SIN IS SERIOUS
Opening Prayer
Lord, help me to be aware of the things I do that displease You.
Read Psalm 38
Psalm 38[a]
A psalm of David. A petition.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds fester and are loathsome
because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bowed down and brought very low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7 My back is filled with searing pain;
there is no health in my body.
8 I am feeble and utterly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
even the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
my neighbors stay far away.
12 Those who want to kill me set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they scheme and lie.
13 I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
like the mute, who cannot speak;
14 I have become like one who does not hear,
whose mouth can offer no reply.
15 Lord, I wait for you;
you will answer, Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat
or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”
17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many have become my enemies without cause[b];
those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 Those who repay my good with evil
lodge accusations against me,
though I seek only to do what is good.
21 Lord, do not forsake me;
do not be far from me, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my Savior.
Footnotes:
a Psalm 38:1 In Hebrew texts 38:1-22 is numbered 38:2-23.
b Psalm 38:19 One Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript; Masoretic Text my vigorous enemies
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Lay your burdens of guilt and shame before Jesus, who bore their weight for you on the cross.God had warned, “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen. 2:17). When Adam and Eve disobeyed, God didn’t strike them dead, but a principle of death and decay had been set in motion. The shalom of well-being, wholeness and harmonious relationships was marred by disease, disharmony, disquiet, disasters, and death. Sin’s consequences were indeed “a burden too heavy to bear” (4b).
Sin had consequences for the psalmist—physical anguish (3,5,7), guilt (4), grief (6,8), alienation (11) and enemy “attacks” (12). Unlike Adam and Eve, however, he neither hid from God (9) nor made excuses for sin (5b,18). His was not a call for justice in the face of undeserved suffering (as in many psalms), but a humble, heartfelt cry for mercy. His plea not to be “forsaken” (21) will be heard because Jesus endured, on our behalf, the agony of being forsaken (Mark 15:34). Nevertheless, despite the assurance of reconciliation and restoration, the sobering truth is that even forgiven sin carries painful consequences.
Apply
All sin offends the holiness of God. All sin carries consequences. In what ways do I tend to trivialize or trifle with sin?
Closing prayer
Lord, I confess to You those things I have done wrong and ask for Your forgiveness.
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