How do you feel about your sin?
What do you think about the wrong things you do every day? Do you regard it as a serious matter, or is it for you something merely passing, “because Jesus died for all my sins – past, present, and future” (Col 2:13–14; Heb 10:10)?
The danger of sin for a believer is when it no longer troubles you. That is exactly when you ought to become troubled.
David’s prayer in Psalm 38
David addresses this in Psalm 38. He first asks the Lord not to rebuke him in His anger. For David, what he experiences feels like arrows that have pierced him so that there is no soundness left in him. Then he says the following:
…there is no health in my bones because of my sin. – Psalm 38:3b
It is as though sin affects his body very deeply, even his bones. It is true that the consequences of sin can often be sickness, but is every condition of sickness really the result of sin in your life? What do you think? Here are a few references that can help you:
References on sin
- Romans 3:9–12; 5:12–15; 6:23; 6:12–14 (The sin of mankind is too great.)
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 (Jesus was made sin for us so that we could receive forgiveness.)
- Galatians 5:19–22 (If you wonder what your sins are, check them off against this list.)
- Colossians 3:5–6 (Put to death the sins named here.)
- Hebrews 12:1 (Lay aside the burdens and sin that surround us.)
- James 1:14–15 (You allow sin yourself.); and 5:14–16 (Prayer heals from sin.)
- 1 John 1:8–10 (If we deceive ourselves, and what we must do about it.)
The weight of sin
David sees his sin as a burden (Hebrews 12:1) that has become too heavy for him, and it affects his whole body. Whether this is meant literally or figuratively we will not know, but it definitely had a negative effect on him, so much so that he became sick. Not only does it affect him, but he experiences that his friends (verse 11) see what is happening and do not stand by him emotionally, while his enemies exploit the opportunity (verse 12). He realises, however, that this is now the time to remain silent (verse 13), because he knows that in this situation God is the One who will bring him deliverance. Then he makes this important statement:
For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. – Psalm 38:18
Note: the Afrikaans Bible numbers the psalm’s heading as verse 1, so its verse numbers run one ahead of most English translations. The English verse numbers above follow the common English versification.
Reflection
The question is the one we started with: how troubled are you about sin? More than that: what are you going to do about it?