Friday, September 2, 2016
Psalm 39:9-11 I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it. Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand. When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; Surely every man is vapor.
LORD, HEAL ME
In complaining against the LORD for his lot in life, the psalmist realizes that he really has no cause for complaint. He says, "I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it."
In the face of his own mortality and his own sinfulness, the psalmist stands mute before the LORD. What can he say? What can we say? Any misfortune that we have in this world we have certainly deserved. And, if we look at our lives, we see that, even when things seem bad for us, we have much to be thankful for. We cannot speak against the LORD, for He has blessed us, not only with earthly goods, but, as the psalmist declared in the previous verse, He has blessed us with the forgiveness of all of our sins through Jesus Christ our Savior. How can we complain that God has not, or does not, give us enough? He gave us His own Son. He has adopted us as His children. He gives us eternal life! What more do we want? What more do we need?
On the basis of God's mercy in Christ Jesus, the psalmist prays for God's continued grace and mercy. He prays, "Remove Your plague from me; I am consumed by the blow of Your hand." God's law knocks us down when it shows us our sinfulness. It plagues us with guilt and despair, as the psalmist says, "When with rebukes You correct man for iniquity, You make his beauty melt away like a moth; surely every man is vapor." No one can stand before the LORD and His Law. Our only hope is the grace of God, which brings everlasting healing from the plague of sin through the forgiveness of sins in Christ.
