by Andrew Warden, Worship Ministry Council Member
Psalm 38
Recounting his woes in Psalm 38, King David goes a long way in reminding us of the taste of guilt before specifying in verse 12 the persecution occasioning his words. Only at this point do we realize the poem's vital distinction between divine and human wrath. In verses 1 through 11, David sings of the Lord's wrath piercing him like deadly arrows, dissolving his bones like sudden osteoporosis, horrifying him and others like festering wounds, devastating him like personal tragedy. This is the maximum; the pits.
All this though, just as an introduction. What has appeared as a plea for relief from these sufferings then turns out to be an affirmation of them. It is not his God's punishment, but his enemies' persecution that he is sure he does not deserve. And his defense is that like anyone, he seeks "only to do what is good". The flaring up of his enemies' aggression is the immediate problem, not the state of sin. The state of sin is a fact of life. It's even a blessing in the context of heartfelt confession, because it allows us to know God's forgiveness and salvation.
I really don't want to - and don't - go around fully trying to appreciate how un-Christlike I am. And that's pretty scary. How oblivious, how blithe will I become, and for how long, before I find myself in a situation so troubling that I can feel honestly and accurately rotten about my unjustifiable selfishness? Right now, I would guess I'm about 75% blind to how good a person I could stand to become, but this psalm reminds me that the true figure's probably upwards of 99.9%. David's tormented supplication reassures me that one's earthly downfall is an occasion for transformation in the Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment