Confession of Sin (Psalm 38)
Sermon preached on 10th September 2009 as part of a communion season in congregation.
It is not possible to say which period in his life is described by David in this psalm. What is clear is that he was going through a time of spiritual trouble, trouble so strong that it affected his body as well as his soul. There are similarities in his experience here and his spiritual state recorded in Psalm 32. Furthermore, his current spiritual decline is not only accompanied by physical distress; also he is going through various difficulties in providence that cause others to question his position and shun him in response. The psalmist is aware of his state, and also is sure of the basic reason why God is acting in a hostile manner towards him – the basis reason is failure to confess his sin.
While we cannot say when David wrote the psalm, it is possible to deduce from its title why he wrote it. The ESV says that it was written for the memorial offering. As the psalmist of Israel and one of the songwriters of the worship of God, he composed this psalm to be sung at a specific time in the temple, when the memorial offering would take place (it was connected to the grain offering described in Leviticus 2). Whatever the precise connection, the heading indicates that the psalm was designed for use when worshippers were considering the importance of remembering, whether it was their remembering their experience or God remembering his covenant promises. It looks to me as if David wrote this psalm to help God’s people prepare to appear before God in this special way.
Right away we should be able to see a connection between this psalm and our feast of remembrance. The Lord’s Supper is designed as a means of us remembering our own experiences, of remembering what the Lord has done for us, and our remembering is to be part of our worship. In the psalm, as David recounts his recent experiences, he is doing so because he wants to bring his situation before God when he meets with him.
Chastisement
It is very clear from the psalm that David is afraid. He is afraid of several matters such as the judgements of God, the actions of opponents and the possibility of falling. He also knows why this state of affairs has been brought about – the reason is that he had not taken the consequences of personal sin seriously. Because he had allowed such sins to pass without dealing with them, he was undergoing the judgement of the Lord as he chastised his child. David was experiencing fatherly correction, and the writer to the Hebrews (12:11) mentions that such experiences are not pleasant. Nevertheless, such divine treatment is for our spiritual benefit.
In David’s case, divine chastisement either included or was accompanied by providential adversity. We are not told precisely what it was, only that it was very real. And many of God’s people have experienced such consequences of their unconfessed sin. God’s blessing ceases to cover many of the external things of life and many problems arise because of their failure to deal adequately with their personal sin.
Yet David is now aware that his decline can get worse. As we mentioned, he is afraid that he is about to fall, for his foot to slip (v. 17). Usually a believer falls into outward sin after a period of inner backsliding when he or she has ignored the chastening hand of God in depriving them of the enjoyment of spiritual blessings. It is rare for a believer to fall suddenly. Yet to have this fear is itself a sign that all is not as bad as it could be. David’s eyes have been opened to his danger, which leads us to the next point.
Conviction
As we read the psalm, we can see that David has become convinced of the seriousness of sin. The dealings of God in his soul have alerted David to the awfulness of his iniquity. In other words, he has had the blessing of conviction of sin. As we know, a believer sometimes has conviction of sin before his conversion, and at times these times of conviction can be very strong. Yet there are believers whose testimony is that pre-conversion conviction of sin was not very powerful. So there is a distinction there that we have to allow.
Yet when we come to the matter of post-conversion conviction of sin, it is a different matter. Every Christian experiences it because every Christian is a sinner who is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. As we read David’s description of his conviction of sin as a believer, we are reading what it means for a believer to groan under the weight of what he has discovered about himself. His sins are like a deadly illness for which he needs a cure (vv. 3, 5, 7), like a heavy burden for which he needs relief (v. 4), like a storm in his soul that has overpowered all his strength (v. 8). He longs for deliverance from this oppressive state of affairs. Whatever sin it was that started him off down this slippery slope, he has now discovered how foolish he was to have followed it through. He has lost the joy of salvation and goes about mourning in his heart. Indeed he has taken to sighing as a means of stating his case (v. 9).
Conviction of sin is a sign that God is at work in our souls. We should be encouraged when it takes place. Chastisement has been followed by conviction, God is dealing with us in his grace. Yet conviction of sin in itself is not a goal, any more than chastisement was a goal. Instead both are means to an end, and the purpose of divine correction and conviction of sin is to lead us to confess our sins to the One who has chastised and convicted us. And David declares his intention in verse 18 where he says, ‘I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.’
Confession
The first detail to note about David’s confession is how personal it was. His common sense told him that every person was a sinner, but such a fact is not part of his confession here. Instead he focuses on himself. He uses the first person pronouns when he confesses his sin.
A second detail of his confession is how particular it was. The psalmist does not speak about his sins in general. There is a sense in which every person will admit that they are sinful. But confession proceeds beyond such an attitude and becomes specific. David’s confession involved the sins of which he was currently guilty, the precise sins that had caused his separation from God. The reason why they are not spelled out is to enable other worshippers to consider their sins as they use the psalm.
David’s desire to be specific not only refers to the number of his sins, but also includes the nature of them. When he calls them iniquity, he is confessing that his sins were offensive to God and to himself. It is possible to confess our sins because we know that persistence in them will result in divine judgement. But such an admittance is not sufficient. There must also be a realisation that sin is ugly as well as destructive. David takes each of these sins and states that there is nothing attractive in any of them.
A third detail of his confession, in addition to it being personal and particular, is how penitent he was. His confession was marked by sorrow, but not the sorrow of remorse but the sorrow of repentance. David’s mind had assessed his sins, David’s will had forsaken his sins, and David’s affections were grieved because of his sins. He was experiencing Holy Spirit-given feelings about the sins that had caused the estrangement between his soul and God.
Repentance is a heavenly experience that will never be experienced in heaven. Instead it is a gift from heaven to the heaven-bound as they make their way through the spiritual valleys of earth. They descend into them because of their failures, but through the good hand of their God they mourn over them. This spiritual mourning is done under the eye of a delighted God, not a determined Judge who is out to crush them for their sins. As they repent, he rejoices and gives to them the oil of joy for the spirit of heaviness, a sense of liberty for the impression of spiritual bondage that enchained them. Personal and particular confession accompanied by penitence brings restoration.
Consolation
The outcome of his confession of sin is spiritual comfort. How do we know this? One answer to this question is that David is singing this psalm as a memorial offering. He now has access to the worship of God with a clean heart, having his sins forgiven means he can take part in the activities of the sanctuary. There he can join with God’s people and give thanks to him for all his acts of kindness to his cause. Spiritual fellowship now exists between him and God and between him and God’s people. Together they receive further blessings from the King of Zion.
Not only does he have the consolation of meeting in the courts of the Lord’s house, he also knows that in the future God will answer his prayers. The psalmist is aware that his enemies are still powerful (vv. 19-20), and he also realises that he cannot defeat them by himself. Yet the realisation of his own weakness is not a problem because he knows that the Lord is his strength, more than able to deal with all that his enemies can bring against him.
Further, his confession has led to him having a measure of assurance. In his repentance he had used personal pronouns to describes his sin, now he uses the same pronouns to describe his relationship with God (vv. 15, 21, 22). He did not know how God would deliver him and provide for him – the details are left with the Lord because the Psalmist is content to know that the Lord is all his salvation.
Application
Perhaps the application has been obvious as we have been going along. But in closing, let me state three thoughts in light of the Lord’s Supper this weekend. Who is it for?
The Lord’s Supper is for repentant sinners. Sometimes we imagine that because the Supper is holy, it is not for sinners like us. That is the wrong way to look at it. The Lord’s Supper is for those who come to God and confess in a penitent spirit their personal sins in a particular way. They take time to spread their sins before the eyes of God as they have tears in their own eyes, and as they confess them he collects their tears in his bottle because they are precious to him.
The Lord’s Supper is for restored sinners. I would be very surprised if there is a Christian here who at some stage or other in his Christian life has not fallen into a period of backsliding. Perhaps even recently, the Lord has been melting your heart because of your wilfulness. When that happens, sometimes the devil attempts to discourage by saying that failures are not welcome at the Lord’s Table. Failures are welcome as long as they have been restored to God’s favour by repentance for their sins.
The Lord’s Supper is for weak believers whose only hope for the future is the protection of their powerful Lord. They may have experienced his strong hand in chastisement, but they know that only the same strong hand can protect them from spiritual enemies. At the Supper, they are reminded of what that strong hand has already done for them and they receive comfort and strength from taking part.