Last time we shared in great joy with David in as he and we realized forgiveness, having sin covered, and not having our sins imputed to our account. In other words, we were justified, sanctified, and waiting to be glorified. All of these things happened simultaneously, but, like a complicated event or play, it is often instructive to break the components down into individual actions to understand. That was the thrust of the previous post. And now we go forward from that point.
David continued to share his pathway to Joy. (Verse 3)
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
We get a little glimpse into the end of verse 2. "... in whose spirit there is no deceit!" We can reasonably infer that David resorted to all kinds of subterfuge and deceit to keep his secret. Guilt has been blamed for a significant portion of physical infirmities and the lion's share of mental problems.
Many psychologists counsel their patients to "forgive themselves." The guilt resulting from past offenses, whether against God or other people, remains in the subconscious and often conscious thought. There is no escape, even when we "forgive ourselves" because the reality of pain and suffering in others cannot be ignored.
In verse 3 David implied that he was "silent," either by not telling anything or worse, actually misleading and lying about his "sin." He recounts his physical reaction. "My body wasted away." Holman says, "my bones became brittle." I do not think that he was referring to osteoporosis. The condition was evidently painful and progressed rapidly. Contrary to his previous practice of concealing his actions, he was now open and vocal about his suffering.
Verse 4 delineates the cause.
For day and night Your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer's heat. Selah
Unlike the psychologists, David recognized the cause of his distress. Spoiler: The next verse repeats the solution. If you can't wait, look ahead.) "...day and night..." expands on his groaning "all day long." It is no wonder that his body was wasting away. He was in agony both night and day.
Have you ever been dehydrated? The loss of excess amounts of fluid has extreme effects. And the more we lose, the worse it becomes. It progresses from mild, a five to eight percent decrease leading to fatigue and dizziness. When the deficit is over ten percent of total body water, physical and mental deterioration occurs, accompanied by severe thirst. The most severe effect of death occurs at a loss of between fifteen and twenty-five percent of the body water. David's condition was not minor, temporary, or merely inconvenient.
His final comment is that he was rapidly losing strength. For a vigorous, active guy like David, that diminution of vitality was a serious attack. Just an aside, the Lord often attacks us (as sinners) at our strong point. He is not doing it to torment us, but to bring us to the point of repentance. Hebrews 12:6
...for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives.
Recall the source of the interactions. The Lord is not willing to allow us to continue in rebellion and sin. He shows us physically how our spiritual being is suffering. Our ability to serve Him and minister to others is impeded, and in fact eliminated, by indwelling and secret sin.
It is almost humorous to see how the Lord used guys like Chuck Colson BECAUSE of the suffering they endured for their actions. Chuck was not saved when he conducted himself unbecomingly, but he "paid the price" for his sins. The doors that were opened to him were a direct result of the discipline. Almost counter intuitively, the suffering led to success.
It just goes to prove, again, that the Lord uses our "weaknesses" to demonstrate His strength.
...when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
And just before I posted this, I was reading in Proverbs 17:22. It sounds like David was "pre-reading" what Solomon would write. Or maybe, Solomon learned some of his wisdom from his daddy. That is not a bad thing.
A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
David is living and walking proof. Once his heart was right and joyful, he was refreshed, rejuvenated, or just plain re-hydrated. God's care is complete.
David's final epitaph was " a man after God's own heart." (Acts 13:22) (A little aside. That phrase is only found one time, almost in passing, in 1 Samuel 13:14. Paul had done a "little" studying in order to find that and apply it to David, the progenitor of Jesus. How many times have you read the Old Testament. Did you see that? I wonder how many times Paul read 1 Chronicles.)
David's sin led to discipline which led to victory. This is not to encourage sinning. Actually none of us need any prodding there. But it does encourage us to be repentant and allow the Lord to use these errors to bring others to Him.
Look back at verse 3. It ends in "Selah." One explanation for that is a pause. I heard once that it could mean, "Think of that." We tried to do a little of that today. It is hard to "fess up." But David showed us it is harder to clam up.
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