Timeless Biblical Truth.
Believers under divine discipline for their sin and understand the frailty and uncertainty of their life must pray to the LORD as their only hope for relief.
- Believers under divine discipline may find their pain too much to keep silent (1-3).
- Contrite believers may seek to avoid complaining out loud about their suffering for their sin (1-2).
- Believers may find themselves complaining when their pain is too intense (3).
- Suffering believers understand that life is brief and passing (4-6).
- Suffering believers desire to know that their life is brief (4).
- Suffering believers realize their life is brief and fragile (5-6).
- Divinely disciplined believers may hope in the LORD and pray for forgiveness and restoration so that they may again enjoy life (7-13).
- Disciplined believers hold fast their hope in the LORD (7).
- Disciplined believers pray for deliverance from their sin and the reproach of fools (8).
- Disciplined believers pray for their discipline to end because it is convicting and consuming (9-11).
- Disciplined believers desire their discipline cease and that they may again enjoy life (12-13).
- Because people are sojourners in life, they call on God for help (12).
- Contrite believers pray for relief that they may again enjoy life (13).
Questions for Second Milers
- Read and compare Psalms 32 and Psalm 38 with Psalm 39. In what ways are the similar and in what ways are they different?
- How does David express the deep pain of his affliction?
- What results from his silence?
- What causes his sorrow?
- To whom does David turn? Why?
- In what ways does David express how he values his life?
- How does David base his plea for deliverance from divine discipline for sin on his relationship to God.
- Note the differences in tone of the first and last part of this psalm. What accounts for this difference.
- Have you ever experienced prolonged afflictions that may have been divine discipline for sin? How did you respond?
- Give your own short title to this psalm.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!
