Daily Bible Reading Plans to help you read and understand God’s Word

Scripture Reading: Psalm 38:1-22, Psalm 39:1-13, Psalm 40:1-17, Psalm 41:1-13

When do we most often ask God for help? When we’re in a mess, particularly a mess of someone else’s making. We find it pretty easy to say, “Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation” (Psalm 38:22) when circumstances are hard, when we are suffering, or when we are being oppressed or opposed. But those aren’t the scenarios Psalm 38 is addressing. In this psalm, David was addressing our need for help in a mess of our own making. He wrote of sin (v.3), iniquity, (v.4), and foolishness (v.5). So this is a psalm for the person who has blown it and made a disaster out of their own life. It is a plea for deliverance without deserving it.

Of course the question this raises is, why would God listen to that cry for help? After all, our sin is primarily against Him, against His will and His name, and in rejection of His love for us. In verses 2–12, David agonizingly described the cost of sin—the physical and emotional cost as well as the relational cost. Some of this is what you might call the natural consequences for sinful actions. Some of it, though, is the heavy hand of God in response to sin (v.2). So if God is the one against whom we have sinned and the one whose wrath and judgment we face for our sin, why would we think that calling out to Him for deliverance makes any sense at all?

The very fact that David had the impulse to appeal to God gives us a clue. Either David was wildly presumptuous or he knows something of God’s character that gave him the confidence to beg for mercy and help... and it is the latter. David knew that God was the only one who could deliver him (v.15). He knew that the judgment of God is not aimed at destruction but at correction and restoration. God shows this throughout the Old Testament, acting severely toward His people when they sin so that they turn back to life and joy in relationship with Him. His heart is gentle and loving—it is for His people. And David knew that God has always promised to restore the repentant. So of course He turned to God for deliverance from God’s own judgment.

What is especially beautiful is that, as we piece all this together, we see that Psalm 38 has a Lenten shape to it. It is a psalm of confession, acknowledging need and asking for rescue. It is a psalm of anticipation, looking to God as our only hope and waiting on the deliverance He will bring. And Psalm 38, like the season of Lent, is concluded and fulfilled in the work of Jesus. Jesus is the incarnate means of God’s help and salvation, the manner in which God ultimately answers this plea. Thanks be to Him.

Written by Barnabas Piper