately. It might be weeks or months down the road. It might not be until we get to heaven.
Paul was afflicted by a thorn in his flesh which he asked the Lord to remove three times. “My grace is sufficient for you,” the Lord answered. “For My strength is made perfect in your weakness.” In other words, “Your being in a weakened condition allows My strength to be seen in and through you to a greater degree” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
If you’re battling with sickness, I encourage you to follow Paul’s example. That is, keep praying until you’re either healed or until you have an understanding deep within. — Jon Courson
David now comes to confess his sin and describes himself as anxious or anguishing because of it. Can it be so easy when it comes to confessing sin? YES! Any one who confesses their sin before God will be forgiven, but anyone who refuses to confess will not be forgiven.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.
We need to confess our sins. We need to accept responsibility for what we have done, no longer blaming others for our problems. As we know, Adam and Eve from the very beginning perfected the art of passing excuses for sinful actions. We must come to God with our sin-stained hands because he knows what we have done. We are not going to get away with any sin.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Instead of running from God, we must run to God. Adam and Eve exemplified the wrong actions by running away from the presence of God. But our sin has severed us from God and we need to return to God so he will return to us. “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Return to Me,” says the LORD of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 1:3). We have to return to God for him to return to us. If we turn our back on God, then all hope is lost and we are dead in our sins. We must show that we want to be near God. We must show that we love God by rededicating ourselves to keep his commands. When we return to God, he has promised to return to us.
Know the consequences of sin. We need to remember the guilt, suffering, sorrow, and pain we experience when we engage in sin. None of like it. None of us like the potential consequences for our actions. We need to stop risking sin and start committing ourselves to the Lord.
Know how to respond to sin. When we do fall, let us be sure to learn the lessons from the temptation and from the fall. If we do not learn, we will likely fall again. It is our chance to become stronger so that Satan does not ensnare us again. Immediately confess our sins and draw near to God.
For the Christian God’s anger and wrath towards sin has been placed upon Jesus.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
This means that we are no longer the objects of His judgment. His grace is upon us and His hand is open to heal us. While we do experience God’s discipline it is corrective and not punitive (Heb. 12:5–11). Thus we may now come boldly to God through Jesus
1 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2 He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
Find the health - the SHALOM in your bones