Devotionals

Fallen Down

by Stephen Wong
01/30/21
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Devotional Reading - Psalm 38


Many of us will become familiar with Jenga. After constructing a wooden tower of 54 blocks, each player must remove a block one at a time and stack it on top of the now increasingly wobbly tower. Of course, this requires great care and delicacy, as one single lapse in concentration, one nervous shake of the hand, and the whole tower of wooden blocks may come crashing down.

Sometimes our lives can feel like a Jenga tower crumbling down. We can relate to times where our lapse in judgement and sinful decision at a critical moment resulted in devastating consequences. Perhaps for some of us that time was a foolish decision that cost us an opportunity, a job or even a marriage. Perhaps we did something that caused great harm to ourselves and those we love. Perhaps even now, we are still suffering the consequences for our mistakes. During these times, it can feel like God has abandoned us and that we don’t deserve to ask for his help anymore. 

In Psalm 38, the psalmist is also experiencing a fallen down Jenga tower moment. He is facing great suffering to the point where he has lost all his strength. To make matters worse, his troubles have caused him to be shunned by his friends and neighbours. Sadly, the psalmist acknowledges that his suffering was brought about by his own wrongdoing (Psalm 38:1-5). However, even in his moment of pain and guilt, he realizes that he can still turn to God for mercy. Even if his present catastrophe is a consequence of his own wrongdoing, he can still confidently confess his sins and wait for God’s help (Psalm 38:15).

As Christians, we should be reminded that even in our darkest hour, Jesus remains as our great high priest (Hebrews 4:14-15). This gives us confidence that even when we fall into disaster as a result of our own wrongdoing, God will never abandon us. In the moments of deepest regrets and sorrows, we can be encouraged to draw close to God in prayer, knowing that he will always respond with mercy and the help we need. Although this does not mean that we can always escape all the consequences of our sins, we can find confidence with the psalmist in the fact that as we confess our sins and wait on his help, we will one day experience God’s goodness again. May we never believe the lie that our lives are forever ruined because of some past fault. God has not given up on us, regardless of how many mistakes we make. If he has begun a good work in us, then he will be faithful to his promise and finish that work in us until the day Christ returns (Philippians 1:6).