“Make Haste to Help Me, O Lord, My Salvation!”
(Psalm 38 – Midweek Lent 3 – March 4, 2026)
Psalm 38 – 1O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! 2For Your arrows pierce me deeply, and Your hand presses me down. 3There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin. 4For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. 6I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7For my loins are full of inflammation, and there is no soundness in my flesh. 8I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. 9Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. 10My heart pants, my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me. 11My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague, and my relatives stand afar off. 12Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, and plan deception all the day long. 13But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute who does not open his mouth. 14Thus I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth is no response. 15For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. 16For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.” 17For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me. 18For I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin. 19But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong; and those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied. 20Those also who render evil for good, they are my adversaries, because I follow what is good. 21Do not forsake me, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me! 22Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
Dear Redeemed, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior:
Last week, we heard about some of the harm that comes to a person who does not confess his or her sin. This week in Psalm 38, another Psalm of David, we also have a list of problems that weigh us down due to sin. It includes overwhelming guilt – which leads to ill health, festering wounds, and failing strength – leaving the sinner bowed down in mourning all day long. It pictures one who has been deeply wounded and severely broken by his own sinfulness. But David’s problems, and ours, get worse. David speaks of his loved ones and friends abandoning him, and his enemies using his guilt and weakness to try and destroy him.
What a true picture this is of a life troubled by sin! But sometimes, we cannot see our sin for the problem it really is. Perhaps it sticks out for others easily to see, like a festering wound. Yet our pride will not let us see the ugly nature of our sin. We are like Peter who could not see his sin of pride, boasting that even if everyone else fell away, he would never be unfaithful to Jesus. Yet his pride led him to a great fall when he soon denied Jesus. In the same way, we all are by nature spiritually blind, and too proud to see our sin for what it truly is.
Therefore, God has a way of dealing with us for our own good, by His Law and Gospel. In our psalm, David feels God’s Law heavy upon him. He says: “For Your arrows pierce me deeply, and Your hand presses me down” (vs. 2). God’s condemning Law has pierced him in many points. The Law has pricked his conscience and awakened in him the knowledge of his sinfulness. As the apostle Paul wrote: “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). David finally sees how his sin and guilt has been destroying his life. His health is gone, his loved ones have abandoned him, and his enemies plot his ruin. He is crushed by the overwhelming guilt and consequences of his sin, as he laments: “For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (vs. 4).
He is like a person looking in the mirror who wants to see beauty, but instead sees ugliness. This is what God’s Law does when it acts like a mirror. We would like to able to look into that mirror and say: “What a good person I am! I’m practically perfect in every way!” But the mirror of God’s Law always tells the truth, no matter how much it hurts. It shows us the reality of our sin’s ugliness. Looking into that mirror, David says with dismay: “My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness. I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long” (vs. 5-6). David mourns and laments over his sins. He sees the true depth of his sinfulness. He can see the harm his sinful nature does to him in body and soul. He can see the harm it has caused in his relationships with God and with other people.
Do you and I see ourselves in this psalm? Has God’s Law so affected our own heart that we are alarmed by our sin, and mourn and lament our wretchedness, and fear God’s wrath?
We live in a time when no one wants to be responsible for guilt. We hear all the excuses that are readily used and accepted in our society: “It’s my parents’ fault. It’s the way I was raised. It’s in my genes. It’s how God made me. I can’t help the way I am. This is my identity.” But despite all the excuses, God’s Law does not let us pass the blame for our sin and guilt.
Here, David simply prays to the Lord: “I will declare my iniquity; I will be in anguish over my sin” (vs 18). Confession is saying the same thing about ourselves that God says about us as sinners. In the true spirit of repentance, David does not make excuses. He does not try to pass the blame. These troubles of body and soul that weigh so heavily on him are due to his own sin, not someone else’s. The mirror of God’s Law has shown him the honest truth. He does not deserve to be called a child of God, due to his sins. But now, all he wants is a fresh start in God’s grace. In the blessing of God’s Absolution, in the peace of His forgiveness, David wants to amend his sinful ways, to live from now on to the glory of his Savior.
Such repentance and restoration is the goal when it comes to the Office of the Keys. Let us hear again the Catechism’s explanation, as taught in Scripture:
What is the Office of the Keys?
The Office of the Keys is the special authority which Christ has given to His Church on earth: to forgive the sins of the penitent sinners, but to retain the sins of the impenitent as long as they do not repent.
In Matthew 16:19 Jesus said, not only to His first disciples, but to His Church of believers: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Like a coin, God’s Word has two sides – Law and Gospel. In the Church, a called minister of the Word must deal with members of Christ’s flock using His Word, His Law and Gospel. God’s Law crushes a sinner with the reality of his guilt, bringing him to despair of any righteousness of his own. But God’s Gospel heals and makes all things new, declaring to the penitent sinner His gift of forgiveness and righteousness in Christ.
If a member of the congregation is found to be living in some unrepented sin, it is the duty of the pastor and congregation to use the Binding Key. Here God’s Law declares that the impenitent remains bound in his sin and guilt, under God’s judgment. We speak the truth in love, to win him back to Christ. But if, despite repeated warnings, he persists in unrepented sin, not listening to God’s Word, finally the congregation must state God’s Law in the most severe way. Excommunication declares to the impenitent that he is not part of the congregation of believers, and if he persists in impenitence, he can only expect God’s wrath and damnation. But even this is done in love for his soul, with the desire that he may see the seriousness of his sin and repent. Then the pastor and congregation will have the joy of using the Loosing Key. Here God’s Gospel declares the penitent sinner fully absolved, forgiven all his sin in Jesus’ name, and restored to full fellowship in His Church (Matthew 18:15-20).
Haven’t we all needed the rebuke of God’s Law? Sometimes, after we have been holding on to a proud and ignorant opinion of ourselves, we need to be shown what we really look like in the mirror as sinners. Maybe for some time, we go on thinking we are fine in our ways. But then, a fellow Christian cares enough to warn us about some sin to which we have become blind, a sin that is hurting our relationship with God and with other people. As with David, God’s Law pierces and hurts. It leaves us feeling crushed, broken, alone, and forsaken. All we can do is cry out with David: “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (vs. 22).
Here we remember Jesus’ words: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). For when we are brought to confess our sins in sorrow of heart, we find healing in God’s Absolution, His full forgiveness of our sins and restoration in Christ.
Now let us look at this psalm through the eyes of our Savior. For in answer to our penitent prayer, the Lord Jesus has made haste to help us. He has come to bring salvation to us sinners.
Isaiah wrote of Jesus: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). 1 Peter 2:24 says He “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree.” As Jesus bore all our sins on the cross, He cried out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).
Therefore, Jesus Himself prayed this psalm as He suffered on the cross for us. Just think of what He felt, as those arrows of God’s Law pierced and condemned Him for all our sin. For our sake Jesus groaned, suffered, bled, and had no health in His body. For our sake, Jesus was abandoned by friends, He was betrayed by His disciples, and His enemies rose up all around Him. For our sake, Jesus’ flesh was inflamed and festering where the whip, the crown of thorns, and the nails pierced Him. For our sake, Jesus’ heart panted, His strength failed Him, and the light of His eyes left Him in death. He who had no sin bore our sin, punishment, and death, in order to set us free from all of that.
Now, our living Savior brings all the benefits of His salvation to us through His gift of Absolution. As we confess our sins, all His finished work on the cross comes to us personally. The Words of Absolution declare His sweet Gospel. In the Corporate Confession in our worship service, or in Private Confession with a pastor or confessor, we hear Jesus’ words: “I forgive you all your sins.” When we confess our sins to a fellow believer – maybe even the one we hurt by our sins – we get to hear that healing Gospel we all can share with each other: “Take heart, God forgives all your sins for Jesus’ sake; and in the name of Jesus, so do I.” When we hear this Absolution, spoken by Christ’s own command and authority, we can “firmly believe that all our sins are thereby forgiven before God in heaven” (Catechism).
Today, we may still suffer certain earthly consequences of sin. We may still hurt. Friends and others may still abandon us, even though we have repented and amended our ways. Enemies may still try to use our sins against us. But all these temporal consequences ultimately cannot harm us, for we live in Christ and His eternal salvation. By His Loosing Key, by His Gospel of forgiveness, He has set free from all guilt and condemnation. He has opened the gates of heaven to us. For Jesus’ sake, we can be sure God will never abandon us. He has claimed us as His redeemed, restored, and forgiven children in Christ.
So we pray with David and all the family of God in Christ: “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (vs. 22). As repentant sinners we pray with joy and confidence, knowing our Lord and Savior does indeed come to forgive us, heal us, and make all things new for us!
Glory be to the Father and the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.