Psalm 38:17

Psalm 38:17

The trouble with sin

Sometimes we confess our sin and make reparation because we know that it is the right thing to do. Sometimes we confess to sin because we feel an obligation, even though we are not really repentant. And there are other occasions when the consequences are so bad that we are driven by remorse to “own up.” In this verse David reflects on yet another side to repentance, it is his acknowledgment that his time is up, he is about to depart, the pain of his suffering is overwhelming and so he must confess. In other words, he repents before it is too late!

What endears us to this man is his honesty, not just with himself or with us, but with God. You see God hates sin; God detests the wickedness in mankind. God hates the way we so easily fall into the ways of the world rather than seek His ways. God is angered by our sin and God must and will judge our sin. It takes men like David to help us to realise this. The Christian life is not a lovey-dovey, sentimental, be nice to everyone, brand of pious religiosity; it is a battlefield where people get hurt and the smell of impending destruction hangs in the air. It is a life and death faith in the only One who can save us and to whom we must plead in fear and trembling. It is about a Roman crucifix, surrounded by a baying mob where the Son of God was tortured and died in agony for our sins. Only when we have reached the point of despair and inability to help ourselves and we kneel in repentance at the foot of that cross can we discover the tenderness and mercy of God. David understood the seriousness of sin, so must we. 

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