The Festering Wound

Psalm 38

In this petition, David vividly describes the effects of sin. It is not clear to me if David is writing literally or figuratively but, regardless, it is clear that sin has devestating effects on the sinner. There are two issues: David's sickness at his own sin and his enemies' plots to take advantage of David's weakness. Twice in the opening section David states that "there is no health in my body." (v. 3, 7) and the rest of the psalm expands on that theme. It is clear that David believes that his current situation is a direct result of his sin (v. 5) and God's wrath in response to his sin. It is interesting to me that David would beg the very one who is causing his pain to bring relief. You might think that the human response would be to run and hide from the one who is bringing you pain but David recognizes that the Lord is the source of his strength and life and so, at the end of the psalm, he petitions the Lord to not forsake him and to come to his aid.
I don't often feel the weight of my sin like David does in this psalm. There have been too few times where I have been pierced with guilt, where the very strength has poured out of my body, because I have disobeyed Christ. The problem, of course, is that whether I feel it or not, the wounds of sin continue to fester and continue to rot my spirit like an unseen cancer rots a person's body. I am afraid that unless the Spirit makes my heart more sensitive to my sins that I will not deal with my sinfulness until it blows up all over the place. Just like I would rather deal with a cancer before it takes out some vital organs, I would rather deal with my sins before they destroy my family, discredit my ministry and bring shame to the name of Christ. Spirit of God, would you please show me those cherished sins that I have grown so accustomed to that I am no longer aware that they are sin and have been dulled to their insiduous work? Then, would you please give me the strength and the desire to allow you to root them out of my life?