0491. The Threefold Agonies of Sinning

The Threefold Agonies of Sinning

"When I kept Silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

"For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah" (Psa_32:3-4).

There are three things that mark the agonies of the one who refuses to confess his sin.

1. "My bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long." These words are expressive of the anguish–the bitterness of the one who recognizes, but refuses to confess his sin. Doubtless we have before us David’s own experience. David had sinned grievously, he had sinned heinously; but, he had refused, at first, to acknowledge his sin. David had often experienced precious seasons of fellowship with God; he had known what it was to bask under the sunshine of God’s presence; but now, his sin had separated him and God. God had refused to manifest Himself any more unto David. Then David was thrown into a state of indescribable anguish. He said: "My bones waxed old with their roaring."

What a picture of the sorrows which overwhelmed him! How bitter were the dregs of the cup he was drinking! He had no rest by day or night! His sin was ever before him!

The Christian may imagine that the world holds pleasures that are worth the while. But, once let the Christian desert his Lord; let him turn his back upon the God of his salvation; let him begin to walk once more as the Gentiles walk, and he will find that the pleasures of sin, be they ever so sweet in the mouth, will become as bitter as gall within him.

Let the Christian luxuriate in sin–the moment he gets away from his God, his bones will begin to roar and wax old within him.

2. "Thy hand was heavy upon me." These words clearly teach that the backslider places himself under the chastening hand of God. When Jonah took ship to Tarshish, God sent a storm upon his track, and our God is still sending storms. Poor Israel backslid. What happened? During twenty-three hundred years, God’s hand has been heavy upon her; and, the rod of His wrath will fall still more heavily, during the day of Jacob’s trouble. If any one desires to leave the Lord and to wander in sin, they will be glad enough to get back home again.

3. "My moisture is turned into the drought of summer." The picture before us is that of the fevered tongue crying for water. All joy is darkened; all pleasure is gone; nothing satisfies; nothing offers peace.

When one who has walked with God, and sung the songs of Zion, wanders from his camping ground; when he walks ‘mid Egyptian pleasures, he can do no more than hang his harp upon the willows of weeping. His moisture is turned to the drought of summer! All fruitfulness is gone! The dry winds lick up the vagrant glory of the grass! The leaves fall from the trees! The corn withers in the fields! The cattle, gaunt and thin, starve within the stalls! The soul is overwhelmed with the judgments of God!

But aching bones and heavy heart,

And lips all parch’d and dry;

Belong to those who walk in sin,

And do the Lord deny.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR