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40 DAYS OF LENT: DAY #32
WORD OF TODAY: Psalm 38:1-3 (Coverdale Psalter-2019 Book of Common Prayer)
Put me not to rebuke, O LORD, in thine anger; neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure: 2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. 3 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy displeasure; neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin.
THOUGHTS ON THE WORD:
The psalmist makes the plea from the convicted heart. Do you know this cry that the psalmist makes? In awareness of offense, do you see the true anger of God towards the transgression, and in that offense now brought to light yields the sorrow in your heart as if arrows have pierced it, and that the weight of justice causes agony within your very being?
The psalmist confesses what is true, there is no health in us. We have offended, and as we sojourn through this dark world we find no rest. The reason is confessed, it is the result of sin.
In the flesh, in this world, the palmist knows there is no health, but only sickness. There is sickness caused by our sin, and there is sickness as a result of the weight of conviction.
Until the sinner realizes these truths, true repentance is not possible. Today let us consider the absence of health in our flesh and the need of the Great Physician to heal us of this terminal state of sickness. Today let us consider the need for Spiritual presence and guidance to be our health as we remain in the flesh. Finally, let us give thanks for the conviction of our hearts, though they be painful to face. Consider the benefit of the pierced heart of conviction, and how it leads to mercy through confession.