Too Heavy!

 Psalms 38:4  My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear.

We have all seen it. Some guy is showing off in the gym and tries to lift a weight the size of a VW Bug. He lays on his back and grabs the bar, begins the loft, the almost gets decapitated as the weight comes crashing down on his neck! The weight was too heavy! If the dude is lucky, a spotter will help, lift the bar off of him, if not, well, it’s not pretty.

In Psalm 38 we see David wrestling with a weight that is too heavy to bear. It’s the weight of his sin. He struggles and struggles, but he just can’t lift it. So he goes to his spotter and asks for help.

God is the ultimate spotter for the weight of sin. David’s sin was so heavy he felt crushed by it. It was ruining his health, it was weighing down on him.

Do you ever feel crushed by your sin? Do you lie awake at night, ruing something you have done? We all have, none of us are immune from it.

In those times we need to do what David did, go to God. He offers forgiveness and peace.

1 John 1:9  But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

Here’s the tricky part. After God has forgiven us we need to forgive ourselves. Yes, what you did was wrong, it might have even been stupid, but if God has lifted the weight of your sin you need to get out from under the weight of it. Get up, dust off your britches and get back to living for God. Wallowing in self-pity or constantly reliving that sin doesn’t help you, it hinders you.

Today’s readings: Deuteronomy 16-18; Psalm 38, Gal 2