PSALM 39 LOOK AGAIN

Written by , Rector of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia
 

1 I said, “I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.”
2 But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.
3 My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath.
Selah
6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.
8 Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this.
10 Remove your scourge from me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
11 You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth—each man is but a breath.
Selah
12 “Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.
13 Look away from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more.”

When you love someone and she hurts you, you do not complain about her to others, your heart burns within you until you must tell her, you beg her to stop and you ask for even a short period of rest from the pain. So, the psalmist reacts to being disciplined by his God. If he complains to others about God he would be dishonoring God and giving God’s enemies more ammunition with which to denigrate God. Yet, the burden of discipline is difficult to bear, to the point of pain and suffering, so before God he cannot remain silent, but due to his loving relationship with the Father, he must make his complaint known. Although he acknowledges that he is a sinner deserving of rebuke, he also questions God as to the ultimate purpose of his chastisement if he should die before he is released. So, he petitions God to remove his thundering hand from him so that he might rejoice in what life he has left. This is not the raving of a man without hope, but the cry of one who loves and trusts his Lord.

Whether we are under the crushing persecution from the world or subject to bitter chastisement from our Lord, if we love God we will not despair. In the first case, our faith dictates that God will deliver us and glorify himself in the process, which is the fulfillment of our God-given purpose. When it comes to discipline and rebuke, in many ways it is much more difficult and painful. Yet if we love God, and know him as he has revealed himself through Scripture and the Church, we can know that through the refining process we will be strengthened in our relationship with God and grow closer to what he has created us to be. God is not capricious and does not inflict pain upon us for his sadistic pleasure. He loves us as our perfect Father and will not allow us to turn our back on him in this temporary life without suffering the temporary consequences of our disobedience so that we might be with him eternally. Our advantage over the psalmist is that we can say, “I may rejoice again, for even when I depart I will be with you always.”

Lord, my sin is ever before you and the consequences of my sin ever surround me. Let me not deny or explain away your rebuke, but help me to recognize how much my sin hurts and grieves you. You, who do not wish the death of a sinner, cannot be but pained to have to mete out discipline and rebuke upon your children. May I count the sufferings of this life to be not the hangman’s noose, but the lifeline of salvation. Amen.

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