If you would, turn back with me in your copies of God's word to our last scripture reading, Psalm 38. That of course is our text for this evening. What does a godly man look like? It's an important question. It's an important question, of course, for the purpose of self-examination. How does he look and how does my life compare to the image of the godly man? And the scriptures, of course, answer that question really from cover to cover of our Bibles. We're told what the godly man, what he looks like. When you and I, we come to the Psalter, we don't just find a description of what the man looks like, the character of his life as other men might see him. We see the motions of his soul. We don't just learn what he looks like, we learn how he thinks, how he interprets providence, how he reflects upon himself. And friend, the Psalter of all of the books of the scriptures, the Psalter presents to us that picture of the godly man most intimately. And the more that you and I, we meditate on the Psalms in that light, that we are getting a cross section of the godly man's heart, I'm sure you felt as I have that the clearer you get to his heart, the more you see, if you like, the supernatural something of biblical piety. The more you see that the godly man, when he thinks, he thinks as a man, not as a natural man. Something has happened to him that makes him see radically different than the men of the world. When I say supernatural, I don't mean that he has new faculties of soul. He has the same soul, but it's reformed. He's a man still, but a man who has been supernaturally grabbed by God. So he's a changed man. Not only does he look differently, he thinks differently. And in our psalm this evening, friend, I'd submit to you, we find one of the clearest one of the most profound glimpses of the godly man's heart that distinguishes him from the wicked. For here, you and I, we see the godly man under duress. We see him under affliction. As we observe him, we see that indeed he thinks radically differently about his condition than the natural man. The psalm, of course, is a psalm pleading for mercy. Rebuke me not, it begins. Why? Because thy hand presseth me sore. So it's petition. In the very first two verses, we find what really is the principle theme of the entire composition. It is petition, petition for mercy. But friend, you notice as well that immediately we're confronted with the reality that this is also a psalm of repentance. This is penitence, for he says here, not just grant mercy, but he says, rebuke me not, indicating that God was dealing with him so as to deal with his sin. In verses three to 10, we find the next major section. The psalmist tells us in various ways that he is under physical affliction through illness. There is no soundness, he says, in his flesh. That's his first degree of affliction. This is the first cause of his malady. And so verses three to 10 provide for us various descriptions related to this as chastisement. But then when you come to verses 11 to 20, he shifts. And now we find that not only the man is he plagued with illness, but you find here that friends and lovers, they stand aloof from him. And then on the other hand, those that seek his hurt, They are near and they're plotting. So we find in verses three to 10 that the man is afflicted because of illness, but then secondly, we find that he is afflicted because he is under persecution. And that persecution takes two forms, he says. It's either active by those who hate him, or it's passive by those who are his friends and his lovers, but who will not stand to help him. The composition closes then in verses 21 and 22 with petition. A cry for mercy is renewed. But as well as that, there is a confession of trust. The one to whom he turns, the psalmist says, is the Lord, my salvation. Notwithstanding all of the affliction that he has faced, notwithstanding even the psalmist's own sin, when he approaches the Lord God and presents his suit for mercy. He does so before the one whom he calls the Lord, my salvation. So there is the psalm, a cross section of the man as he thinks about his affliction. Well, friend, I want you to look at this text just for a moment further with me, because I want you to notice in verse 18, the psalmist presents to us how I believe we were to make use of this text. Note what he says in that last line of verse 18. He says, I will be sorry for my sin. But then what follows? But mine enemies, he says. They, rather than being sorry for sin, rather than being a people who are afflicted or disquieted of heart, they are lively and they are strong. Those are descriptions right throughout the scriptures that describe the calloused man. Not just a man of physical strength, but a man very far removed from contrition. Note the contrast. The psalmist will be sorry for his sin, but his enemies, lively, strong. I would suggest to you this evening, friend, that this is then a Psalm that presents to us that line of demarcation. A line of demarcation between the godly man and how he thinks about affliction and the wicked and how they interpret providence. And as such, friend, then we learn from this text that under afflictions, the godly, they are contrite and faithful. under afflictions, the godly are contrite and faithful. And what I want us to do this evening is walk through the several sections of this psalm with that in view. And I want us to look first of all at the pestilence, the psalmist's reflection upon himself and the providence while he is under illness. Again, going back to verse one, he says, rebuke me not in thy wrath, nor he says, and words that should be quite familiar to us already, neither chasten me in my hot displeasure. And there are two observations we need to make immediately. And the first is that this is the cry of faith. The man is afflicted, but he is praying, demonstrating that he is a man who is turning to God, not as a man in despair, certainly not as an atheist, but a man who knows that under affliction, he must go to God. It's a simple observation, but crucial at the onset. The second observation is this, we're immediately met with contrition, aren't we? He says, rebuke me not in thy wrath. He didn't say just rebuke me not. Quickly friend, I think you and I can read over those words, but it's worthwhile just to remember the cry here is very qualified. As one of our forebears put it, he says, And paraphrase, I confess I deserve chastisement and need it. Therefore, I desire not that thou wouldest remove it, but only moderate it. He doesn't say rebuke me not. He says, rebuke me not in my wrath, nor in my hot displeasure. We've already encountered this cry, haven't we? In Psalm 6, you remember that it's the very self same idea that the psalmist raises before us. The cry here is that God would not deal with him according to the rigor of the law, according to its exact and just demands upon sin. No, rather that God would deal with him in paternal correction. That God would rebuke him, yes, but not according to the rigor of the law. And then in verses three to six, you find why the psalmist is making such a request. Again and again, friend, you find that he says what he faces now is because of his sin. Neva describes his sin in various ways. So what do we see first of all? Friend, we see that the godly indeed are contrary under illness. And I want to review things that we've already covered many a time. I want to examine why that is. According to the scriptures, why should the godly be contrite under illness? And the first point I want to say is why they shouldn't be if you like. We're not at all saying here that every affliction is tied to a particular sin. As though like Job's friends made mistake, that one can discern their condition from their condition rather their state. Meaning that if one is afflicted is necessarily a picture of particular sins being visited by God's judgment. Now we know that's not the case. Job, the man born blind in John nine, they were afflicted men, but not for particular transgressions. So then why should the godly be contrite under illness? First of all, friend, there's a general reason. The godly man, he reasons thus, he says, this affliction would not be but for sin. Meaning if man had remained in his perfect state, there would be no affliction, there would be no death. What I feel now are the effects of the fall. And so in a very general way, he makes the deduction. This is brought by man's sin. If man had remained in his state of innocence, there would be no such illness. That's a general observation, but friend, he brings that then to another level and quite particularly, he doesn't stop there so as to blame all things upon his first father. No, he remembers that by his own actual transgressions, he as it were agreed with that first transgression. But even more personally, friend, even as a believer, he reasons thus. He says, if I were perfect, then I would have no need for affliction. You see the godly man, he takes the scripture account of affliction, and he reasons thus, affliction is to try and to quicken me to faithfulness, but there would be no need for such, were I indeed full of faith and had no residual unbelief. Affliction is given to the godly so that they would learn to die more to self and to the world. But if I died perfectly to self and to the world, there would be no need for such afflictions. He reasons saying, well, one smelts metal for the dross. And if I'm under affliction, it is because there is dross that must be burned away. There's another way friend in which the godly makes such petitions as we find in our Psalter. And that is because he reasons that particular providences are pointed at particular sins. And that does happen in the life of the believer. It does. But I would submit to you that in our texts, the psalmist does not have particular sins in view. There is none confessed. Unlike Psalm 51, we have no context. And in fact, he leaves the words in the plural, doesn't he? It speaks of sins and of iniquities. If you will, it's a practical example of the psalmist taking any affliction and using that, improving that providence to contrition. So friend, what does he teach us? Well, there are five observations that we make, first of all. How does one take even an illness and make it an occasion for contrition? First of all, you recognize, friend, that there is sensitivity in the psalmist himself. He's not a Stoic. He feels, really, he feels the providence. Christianity never encourages Stoicism. Secondly, you notice first of all, secondly, rather, that he is a man who acknowledges providence. Again, see how often he attributes his affliction directly to the hand of God. He traces affliction, illness, not as the atheist, as though it were a happenstance. No, he traces it back to its first cause. It is the God of providence who is dealing with him. Secondly, you notice, friend, that he is also a man who's contrary. He knows his sinfulness. And so under affliction, friend, his mind goes back to the fact that he is a man who must be afflicted so as to be purified by God's grace. But fourthly, friend, I want you to notice this, that not only is he a man cognizant of his sinfulness, he is a man who makes even use of his illness to teach him the grievousness of his sin. I want you to notice again, as you go back to verse four, he describes his iniquities as being gone over his head. They're too heavy for him. Historically, our commentators are agreed. What he's saying there for iniquities is actually the chastisement for his iniquities. But there's a certain lesson, friend and lad, isn't there? If his afflictions are grievous, the psalmist reasons thus, then my iniquities indeed must be grievous. He learns friend, even through the greatness of his affliction, something about the greatness and the odiousness of his sin. Just like a child learning from their father, the degree of the guilt of their sin based upon the punishment. So to the psalmist. But you also notice friend in this text, is that in verse eight, this is something that belongs not only to the man's externals, he is tutored within the heart in these things. The disquietness of his heart is what he refers to there. So how does the godly man reason in this text? Friend, it's really straightforward. The godly man reasons thus. If a good and a loving God who delights in mercy sends thus to me, and he sends it to me either to deal with very particular sins or to deal simply with indwelling sin, how deadly and how grievous must that sin be? Secondly, friend, I want you to notice in the second section of the psalm, you have persecution. referenced as part of the man's chastisement. In verse 11, he says, his lovers and his friends stand aloof. They ignore the psalmist's pain, which is very much in contrast to David himself, who's very much sensitive to it. They stand aloof. But then more than that in verse 12, while they stand as it were at the side, his enemies seek after his life and they lay snares. Verses 19 and 20, he tells us that this is without cause. He has not injured them in any way. He has not wronged them. They hate me, he says wrongfully. And then he tells us why they are persecuting him. Because, he says, I follow good. This is genuine persecution. David has not wronged the ones who are pursuing him. They hate him wrongfully, he says. And so this, of course, is the moment in which you'd expect the psalmist to say, well, now vindicate the cause of good, where he prays simply, I am utterly innocent, therefore undertake. But go back again to verse 18. He does pray that God would vindicate his name, that he would vindicate that good cause. But note his contrition still. Even as he relates the unjust persecution of those around him. He says, I will be sorry for my sin. What you find in this 38th Psalm is then that the godly are contrite, even under persecution. You notice that the psalmist connects this intimately, and this can't be ignored. He connects it intimately with what's gone before. And therefore, friend, this is seen by the psalmist as a part of his chastening. And in that sense, friend, he is saying that he indeed is worthy to be under such chastening. And that doesn't mitigate the persecutor's guilt. All that the psalmist is saying is that while they deserve wrath for being persecutors of the good, David is also confessing that he doesn't deserve mercy. And it's something that you and I, we've seen throughout this altar already. It's something that we even sang in Psalm 119, isn't it? In that ninth part, you notice the psalmist in very much a parallel sense, presents to us the same kind of situation. He tells us that there are those who are persecuting him. And yet he ties that affliction back immediately to God. And he tells us this, that it was good for him to be so afflicted. Why? Because before he had been afflicted, he strayed. Friend, it's precisely the same thing that you and I have in this 38th Psalm. Here you find that the godly man, he doesn't focus on the discomfort or the inconvenience of his affliction. That's not the thing that dogs his mind most. His earnest cry, first of all, is not, friend, just to be out from under it. In the 38th Psalm, you recognize that he's saying that he deserves such affliction. He's worthy, recipient of such chastisement. Finally, friend, I want us to close by looking that not only do we find a man who thinks about his pestilence with contrition, not only about his persecution as a contrite man, But we also see something about the perseverance of his faith. In verse 22, again, he frames the end of this composition by referring to the Lord simply as the Lord, my salvation. Oh, it's a shocking turn of phrase, isn't it? Why is it shocking? It's not shocking, friend, if you and I are not so mindful and meditative as is the psalmist. But it becomes shocking whenever you remember that the psalmist has traced all of his present affliction back to its first cause, which is God. And more than that friend is shocking because not only does he saying that these things have come upon him, but he is saying that he is deserving of such chastisement for his sin. That's what makes this statement so surprising. Notwithstanding the acknowledgement that God is the one who is the author of his chastisement, and notwithstanding the fact that the psalmist acknowledges and feels himself worthy to receive such correction, yet he goes before the Lord God and says, the Lord, my salvation. Neither the affliction nor the psalmist sin have ruined the covenant that binds him to God. So is the psalmist confidence. And so what you find here friend is a persevering faith. The godly are now faithful we see also under chastening. And this is again to be contrasted with the legalist. The legalist is bold when he goes to God in prayer. Why? Because he has no sin to confess. So he can be bold. God has no real claim against him. So he is bold in his dealings with God. The deist, he can be bold. Why? Because he doesn't think that God really deals with him in this way. God stands aloof. The antinomian, he goes boldly, unlike the psalmist, because he says, well, God doesn't deal with the new covenant Christian this way. A friend look again at the psalmist himself. He acknowledges that every part of his chastisement is traced back to Jehovah. And that his illness and his persecutors are but instruments in the hands of God. They are but the rod of God upon him. And then he goes the next step. As we've already said, he says that that he is well deserving of such correction. And yet he says in verse 9, my desire, my groaning is before thee. Nevertheless, he says at the end, he says, God hears and he shall hear me. He has the ear of God still, notwithstanding the frowning providence and notwithstanding his confession of sin. And then in verse 15, he comes to the point where he says, in thee, O Lord, do I hope. And the word there, hope, is the word wait, as we've already encountered it several times throughout this altar. The stretch, the strain toward the promises of God. So friend, what do you have? You have a man who holds to the promises of pardon and of deliverance. even in the midst of heavy chastisements, even in the midst of a sense of his great sin. And then note friend, again, how he refers to the Lord. Oh my God, he sends. Oh Lord, my salvation. Friend, what you have here is a man who's conscious completely. that the covenant stands still. A man who rests, notwithstanding all that has gone before, upon the promises of God. So what do we learn in summary? That we learn that under afflictions, the godly are contrite and faithful. In pestilence and persecution, they reflect upon them as merited lessons in sins grievousness, while they also manifest perseverance and resting upon God's promises. Friend, the first point I would like to raise as we leave this text is simple observation. How little is this practiced? Friend, we think we know how to use providences, don't we? We think we know how we should seek mercy, how to make confession of sin. But friend, when have any of us reached the depth of that carefulness, of that introspection that we find in this text? Here you find a man who studies every affliction. He acknowledges that every affliction is by divine providence. And how mindlessly are we afflicted, forgetting that these things are in the hand of God. The godly man, friend, he reflects on the fact that these afflictions come upon us, first of all, because of the fall. And secondly, he acknowledges that these afflictions are necessary, even if not for particular transgressions, yet still to deal with indwelling sin. And even under these afflictions, he makes use of the grievousness of these afflictions to teach him something about sin's heinousness and lethality. Friend, how mindlessly are we a people under affliction? This text should teach us how to make use of such providences. Our forebears, friend, the more you get to know them, the more you recognize that this is something that they were well studied in. Many of these men could not think about a migraine without going back to indwelling sin, the grievousness and lethality of sin still within. They didn't learn that from themselves. They learned that from the cross section of the godly man's heart that we have in the Psalter. But secondly, friend, I want you to notice as well that there are points of exhortation. This is normative. This is to be your pattern and mine as we are under affliction. The antinomian, he objects. He says, the Christian is not dealt with in our economy as was the psalmist. But look at Hebrews 12. There, the apostle tells us pointedly, the believer suffers chastening from the hand of God, just like today, the child suffers chastening from the hand of his earthly father. And they say, well, it's not chastening for sin, it's to encourage them in faith. Well, friend, When was ever a lack of faith not sinful? So at least, at the very least, his unbelief is being chastened. But then as you go to 1 Corinthians 11, you find there that one of the chief arguments the apostle levies to reform their abuses of the Lord's Supper was that God indeed was afflicting them with illness and even to the point of death. Christians who were making abuse of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. So yes, friend, this is still normative. The Christian still needs to look like the psalmist in this text. He still needs to make use of affliction to make him contrary. The second friend, or third rather as we leave this text, I want you to notice that the cross section of the godly man's heart here, it shows us what biblical introspection is. It never tends to despair. You see friend, unbiblical introspection will lead a man and a woman to despair invariably. True introspection will lead a man He has to acknowledge sin, to hold fastidiously to the promises of God as well. I quote it to you often, but friend, it's so very important because you see it in this text. For every one glimpse of self, the godly will take 10 of Christ. So you see that in this Psalm. And by the grace of God, may this indeed be our pattern for his glory. Amen.