Real Psalm 38:17-22
"For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me" (v. 17). David was ready to quit. David, the great conqueror and disciplined soldier, the one who killed Goliath, was ready to quit. He had sinned against the Lord, and he was suffering for it. Even his friends were against him. Let's learn some lessons from David to avoid his experience.
Don't give up. Satan is so subtle and mean. When he's tempting you, he whispers in your ear, "You can get away with this." Then after you've sinned, he sneers, "You'll never get away with this. You're done for." Satan wants us to give up, but if we do, we're playing right into his hands. We're denying that God can help us and forgetting that we belong to Him. What earthly father would forsake his child when he stumbles? Instead, that father reaches down in love, picks up his child, comforts him, cleanses his wounds and helps him walk again. If you sin, don't give in to your feelings, don't watch people around you and don't listen to the Devil.
Confess your sin. "For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin" (v. 18). David didn't say, "I will be sorry that I'm suffering for my sin" or, "I will be sorry for the consequences." He said, "I'm sorry I have sinned."
Trust in the Lord. "Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!" (vv. 21, 22). God is not going to forsake you. He cannot forsake you--He owns you, He purchased you, He made you, and He lives in you. Let Him draw near and restore you again.
After you've stumbled into sin, you are vulnerable--both to your feelings and to the Devil. You must claim the truth of God's Word and not give in to your feelings or listen to the Devil. Instead, confess your sin to a loving Father and trust Him to restore you to fellowship.
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