The 38th Psalm. This is what is known as one
of the six what is called the penitential Psalms. Where David is confessing his
sin. Psalm 38. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy
wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in
me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in
my flesh because of thine anger. Neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head. As a heavy burden, they're too
heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I'm troubled. I'm bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long
for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there
is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken. I have roared by reason of the
disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desires before thee
and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth, my strength
faileth me. As for the light of mine eyes,
it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand
aloof from my sore and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that
seek after my life lay snares for me, and they that seek my
hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day
long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not. And I was as a dumb man that
openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth
not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O Lord,
do I hope. Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, hear me, lest otherwise
they should rejoice over me when my foot slippeth, they magnify
themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my
sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity,
I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively.
And they are strong. And they that hate me wrongfully
are multiplied. They also that render evil for
good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that good
is. Forsake me not, O Lord, O my
God, be not far from me. Make haste. to help me, oh Lord,
my salvation. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would meet with us, that by your spirit you would
speak from your word. Lord, you know our needs, you
know our need. We pray that you would give each
of us individually what we need. And Lord, how we need your son,
how we need your spirit, how we need the forgiveness of sins,
how we need thy salvation. Lord, accept our thanksgiving. We're so thankful for your word,
for your salvation, for your grace. Be with all your people
everywhere, wherever your name is preached. We pray for the conflict in the Ukraine. We pray
for your mercy on those people, according to your will. Bless
us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. As I said, this is what is known
as one of the six penitential Psalms. And in this Psalm, David
is confessing his individual sin that he found to be so grievous. Now, when do you not sin? Really, never. But there are
some times where there's a realization of sin, kind of like when it
is said of David's sin with Bathsheba, the thing that David did displeased
the Lord. Now this is David's feeling as
he pens this psalm, and this is I don't know how to say this. This is one of my go-to Psalms.
Whenever I have felt the grievousness of my own personal sin against
God, this one is in some ways more poignant than Psalm 51.
You can see this from this kind of language, and we're going
to read this Psalm twice, once as our confession. of sin and
the other as Christ's confession of sin from the cross. Now we
know that Christ never sinned at any time. When he was made
sin, he never sinned, but yet he felt that sin more acutely
than you and I could ever feel. when he was made sin as the sinner's
substitute. And we're gonna consider this
Psalm in both of those lights. Now let's begin where David says,
O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in
thy hot displeasure, for thine arrows stick fast in me. And
thy hand presseth me sore. Now this is how David felt about
his sin committed against the Lord. And it wasn't the consequences
of his sin that he feared so much. It was his sin against
the Lord. And that is why he expressed
such grief. His sin was against the Lord. And he said, your hand is pressing
me. So your arrows stick fast in
me. He felt the grievousness. Is that a word of his own sin
against the Lord? Look what he says in verse three.
There is no soundness in my flesh. Didn't Paul say, I know that
in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And that's exactly what David
is saying about his flesh at this time. There is no soundness
in my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest. And my marginal reading says
peace in my bones because of my sin. There's the problem. My sin for mine iniquities are
gone over my head. And I picture in my mind going
under in the ocean, just going under, and his sin seems like
an ocean going over his head that he could not deal with. My iniquities are gone over my
head as a heavy burden. They are too heavy for me. My wounds, self-inflicted might
I add, self-inflicted. The results of my sin to me. My wounds stink and are corrupt
because of my foolishness. I have brought all of this upon
myself. I'm troubled. You know, the word
is actually, yeah, he was troubled, but the word is actually, I'm
twisted. I'm perverted. That was his assessment with
regard to himself. I am twisted, perverted. I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long. Didn't the
Lord say, blessed are they that mourn? Now it's not enjoyable
to mourn, but it is part of the believer's experience. Mourning
over my sin. And let me remind you about mourning.
You know, when you mourn, when there's, when somebody dies,
before they die, there's some hope, but once they die, that's
when you begin to mourn. And this is mourning over your
sin, knowing you're so bad that you can't change it. As far as
in and of yourselves, there is no hope. That's what mourning
is all about. He says, I'm troubled, I'm bowed
down greatly. I go mourning all the day long
for my loins, every part of my body, the seat of my strength
are filled with, well, that's a powerful word, isn't it? A
loathsome disease. a loathsome disease. And he repeats himself, there
is no soundness in my flesh. It's all wounds, bruises, and
putrefying sores. That's his attitude with regard
to his flesh. He says, I'm feeble. I'm weak. I'm broken. I have roared by
reason of the disquietness of my heart. I don't feel any peace
in my heart. I feel such anxiety, anxiousness. I've roared. Verse nine, Lord,
all my desire is before thee. Do you know, I desire to never
sin again. I desire to be without sin, and
that's every believer's desire. All my desire is before thee,
and my groaning is not hid from thee. You know, groaning is the
unspoken, artistic, there's not a word in a groan, it's just
a groan that you can't even articulate what all's going on in your heart. My heart panteth. David speaking
of his exhaustion, his spiritual exhaustion. My heart panteth. My strength faileth me. It's
not there. As for the light of mine eyes,
it also is gone from me. I feel like I'm in utter darkness.
I feel cut off. I feel isolated. My lovers and
my friends stand aloof from my sword. My kinsmen stand afar
off. There's his feeling of isolation.
There's nobody like me. Verse 12, they also that seek
after my life lay snares for me. And they that seek my hurt
speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day long. This is how David, in his view
of himself, he also views other people looking at him just like
this. And he's just overwhelmed with his own personal sinfulness.
But I as a deaf man heard not any accusations brought against
me. I didn't hear them. I was a dumb man that opened
not his mouth. I didn't try to reply to anything
anybody said. And here's why. Thus I was as
a man that heareth not and whose mouths are no reproofs. He said,
I am not able to reprove anybody. I can't stand in judgment on
anybody. Any thought I might have of reproving
somebody for their conduct and their action, I can't do it.
That's how I feel about myself. I feel like I'm utterly unable
and unfit to stand in judgment and correct anybody for anything. I wish I would keep that attitude
all the time. Verse 15, for in thee, here's
the gospel, for in thee, oh Lord, do I hope. I don't have anywhere
else to hope, but in Him. In Him. That's all my hope. I
don't have anywhere else to hope. For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope.
Thou wilt hear, because salvation is in Thee. Thou wilt hear, O
Lord my God. For I said, hear me. Lest as
otherwise they should rejoice over me when my foot slippeth. The enemies of the gospel will
just rejoice seeing me slipping. And they magnify themselves against
me for I am ready to halt. I am at the verge of utter destruction
as far as the way I feel. And my sorrow is continually
before me. Now here's his confession of
sin. For I will declare mine iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies, which are my
sins, are living and they are strong. And they that hate me
wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for
good are mine adversaries, because I follow, I pursue, The thing
that good is, look at all those italics. I pursue good, that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. I follow, I pursue good. Now
here's how he felt, forsaken. So he says, forsake me not, oh
Lord. He felt like God was far away, so he said, oh my God,
be not far away from me. Make haste to help me. He felt
like he hadn't been helped. Make haste to help me, to save
me, my marginal reading says. How many times have you prayed,
Lord, save me? Just once? No, it's a continual,
continual prayer. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. Now, this is David's confession
of his sin. Now, what is even more amazing,
you know, I think we learn so much of the cross from the Psalms,
and we learned so much from the cross in this Psalm, what Christ
experienced in drinking the cup of our sins. When he drank the
contents of that cup, the dregs of that cup, my sin, the sins
of the elect. all of the sins of the elect. While he never sinned in his
person, he felt the shame of those sins much more acutely
than you or I have ever felt. He felt the shame. You can't
feel shame about something somebody else did. It's got to be something
you did. And Christ felt the shame and
the horror of sin much more acutely than you and I would ever feel
because of his holy nature. You see, we're used to sin. It's natural to the natural man. But Christ with His Holy Soul
bearing that sin, this is His experience from the cross. Now let's read it again. This
will be the third time we've read it. And it's worth reading
it every time, isn't it? Verses one and two. Oh Lord,
rebuke me not in thy wrath. Now think of the Lord Jesus saying
this to His Father. He really experienced the wrath
of God. David felt like he had, but he didn't. The Lord is experiencing
the wrath of God. And remember, he's the only one
who ever experienced the wrath of God and loved him. Everybody
else who experiences the wrath of God hates him for it, and
they would wish him to be Wiped out so they won't be experiencing
that, but not the Lord. He loved his father perfectly,
even when he was experiencing his wrath. Nobody's ever done
this, but him. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thy
wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure, for thine
arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger. Neither is there any rest in
my bones because of my sin. And that's what he calls it.
My sin. He didn't call it Todd's sin
that was imputed to me. He calls it my sin. This is how God can be just and
justify the ungodly. The only way it can happen. is
my sin became his sin. He bore it in his own body on
the tree. Look what the Lord says in verse
four. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head. As a heavy burden, They're too
heavy for me. And this is the Lord speaking
of his own experience on the cross. My wounds stink and are
corrupt because of my foolishness. It's all my fault. That's the
Lord speaking. I am troubled. I am bowed down
greatly. I go mourning all the day long
for my loins are filled. with a loathsome disease and
there is no soundness in my flesh. I'm feeble, I'm sore broken.
I roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desires
before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart panteth. My strength faileth me as for
the light of mine eyes. It also is gone from me. Now,
when he is speaking from the cross all this time, when he's
forsaken and felt this way, he never quit trusting his father. Now, when you and I are feeling
this way, we're not feeling much trust, are we? the whole time
the Lord Jesus felt this way on the cross, he never quit trusting
his Father, even when the light was gone. Now he's talking about
me and you in verse 11. My lovers and my friends stand
aloof from my sore. All the disciples forsook him
and fled. My kinsmen stand afar off, They
also that seek after my life lay snares from me, and they
that seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all
the day long, all the things that he was accused of while
he was hanging from the tree, the way he was made fun of, the
way he was mocked and ridiculed. But I, verse 13, as a deaf man
heard not. I was as a dumb man that opened
not his mouth. Remember he opened not his mouth
to defend himself. Why? He was guilty. And he knew
it. And he wasn't going to try to
justify himself. He was guilty. Look what he says
in verse 14. Thus I was as a man who heareth
not and whose mouths are no reproof. Now what I thought of when he
said, I can't reprove anybody. And I thought of what he said
in Psalm 22, six, I'm a worm. not even fit to be called a man. Now that is the Lord's experience
from Calvary's tree. Four, now here's how he kept
trusting his father during this time. For in thee, O Lord, do
I hope thou wilt hear. His perfect faith, even then
thou wilt hear. We think he ain't gonna hear
us. We're worried it's over for us, but not him. Thou wilt hear. Oh, Lord, my God. For I said, hear me, lest otherwise
they should rejoice over me when my foot slip if they magnify
themselves against me, for I am ready to halt. And my sorrow is continually
before me. For I, now this is the Lord speaking,
for I will declare my iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin. With regard to your confession
of sin, has it ever been as sincere as it ought to be? When you confess
sin, I guarantee you, you've confessed sin knowing you were
going to commit the same sin you're confessing. What about your sorrow? Have
you ever expressed sufficient sorrow for your sin? You know,
I find this with regard to everything in my experience, inadequate. Inadequate. My confession of
sin, inadequate. My sorrow for sin, inadequate. You know, we talk about how,
we don't talk about this, what the Bible says. For we know that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ
that we might just be justified by the faith of Christ. I'm trusting
His faith, not mine. It's His faith I'm trusting. He believed God perfectly. I'm
trusting His faith. We love that Christ is all to
God. He's all in the Bible. He's all
in salvation. He's all in faith, we trust his
faith, but he's really all in our experience. I'm trusting
his acknowledgement of sin. He said in verse 18, I will declare, I will
confess is the word, I will confess my sin. And there's only one
good confession, his confession. You believe that? He's the only
one who truly expressed sorrow, how sorry he was before his father
for his sin. And he expressed that sorrow. Oh, we're sorry when we get caught. We're sorry when we are embarrassed
or exposed. We're sorry because of the consequence
our sins bring. And there's true godly sorrow
as well, if we're believers. But there's such a, it's mixed
with so many things. But how he expressed true sorrow
for sin. And I'm looking to his confession. My confession is always inadequate.
My sorrow is always inadequate, but not his. He said, but mine
enemies are living and they're strong and they that hate me
wrongfully are multiplied. And truly when he was hated,
it was hated wrongfully. When somebody hates us, there's always probably some
reason we've given them. I mean, it's, I'm not saying
there are. Anything we do, there's always
something bad involved with regard to us. If somebody hates me,
well, they shouldn't hate me and I shouldn't hate anybody.
I realize that, but I've, I've probably given them reason somehow,
some kind of way I've treated them. And, but that's not so
with the Lord. He said, they hated me without
a cause. My enemies are lively and they're
strong, and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They
also that render evil for good are mine adversaries because
I follow good. Now who could say this but the
Lord completely? He pursued good because he is
good. Forsake me not, O Lord. Remember,
he felt forsaken. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Forsake me not, O Lord, O my
God, be not far from me. He felt like God was so far from
him. He felt so abandoned. He felt
so alone. Make haste to help me, O Lord,
my salvation. And my marginal reading says
that help, and it is, it's the same word save. Make haste to
save me. Well, the Lord did save him when
he raised him from the dead. He did save him. And you know
what else he saved? He saved everybody that was in
him. When he raised him from the dead, every single one of
his bones, his body, his elect, his bride, his people, every
one of them were saved. What a glorious, we'll say this
with regard to all 150 Psalms, but what a glorious Psalm, okay.