Psalm 38: Lord, I'm Sad!

English Standard Version Psalm 38

Do Not Forsake Me, O LORD

38 A PSALM OF DAVID, FOR THE MEMORIAL OFFERING.

1  O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath!

2  For your arrows have sunk into me,

and your hand has come down on me.

3  There is no soundness in my flesh

because of your indignation;

there is no health in my bones

because of my sin.

4  For my iniquities have gone over my head;

like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5  My wounds stink and fester

because of my foolishness,

6  I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;

all the day I go about mourning.

7  For my sides are filled with burning,

and there is no soundness in my flesh.

8  I am feeble and crushed;

I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9  O Lord, all my longing is before you;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

10  My heart throbs; my strength fails me,

and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

11  My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,

and my nearest kin stand far off.

12  Those who seek my life lay their snares;

those who seek my hurt speak of ruin

and meditate treachery all day long.

13  But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,

like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

14  I have become like a man who does not hear,

and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

15  But for you, O LORD, do I wait;

it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

16  For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,

who boast against me when my foot slips!”

17  For I am ready to fall,

and my pain is ever before me.

18  I confess my iniquity;

I am sorry for my sin.

19  But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,

and many are those who hate me wrongfully.

20  Those who render me evil for good

accuse me because I follow after good.

21  Do not forsake me, O LORD!

O my God, be not far from me!

22  Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation!

Such descriptive language!

I don’t have to ask how many of us have experienced grief and sadness in our lives

I know that all of us have

As kids, there are things that make us sad

And adults think that some of them are funny

But as we grow up, the things that really bring sadness into our lives aren’t so funny

They become increasingly difficult

Some of you have dealt with the death of someone very close to you

spouse

children

mother or father

grandparents

an uncle or an aunt, or even a best friend

When we think about grief in our lives, the experience of being separated by death from someone whom we love very much

is an experience that brings some of our most intense forms of grieving

And grief from a the death of a loved one is something that often stays with us for a long time

Because that person leaves such a big hole in our lives

But, you know there are other things that bring grief as well

I remember as a kid in our mission work in Canada

We would be in the States for a few weeks normally in the summer time

And, while I as a kid would grieve in my own way, I remember the grief that my parents, especially my mom went through as we would leave to head back to the northland

I remember the grief that I and my family went through as we prepared to leave Mozambique

As our time was coming to a close and things were changing rapidly

There was some pretty intense grief

Around that same time that we were preparing to leave, there were some other things going on too

One of the airplanes that we used was registered in the DRC

We had special permission to fly it in Mozambique, but things were getting complicated with the red tape, and so this airplane was being sent back to the DRC

Thing is, I LOVED to fly this airplane

And I remember, before it was sent back, I was tasked with doing a final routine inspection on it

And I remember as I did it, I just felt MAD. I didn’t know why, but I was MAD

And I came home for supper one evening and Heidi asked me how my day was

And I said, “I don’t know. It was OK, but I’m just MAD and I don’t know why”

And ever perceptive, Heidi asked me, “Does it have something to do with the grief of needing to send that airplane back to the DRC?”

And immediately I knew. And I broke down and cried.

Yeah, that was it

But grief is one of those emotions that

Sometimes is a bit difficult to diagnose

Sometimes it’s really obvious, but other times

It can come across as anger, depression, just a feeling of being morose, or blue

And just like anger

Grief is something that we often just try to stuff down

Because we aren’t sure how to deal with it

We are often ashamed of feeling sad. “That should bother me as much as it is”

I just need to buck up and deal with it

We don’t think anyone else cares

We don’t think that anyone else wants to hear about the things that are making us sad

Unfortunately, that can be true

Why? Because all of us are dealing with things that make us sad

it is part of the human experience

God is a personal God