Word of Encouragement (6/23/2026)

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. (Ps. 31:9-10)‍

This portion of the Psalm is unique. In other parts, David complains about the wicked people who oppose him. Only here does he confess his own iniquity (v. 10). Only here does he describe his distress due to his own sin, not to the affliction of his enemies. So, he asks the Lord to be gracious to him.

The distress from his sense of guilt is intense. He speaks of his eye, soul, and body being wasted from grief. What does it mean for his eye to waste away? We have the same expression used in Ps. 6:6-7: “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.” Here, we see a connection between his eye wasting away and his continual weeping in grief and fear. Having shed so many tears, his eyes lost their sparkle and clarity. Instead of an instrument of sight, his eyes became a fountain of tears.

David also speaks of his body and soul wasting away. This shows how his whole being is affected by grief since man is made up of body and soul. As a psychosomatic being, man can feel his body and soul mutually influencing and affecting each other. But the two are distinct from each other as well. One can be physically healthy, but mentally unwell, complaining about everything. And there are those who are physically disabled but maintain a positive outlook on life. But when the trouble is intense enough, it can impact both body and soul at the same time. That was what David experienced.

Let us remember that this was due to the awareness of his iniquity (v. 11). We don’t know what sin he was dealing with; he doesn’t say. His focus is, then, not the magnitude of his iniquity, but the fact of his iniquity.

This raises the question: “When was the last time the fact of your iniquity (regardless of its magnitude) caused you to grieve as David did?” Is this because you rarely sin or your conscience is dull? This holy grief over our sin is worthy of our deepest sorrow because the consequence of our sin is eternal damnation. Yes, we are set free from this dreadful consequence when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. But that does not mean that the gravity of sin is not done away with: every sin we commit as believers is still hell-deserving in its evil.

We cannot manufacture such grief, of course. We may be deeply grieved when we experience the heavy consequences of our sin. Even then, it is temporary; it is gone the moment the impact fades away. The only way we can feel this holy grief with such intensity is when we catch a glimpse of God’s holiness and His grace toward us in Jesus Christ. This holy grief is necessary for us to grow in sanctification, a process that cannot happen without faith and repentance. May God grant it to us as we apply ourselves diligently to the means of grace!