Rev (Dr) Quek Suan Yew

Psalm 38 – Repentance! (Part 4 of 4)

IV. Craving to be Heard (38:19-22) – David shared in verse 18 that he would confess his sin and was sorry for his sin. However, his enemies were lively. They were very much alive and had not ceased in their sinful attacks against him. This is the common struggle of every child of God. Within his own soul is the desire to do right in the sight of God. Sinful deeds are sincerely repented of. However, that does not mean that the external threats by these enemies have ended. These enemies are relentless. They will not stop, for most of the time these enemies might even sincerely believe that they are doing God’s will when God's children are attacked. Not only were they very much alive, David shared that they were also strong. The enemies of God’s children are often powerful and are rich evil men who have the material might to give them the carnal courage to attack. Those who are poor will only sulk and do nothing more than spew out words of slander against God’s children. The rich and “powerful” are strong in the ways and things of the world and will use all at their disposal to bring down God’s children like David.

Using synthetic parallelism, David added, “… they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.” The number of his enemies had increased. These men were powerful and influential. They would often be in the majority when they attacked. David was overwhelmed by the increased attacks by more of his enemies. He pleaded to his God for help and deliverance. He had repented. There was no reason for these evil men to increase in numbers and in their attacks. Their hatred for David was unjustified! 

In today’s climate, where democracy is regarded as the norm for all humanity, the dictum of “the majority is right” has replaced the truth of the Word of God. Because of this global sentiment, many have discarded the truth for lies and deceptions! The ways of fallen sinful man seem sweeter and more alluring that the truth of God’s perfect word which is regarded as obsolete and bigotry to many. This has become the way of today’s brand of man-centred Christianity. Man is god, and to sinful man God is his slave to be caricatured as his carnal mind dictates. The enemies that had multiplied against David are the same today. The bully mentality of big is right has taken Christianity by storm since the birth of the Charismatic movement in 1906 and the ecumenical and neo-evangelical movement in 1948. Individual believers often face attacks from many directions and so do Bible-based churches today. 

Verse 20 (synthetic parallelism) – These enemies of David had rendered evil for good and were depraved ingrates. The good that was done to them were more than just the physical provision; it was also spiritual. David was a king who provided a spiritual environment for the people of Israel to grow spiritually. When David made Jerusalem the first spiritual capital city of Israel this was of great spiritual significance. The city of Jerusalem was the “home” of God on earth. The presence of God was in the city of Jerusalem which is also called the city of God! Instead of being grateful that David was such a spiritual and godly king, these depraved enemies behaved like the devil himself! The word “adversaries” means “Satan”! They placed stumbling blocks or snares in David’s pathway to trap him into sinning against God. One such method was to pretend to be a believer so that they could get into the inner circle of leadership. When the time was ripe they sought to destroy. Men like Ahithophel and David’s own son Absalom were such adversaries. The former was one of David’s trusted counsellors whose evil agenda was revealed when he counselled Absalom to kill David. Teaching one’s own son to kill his own father is the worst sin imaginable to sinful man. Absalom was the son who committed murder, for he killed his own half brother Amnon. When he ran away and was in self-imposed exile David forgave him and allowed him to return. After all that David had done to bring him back into Jerusalem and be accepted by the people of Israel, Absalom committed the most heinous sin imaginable by a son. He wanted to kill his own father after usurping David’s throne. 

All David did was to do what was right. He followed that which was good according to Holy Scriptures to please his God. But these ungrateful enemies of David took advantage of him and tried to kill him. In the face of such injustices David pleaded to God for mercies and swift intervention. He craved to be heard by God to deliver him from these evil men. 

Men like Ahithophel and Absalom are very much alive today. These are called “angels of light” by Christ. They creep into churches and take advantage of the kindness and goodness within these churches. Then they prey on the unsuspecting and naive babes in Christ, to win their affections and loyalty so that they could be used by them to do their evil deeds. They attack the Word of God by their “kindness” and many will fall for it. They teach evil doctrines like the Bible having mistakes in a small percentage (for to teach that the percentage is large would deceive no one). Their victims would believe them and many already do. These “angels of light” have been fed the Word of God and given Christian love and fellowship in the church. Instead of being grateful, they render evil for good. They seek to destroy the unity in the church and cause the children of God to stumble in faith. They attack the leaders by their slanders and lies just as the enemies of David did to him. If they could kill they probably would do so. 

Verse 21 (synonymous parallelism) – David cried to his God to not forsake him. Using synonymous parallelism, David asked this God to not be far from him. Sometimes when help from the LORD is not immediate and the testing seems too great to bear, the feeling of being forsaken by God is strong. The believer’s mind says that the LORD will never forsake His own. However, the heart and emotions of the child of God cries out for help and swift intervention because he is about to collapse from the heavy load. The stress and strain of the trial have become so unbearable that the believer feels like he is hanging on a very thin thread over the abyss. The enormity of the trial must have been so great and overwhelming to David. Relief could only be found in the LORD as his adversaries had multiplied and become too strong. This is the common way of trial where the LORD will drive all His beloved children to Himself in times like these. Somehow the children of God do not learn the easy way but through the way of trials only. This kind of testing is the best, for then the children of God will know by his experience of trust in the LORD that their love for God and their faith in Christ are real. David asked that the help come soon which is the common cry of God's children facing great adversities. 

Verse 22 (synthetic parallelism) – Finally, David asked the LORD to come quickly to help him. The reason is that He is the Master of David’s salvation. David deliberately used the term Lord, i.e. “adonay” in Hebrew for Master, as David was only a humble servant before the LORD his God. He was not asking as the king of Israel but as a humble nobody before God who did not deserve anything from God almighty. The unworthiness of David is emphasized by this final verse. 

Conclusion – The sincere repentant sinner will crave to be heard by his heavenly Father. There is nothing he is not prepared to do and he will submit to the heavenly Father’s will so that he can experience His loving forgiveness.  The way of biblical repentance begins with confession of one’s sin (38:1-8) as his heart is deeply convicted by what he has done wrong against his God (cf. 38:9-14). Then he cries to his God for forgiveness (cf. 38:15-18). This is not a mere cry for help. It is deep craving from within the soul to be heard by his loving God, for the attacks from the enemies have increased greatly. Repentance is more than just saying sorry to God. There is a deep sense of regret and disgust for the pain and hurt that he has caused his God who has done so much for him in Christ. He truly feels bad for failing his God and asks for forgiveness, and promises with God’s help not to sin that same sin again! David’s experience was that despite his repentance, the enemies’ attacks on him did not stop. Instead they increased in intensity. This is often the case for all believers when they repent. They must be prepared for such attacks when they are in the midst of their repentance. Amen.