Day 135. Reading Psalm 5, 38, 41, 42.
King David is back home, but he’s been through a lot. His sin, his being found out, and the drastic consequences of that sin, including losing another beloved son still weigh him down. His kingship was threatened, and people forsook him and showed their displeasure with him. He felt cast off; set adrift.
- “Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You do I pray. O LORD, in the morning, hear my voice… Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way straight before me.
Psalm 38.
David is still reeling under the dire results of his sin. He talks about his sin, his iniquities, and his foolishness. He writes about God’s indignation like a heavy burden, like wounds festering, like a tumult in his heart.
Then David turns to the horrible treatment he’s received from his friends and companions. They seek his harm and his very life.
- I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. Do not forsake me, O LORD! O, my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation.
Psalm 41.
- As for me, I said, “O LORD, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!” My enemies say of me in malice, “When will he die, and his name perish?”
- But YOU, O LORD, be gracious to me, and raise me up…. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
Psalm 42.
David here writes from a place of sadness because he feels far from God. He remembers the sweet times of joy and praise and longs for them to return. He feels God has abandoned him. Then, it’s like he sits up straight, straightens his clothes and asks himself, his soul a question….. Then reprimands his soul…
- As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night….
- These things I remember, as I pour out my soul….. how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival….. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan… and of Hermon… from Mount Mizar….
- I say to God, my rock; “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? HOPE IN GOD; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.


