The Seriousness of Sin

God’s Wrath Against Sin

Request v. 1, 21

What David requests:

“Rebuke me not in your anger” v. 1

“Nor Discipline me in your wrath” v. 1

“Do not forsake me , O Lord!” v. 21

“O my God, be not far from me.” v. 21

Why He Requests it:

There must be something within the character and ability of God that makes David concerned.

There must be something within his own character and person that makes David concerned.

Suffering v, 2,3

“For your arrows have sunk into me”

“Your hand has come down on me”

“There is no soundness in my flesh”

“There is no health in my bones.”

Cause v. 1-3

God is wrathful

God’s wrath is not an end unto itself.

God’s wrath is an outworking of His:

Justice

Holiness

All His attributes and character

A day of wrath is coming.

Zephaniah 1:14–15 “The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast; the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter; the mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”

Throughout the Psalms David and others continually ask the same question that so many are still asking today. Why do the wicked prosper?

Anytime God withholds His wrath it is an act of grace and mercy. Do not be so swift to deal out judgment. It is not your place.

Secondly, punishment is not always immediate. A day of wrath is coming when sin will be dealt with.

Sin is Serious

David ends this paragraph with a clear statement of the cause of his suffering.

It is not because God is angry or vindictive.

“because of my sin.”

Sin is serious because God is holy.

It is sin that has made David the object of God’s wrath.

Hell is the eternal culmination of God’s wrath poured out on those who have rejected Him, and there is only one way to avoid it.

John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

How do we escape the eternal wrath of God? Through His Son.

Internal Consequences of Sin

Representation - of sin’s consequences

Burden v. 4 - This is why Pilgrims Progress is such an apt metaphor

Wound v.5

Mourning v. 6

Burning v. 7

Feeble v.8

Tumult v.8

Throbs v. 9-10

Categories - of sins consequences

Health

Emotional

Relational

Spiritual

Source - of sins consequences

A sense of guilt

God has given all men a sense of conscience by creating us in His image.

Believers additionally have the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin.

When someone ignores their conscience and doubly so when a believer quenches the Holy Spirit they will always be or shortly will become miserable.

Recognition of God’s holiness

Isaiah 6:5 “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!””

The closer you get to God the more sick your own sins will make you.

External Consequences of Sin

Betrayal v. 11

We live in a world full of sinners.

Sometimes you will experience the consequence of a sin that was not your own.

Sins of commission where someone wrongs you intentionally.

Sins of omission where someone fails to intercede on your behalf. Someone who claims to love and care for you.

Nightmare v. 12-14

They plot and plan. Speaking their plans aloud.

But I can’t hear them. I can’t speak. I can’t stop them.

Injustice v. 19-20

“hate wrongfully”

“repay evil for good”

“False accusations”

Sin always has an area of effect.

For the sake of illustration we can personify sin by saying that it doesn’t care if its consequences are fair. It doesn’t care if what it accomplishes is just and right.

We live in a world full of sinners and sin has both natural consequences and direct judgement.

Recourse From Sin’s Consequences

(Sprinkled throughout the chapter are ways that David found help in the midst of recovering from sins consequences.)

Recognition

Recognize your sin for the offense to the holiness of God that it is.

Denial will not help you.

The requests that David makes in v. 21 are not because he believes that God is the kind of God who forsakes, but because he knows he is the kind of person who deserves to be forsaken.

Supplication v. 9

Psalm 38:9 “O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.”

To supplicate means to ask or be for something earnestly or humbly

Ephesians 6:18 “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,”

At the risk of sounding arrogant, can I persuade you to consider that a hindrance to your prayer life is probably not that you ask God for too much, but that you don’t ask Him for enough.

God has revealed Himself to us as a loving and benevolent Father. When a child has a need who do they ask?

Patience v 15

Psalm 38:15 “But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.”

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

How do we wait on the Lord?

Trust Him

Seek Him

Talk to Him

Confession v. 18

Psalm 38:18 “I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.”

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We will never make any progress overcoming sin if we do not first admit that we have a problem.

But if God has already forgiven my sin why should I confess them? Because while you may be squared away in the court room you still need to get things right in the home. You have been judicially forgiven, but you have still offended your heavenly Father and it is only right to has for His forgiveness.

Faith v. 22

Psalm 38:22 “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!”

Who did David see as the solution to his problem?

Your life will change when you start to understand that ultimately it is God in His sovereignty that is really the solution to your problems. You may not like His solutions but that is a fleshly response to a perfect God.

Eternal Solution of Sin

Who satisfied God’s wrath?

Who will completely heal our hearts and minds from the curse of sin?

Who will make things in this world new and right?