- My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off. Psalm 38:11 – We find David in the psalm speaking to the Lord from a dark place in his life. He had chosen to fall prey to the temptation of sin and the result of that choice was tearing him and his life apart. He was feeling the deep pains of God chastening physically and spiritually. We see here in this verse he even felt no relief from the relationships in his life for everyone avoided him like he was a plague. His sin had brought destruction and isolation to his life, and the damage of that and the heaviness of God’s hand on him was breaking him. We too must realize that as a believer when we sin, we feel the weight of the consequence of that sin, but also the heaviness of God’s hand on us. No help from the world is going to come and we may not even find help from those close to us when we’ve chosen the sinful path. Sin creates a festering wound in our life. The damage it causes is severe, the cleaning out process by God is painful, and sin can damage relationships to where even those once close avoid us like the plague. While this is the reality of sin, known sin can be forgiven and God is willing to forgive. His heart and expectation is for His followers to be separated from sin, but even when they misstep and draw close to sin, He still forgives and allows them to rejoin the path of following Him. Do you then have a festering wound of sin? Is it keeping you down and feeling isolated from God and others? Know the time to bring it before the Lord is now and the time to set it aside is now. He will forgive and He will heal. Reject the temptation to hold onto a little longer or only to partially give it to the Lord. Be free once and for all of this sin and begin to see the healing and life God provides when we finally let go of the sin we’ve held onto for ages. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2993
- I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. Psalms 38:18 – This simple verse is the sort of heart God is after. David saw the pain his sin brought into his life and within his walk with God. He then lifts this verse up to God saying he was sorry for the sin he committed. This is where God wants us all to begin. To realize that the sin in our life hurts us and hurts our closeness with Him. Then as this verse says to confess that sin to Him, not trying to hide it from Him but wholly bringing it to Him and giving it to Him. Finally what God wants is for us to turn from that sin to starts living as He leads us to live through scripture. What God wants is for us to change directions. To stop following sin and change to begin following Him. Know that no matter how deep and dark of a spot your sin has taken you, if you have breath in your lungs, you always can turn to begin following Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 974
- There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Psalm38:3-4 – The damage sin brings is deep. When we have to walk outside in the cold for too long we say we are “frozen to the bones.” Meaning the cold has found it’s way past the layers of clothing and has caused even the deepest part of us to feel the chill. Our psalm reveals the chill of sin finds its way past the superficial all the way to the deepest part of us. No part of our story is exempt from the hurt sin brings. Our body, our mind, our relationships, our witness, our life with God, our everything. Sin’s chill is deep. Yet Jesus’ ability to cover and handle that sin is deeper. Recognize the depth of pain your sin can bring and remember the depth of healing Jesus is able to bring about. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1755
Daily DEVO 