THE FATHER’S DISCIPLINE

Psalm 38
THE FATHER’S DISCIPLINE
O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger of or discipline me in your wrath. (v.1)

A prayer is a personal conversation with God. In private (in contrast to public) prayer, we should not be afraid Psalm 38 is an to make free use of the personal singular pronouns. The 22 verses (constructed according to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet) are full of my. David refers to my body, my bones, my wounds, my back, and my heart (vv.3,5,7,10). He also mentions my sin, my guilt, my sinful folly, and my iniquity (v.3,4,5,18).

He is talking with God who sees and knows everything. There is nothing to hide. Significantly, David links the torment of his body with the recognition of his sin. His guilt overwhelms him, and there is no health in his body. He calls out in penitence. Thus his prayer is one of the seven psalms known as penitential psalms (the others are 6, 32, 51, 102, 130, and 143).

He harbours one fear, however, namely that God may punish him beyond what he can bear. Already he is suffering so much from the burden of guilt and other pathological symptoms. Perhaps, he is thinking of human parents who discipline us in their anger, and sometimes over-do it.

If so, he need not fear. "My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in" (Prov 3.11-12). We may fall into sin, and suffer all the baneful effects of our sin. But we would be foolish to avoid God for the fear of punishment. It is far better to fall into the arms of God than into the hands of man or of the Devil.

So at the end of the prayer, David calls upon the LORD to come quickly to him. We may still need to face up to our sin and its consequences. But what we suffer is not the chastisement of a bad-tempered judge but the discipline of a loving Father.

Man may punish us for evil; God disciplines us for good.