Ever felt guilty?  What did you do about it?  Read David’s description of his overwhelming guilt in Psalm 38:

“O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!  2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.  3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.  4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.”

What did David do to provoke such shame and mourning and heaviness?  He doesn’t reveal the specific sins, but he was consumed by them.

My first reaction to David is, “You shouldn’t feel guilty like that. It’s not right for a believer in Jehovah to feel so bad.  Why are you such a negative person?”  But is that the correct assessment?  Should we be so quick to deny David this Psalm?

As I read the Psalm, I realize that the difference between David and me is not that I never feel guilty.  The difference is that when I do, I am not as apt to run to the Lord in prayer, pouring out my heart to Him.  Rather, I am apt to run to myself or run to a friend and pour out my complaint or guilt to man.  Or I might say nothing and withdraw, simply bottling it all up inside.

David ran to the Lord. That’s what made him a man after God’s own heart.  Whether he faced guilt or shame or fear or anger, David always took it to the Lord.  That’s why the Psalms are so raw emotionally. I think, “David, you shouldn’t talk that way to the Lord.  It’s disrespectful and inappropriate.”  But the thing is, David takes it to the Lord.  Hiis complaining and anger and guilt is taken directly to God.  This is faith.  This is what a man after God’s own heart looks like.

The old hymn says,

“What a friend we have in Jesus,  All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry  Ev’rything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,  Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry  Ev’rything to God in prayer!”

David took it all to the Lord in prayer.  He let God bear his sins and griefs.  He forfeited no peace.  He bore no needless pain.   All because he carried everything to God in prayer.

Lord, today, prompt me with your Spirit to be aware of my inwardness, my independence, and my lack of faith.  Remind me to be like David, carrying everything to you in prayer:  my guiilt, my fears, my frustrations, and even my joy and happiness.  Like David in Ps 38:22,, “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation.“