Reveal | Day 26- March 23 | Psalm 38

I have been lucky enough to live a healthy life. For the most part, I have not had to deal with intense sickness, discomfort, or pain. However, when I look back, one time comes to mind. I remember picking up an illness that was going around school, and it was miserable. I was unable to eat anything, I ran a fever all day, and I did not feel like moving. Neither of my parents could get out of work that day. I was stuck home lying there, all by myself, until Mom finished her shift and she could come to see me. This experience had me feeling sick, isolated, and in pain.

David had a similar experience with sickness in this passage. Psalm 38 shows a moment in David’s life where he is feeling a lot of pain. He says that there is no health in his body, his strength fails him, and his pain is about to make him fall. This illness does not just impact him, but causes his neighbors and friends to turn against him as well. This discomfort is not a result of some germ picked up at school, but rather because of sin. David feels his guilt has overwhelmed him, and because of sin he is starting to feel unwell, both spiritually and physically.

Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. In the same way I laid in my sickness, waiting for my parents to come home and care for me, so too did David petition for God to return, forgive him of his sin, and restore him to health. We can see David calling out to God with his final words, “Lord do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord, and my Savior.”

What afflicts us today? How do we feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually? How might our sin isolate us from God? Finally, how does God want to come alongside us, comfort us, and make us completely well?