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"Groanings Which Cannot Be Uttered" - Romans 8:26
Examining King David in the Psalms |
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There are nearly 74 Psalms which are explicitly titled or credited to King David. By vocabulary and phraseology, it is apparent that David is deeply convicted over his sins, often in straits of wrath compelling him into astounding intercessory experiences, and yet, the horrifying reality is that these very same NT terms, experiences, and intercessions are spurned by the church. These terms are explicit identifiers of God’s plaguing wrath; whence it is falling, saints sought to be recovered therefrom, but if they fail to be recovered from the temporary experience therein, then, at last, the signaling strokes of these experiences which were meant for redemptive chastening turn into eternal dooms. All of these experiences – like the Rod, the furnace of fire, and House-judgments – are meant for redemption if the people of God survive them. Survival is, namely, by responding to it in the same manner that David exemplifies. He is, for us, a patterned saint, and we need to learn to behave like he did, for we too, like him, will be in such straits henceforth categorized and addressed.
ARROWS
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Secondary Witness
“He hath bent His bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. He hath caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my reins.” (Lamentations 3:12-13) |
King David
“For thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.” (Psalm 38:2-5) (Contextually, arrows are representative of wrath aimed at wicked men – Ps. 7:12-13, 18:14, 21:12, 64:7, 144:6) |
SPIRITUAL DESERTIFICATION
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Secondary Witness
“And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (Isaiah 58:11) “Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.” (Jeremiah 31:12) “He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38) |
King David
“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. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” (Psalm 32:3-5) “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is…” (Psalm 63:1) “To the chief Musician, Maschil, for the sons of Korah. As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?” (Psalms 42:1-3) |
DROWNING IN FLOODS OF WATERS
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Secondary Witness
“Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.” (Lamentations 3:54) “For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all Thy billows and Thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of Thy sight…” (Jonah 2:3-4). |
King David
“To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” (Psalm 69:1-2) “Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.” (Psalm 124:4-5) “Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves. Selah.” (Psalm 88:7) “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts: all Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me.” (Psalm 42:7) |
SPIRITUAL DARKNESS
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Secondary Witness
“He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.” (Lamentations 3:2) “When His candle shined upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness...” (Job 29:3) “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” (Isaiah 60:1-3) “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” (Micah 7:7-8) |
King David
“For Thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.” (Psalm 18:28) “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.” (Psalm 27:1, 9) “For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance, because Thou hadst a favour unto them.” (Psalm 44:3) “For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead…Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not Thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.” (Psalm 143:3, 7) “O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.” (Psalm 43:3) “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance.” (Psalm 89:15) |
- The arrows of God – likewise the spiritual desertification, drowning floods, and plaguing darkness – they are meant for the world, namely to condemn them, but if we are in unrepentant sin, we will be thus judged. We are chastened by these plagues that we might repent and recover our saintly standing in grace, unto obedience, thus we are chastened by them “that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32), but if we fall into these plagues without recovering from them, expressly because we are not being exercised unto fruits of repentance and holiness through them (Heb. 12:11), then our judgment will not be in this life only, but in the life to come, and we will perish with the heathen world of iniquitous sinners. We have become, as it is written, them that are “turned out of the way” (Heb. 12:13), them that “fail of the grace of God” (Heb. 12:15), them that become the “root of bitterness springing up” in the garden of God (Heb. 12:15, Deut. 29:18). Henceforth, let us look at how David was not condemned by these chastening plagues of judgment and wrath, but rather, exercised unto repentance and restoration, meekly responded to the goodness of God so that, for him, it became a redemptive process as it was meant by God to be. If haply we understand biblical chastening that we might identify the experience of it, and of necessity, by God’s grace, we are exercised by it, then we will come to know the hope and happiness of the word spoken to the saints of old – “I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the Name of the LORD” (Zeph. 3:12).
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PSALM 25
“Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions…pardon mine iniquity; for it is great…forgive all my sins.” (Ps. 25:7, 11, 18) “The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him; and He will shew them His covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring Thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.” (Psalm 25:14-18) |
Psalm 25 is thematic, for it represents the whole of David’s pursuit – the Covenant’s fulfillment – and his greatest burden of mind which interrupted the Covenant’s fulfillment – his sins. David knew that his sin could, and did, provoke God to wrath, endangering David that, haply, God would be willing to “enter into judgment” (Ps. 143:2) with him. Therefore, see how David was ever praying for the Lord to forgive his sins (Ps. 25:7, 11, 18). What is the spiritual experience of wrath which David underwent if the Covenant was not being fulfilled in his life? David speaks of it like as the verses above: God’s arrows of wrath aimed at and firing upon him until they were sticking fast into his soul, making grievous wounds, God’s plague of wrath which brought a desertification of the soul, God’s tempestuous wrath which brought drowning floods of water upon the soul, and God’s plague of wrath in spiritual darkness because God turned away the saving light of His face. We can determine therefore, clearly, that David wrestled against the wrath of God in his lifetime, and it was for the present progressive confirmation of the Covenant promises!
Who in this entire world of men does experience the soul-crushing, body-depleting, and near-death pressures of wrestling against God’s wrath for personal and corporate salvation, as seen in the life of the beloved of God, King David? The famed missionary to the Native Americans, David Brainerd by name, was one man of such experience, but tragically, he is written off to be a man of melancholy, of mental and clinical sickness, but his rapturous experiences of nearness to God’s presence, the length and depth of his prayer life, and the revival powers that followed, all of these things are the envy of the children of God. It is with brokenness and astonishment that I have come to conclude, that Brainerd was in a right-standing relationship with God, and thereby, he was sensitive to, and responsive to, his own sinfulness, being aware of God’s reactive and changing wrath; all the while he was in pursuit of the promises of God to be performed, but how terrible it is that his life of lowly repentance and mourning is the hiss of God’s people, as they just brush it off?! They are of a stronger constitution, you see…but Brainerd’s power is their praise and they go on powerless all their days! Why!? Apparently they have sin that they don’t know about! But Brainerd knew it – oh, how he knew his wrath-aggravating sin! The secret of Brainerd’s success in the Spirit of God was this very breaking experience which “Americanized Christianity” spurns as a psychological instability, when, in truth, these experiences were death to the flesh so that Brainerd might live to God. This was not merely Brainerd’s melancholy, but godly sorrow. It was his deep wrestling against wrath, followed by rising successes of mercies won! Thus power endued and rested upon this humble man! Brainerd was an example, like King David, whose experiences of personal soul-travail against God’s wrath men do likewise spurn, so that men are nearly unaware of God’s wrath altogether, and it is because they refuse to suffer it. Leonard Ravenhill rightly said, “I get calls from all over the world, everyone wants my anointing and mantle…but nobody wants my sackcloth and ashes”.
A Present Progressive Assurance of Salvation - Obtained by Intercession
Who in this entire world of men does experience the soul-crushing, body-depleting, and near-death pressures of wrestling against God’s wrath for personal and corporate salvation, as seen in the life of the beloved of God, King David? The famed missionary to the Native Americans, David Brainerd by name, was one man of such experience, but tragically, he is written off to be a man of melancholy, of mental and clinical sickness, but his rapturous experiences of nearness to God’s presence, the length and depth of his prayer life, and the revival powers that followed, all of these things are the envy of the children of God. It is with brokenness and astonishment that I have come to conclude, that Brainerd was in a right-standing relationship with God, and thereby, he was sensitive to, and responsive to, his own sinfulness, being aware of God’s reactive and changing wrath; all the while he was in pursuit of the promises of God to be performed, but how terrible it is that his life of lowly repentance and mourning is the hiss of God’s people, as they just brush it off?! They are of a stronger constitution, you see…but Brainerd’s power is their praise and they go on powerless all their days! Why!? Apparently they have sin that they don’t know about! But Brainerd knew it – oh, how he knew his wrath-aggravating sin! The secret of Brainerd’s success in the Spirit of God was this very breaking experience which “Americanized Christianity” spurns as a psychological instability, when, in truth, these experiences were death to the flesh so that Brainerd might live to God. This was not merely Brainerd’s melancholy, but godly sorrow. It was his deep wrestling against wrath, followed by rising successes of mercies won! Thus power endued and rested upon this humble man! Brainerd was an example, like King David, whose experiences of personal soul-travail against God’s wrath men do likewise spurn, so that men are nearly unaware of God’s wrath altogether, and it is because they refuse to suffer it. Leonard Ravenhill rightly said, “I get calls from all over the world, everyone wants my anointing and mantle…but nobody wants my sackcloth and ashes”.
A Present Progressive Assurance of Salvation - Obtained by Intercession
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Oh! How many do reckon and boast in the “sure mercies of David”, and yet, they are completely oblivious to how David, for himself, made mercy sure! Might I suggest that we learn how David responded and related to the wrath of God, so that we can be like him?
Oh, that we would see the wrath of God, if indeed it is upon us! And then, that we would intercede in desperation, so as to say, “Hide not Thy face far from me; put not Thy servant away in anger: Thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation” (Ps. 27:9)! Will we ever be like David, that we might have Davidic mercies? Then let us, when necessary, be broken and pressed down under Davidic experiences of wrath, God’s wrath, which was so often upon him. Let us burn in hatred and anger against our sin, so that, God would never burn us with wicked men. Let us undergo the process of present progressive salvation with the same language of David’s intercessions, so that we can speak to God in the same coherent wording as biblical saints, but to do this we must first – stop – and look this ancient, biblical reality in the face. No shrinking back! No shrugging it off! Let us walk through the emotional traumas to a biblical proportion – as David and as Jacob – like when they did wrestle with their God. After intercession, we can, like them, arise again to praise God for His goodness and mercy, but let it be praised after we did have such a hard wrestle of intercession that we were brought to the point of fainting, and even death. With a clear conscience and of honest report, David did say – “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD” (Psalm 27:13-14). |
Thematic Template of the Psalms
We must seek God in intercession against wrath so that we can obtain a present progressive, supernatural assurance that God will save. This becomes the standing platform of our praise, for, grace has enabled a holy reckoning of the promises of God, so that, hour by hour, by and by, saving power clothes our conversation. Also, by the victories of intercession, certain revelations are cast beyond the present time into the future, by a prophetic word or vision, and by this we can declare future deeds of God’s glory in our personal perseverance in salvation, even though the circumstantial foes presently in opposition do appear insurmountable. But Oh! What is missing today is that the people of God are not wrestling against the wrath of God, so that their praises, reckoning of the promises, or prophetic declarations of future perseverance are all without the performance of what is praised, reckoned, or prophesied! |
Have you ever been near fainting in a spiritual wrestle against wrath? This is why David wrote, “I had fainted.” This is no exaggeration! David is not a lying enthusiast who seeks to make your emotions tingle by poetic fantasies. Reader, HE WAS IN AN AGONY! Have you ever been taken to a spiritual cliff and pressed right to the edge, and from thence you looked down upon the blood-red rocks of wrath, upon which, at sundry times, God drove men into, because they would not repent at last? God terrorizes a good man’s mind so that he will repent in time, and how? What can it be compared to? It is as when men who fear heights are brought up high, oh the feeling of it!
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It is like a thousand fire alarms vibrating your emotions into sirens;
Like a swarm of killer bees circling around your mental equilibrium; You are trying to gather your thoughts, but in the midst of bees you are lost. As it were, every swarming thought has a poisonous sting, and, lo, You are persecuted, swelling, stung-red, and burning-hot. You are relentlessly swinging but you cannot do a thing! You are in a craze and spinning around, you are made unsound in every sensibility, For because, with your senses stung, you cannot see – your thoughts are stinging bees! They climb into your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, stinging relentlessly, And so much the more – you feel – there is no direction to flee! |
Behold the man, he is terrified into dizziness and is ready to faint…My reader, I find that David had similar experiences of inexpressible fears, so that, time and time again, David was tottering around the edges of bodily collapse, emotionally amazed with weeping and holy-gasp, crying aloud for nights and days, enduring long, bone-exposing fasts, and thus, he was near fainting betimes.
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He was hallowed for heaven, yes, but he obtained saving graces by wrestling against wrath 70 x 7 times – for this reason repentance was his continual state of mind.
David’s exasperation and desperation, his soul-travailing, wrestling, and wailing, these must become our template of example, or else, what religious mountain are you climbing?! You claim everything else of David’s, BUT WITHOUT THIS, it is a false reality, and so, men do presumptuously claim David’s triumphant declarations without having them in actuality. A bunch of vain men, they are, reckoning promises without David’s pain, laying claim to David’s holiness without his chastening and shame. They are trampling underfoot the tear-stained cheeks, wrinkled old eyes, and callused knees of the poor man, David, whose life of wrestling with God was in perseverant entreaties! They will follow after only half of David’s spiritual experiences and name, unwilling to mourn in David’s sackcloth and ashes, so that, with him, they might rise up beautified – the same. |
Men do search the psalms to claim David’s assurance of salvation for themselves, his eloquent and picture-perfect promises which he reckoned, and those prophetic visions he did write about and tell, which cause every generation to marvel how God did love David – and yet – to my utter astonishment – men are blind to David’s wrestling against wrath – as if there were never any steep cliffs and narrow paths which did lead up to the peak of David’s triumph at last. From its height of heaven’s glory – from there David did say – “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the day of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever” (Psalm 23:6), but men do mindlessly repeat the words while they are utterly falling away!
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“…groanings which cannot be uttered…” – Romans 8:26
“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.” (Ps. 6:6-7) |
“I am weak…my bones are vexed…my soul is also sore vexed: but Thou, O LORD, how long?” (Ps. 6:2-4), saith King David. At this point, David was under the “anger” and “hot displeasure” of God, so that God did cast him off and leave him (Ps. 6:4) into the hands of his “enemies” (Ps. 6:10). The wrath of God did put him in this place for a long period of time, so that, David reverently cried to God, “How long”, and it was continuing for such a long period of time that David was feeling like he was going to die under its long-lasting severity. Thus he pled for God to “return” to him, for one express purpose – “For in death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks” (Ps. 6:5)? In this experience of wrath, herein described, you may think that David was praying for salvation, but how hard? You may think that you are an intercessor, but what is your experiential standard by which you measure yourself? Are your friends and companions, who are ever on the brink of lukewarmness, your measuring standards, “measuring [yourselves] by [yourselves], and comparing [yourselves] among [yourselves],” so that you think so highly of yourself (2 Cor. 10:12)? David should be the standard for what intercession looks like for the NT experience of intercession! Yes, I mean the NT experience of intercession AGAINST the wrath of God! David prayed hard and long, even so much that he said: “I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies” (Ps. 6:6-7). My reader, he was weeping profusely all night long, and for many nights, until he said that his eye was waxing old. Those of you who have been through similar intercession, you know what he is saying. David said that his groanings were because of, and in intercession against, wrath, and he was groaning because he could no longer utter words to express the feelings of the soul that were upon him, by the heavy hand of the Holy Ghost.
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“the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” – Romans 8:26
“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim” – Ps. 6:6 “I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart…my groaning is not hid” – Ps. 38:8-9 “…I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin” –Ps. 102:4-5 “the LORD did behold the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose…” – Ps. 102:19-20 “…the words of my roaring” – Ps. 22:1 “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long” – Ps. 32:3 “My sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like waters” – Job 3:24 “the sighing of the needy” – Ps. 12:5 “my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing” – Ps. 31:10 “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before Thee” – Ps. 79:11 “the men that sigh and that cry” – Ezek. 9:4 “Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes” – Ezek. 21:6 |
Have you ever seen the connection between the NT description of “groanings” with the biblical example of King David and others, groaning because of the wrath of God? We must trace the word to its root!
In plain clarity, we can now see, exactly what kind of groaning is in reference in the NT passage (Rom. 8:26-27), because the groanings are called intercessory groanings, which are groans because of, and against, the wrath of God, as seen in the psalms. “maketh intercession for us” – Rom. 8:26 “maketh intercession for the saints” – Rom 8:27 |
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
David’s intercessory groaning, roaring, and sighing interprets Romans 8:26-27 when it describes intercessory groaning in the New Testament dispensation – groaning which cannot be uttered with words. Groanings are exactly like roarings and sighings. How many vocal chords the groan engages, and to what force of amplification it does reach, this matters not. Roarings would be the loudest and most forceful engagement of the voice, while sighing is more disengaged and voiceless, silent but just as sore. Roaring and sighing can express the same inward turmoil that is within the man; they are just two forms of expression in the loudest and lowest forms of groaning.
David indicates that groaning is intercessory, even though it is an unutterable agony. He said in Psalm 38:9, “Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee.” The groanings do communicate “the mind” and “will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27), which also is, as David says, “my desire” (Ps. 38:9), for the two have become one communication to God by the Holy Ghost, and though it is not an understandable communication to man, to God it is an unhidden meaning, clearly understood, fully expressing intercessory desires which otherwise could not “be uttered.” David was saying that all of his desire was before God in the intercessory groanings of the Holy Ghost, so that the meaning of those groanings God understands! This is exactly what is referenced in Romans 8:26, when it is said that “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
David indicates that groaning is intercessory, even though it is an unutterable agony. He said in Psalm 38:9, “Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee.” The groanings do communicate “the mind” and “will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27), which also is, as David says, “my desire” (Ps. 38:9), for the two have become one communication to God by the Holy Ghost, and though it is not an understandable communication to man, to God it is an unhidden meaning, clearly understood, fully expressing intercessory desires which otherwise could not “be uttered.” David was saying that all of his desire was before God in the intercessory groanings of the Holy Ghost, so that the meaning of those groanings God understands! This is exactly what is referenced in Romans 8:26, when it is said that “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
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“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. I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him.” (Psalm 32:3-6)
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In all the former citations which used groaning, roaring, and sighing, each is a mark of salvation being wrought in the person who was in the midst of an outpouring of wrath, and, by those very means, they were interceding against the wrath of God. Now let us clearly note: we understand that these were intercessory groanings, roarings, and sighings, and therefore, they were wrought within the soul because of the kindled wrath of God, and the groanings, roarings, and sighings were manifesting to stand against it so as to pacify it; thus, when wrath is pacified then men do cease to groan, roar, and sigh. This is plainly evident in Psalm 32:3-6, cited just above. David was, at first, “silent” about his sins, which means that he was hiding and unrepentant over them, and therefore God poured out wrath to utterly chasten David’s soul. This happened “all the day” and every day, until David did repent of his sin-hiding silence and unrepentant rebellion. David confessed this when he said, “I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and Thou forgavest.” At the moment that David ceased to be in rebellion, at the moment he repented of his silence and made known his sin by a humble confession to God, he was delivered from the afflicting wrath of God which pressed him into groanings, roarings, and sighings.
Oh! How eternity will prove that those men who “groaned” and “roared” on earth will not be those who groan and roar in hell! Those that hated their sins on earth will forget about them in heaven, while those that loved their sins on earth will regretfully remorse over them in hell! May I put to you a solemn question? Do you groan over your sins? If not, maybe it is because you do not believe in the wrath of God. Maybe it is because you do not see your sins which do provoke God’s wrath, and perhaps your doctrine does not permit you to groan because you are taught by it that God cannot ever be angry with you again, now that you are regenerated. Just a little distance from God’s presence, and behold, you are dazzled by eternally insignificant hobbies and entertainment, and you will not groan because you believe God would never change His compassionate face into an angry frown, or a gentle tone into a sharp, fiery rebuke!
Oh! How eternity will prove that those men who “groaned” and “roared” on earth will not be those who groan and roar in hell! Those that hated their sins on earth will forget about them in heaven, while those that loved their sins on earth will regretfully remorse over them in hell! May I put to you a solemn question? Do you groan over your sins? If not, maybe it is because you do not believe in the wrath of God. Maybe it is because you do not see your sins which do provoke God’s wrath, and perhaps your doctrine does not permit you to groan because you are taught by it that God cannot ever be angry with you again, now that you are regenerated. Just a little distance from God’s presence, and behold, you are dazzled by eternally insignificant hobbies and entertainment, and you will not groan because you believe God would never change His compassionate face into an angry frown, or a gentle tone into a sharp, fiery rebuke!
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When I read the psalms I find that King David groaned and roared over his sin!
I am so shocked and amazed how blinded “Christianity” is today! |
Please, I beg you to reevaluate what you think intercessory prayer is, what a godly degree of conviction of sin is, what you see when you look up at the face of God, whether wrath or love, what spiritual condition you are presently in, how long and trying wrath’s exercise was for David and the psalmists, and therefore how long you can expect it to be for you in similar circumstances! Have you ever experienced these things? If not, that should trouble you! That should confuse you! And you deserve confusion of face because of your sins and those of your fathers’! Confess to God, “O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, and unto us confusion of faces…O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face…because we have sinned against Thee” (Dan. 9:7-8)! Yea, and then in your confusion, if God gives you mercy, why don’t you groan, roar, and sigh over it! Then do that for many days and nights, even weeping, and God might have mercy upon you. Don’t start making up reasons why this can’t be the case for you now. Don’t excuse yourself by taking sides with your deceitful heart, as it tells you all its reasons why you are more holy than King David, and therefore rightfully excluded from David’s exercises of wrath. Why don’t you try to seek God? Then you might understand what circumstances this experience of near annihilating wrath is a possible for NT Christians, like as it was for King David in the OT! Lest God says to you the fearful words of dissatisfaction and rejection, even the words of Jeremiah 6:10, and God passes you by. What a fate – that God does not enlighten your understanding to open up the truth before you, so as to take away the confusion you are in, and why? God says: “To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it” (Jer. 6:10). Reader, you just don’t care, so therefore you don’t groan, roar, and sigh! Therefore you don’t pray, you don’t make many effectual prayers “with all perseverance” (Eph. 6:18), and so it is so – “yet made [you] not [your] prayer before the LORD [your] God, that [you] might turn from [your] iniquities and understand [God’s] truth” (Dan. 9:13).
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“Mighty intercessors” of modern “Christianity,” I adjure thee! I beg of thee! Does your intercession look like and feel like, is it long lasting like, and does it make you act like the following experiences written as the inspired example of what intercession looks like?
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“A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.” (Psalm 38:1-10)
“A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto Thee. Hide not Thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline Thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping, Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath: for Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But Thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and Thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. When the LORD shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD. For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem…” (Psalm 102:1-21) “In Thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in Thy righteousness…I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy: for Thou hast considered my trouble; Thou hast known my soul in adversities; And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: Thou hast set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in Thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me for Thy mercies' sake. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon Thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous…For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes: nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. O love the LORD, all ye His saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” (Psalm 31:1, 7-18, 22-24) “I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue, LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee. Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish. I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it. Remove Thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of Thine hand. When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not Thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.” (Psalm 39:1-13) |
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Wrath & Intercessions so Long -->
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“I cry unto Thee DAILY” – Ps. 86:3-5
“MY DAYS are consumed…my days are like a shadow that declineth…” (Ps. 102) “For MY LIFE is spent with grief, and MY YEARS with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.” (Psalm 31) |
NOTE: In the midst of wrath and intercessions, it is not uncommon for the individual
to lose the sense of assurance in their personal salvation.
to lose the sense of assurance in their personal salvation.
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Wrath so Severe it is Nearly Deadly -->
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“Unto Thee will I cry, O LORD my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if Thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.” (Psalm 28:1)
“make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity… Remove Thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of Thine hand. When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity… O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.” (Psalm 39) “my soul in adversities… for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly… For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes…” (Psalm 31) |
“Be merciful unto me, O Lord: FOR I CRY UNTO THEE DAILY. Rejoice the soul of Thy servant: For unto Thee,
O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy
UNTO ALL THEM THAT CALL UPON THEE.” (Psalm 86:3-5)
O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy
UNTO ALL THEM THAT CALL UPON THEE.” (Psalm 86:3-5)
David’s prayers and intercessions were “fervent” (James 5). They were not mere whispers or silent monologues; they were with a lifted up voice and loud cries. Do you pray this way? Maybe it is because you are not as urgent as he was, because you don’t see your sin or God’s wrath like he saw it to be.
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“For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.” (Psalm 40:12)
“I had fainted, unless I had believed” – Psalm 27:13 |
Maybe if you were so convicted, or if your salvation was on the line, then you would fear so much so that your heart fails and your consciousness is near fainting because your inner turmoil and travail is so great. Then, like the following verses, you might bestir yourself to seek God like you never have before, except when you first sought after salvation in Christ.
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“I cry unto Thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto Thee. Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.”
(Psalm 141:1-4) “My knees are weak through fasting; my flesh faileth of fatness.” (Ps. 109:24) “no soundness in my flesh…no rest in my bones…an heavy burden…too heavy for me…my wounds stink…I am troubled…bowed down greatly…mourning all the day…feeble and sore broken…my heart panteth, my strength faileth” (Ps. 38:1-10) “my bones cleave to my skin…weeping…the groaning of the prisoner” (Ps. 102) |
Do you see how aware David was of his sins, thus he sought repentance of these sins so that he would not be a castaway?! If ever he did persevere, by God’s grace, which he did, thence his spiritual walk is our example, and we should credit God’s salvation to be great in the midst of these unavoidable experiences of sins uprising. This Psalm was written after the Covenant was established with David, and he was ruling as King at the time that his own house was being dedicated:
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“A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David. I will extol Thee, O LORD; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. O LORD my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. O LORD, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness. For His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. LORD, by Thy favour Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide Thy face, and I was troubled. I cried to Thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication. What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth? Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be Thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: Thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.” (Psalm 30:1-12)
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All the times of defeat and tarrying, previous to the point of the establishment of the Kingdom under David, were understood by him to be manifestations of wrath because of sin. Also, all future inability to continually secure the Kingdom of God under David was also credited as a manifestation of wrath because of sin. Psalm 60 is a perfect example of this, and with this psalm I will conclude this chapter:
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“To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast scattered us, Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. Thou hast shewed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. That Thy beloved may be delivered; save with Thy right hand, and hear me. God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not Thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies.” (Psalm 60:1-12)
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