A common theme in these 4 psalms is the lying and hateful words of the enemy when the writer (mostly David) is down with both physical and spiritual sickness.

Psalm 38 is likely a song written after David’s sin with Bathsheba. It has the feel of someone under the heavy weight of a guilty conscience. Spiritual and emotional stress like that can lead to physical symptoms. And it’s possible that the physical ailments mentioned were caused by or aggravated by the inner stress of holding onto this not-so-secret sin.

Add to that… the Devil does NOT play fair. He seems to delight in stirring up people to kick you when you’re down.

So not only does David have the weight of a guilty conscience and God’s displeasure and physical infirmity, he has the outward pressure of people who wish him dead.

In all these psalms, David leaves the fate of his accusers, the gossips and those who wish him harm to Yahweh. He leans into the LORD’s compassion. After all, that’s the first attribute that God declared about Himself:

“And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, ‘Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations.’”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭LEB‬‬

In fact, in all of these psalms, you can see the influence of God’s revealed name. David speaks of his trust in Yahweh’s unfailing love and faithfulness. He speaks of His judgment of the wicked. David knows that God’s justice will prevail so he does not have to defend himself against the naysayers. It would not be a stretch to assume that David meditated on the Name of the LORD a LOT.

Not only did he focus on the name of the Lord and His character; David was intentional about ignoring his haters.

“But as for me, like the deaf I cannot hear, and I am like the mute who cannot open his mouth. And so I am like a man who hears not, and in whose mouth there are no retorts. Rather for you I wait, O Yahweh. You will answer, O Lord my God.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭38‬:‭13‬-‭15‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Yes, he had sinned. But it was God’s business to deal with him.

How challenging for us to be still and not retort in self-defense when negative things are said about us! David leaves his case with the Almighty and waits for HIM to answer.

God can silence our opponents FAR better than we ever could.

Psalm 41 continues this idea of bodily sickness and suffering while enemies “kick him when he’s down.” The unnamed visitors in this psalm remind me a little of “Job’s Comforters.”

“But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. “How soon will he die and be forgotten?” they ask. They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere. All who hate me whisper about me, imagining the worst. “He has some fatal disease,” they say. “He will never get out of that bed!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭41‬:‭5‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

With “friends” like this, who needs enemies?

It is in this context the we get the prophetic passage concerning the most infamous false friend in history, Judas Iscariot.

“Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭41‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“I am not saying these things to all of you; I know the ones I have chosen. But this fulfills the Scripture that says, ‘The one who eats my food has turned against me.”

Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!”

Jesus responded, “It is the one to whom I give the bread I dip in the bowl.” And when he had dipped it, he gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.”
‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭18‬, ‭21‬, ‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Fulfilling the prophetic picture painted by David, Jesus also did not reply to his accusers or seek to defend Himself against their accusations:

“But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. “Don’t you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?” Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor’s surprise.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭27‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Silence can be the hardest – being silent ourselves and enduring the silence of Heaven when it feels as though our prayers for vindication (or anything else) have gone unanswered.

But we MUST face seasons of oppression from enemies and times when we feel Heaven has abandoned us. Why? So that we may learn Christ. So that we may enter into the fellowship of His suffering and be “conformed to His death, Phil. 3:10”

And how can we endure in those seasons?

Let us see the ending of the final psalm in today’s reading, written by The Sons of Korah. This song speaks of a time when you feel forgotten by God. And the voices of the world are only too happy to taunt you to add to your sorrow. “Where is your God?,” they ask. And you stand there looking foolish because all the evidence of favor seems to have vanished.

The writer seems to even be geographically far from “home” in God’s presence. He is way out in the territory of Mount Hermon. If you’ve been reading this blog from the beginning, you know that “Mount Hermon” is a loaded location. It is connected with the rebellion of the sons of God in Genesis 6 and the stronghold of their offspring – the Ammonite Nephilim Giants.

Yet, even out in the territory of the world, the psalmist remembers Yahweh, the LORD.

“But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

O God my rock,” I cry, “why have you forgotten me? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?” Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

That word “hope” in the last verse is one of those Hebrew Swiss-Army-Knife words. If I string together all of it’s meanings it would be something like:

To patiently wait in confident trust.

You just have to wait it out, friend.

Receive the LORD’s “unfailing love”every day. Just because it doesn’t look like rainbows and unicorns doesn’t mean that His love has been withdrawn.

Did you ever play peek-a-boo with a baby?

It’s AMAZING.

They are genuinely mystified (and sometimes worried) when you disappear. And then genuinely surprised and delighted when you “magically” reappear!

The reason we play peek-a-boo is to teach infants a concept of continuation; that just because Mommy or Daddy isn’t immediately before their eyes does NOT mean that Mommy or Daddy is gone forever. They still exist somewhere even if baby can’t see them.

God’s love is “unfailing.” It continues to exist even if we can’t see it momentarily. We can REST in His love. It’s not going away. Even if we have sinned. We just need to truly repent. Even if we’re sick in body. Even if we are alone and feel abandoned. Yahweh’s love endures FOREVER. He actually wants to be our BFF (Best Friend Forever).

Then there’s this:

“through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.” V.8

You can sing while you’re waiting in confident hope. You can pray. In the dark.

Which reminds me of…

“Sometimes you gotta dance in the darkness, sing through the fire, praise when it don’t make sense… Praise You Anywhere.

Don’t be discouraged, friends. Don’t be sad. Wait patiently in confident trust in the Almighty Savior Who made us and loves us.