Maybe you’ve made some really bad decisions in your life. Maybe your poor choices have compromised your health (verse 3). Maybe your selfishness has led your friends and family to give up on you (verse 11). Maybe you know what it’s like to reach rock bottom.

David certainly did. His lust for Bathsheba led to a cascade of woe: the child born to their adulterous union died, David’s son Amnon followed his father’s example of selfish lust, and David’s son Absalom murdered his brother and led a rebellion against his father. So, how did David deal with such crushing guilt and sorrow?

Well, he didn’t try to put the blame on anyone else. No, he was honest with God about what he had done (verses 4, 5 and 18). And he was willing to face the fact that he had made some enemies, even if they went overboard in the way that they treated him (verses 12 and 19).

But instead of trying to justify himself to his enemies (verses 13-14), David kept trusting in God (verse 15). He kept on opening up his heart to God (verse 9). He kept pleading with God not to leave him as so many of his friends had done (verse 21). And he kept asking God to save him (verse 22).

And the good news is that we worship and serve the same God, a God Who was silent in the face of His own enemies (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 26:63). In fact, even though Jesus never sinned, He was willing to go through all the pain and shame and rejection that David describes so vividly – and He chose to endure all that so that He might answer David’s pleas, so that He might save even the worst of sinners from even the worst of our sins.

So, let’s be honest with Jesus about what we’ve done. For we can be sure of His saving grace and His unconditional love.

Psalm 38 (NASB)

A Psalm of David, for a memorial.
O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; And chasten me not in Thy burning anger.
2 For Thine arrows have sunk deep into me, And Thy hand has pressed down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine indignation; There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5 My wounds grow foul and fester. Because of my folly,
6 I am bent over and greatly bowed down; I go mourning all day long.
7 For my loins are filled with burning; And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am benumbed and badly crushed; I groan because of the agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before Thee; And my sighing is not hidden from Thee.
10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me; And the light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.
11 My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me; And those who seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they devise treachery all day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a dumb man who does not open his mouth.
14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, And in whose mouth are no arguments.
15 For I hope in Thee, O LORD; Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would magnify themselves against me.”
17 For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.
19 But my enemies are vigorous and strong; And many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me!
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!