Psalm 38:1–22
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
17 For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord!
O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!
Worship Notes:
This year, May 17 is Ascension Sunday, one of the “five evangelical feasts” which are celebrated in most Christian traditions (along with Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, and Pentecost). This day commemorates the events of Acts 1:6-11 when Jesus completed His earthly ministry by ascending into Heaven. Several of the hymns we sing this morning, like the 8th century Latin text O Christ, Our Hope, refer to Jesus as our “ascended Lord.” A Hymn Of Glory Let Us Sing and Rejoice, The Lord Is King both recount how He “ascendeth to the throne of God” and now “sits at God’s right hand.” The Ascension means we can truly sing “upward I look and see Him there who made and end of all my sin,” having confidence that we now have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1). And because our Lord “ascended to the skies,” as There Is No Greater Portrait puts it, to be worshipped by the angels and glorified by all the nations, we can trust that He will come again (Acts 1:11). Because He ascended, He will one day descend from Heaven, setting all things right and inaugurating the new Earth.
—Henry C. Haffner
Key Words: Discipline, Anger, Flesh, Sin, Plague, Wait, Confess, Answer, Salvation
Keystone Verses: O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger, nor discipline me in Your wrath! (Psalm 38:1)
