SIN PAINS!                                                                                Article by Pastor Sam Oluoch GBC-K

May I draw your attention to Psalm 38? This is one of the penitential Psalms (others being 32, 51, 102, 130 and 143). It deals with sin, in fact, with the weight of sin on a believer’s shoulder and gives us tips on how Christians should respond to sin when they happen to fall.

The Psalmist here (David) has fallen in to sin, it is not clear what it is but he becomes conscious of this and groans under the weight of it. He ‘suffocates’ under the umbrella of sin and this causes him not only physical pain but also psychological (vs. 1-4). This is aggravated by the fact that he awakes to the reality that it is against God that he has sinned and possible chastisement awaits him from the hand of the Holy God (vs. 1). This is striking when compared to Psalm 51:4 when he also says: ‘against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.’ Any sin committed is done against the laws of God. Men suffer from our sinfulness because we have disobeyed God. So, in as much as we directly sometimes sin against fellow men, eventually, we sin not against man but against God.

It is also enlightening to see that David takes full responsibility of his sin in verse 5 and 18. He is categorical that ‘my wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.’ Aha my. This sounds better than Adam’s ‘the woman you gave me.’ What I see here is that a regenerate person, born again through the second Adam (Christ Jesus), in as far as accepting responsibility of sin is concerned, is far much better than the first Adam. When you sin, it is you who has sinned. Yet many a times we hear excuses like: ‘oh it was my wife’s behaviour that led me to sin’, ‘oh it was the weather that made me…’ or even, ‘had it not been for my poverty, I would not have stolen the money.’ Sin properly repented of is sin acknowledged and faced without passing blames to external forces (See James 1: 13-15). Notice the phrase ‘by his own evil desires.’ This is emphatic that sin comes from inside you and you are responsible for it. How about Jesus saying that what goes in is not sin but what comes out of man. Sin cannot be shared, inside you is inside you. You cannot share a ‘stomach.’ of sin. Hence David here owns up to his own sin by saying ‘I’, ‘I am’, and ‘my’. Not ‘we’, ‘we are’, ‘our’. Once we start passing blames to others when we sin, it is impossible to deal with that sin properly. It is this owning up that pains one and makes him/her groan for forgiveness from God (Psalm 32:3-5). Pride will not allow one to do this.

David however brings another aspect of suffering in to the equation of sin’s torment. Possibility of friends and relatives deserting you (vs. 11) with some even taking advantage of the shame sin brings on you. Jesus experienced this when he carried our sins to the Cross and closer friends deserted Him and even denied any knowledge of Him. Socially he was rejected and abandoned by many due to our sin. Christ suffered this desertion. In Psalm 38:11 David suffered the same (He is known as a type of Christ in many ways). May I explain this rejection by friends and where the pain comes from?

Human beings are created to socialise. We are social beings and living around people derives some kind of completeness in man. When this is denied us, depression can occur and pain of neglect is felt. This is the essence of prison facilities where normally prisoners enjoy all that they need but not social life. Even Christians need this kind of socialization, not only with fellow Christians but general community. This is why apostle Peter counts it as persecution when the world looks at us as strange fellows because of our faith and cuts us off from their social life (1 Pet. 4:1-4). When brothers turn against brother, father against son because of the gospel, Christ says, do not worry for He will raise up greater brothers/sisters for you to socialise with as Christians and enjoy their company lest you be lonely, feel the pain and drop faith.

A good look at 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 9-13 also confirms the need for closer walk with others. Here, Apostle Paul commands that we should never associate with excommunicated sinners in a manner to give them warmth of fellowship as if they still have the right to enjoy the social life of community of believers. When this is denied a repentant sinner, the pain of being away from true brethren is expected to turn him to Christ in repentance. If the people of the world feel the pain of being locked away from social life with the rest, how much more a true Christian locked away from the community of believers. Surely, this should bring repentance.

In Psalm 38: 11 we therefore see the pain sin has brought David when his friends and companions are running away from him and even plans for his down fall. This surprises David greatly and leaves him with no words in his mouth (vs. 13-14).

A welcome friend.

Jesus was several times referred to as friend of sinners and tax collectors. Oh yes He was a friend of sinners and tax collectors, for such he came. David therefore runs to him. As the Psalm begun with merciful God in sight, it ends with the same hope. It is only Christ who can forgive the worst of sins (1 Tim 1:15-16) even when men have run away. He will in no way drive from him a man who is seriously repentant of his sin and appreciates that his own sin grieves God and must be let go. I am not talking here of superficial confession of sin but that which is expressed here by David. A true Christian understands the weight of sin and flees from it. When he repents, his heart’s desire is that he will never go back to it. He will not be like a dog that goes back to lick its own vomit or a swine who is washed clean and goes back to the dirty waters. One of the ways we can tell who a Christian is; is by the way they feel the weight of sin on them and the way they repent of it. ‘Have mercy on me a sinner’.

Amen.