Psalm 38

However lightly people take sin today, God still takes it seriously. Sometimes an illness is directly the punishment of sin, when it is as a result of living an immoral life, but we must never think that sickness is always God’s punishment. Many of God’s most glorious saints have had to face terrible illnesses, disabilities and an early death. He allows some sickness because He is going to turn it into a blessing. During the Second World War a German bomber was travelling back to base. He jettisoned his last bomb over some British farmland creating a huge crater and hitting an underground spring. The crater filled with water solving a farmer’s problem of finding a drinking place for his cattle. If we need a blessing God will sometimes let us suffer unpleasant circumstances to bring it to us.

However, it is often true that, if we won’t learn the easy way, we have to learn it the hard way and that can involve being set aside by some sickness or other. For the believer it isn’t punishment but the discipline of a loving Heavenly Father who cares too much for us to let us bring on ourselves irreparable spiritual harm. David was wise enough to be honest with God. He confesses his sins and pleads for His help. We can sometimes hide things from ourselves and from God. Shutting our eyes to sin doesn’t make it go away. We need to be straight with God. That is the only way we can know pardon and healing.