PSALM 38 GOD’S THUNDERING VELVET HAND

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 
¹ O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
² For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.
³ Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin.
⁴ My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.
⁵ My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.
⁶ I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
⁷ My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.
⁸ I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
⁹ All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.
¹¹ My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.
¹² Those who seek my life set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception.
¹³ I am like a deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth;
¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.
¹⁵ I wait for you, O LORD; you will answer, O Lord my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
¹⁷ For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many are those who are my vigorous enemies; those who hate me without reason are numerous.
²⁰ Those who repay my good with evil slander me when I pursue what is good.
²¹ O LORD, do not forsake me; be not far from me, O my God.
²² Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.

A father rebukes his son, while a judge punishes the convicted felon. The difference is in the purpose and effect. Discipline has the function of redirecting its subject away from wrong or hurtful behavior and is therefore temporary in nature. The punishment meted out by the judge in a criminal proceeding has to do with protecting others, and even if the sentence is temporally limited, the stigma is carried for a lifetime. Why is it important to make this distinction? Because, if we are believers in Jesus Christ, we are subject to rebuke and discipline for our sinful behavior, but God has laid our punishment on Jesus on the cross.

As repentant sinners, and therefore, adopted sons and daughters of God, we should expect to experience his discipline. No one welcomes discipline and rebuke, but a wise person takes them seriously, receives them humbly and ultimately gives thanks for them. In 1981 this was summed up well by Dan Fogelberg in a line from the song he wrote about his father, Lawrence, entitled “The Leader of the Band.” “He earned his love through discipline – A thundering velvet hand – His gentle means of sculpting souls – Took me years to understand.”

Like the psalmist, we need to acknowledge God’s sovereign hand in our experience of life, our propensity to sin and the love of God that will not let us continue in our sin without correction. If we understand God’s steadfast love and mercy, we too will petition the Lord to come quickly and bring us back to himself.

Lord, let me not stray from you, and when I do, bring me back – whatever it takes. Amen.

Print this devotion.