PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Psalm 38
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“My guilt has become too much for me. It is a load too heavy to carry.” (Psalm 38:4)
David is in a bad place: physically, mentally, emotionally and socially tormented.
He traces the cause to his immoral choices, his doing something that he knows is wrong.
And now he feels the weight of his sin and guilt, and he’s about to blow!
Its like a ‘tractor pull’, where a tractor pulls a trailer with a weight on it.
The weight starts at the back, slowly moves to the front, making it harder to pull.
The longer we carry unconfessed sin and unresolved guilt, the heavier it becomes.
As in a tractor pull, the tractor eventually gets stuck, and sometimes the engine blows.
I recently read about a murderer on the run for 7 years who finally turned himself in.
The burden and pressure of life on the run became too much to carry.
I think of Judas who couldn’t face his shame and regret and ended his life (Matthew 27:1-5).
David shows us a better way, not denial or blameshifting but honesty and repentance.
David faces his guilt and runs to the God he has betrayed and pleads for mercy.
I sense the Lord asking me what I will do: will I try to pull this burden until I explode?
Or will I turn to God for mercy and help, and allow Him to remove it from me?
PRAYER
Lord, I hear You saying to me that I need to be honest like this too. Help me to experience the weight of guilt enough to change before my engine blows!
Lord thank You for coming to my rescue, for being there whether I need You to whisk me out of trouble or when I need just to listen to You. Please catch me when I fall and save me from problems that are often my own fault and help me remember You are always there.
I need to talk with my Saviour everyday to stay close to my Lord and my God. I need Him every hour in order to stay close to Him and follow after good and not evil – to walk in His SonShine and not in darkness. Continue to lead me and guide me Lord and surround me by Your presence.
Verse 1
I am weak and I need Thy strength and power,
To help me over my weakest hour.
Let me through the darkness Thy face to see,
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
Chorus
Lead me, guide me along the way,
For if you lead me I cannot stray.
Lord, let me walk each day with Thee.
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
Verse 2
Help me tread in the paths of righteousness.
Be my aid when Satan and sin oppress.
I am putting all my trust in Thee:
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
Verse 3
I am lost if you take your hand from me,
I am blind without Thy light to see.
Lord just always let me thy servant be,
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.
Pain, anguish and despair associated with rejection – memories of rejection puts me in the frame of mind of David – ultimately when we feel that God has rejected us or like a Judas we understand the error of what we have done – we feel like we need to end it all. But David appeals to God to come back – to help save him from his misery. David is sincerely contrite and knows he needs a Saviour! In the face of turmoil especially of soul I am driven to Jesus – the only answer – the only way back. God is his mercy and grace will not reject me forever – because of Jesus.