Wait For the Lord

 

The Weight We Carry – Psalm 38

Dear Friends, picture David in the dim light of his chamber, body wracked with pain, no strength left in his bones. He’s not just ill—he’s broken open. “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!” he cries (v.1). God’s arrows have pierced him, His hand heavy upon him (v.2). There’s no health in his flesh because of divine indignation, no soundness because of his sin (v.3).

His guilt towers over him “like a burden too heavy to bear” (v.4). Wounds fester, he’s bowed low, mourning all day long (vv.5-6). Even his insides burn; strength fails him; the light of his eyes is gone (vv.7-10). Friends and companions stand afar off, neighbours avoid him, those who seek his life set traps (vv.11-12). He’s become like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth is shut—no defence, no comeback (vv.13-14).

Yet in the silence of his suffering, David does the one thing that changes everything: he waits. “For you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer” (v.15). He confesses straight out: “I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin” (v.18). No sugar-coating, no minimising. Just the truth laid bare before the only One who can heal what’s broken.

Sin does this—it isolates, it sickens, it weighs us down till we can barely breathe. We’ve all felt echoes of it: the gnawing regret that keeps us up at night, the relational fallout, the physical toll worry and shame can take. We carry burdens we weren’t meant to shoulder alone, and like David, we sometimes mistake God’s discipline for abandonment. But His hand that presses is the same hand that lifts. The arrows that wound are from a Father who loves too much to let sin fester unchecked.

David’s plea crescendos at the end: “Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (vv.21-22). And here’s the quiet miracle—he knows the Lord is his salvation. Even in the depths, he hasn’t lost sight of who God is.

Today, pause. Feel the weight you’re carrying—maybe it’s a sin you’ve buried, a failure that haunts, a sickness of body or soul tied to choices you regret. Don’t run from it. Like David, bring it to God. Confess it plainly. Let the sorrow do its work. Then wait—because the God who disciplines in love is the same God who rushes to save.

One honest “I am sorry for my sin” whispered in the dark can shift everything. He doesn’t leave us groaning forever. He draws near to the brokenhearted. He is our salvation.

Point to Ponder: Confession isn’t punishment—it’s the door to freedom. The burden too heavy becomes light when we hand it over.

Verse to Remember: “For you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.” (Psalm 38:15 ESV)

Question to Consider: What “burden too heavy to bear” are you still trying to carry alone? What would it look like today to confess it fully to the Lord and wait for Him as your salvation?

Article written by Shaun Fereday, Leader @SFGH Church