Things to be remembered

Introduction

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Well, here we are once again in the Psalms. A few years ago I said that one of my goals was to preach through the Psalter, all 150 Psalms. And so, for the last four years now we’ve committed our summer months to the study of the Psalms taking one Psalm a week.

Now, why have we committed to this? Well, because the Psalter is a remarkable book. And it is a book. Don’t think of the Psalms as individual units. The Psalms, though written over the course of hundreds of years and by several different authors still tell one overarching story; A story of God’s love, faithfulness, and redemption of a broken and fallen people.

The Psalms, through beautifully poetic language reveal the character and nature of God. The Psalms themselves point to the person of Jesus Christ as the redeemer of mankind, as the true King who reigns forever.

The Psalms lead us and teach us to worship. They teach us to pray.

The Psalms, as James Hamilton says,

“Are true history, fulfilled prophecy, and enduring praise. The book of Psalms is a school of prayer, a fountain of truth, and a revelation of God himself. We will not master this book, but oh that it might master us, becoming the pulse to which our hearts beat, the soil in which our souls take root.”

He’s right to say that we will never fully master this book. And here’s why.

Psalms 1 and 2 are the lenses by which we read the rest of the Psalms.

In Psalm 1 we read,

Psalm 1:1–2 (ESV)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

We see right here in this opening Psalm a call from God to the blessed life. Meaning, if you want to prosper, if you want to be fruitful, if you want to find meaningful, sustaining, everlasting joy, if you want to flourish and experience life as God has intended then you will center your life, root your life in God’s Word without wavering. Day and night, this is where our mind and our heart are centered.

Jesus says something very similar in Matthew 7.

Matthew 7:24–25 (ESV)

“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

What is the rock Jesus refers to? God’s Word, specifically, his teachings.

And so, why will we not fully master this book?

Because we’re sinful. We don’t always center our lives on the teachings of God’s Word. We drift, we do our own thing, we forget, we neglect it.

And that’s why we need Psalm 2.

The second psalm directs our attention to the eternal Son of God, the King who will reign forever, the one who will make us right and restore us once again with our God. Psalm 2 points to Jesus.

Psalm 2:6–8 (ESV)

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.

Psalm 2:12 (ESV)

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

We need the Psalms for they remind us of the glory of God, they teach us the way which leads to human flourishing and they point us to our only hope as sinful creatures, which is Christ.

The Psalms could be said are a worship manual for God’s people. How and why do we praise him? How do we approach him? Who do we look to and rest in, in times of trial and trouble?

Context

As we read through and study the psalms we’re being invited into a people’s relationship with their God. The psalms we’ve gone through over the past three summers have largely been written by David. We’re seeing from him his relationship with God and how its been developed through the seasons of his life. How does David handle adversity, trial, and conflict? How is David worshipping God? What does he delight in and why? What guides his prayers? These are what we see through the psalms and what we’ve seen over the past three summers.

Body

Now here we are in Psalm 38 and we’re going to learn from David’s mistakes and his approach of God when the stench of sin is all around him. David is experiencing the destructiveness of sin and the havoc it produces but also of the help he receives as he waits patiently on the Lord and his salvation.

Take a look at the superscription. It’s found right before verse 1. This is “A psalm of David, for the memorial offering.” Other translations might say, “to bring remembrance.”

And so, think of this Psalm as a way to remind us of 1) the utter destructiveness of our sin, and 2) the abundant mercy of God.

And that’s really how I’ve broken this psalm down today. Two reminders. Two things to be remembered.

Number 1. The utter destructiveness of sin.

Take a look at verse 1.

Psalm 38:1 (ESV)

O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!

We tend to often think that the most devastating consequence of our sin is what it does to our own lives or to the lives of others. And though it’s true that sin creates a large ripple effect that impacts and affects others, what do we first learn here?

The most devastating consequence of our sin is that it incurs God’s anger and God’s wrath.

We talked about this last week in Mark 9. Sin is serious and must be met with a serious response. Jesus used extreme language to emphasize the seriousness of sin.

If your hand, your foot, or your eye causes you to sin, tempts you toward sin, cut it off, pluck it out. Why?

Because to live in unrepentant sin is to incur God’s wrath ultimately expressed in an eternal hell. This is what Jesus talked about in Mark 9.

Sin is not something to be taken lightly. God does not treat sin lightly. Paul says in Romans 11.

Romans 11:22 (ESV)

Note then the kindness and the severity of God.

Sin is our rebellion against a holy God, our rejection of a holy God, our treason against a holy God. And all stand before God guilty.

David understands this. He understands that his sin is wicked. He understands that his sin brings consequences. That what we see in verse 2.

Psalm 38:2 (ESV)

For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.

He’s feeling the piercing conviction that comes through the Holy Spirit. He’s feeling the weightiness and guilt of his sin. But he’s asking God to rebuke him, or discipline him as a loving Father disciplines their child.

As parents we know the difference between disciplining our children out of love for them and disciplining them in anger.

David here is resting in the truth that he is God’s child and because of that God’s wrath is no longer directed toward him and that even here we see the beauty and glory of the cross where God’s wrath was satisfied through Jesus’ death and sacrifice for our sins.

He knows there will be consequences, he knows God will discipline him but he’s reminding himself in this prayer that this discipline comes out of love.

This is what the author of Hebrews says about God.

Hebrews 12:6 (ESV)

The Lord disciplines the one he loves.”

We need to remember first that our sin is ultimately an offense against a holy God, and that without Christ we bear God’s wrath for that is what sin brings about, but, through Jesus we no longer bear the weight of God’s wrath and praise God for that.

Yet, painfully, this psalm continues and we see the devastation that sin leaves in its wake.

We’re all midwesterners here. We know that tornado season begins every spring and carries on throughout the summer months. We’ve seen the footage of what a tornado does to a town and you can oftentimes look at the path the tornado took as it ripped through houses and businesses.

Similarly here, the next ten verses trace that destructive path sin leaves in its wake.

In verse 3 and verse 7 we see the phrase, “There is no soundness in my flesh.” He is not experiencing and walking in the peace of God. His physical frame is broken by sin.

What we see here is that sin weakens us, disrupts us physically.

Right? Verse 3. “There is no health in my bones because of my sin. Verse 4, “Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.” Verse 5, My wounds stink and fester. Verse 6, “I’m utterly bowed down…all day I go about mourning.” Verse 8, I am feeble and crushed.”

What image of David comes to mind when you hear him say these words? This is a man who can barely stand. This is not a man living in health and vitality. He’s not eating. He’s not sleeping. He looks like death.

This is sins effect on us physically.

But sin affects us spiritually as well.

Verse 9, David is longing and sighing before the Lord. For those who have walked through intense seasons of grief you understand that painful sigh. Like, this hurts from within. You feel depleted, empty, and drained and so you painfully sigh.

In verse 10 he says,

Psalm 38:10 (ESV)

My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

Sin robs us of joy. His heart hurts, there is no joy in his eyes only pain. He has no strength or drive to do anything. He is deeply discouraged if not depressed because of sin’s consequences in his life.

We see sin wreak havoc on personal relationships.

Verse 11,

Psalm 38:11 (ESV)

My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.

Our sin affects our relationships. Why is that? Well, what do we see happen in Genesis 3 when sin enters into God’s good world through Adam and Eve? The moment they disobey they feel shame and embarrassment. They cover themselves with fig leaves and so right away you see that there’s distance between the two of them. When God calls for them they run and hide. There’s now distance between them and God because of sin.

Sin brings shame and guilt and so we now run and hide from one another. Sin doesn’t lead us toward life and vitality but rather a life of shambles and so this disrupts relationships.

But we also see in verse 12 that sin emboldens enemies. In our weakened state the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy us

These are the devastating consequences of sin. The utter destructiveness of sin. Can we better understand why Jesus spoke with such radical language last week as we walked through Mark 9? Cut the hand off, cut the foot off, pluck the eye out if it tempts you to sin. It’s better do without than to suffer the devastating consequences that sin brings about.

We need to be reminded of this. But we also need to be reminded secondly of,

Number two. God’s abundant mercy.

This is what the last half of this psalm leads us to. We see in David’s response to his sin that he knows God is merciful.

Look at verses 13 and 14.

Psalm 38:13–14 (ESV)

But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth. I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

David is saying, I will not give excuses for my sin. He’s saying, I’m guilty.

When we sin what we’re doing is chasing after false gods, false idols. We’re looking to something created to give us meaning and purpose rather than looking to the Creator. And so, when we worship these false gods that cannot speak, cannot hear, can do nothing for us we become like them.

We become what we worship.

If we worship Jesus, we become more like Jesus but if we worship false gods we become like them. And that’s what’s happening here with David. He’s in essence saying, I’ve worshipped false gods and now I’m becoming like them. I cannot speak, I cannot hear and because of that, he’s saying, I can’t give any justification for my actions. I’m caught red-handed. I’m guilty.

The first step toward finding freedom and forgiveness and mercy is to accept and admit that you’re guilty.

Most people struggle to get past this first step because we don’t like to admit our guilt. We don’t like to admit our depravity. We don’t like to accept that apart from Christ we are hopeless. So often when confronted with our sin we respond with something like, “Well I wouldn’t have if...” “If they wouldn’t have provoked me.” “If this circumstance was different.” “If they would have responded differently.” Do you hear the blame-shifting in those responses. It’s never me, it’s external. “Change the environment and I won’t sin” is the excuse.

Our response really should be, “I sinned because...” “Because I’m a sinner in need of grace.” “I’m guilty. I have no excuse to give.”

The former excuses given reveal that the remedy to sin is just a change in environment. Change the people around me, change how they respond, change my circumstances and I won’t sin.

But what do we see from David as the true remedy for sin?

Verse 15.

Psalm 38:15 (ESV)

But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

In verse 14 David says I have no answer to give and in verse 15 he says, but I know who can give an answer.

This right here is the beauty of the gospel. Where sin condemns and silences us because of our guilt, Jesus speaks and says, “Forgiven, the debt is paid in full.”

Where our enemies or even the great enemy hurl accusations our way like what we see in verse 12 and even in verse 16, our hope is found in the truth that if God is for us who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31).

And so, because of the abundant mercy of God our response then is confession and repentance.

Verse 18.

Psalm 38:18 (ESV)

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.

Whereas the first step toward finding freedom, forgiveness, and mercy is the admittance of guilt, the second step then is confession and repentance.

We confess our sins, we turn from our sins toward the blessed life as outlined in Psalm 1 where our delight is in God’s Word and the Jesus revealed through it. We seek, by God’s grace then to do what is good and right knowing that it will bring scorn and ridicule from a sinful world.

Verse 20,

Psalm 38:20 (ESV)

Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.

And it’s really verses 21 and 22 that showcase the abundant mercy of God.

Psalm 38:21–22 (ESV)

Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!

Think back to what David said in verse 5. “My wounds stink and fester.” His sin wreaked.

What’s a skunk do to defend itself? It sprays its attackers with a horribly smelling odor. The smell itself is repulsive.

David’s friends stood at a distance from him. Those who were closest to him abandoned him. It’s what sin does. It’s smelly, it’s gross, it’s repulsive.

But what’s David’s request in verse 21. “Don’t be far from me.”

As David looked forward and we look back to the cross it’s there that we see the loving embrace of Jesus for sinners. In 2 Corinthians 5 we read that Jesus became sin for us. He took on himself the stench of sin, he took upon himself the wrath of God that sin brought about. He became the punishment. He became the sacrifice. Why? So that we could take upon ourselves through faith in Christ his righteousness.

Through faith in Jesus we become the sweet smelling aroma of Christ. This is the mercy of God, the abundant mercy of God.

Do you believe this? We’ve all experienced the consequences of our sin. The only hope we have is the one David acts on in this psalm. Admit, confess, repent, rest in God’s mercy and grace.