When Overcome by Sin and Guilt (Psalm 38)

\

When You are Overcome by Your Sin and Guilt:

1. How does David describe his suffering (Ps 38:1; 6:1)?
• Is he asking not to be rebuked or disciplined?
• Who does God discipline (Heb 12:6)? Why (Heb 12:10)?
• How does he feel (Ps 38:2)?
2. What does David connect his suffering with (Ps 38:3, 5)? How did his sin and guilt affect him (Ps 38:4, 6-8)? How does your sin affect you?
• Does God discipline severely (Ac 5:5, 10; 1 Cor 11:29-30)?
• What kind of suffering have you experienced in your life?
• What do you think caused your suffering?
3. What does David know about God's knowledge of him (Ps 38:9; 139:1, 5, 7, 23-24; Gen 16:13)? How is he different from Adam (Gen 3:10)? How devastated is he (Ps 38:10, 17)?
4. How does David's friends react to him (Ps 38:11-12)? Why (Ps 38:16, 19-20)? How did he respond to their criticism and opposition (Ps 38:13-14; 46:10; Eccl 5:2; Isa 53:7; Mt 27:14)?
5. After expressing great suffering what did David do (Ps 38:15; 39:7; 42:5, 11)? Is it easy for you to just wait on God without any time schedule (Job 13:15) What if you do (Isa 40:31)?
6. Is it easy to honesty confess your sins (Ps 38:18)? What if you don't (Ps 32:3-4)? What if you do (Ps 32:5; 1 Jn 1:9)?
7. Do you long to be near God more than with someone else (Ps 38:21)? How earnestly do you affirm your need for help (Ps 38:22)?
• Was his suffering relieved at the end of this Psalm? Is there a high point in this Psalm?
• How could David be so bold to appeal to God for mercy, being the guilty sinner that he was (Ps 51:3-4)?

• How might affliction, anguish, adversity and anxiety help a Christian more than comfort and convenience, safety and security (Ps 119:67, 71, 75, 92)?

• How does Psalm 38 point to Christ (Ps 22:1; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34)?

• Psalm 38 ends with 4 responses to our sin-induced suffering:

1. Affirm you need help (Ps 38:22),
2. Run to and wait for the Helper (Ps 38:15),
3. Directly confess your sin (Ps 38:18), and
4. Long for God to be near (Ps 38:21).

• What is your reaction to those responses?
• Are some easier or harder for you?
• Would anything keep you from embracing those responses?

Turn to a Justly Offended God. The God who Deals with Your Sin is also the God who Saves You.

• "Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath" (Ps 38:1). "Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior" (Ps 38:21-22).

• "Lord, do not rebuke me in Your fury nor chastise me in Your wrath" (Ps 38:1, Robert Altar). "Do not forsake me, Lord. My God, do not stay far from me. Hasten to my help, O Master of my rescue" (Ps 38:21-22).

• "Yahweh, do not, in your exasperation, discipline me, nor in your rage, chasten me" (Ps 38:1, Alec Motyer). "Do not leave me, Yahweh! My God, do not be distant from me! Oh, hurry to my help! O Sovereign One, my salvation!" (Ps 38:21-22).

Theme: The God who acts against our sin is the God to whom we can appeal for help. [The discipline of God. The pain of sin. Sin messes everything up. Hanging on by a thread. The sick sinner's only hope. Godly sorrow and regret.]

• Psalm 38 is a lament psalm, as David laments his physical and emotional suffering, which he attributes to his sin.
• Psalm 38 is also a penitential psalm. It expresses David's guilt over his sin and begs for relief.

In Psalm 38, David feels the overwhelming burden of his sin and the corresponding displeasure of YHWH, causing God to move against him and to attack him (Ps 38:1-2). He feels intense misery, like a cursed sin-bearer, and quite aware of two things: the evil of his own sin, and God's great displeasure of it. He knows he's guilty (Ps 38:4) and foolish (Ps 38:5) resulting in great unbearable anguish (Ps 38:8). He uses the imagery of illness (Ps 38:7), weakened bones (Ps 38:3), overwhelming burdens (Ps 38:4), rotting flesh (Ps 38:5), crippling ailments (Ps 38:10), mourning (Ps 38:6), fear (Ps 38:19), helplessness (Ps 38:16-17), and loss of strength (Ps 38:8) with no control. He freely admits his sin and his remorse (Ps 38:18). He asks God to stop because he can't take it much more (Ps 38:7-8). David knows he doesn't deserve God's mercy, but he asks for God to save him anyway (Ps 38:22).

A1. Plea for forbearance in a time of wrath (Ps 38:1-2)

B1. Extremity of need: sin and sickness (Ps 38:3-8)

A2. Openness to God: nothing hidden (Ps 38:9)

B2. Reactions: inwardly (Ps 38:10), socially (Ps 38:11-12), personally (Ps 38:13-14)

A3. Profession: confident hope (Ps 38:15)

B3. Confession of sin in the crisis (Ps 38:16-20)

A4. A plea for God not to forsake but to help (Ps 38:21-22)

The evidence of sin's effects is all around David: his body is failing; his mind is troubled; his spirit is in turmoil. And in addition to this internal misery, he's also afflicted from without. "Enemies" set traps and lie in wait, and his friends and neighbors shun him. All this the psalmist sees as God's punishment.

As your love is most sweet to my heart, so your displeasure is most cutting to my conscience.

The conviction of sin is a piercing and a pressing thing, sharp and sore, smarting and crushing.

One drop of divine anger sets the whole of our blood boiling with misery.

God's anger searches the secret parts of the heart.

It is well when sin is an intolerable load, and when the remembrance of our sins burdens us beyond endurance. Lord, point me to Christ. 

1. The Psalm opens with a prayer (Ps 38:1-2);
2. continues in a long complaint (Ps 38:3-8);
3. pauses to dart an eye to Heaven (Ps 38:9);
4. proceeds with a second tale of sorrow (Ps 38:10-14);
5. interjects another word of hopeful address to God (Ps 38:15);
6. a third time pours out a flood of griefs (Ps 38:16-20);
7. then closes as it opened, with renewed petitioning (Ps 38:21-22).

Quotes on guilt:

• "Guilt is often a sign that your moral compass is functioning well." - Tim Keller.
• "Guilt is simply God's way of letting you know that your actions are in conflict with who you want to be." - Neil T. Anderson.
• "Guilt is to the spirit what pain is to the body." - Elder Neal A. Maxwell
• "Guilt is the result of sin, but it should drive us to God, not away from Him." - Max Lucado
• "Guilt says you made a mistake; shame says you are a mistake. God never condemns, but He convicts." - Lysa TerKeurst
• "True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself." - R.D. Laing
• "Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway." - Isabelle Holland
• "Guilt is the source of sorrow; 'tis the fiend, Th' avenging fiend, that follows us behind, With whips and stings." - Nicholas Rowe
• "Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone." - Dallas Willard
• "The devil knows that if he can capture your thoughts, he can capture your heart. Guilt and shame can be paralyzing, but Jesus came to set us free." - Christine Caine
• "God is more interested in changing your mind than changing your circumstances." - Adrian Rogers
• "The greatest miracle that God can do today is to take an unholy man out of an unholy world and make that unholy man holy and put him back into that unholy world and keep him holy in it." - Leonard Ravenhill

• Overall Theme: What is the overarching theme of Psalm 38? How does it relate to the consequences of sin, the importance of seeking God's forgiveness, and maintaining faith during trials?
• Application: How can we apply the lessons and principles from Psalm 38 to our own lives? Are there areas of sin or suffering where this Psalm's message can provide guidance and comfort?
• Prayer: Spend some time in prayer, using Psalm 38 as a model. Confess any sins, seek God's forgiveness, and ask for His help and protection in your current circumstances.

[Psalms express worship. It encourages its readers to praise God for who He is and what He has done. They illuminate the greatness of our God, affirm His faithfulness to us in times of trouble, and remind us of the absolute centrality of His Word.]

References:

1. Alec Motyer. Psalms by the Day. A New Devotional Translation. 2016.
2. Robert Altar. The Hebrew Bible. A Translation with Commentary. 2019.
3. Affliction, Adversity, Anxiety and Anguish is Good for Me.
   

	NIV	Robert Altar	Alec Motyer
	A psalm of David. A petition.	A David psalm, to call to mind.	A psalm of David’s; To bring to remembrance.
1	Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger     or discipline me in your wrath.	Lord, do not rebuke me in Your fury       nor chastise me in Your wrath.	Yahweh, do not, in your exasperation, discipline me, nor in your rage, chasten me.
2	Your arrows have pierced me, and        your hand has come down on me.	For your arrows have come down upon me, and upon me has come down Your hand.	For your arrows are dropped down onto me, and your hand comes 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.	There is no whole place in my flesh through your rage, no soundness in my limbs through my offense.	There is no soundness in my flesh, on account of your indignation; there is no peace in my bones on account of my sin.
4	My guilt has overwhelmed me     like a burden too heavy to bear.	For my crimes have welled over my head, like a heavy burden too heavy for me.	Because my iniquities have reached over my head, like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5	My wounds fester and are loathsome        because of my sinful folly.	My sores make a stench, have festered through my folly.	My wounds stink with decay on account of my silliness.
6	I am bowed down & brought very low ; all day long I go about mourning.	I am twisted, I am all bent.         All day long I go about gloomy.	I am bent right down exceedingly. I have walked around, mourning, all the day,
7	My back is filled with searing pain;     there is no health in my body.	For my innards are filled with burning and there is no whole place in my flesh.	for my muscles are full of inflammation and there is no wholeness in my flesh.
8	I am feeble and utterly crushed;     I groan in anguish of heart.	I grow numb and am utterly crushed.       I roar from my heart’s churning.	I am numb and crushed exceedingly; I have roared because of the groaning of my heart.
9	All my longings lie open before you, Lord;   my sighing is not hidden from you.	O Master, before You is all my desire and my sighs are not hidden from You.	Sovereign One, in front of you is all my desire, and from you my moaning has not been hidden.
10	My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.	My heart spins around, my strength forsakes me, and the light of my eyes, too, is gone from me.	My heart palpitates; my strength has left me; and the light of my eyes—they too are not with me.
11	My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;     my neighbors stay far away.	My friends and companions stand off from my plight and my kinsmen stand far away.	Those who love me, and my friends stand away from my plague, and my nearest relatives stand at a distance.
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.	They lay snares, who seek my life and want my harm. They speak lies, deceit utter all day long.	And those who are seeking my life set snares, and those who are seeking my evil speak of destruction, and they muse about deceitful things all the day.
13	I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,   like the mute, who cannot speak;	But like the deaf I do not hear, and like the mute whose mouth will not open.	And as for me, like a deaf man I do not hear, and like a dumb person who does not open his mouth.
14	I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.	And I become like a man who does not hear and has no rebuke in his mouth.	And I have become like a man who is not hearing, and in whose mouth there are no rebukes.
15	Lord, I wait for you;    you will answer, Lord my God.	For in You, O Lord, I have hoped. You will answer, O Master, my God.	Because in you, Yahweh, I have set my hope. You yourself will answer, O Sovereign One, my God.
16	For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”	For I thought, “Lest they rejoice over me, when my foot slips, vaunt over me.”	Because I said—Lest they rejoice over me, act grandly against me when my foot slips!
17	For I am about to fall,     and my pain is ever with me.	For I am ripe for stumbling         and my pain is before me always.	For I am ready to trip up,         and my pain is before me continually.
18	I confess my iniquity;     I am troubled by my sin.	For my crime I shall tell, I dread my offense.	For I will declare my iniquity ; I am anxious about my sin.
19	Many have become my enemies without cause; those who hate me without reason are numerous.	And my wanton enemies grow many, my unprovoked foes abound.	And my enemies are alive! They are mighty! And those who hate me on false grounds are many.
20	Those who repay my good with evil  lodge accusations against me, though I seek only to do what is good.	And those who pay back good with evil thwart me for pursuing good.	And those who are paying me back evil for good are my opponents, in return for my pursuit of good.
21	Lord, do not forsake me;   do not be far from me, my God.	Do not forsake me, Lord.   My God, do not stay far from me.	Do not leave me, Yahweh!     My God, do not be distant from me!
22	Come quickly to help me,    my Lord and my Savior.	Hasten to my help,         O Master of my rescue.	Oh, hurry to my help!          O Sovereign One, my salvation!