redemption

A Sheep’s Journey Through Psalms -38

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A Devotional on Psalm 38: A Cry from the Heart

As I sit with Psalm 38, I feel the weight of David’s words pressing into my soul. His raw honesty, his desperate plea for God’s mercy, resonates deeply. “My whole body is sick,” he cries, “because of my sin” (v. 3). I’ve been there—haven’t you?—when the burden of my mistakes feels like a physical ache, when guilt and shame threaten to drown out hope. David’s words remind me that I’m not alone in this struggle, and from a Christian perspective, they point me toward the healing grace of Christ, a truth echoed by the early church fathers.

David describes a soul overwhelmed: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear” (v. 4). I can almost see him, head bowed, heart heavy, confessing not just to God but to himself that his sin has consequences. St. Augustine, in his Confessions, knew this weight well. He wrote, “The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.” Sin doesn’t just separate us from God; it fractures our inner peace, leaving us restless until we return to Him. Like David, Augustine learned that only in confessing our brokenness do we open the door to God’s restoration.

Yet, what strikes me about Psalm 38 is not just the despair but the audacity of David’s hope. Even as he laments, “My wounds fester and are loathsome” (v. 5), he pleads, “Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me” (v. 21). This is no casual prayer—it’s a cry from the depths, a refusal to let go of God’s presence. Early church father Gregory of Nyssa saw this kind of prayer as a journey toward God: “The soul that looks steadfastly to God is raised above the changes and chances of this mortal life.” David’s plea is not just for relief but for nearness to God, a reminder that even in our lowest moments, we can seek the One who never abandons us.

As Christians, we read Psalm 38 through the lens of the cross. David’s cry for mercy finds its ultimate answer in Jesus, who bore our sins and carried our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4). When I feel the sting of my own failures, I’m reminded of St. John Chrysostom’s words: “The Cross is the remedy for all our ills.” Christ’s sacrifice doesn’t erase the reality of our sin’s consequences, but it transforms them, offering forgiveness and the promise of renewal. David didn’t know the full story of redemption we now see, but his faith in God’s mercy foreshadows the hope we have in Jesus.

So, what do I take from Psalm 38 today? It’s okay to feel the weight of my sin, to name it honestly before God as David did. But I can’t stay there. Like David, I’m called to lift my eyes to the Lord, to trust that He hears my cry and is near. “Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior” (v. 22). This is my prayer, and it’s yours too. Let’s bring our brokenness to the foot of the cross, where Christ’s love meets us, heals us, and sets us free.

Reflection: What burdens are you carrying today? Take a moment to lay them before God in prayer, trusting in His mercy. How might Christ’s grace reshape the way you see your struggles?

Prayer: Lord, my heart is heavy with my own failings, but I trust in Your unfailing love. Draw near to me, as You did to David, and heal me through the grace of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.

The Doctrine of Adoption

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The article below gives a very good overview of a doctrine that is often overlooked. Our being adopted into God’s family as His sons and daughters, becoming a co-heir with Jesus Christ is an essential teaching that is not stressed enough in our churches. Please take a look at this article and post comments.

http://covenantofgracechurch.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=11

Hymn Devotions Day 18 – When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

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DAY 18 – WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS

               Of all of Isaac Watts’ hymns, this one is probably my favorite. Great words of truth mixed with a fantastic melody, this hymn is well worth singing regularly.

I particularly love the second stanza. There is nothing any of us have to boast about except our Lord. Are we brilliant? God gave us our intellect. Are we strong? God fashioned our body. Are we successful? God has blessed us.

All we are we owe to our Creator, especially our salvation. In God’s plan, in God’s time, in God’s power, He redeemed us to Himself through His Son. Salvation, as Jonah stated, is from the Lord.

Everything this world has to charm us with is nothing compared to what awaits us in glory. Why should I take my eyes off eternal perfection for temporal things? Truly, no offering I can give is enough. If I had, as the fourth verse states, everything in the world, it still would not be too great an offering to give. But what I do have, my life, I give freely to the One who is worthy of worship, the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Lord, reading again of Your Son’s death on the cross to pay the price for my sins, brings me both great sorrow and gratitude. Sorrow that I, like all other humans, failed to live up to Your holy standards; gratitude that You took it upon Yourself to pay my penalty. I can never repay You. I can only say, “Thank You.” Take my life. You created me, You bought me, take what is rightfully Yours.

 WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS – Isaac Watts

 

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

 

Forbid it Lord, that I should boast

Save in the death of Christ my God

All the vain things that charm me most

I sacrifice them to His blood

 

See, from His head, His hands, His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

 

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

 

 

Hymn Devotions Day 12 – I Love To Tell The Story

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DAY 12 – I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY

       The history of this hymn and her sister hymn Tell Me the Old, Old Story is fascinating. Taken from a long poem, some fifty stanzas written by Katherine Hankey, both songs draw a person to realize just how precious sharing the gospel truly is.

The first reason to tell the gospel story is, of course, because some have never heard. How sad that some 2,000 years after being given the command to go into all the world we have not been completely obedient.

Another reason is also mentioned in the hymn. Those who know the gospel best still long to hear it again and again. It never gets old. It still amazes everyone when they reflect on the depth of love that God has for us. We still marvel at Jesus’ sacrificial death. We still cry on Good Friday and jump and shout triumphantly on Easter Sunday.

When we arrive in heaven, our song – the song of redemption, will be unique in the cosmos; and we will never get tires of it. 

Lord, I love to tell the story of Your salvation. From the choosing of Mary and Joseph as Your earthly parents to the birth in Bethlehem to the cross on Calvary, the story is marvelous and amazing. How deep Your love is. How merciful Your actions. Help me to tell the old, old story, both to those who have never heard and to those who long to hear it again.

 

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY by Katherine Hankey

I love to tell the story of unseen things above

Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love

I love to tell the story because I know ’tis true

It satisfies my longings like nothing else can do

 

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems

Than all our golden fancies of all our golden dreams

I love to tell the story, it did so much for me

And that is just the reason, I tell it now to thee

 

I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat

What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet

I love to tell the story, for some have never heard

The message of salvation, from God’s own holy word

 

I love to tell the story for those who know it best

Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest

And when, in scenes of glory, I sing a new, new song

‘Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long

 

REFAIN:

I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory

To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love