Victory or Rebuke?

“When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him” (Psalm 39:11).

I am constantly amazed at the contrasts that are present in the book of Psalms. There are passages that cause our hearts to soar, as well as other passages that cause our spirits to tremble. The verse cited above causes my spirit to tremble. Let me explain what I mean.

There are few weeks that pass by without my spending time with people who are struggling with the consequences of their sin. One the one hand, they know that their sin is forgiven in Christ. That’s the power of the cross. That’s the good news. But just as surely, forgiveness does not necessarily guarantee freedom from the consequences of their sin. You see, in God’s way of dealing with us, we must realize that sin always has consequences. There are times when, because of our sin, God “consumes like a moth what is dear.”

One of the most frequent things I hear from those who are dealing with the consequences of their sin is this: “If only I knew how much this would cost, how much I would lose.” One of the primary things sin does is to blind us from what it may cost us. Yes, sin may truly cost us “what is dear.” I’ve seen this happen in the lives of far too many people not to tremble in light of David’s words. Sin may cost us our health, our job, our family, our friends, our reputation and even our life. Sin is quite good at consuming what’s dear to us.

What’s the solution to the devastating impact of God’s rebuke? The Apostle Peter put it well when he said, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.” Peter knew that the way to avoid the high cost of sin is not to engage in it. As Christians we must embrace the fact that we are at war. There’s a never-ending inner battle constantly raging in our hearts. Our flesh wants its way, even when we know what we want is wrong. That’s the basic nature of the inner war we engage in daily. 

This is a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is that in our own power we are doomed to fail, thereby suffering the inevitable consequences of sin. The good news is that, through the power of Jesus Christ, we can have victory over the sin that seeks to hide itself from us so that it might cost us everything. My prayer for myself and for each of you is that God will never need to “consume like a moth” what is dear to us. David’s words cause my spirit to tremble. How about you?