How many times have you felt ready to throw in the towel because circumstances seemed like a flood ready to drown you? It reminds of Is. 59:19: “when the enemy comes in like a flood” (KJV). During the first quarter of my freshman year in college, nothing was going right. Both school and my living environment conspired together to make me feel depressed and hopeless. Without close friends or a relationship with God, my days seemed dark. I lost confidence, felt anxious and had this overwhelming sense of dread that I was going to fail. Have you gone through a time when life seemed dark and everyone was out to get you? Psalm 38:17 presents this scenario in capsule form. You will identify with the Psalmist’s feelings and learn how to be delivered from these hopeless situations.
Psalm 38 presents a vivid picture of how suffering affects a person physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally. Physically, God’s hand has sunk deep, greatly burdened, pressed down and bent over. Spiritually, he has no health in his bones and his iniquities weigh too much (Ps. 38:1-5).
Emotionally, he mourned and groaned because of the agitation of his heart. His hopelessness led to a sighing and throbbing heart causing his strength to fail (Ps. 38:6-10).
Mentally, he experienced trauma knowing that his loved ones and friends avoid him. Those who seek his life lay snares, seek to injure and threaten destruction of him (Ps. 38:11-12).
When you suffer physically, spiritually, emotionally and mentally, don’t try to figure it out. Instead of reasoning, place your hope in God. You have a choice. You can choose to hold onto the pain and pressure, or release it by going to God in prayer. Here are the advantages of hope in God instead of maintaining your rights:
1. Tell God what you are experiencing and feeling about those who seek to take advantage of you (Ps. 38:15-16)
2. Confession of sin heals spiritually and removes emotional anxiety (Ps. 38:18)
3. As you bring concerns to God, He provides physical & mental deliverance or sense of peace in midst of opposition (Ps. 38:19-22).
If your time of suffering, go through the above three steps:
1. Tell God what you are feeling
2. Confess your sin
3. Intercede to God
