What's at Stake

Psalm 38

David here acknowledges his own role in what has come on him (verses 1-4), but the withdrawal of his friends and the opportunism of his enemies goes beyond what might be considered deserved. He realizes, because his situation is so overwhelming, that his only hope is in God. So really his predicament is no different than that of you or I, or anyone.

At one level of the parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), humanity is the child who wanted to go his/her own way. God is the loving Father out on the road watching for us to turn to him in the depth of our need. He and all of heaven (Luke 15:7) celebrate when one comes to him. Those already belonging to him would only celebrate, too, and not resent it like the older brother in the parable.

Here’s the thing: There is no hope without him; there is all hope with him. Psalm 107 celebrates that whatever predicament or wretchedness we get ourselves into, God is ready to deliver us at one cry from us.

Why is that churches with a large proportion of new Christians are so vibrant? Because their memory of the change is recent and alive for them. We all need to recapture some of that: the sense that all hope is found in God and there is – as the psalmist found in our current reading – there is no other way. Without him we are all “feeble and utterly crushed” (verse 8). Does God hold this over us? No. Does he say, “I told you so”? No. He does come quickly (verse 22) and then celebrates. Our worship is a reverberation of God’s – and heaven’s – own celebration.

Prayer:
O LORD, do not forsake me;
be not far from me, O my God.
Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior.
– Psalm 38:21-22