Psalm 38 (NIV)
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me
like a burden too heavy to bear.
…
9 All my longings lie open before you, 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 want to kill me set their traps,
those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
all day long they scheme and lie.
…
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 have become my enemies without cause;
those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20 Those who repay my good with evil
lodge accusations against me,
though I seek only to do what is good.
21 Lord, do not forsake me;
do not be far from me, my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
my Lord and my Savior.
CONSIDER THIS
Today’s post is from A Meditative Journey Through the Psalms by Timothy and Julie Tennent. He holds the Methodist Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School and served as president of Asbury Theological Seminary for fifteen years. She is a gifted musician and was one of the driving forces that helped bring to fruition the Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will share some of their writing on the Psalms on Sundays.
This is the third of the seven penitential psalms (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). This psalm, as with the first two, reveals David’s deep anguish before God over his sins. It is important to notice how the language of this psalm of repentance has filtered down into the liturgies we have inherited in the church. In this psalm, David describes feeling weighed down by his sins, saying, “Your hand has come down upon me” (v. 2). His health is suffering because of his sin. David says, “There is no health in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin” (v. 3). Finally, he says the guilt he is experiencing has become “a burden too heavy to bear” (v. 4).
If your church uses the historic liturgy for the confession before communion, please notice how the language of this psalm has found its way into our services. The liturgy says, “Almighty and most merciful Father, we have wandered and strayed from your ways like lost sheep [this is from Isaiah 53:6 and Psalm 119:176] . . . we have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things that we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us.” This final phrase comes directly from Psalm 38:3, 7. The liturgy goes on to say, “We earnestly repent, and are deeply sorry for these our wrongdoings; the memory of them weighs us down, the burden of them is too great for us to bear.” This phrase comes from Psalm 38:4. In short, the Psalms have always been the prayer book for the people of God. As noted on the earlier Penitential Psalms, they provide the basic grammar of the repentant life, which should be one of the deepest marks or badges of the Christian life.
For the Awakening,
Timothy and Julie Tennent
THE HYMN
Sing Psalm 38 with the Seedbed Psalter today. We suggest the tune MORNING SONG (“My Soul Gives Glory to My God”). You can hear the tune played online by Julie here. If you listen to the podcast audio version, we will sing the psalm in this same tune. For your convenience, the words from the Psalter are printed below.
1 Lord, don’t rebuke me in Your wrath, in anger don’t chide me;
2 Your arrows pierce me and Your hand is heavy upon me.3 Because of Your great wrath, I’m sick; my bones are weak from sin;
4 My guilt o’erwhelms me like a weight, too deep to bear within.5 My wounds, they fester loathsomely, because of sinful pride.
6 I am bowed down, brought very low; and mourn all day inside.7 My back is filled with searing pain; in me no health is found;
8 I’m feeble and crushed utterly; my anguished groans abound.9 My longings lie before You, Lord, and You hear all my sighs;
10 With pounding heart, my strength fails me; the light’s gone from my eyes.11 My friends and neighbors stay away, because they see my lot.
12 Foes set their traps and seek my life, and all day long they plot.13 I’m like the deaf who cannot hear; like mute, who cannot speak;
14 I’m like the one who does not hear, whose mouth no words can speak.15 I wait for You, O Lord, my God, and You will answer me;
16 For I said, “Do not let them gloat; exalt themselves o’er me.”17 For I am just about to fall; my pain’s always within;
18 So I confess iniquity; I’m troubled by my sin.19 Too many are my enemies, who hate me without cause;
20 They pay me evil for my good; and slander without pause.21 O Lord, do not forsake me now, and be not far from me.
22 O Lord, my Savior, hear me now; come quickly to help me!
11 Responses
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I am having thecsame issue. The WUC is no longer coming to my email.
Thank you and God Bless!
I found mine in my spam folder.
As I listen and rejoice in God my Savior, I am confident in the presence of Christ as I hopefully recover from a massive internal blood loss. The Lord knows, and the Lord is with me. “There is therefore then no condemnation to those who are in Chist Jesus do not walk by the flesh but by the Spirir.”
Dorothy, I had this happen to me as well within the last two weeks. As a stopgap measure, I click on th last WUC I have received, then go to the three horizontal lines next to Seedbed in upper left, click Articles, then click “Wake-up Call, which will show the latest episode that has been posted.
Hope this helps, Christ’s blessings to you this and every day.
Can you keep me and my family in ur prayers please and Thank you ❤️
My WUC is now in my Junk mail
The Exuberance of God’s Grammar
The most effective way to learn a language is by immersion into the language, not by forcing yourself to study it, memorize vocabulary, and obey grammar rules. That’s how we learned our mother tongue. We first caught it by hearing it over and over. Then a few years later we were taught in school what we had already caught.
God’s “grammar” is better absorbed when it’s heart-caught by lots of exposure than when it’s head-taught by tedious, analytical lecture. Immerse your heart in Scripture in an open, humble, and tender way. Read the Bible every single day as a love letter written personally to you. Absorb it with your heart, don’t analyze it with your mind.
When Jesus is allowed to indwell and to take full control of a human heart He inspires, and He empowers. He implants and grows an abundance of the fruit and character of His Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) Surrender your all to Him and begin to listen to and obey Him in all you think, say, and do.
Hang around people who are filled with exuberance for Jesus–who talk about and celebrate Him day and night — who radiate His love, humility, holiness, and presence. Ask God to lead you to those kinds of people (because they can be difficult to find). Immerse yourself in their presence, no matter where or whether they go to church. Make them your very best friends. Gradually you will catch their exuberant love for Christ.
The language of Spirit-produced exuberance is beyond words. God often produces such exuberance in me that I “ooh” and “aah” with glee and amazement in His presence. (Romans 8:26)
The exuberant “joy unspeakable and fully of glory” (1 Peter 1:8) that the Bible talks about is supernaturally produced by Christ in you. (Colossians 1:27) It’s not memorized by your mind. It’s soaked up by your heart. When you begin to sense God’s exuberant presence, go with Him — don’t hold back. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
Spirit-produced exuberance made visible through people’s unrestrained surrender and obedience to Christ’s inner promptings powerfully demonstrates His reality. (Acts 1:8) Exuberance for Jesus will fill your life with joy and delight. Let the Holy Spirit make you aware of His amazing wonders and release Christ’s exuberance in and through you. (Psalm 47:1)
Most Christians have experienced an exuberant moment, but Jesus wants to empower His followers to live a joyfully exuberant lifestyle even in difficult times. (Matthew 5:12) He wants to make your life a holy, pure, enduring, and exuberant expression of His Spirit living in and through you.
Jesus keeps me exuberant. My heart overflows with His unrestrained joy. (John 7:38). I spontaneously wave my arms, (1 Timothy 2:8) dance around, (2 Samuel 6:21) and make joyful sounds. (Psalm 100:1) His grammar freely flows from within me.
I truly enjoy the wake up call. Is so inspiring. It help so much to read it in daily basis. Thank you so much
Blessings from above.
I haven’t received any Wake-up Calls since Monday. Please help as I really miss your devotions.
I read my WUC on my phone. Mail has started sorting itself into categories (someone thought that was a good idea). My mail now has four categories at the top of my inbox and the internet is deciding which category my mail should be in. Check the other categories; your WUC may be there. There is a way to change the category destination so your WUC mail can show up where you want it to. This is a late message. Don’t know if anyone will see this but I hope it solves your situation.