Theme: The Sunshine of God’s Mercy
1. It uplifts the weary soul
2. It breaks through the fog of skeptics
LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger. Do not discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am fading away. Heal me, LORD, for my bones are trembling, 3 and my soul is terrified. But you, O LORD—how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul. Save me because of your mercy.
5 For in death no one remembers you. In the grave who praises you? 6 I am worn out from my groaning. I flood my bed all night long. With my tears I drench my couch. 7 My eyes are blurred by sorrow. They are worn out because of all my foes.
8 Turn away from me, all you evildoers, because the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD accepts my prayer.
10 They will be put to shame. All my enemies will be terrified. They will turn back.
This last week, my family and I went on a short camping trip. Our campsite was located in a small valley with a river between two larger hills. One thing I found interesting was that in the morning, there was always a thick mist covering the valley. It looked like a band of smoke across the entire valley floor. However, once the sun made it over the hills, the mist would quickly dissipate. One morning I head into a town to the East which was only a couple of miles away. Already there, the sun was on full display and it felt like completely different place. But no matter how cold the mornings began, or how much mist covered the area, the sun would eventually come out and clear it away.
This is the way that David portrays the work of the LORD’s mercy in this psalm. He speaks of it like the sun that clears away the fog of sin and unrighteousness. Life can feel like living in a valley. In one area everything seems to be great and fine, the sun is out and shining and the weather is perfect. At other times, it can feel like we’re caught in the cold and damp shadows of the hills around us, and the fog above keeps us from seeing things for what they really are.
In terms of his plight, David speaks of two areas. First, he recognizes his own failures before God and the need to be forgiven. Second, he speaks of those who mock God and despise David’s faith. Like David, we suffer in these same two ways, and today, through God’s Word, we see the power of His mercy in addressing both.
David begins by talking about his own personal sins. As the psalm opens, it’s clear that guilt lies heavy on David’s heart. He speaks as a man who has no other hope in life – talking about the LORD’s wrath and anger, describing his life as fading away, his bones as trembling, and his soul as terrified. David is truly conscious of the just consequences of his sins, and he knows that he cannot turn to himself for help.
But in a surprising twist, David is bold in turning to the LORD for help. The opening verses of the psalm are filled with pleas to God for deliverance. David calls to the LORD: be merciful to me, heal me, turn to me, deliver me, and save me. It’s interesting to note these two ways that David speaks of his own sins – first, admitting his shame, guilt, and hopelessness; and second, calling to, and almost demanding that the LORD help.
This response to sin makes no sense to human nature. If we are guilty and justly condemned before God, we have no right to plead and even demand that He help us. Those who are guilty do not get to call the shots. Yet, this is exactly what God wants us to do. In another Psalm (50:15), the writer quotes God as saying, “Call on Me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.” Jesus says in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” And Peter encourages Christians to “cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1Pe 5:7)
This is an amazing feature of the LORD’s mercy. It allows us, even exhorts us, to come to God for help, healing, and forgiveness when we don’t deserve it. From the standpoint of human nature, we tend to believe that there are times when we deserve things before God and times when we don’t. So often, people think that if you’ve been good enough (maybe not perfect) but good, then you can get something from God. But if you’re a hardened sinner – a bad person in the eyes of the world (think of some of the most heinous sins that people despise today) then you can’t receive any help from God.
But the true reality as God describes it in His Word is that we’re all equally guilty and deserving of punishment. We all stand condemned, without any other options, and underserving of God’s mercy. But, because of the work of Christ on our behalf, we can call to God for help. We can trust and believe that no matter what we have done in the past, His mercy is always promised to sinners. So, the sunshine of that mercy in Jesus, which uplifts the burdened sinner, is not about good people vs. bad people; it’s only about repentant sinners who trust in Jesus for forgiveness. That is always something we don’t deserve, but also always something that God continually offers freely.
Think of the sinful woman from our Scripture reading. Wasn’t that lesson an exact example of what we’re describing here? She was told by the people around her, especially her religious leaders, that she was too far gone for God’s mercy. She didn’t deserve it. She had done too many bad things. She was the kind of sinner that the world around her despised most deeply. And yet Jesus told her she was not beyond His mercy. In fact, she was in a better and safer place than those who stood by and condemned her, because she was no longer trusting in herself. David was in the very same spot in this psalm. Although the opening verses graphically portray his guilt and shame, they are even more so a testament to His Savior’s enduring mercy, and therefore, they beautifully depict the sinner’s hope.
This wasn’t the only connection between David and that sinful woman, either. David, too, had to deal with the accusations of his peers. The second half of the psalm reads, 8 Turn away from me, all you evildoers, because the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD accepts my prayer. 10 They will be put to shame. All my enemies will be terrified. They will turn back.
It’s sad that God has given people the miraculous ability to uplift and bring joy to others by speaking of His mercy in Christ, but so often people instead use their words to pick others apart and destroy. David wrestled with this, as many people around him scoffed at the idea that God would forgive him. Maybe they didn’t believe in God. Maybe they thought what David had done was too horrible. Whatever the case, their words were not only blatant lies, but extremely harmful. The same is true of the woman’s situation. Imagine what would have happened to her if Jesus had not been present to set the record straight. It’s likely she would have been led to ultimate despair about her sins – almost like living under the shadow of a fog and being tempted to believe the sun no longer exists.
That’s the foolishness of unbelief – it denies reality. Many people refuse to believe in God because they think He is not real, that mercy in Jesus is a non-credible source of hope. But, time and time again, through both the testimony His Word, and the examples of past sinners (like David and this woman) God shows how real His mercy is. It’s like living under the sun, enjoying all of its benefits like warmth, the potential for growth, and light, but then denying that it truly exists. Just because the mist of guilt is present in certain seasons of life does not mean the sun ceases to exist. Quite the opposite really. The times of fog are themselves a testament to the necessity of the sun. Likewise, our guilt and shame over our sins is not evidence that God is a myth. Rather, they are further proof that our greatest joy and fulfillment in life can only be given by Him. God uses guilt over sin to drive us to find rest in His waiting arms of grace. Without clouds from time to time, would we really appreciate the sun? In the same way, without the consequences of our sins on our hearts, would we really trust in our Redeemer?
So, as we see how the dark times of life do not nullify the existence and the mercy of God, so also we see more into the rationale behind God’s wrath. David openly confesses that the LORD was angry with him. Part of David’s fear went back to the LORD’s wrath, which David knew and believed was holy in its origin. In this lesson, God is also helping us understand the same thing about our faith.
When you think of the skeptic’s argument against God, the nature of God’s wrath and justice becomes one of their biggest talking points. It is considered dated and irrelevant, sometimes even harmful, to teach that God judges sinners or that God is angry over sin. We hear today the reverberating themes in our society that God is only love, that He never judges, that He accepts all people as they are. These are eternal lies from Satan meant to steer you away from Christ.
The truth that is healthy is sometimes hard to accept. God is angry over sin. God does hate your transgressions before His immutable law. You should be afraid of God if you live in defiance of His commands. David was one of the most righteous people in the Bible and he believed these truths. And through them he was led to hope. Because, God does want sinners to change. God judges not just to condemn, but also to put Satan and his lies in check. God loves, not to have you live as you please, but to have the difficult conversations with you that come from a person who truly has your best interests in mind. Satan will not care for you life this. The world, and the skeptics in it, do not love you in such a way. Only God’s mercy in Christ is appropriate to describe such compassion.
And so, despite the lies of the world, David stands firm with the conviction of faith that God has answered his pleas – not because David proved himself well enough. David was a broken man. His confidence was in Jesus, because David didn’t stray from the truth of God’s path in the tough times, when the fog prevailed. And in due time, the sun arose and dispelled the lies and the myths. So, David echoed the LORD’s response to his pleas of mercy: The LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD accepts my prayer.
No one is too far gone from the LORD’s mercy in Christ Jesus. But sometimes that means hearing what you don’t want to, and what the world hates. Sometimes that means waiting with patience for God to shine that mercy into the situation of your life. No matter what you encounter in the world, or what you bring upon yourself through your own sins, God is abundant with forgiveness through Jesus. And everything He does for you is meant to bring you closer to that reality and to establish your trust in that most important hope. God grant us patience, humility, and faith to trust in the mercy that only Christ can give. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment