Complicity

 May 25, 2021

“Look on my affliction and pain, and forgive all my sins.” —Psalm 25:18

If you’ve ever found yourself in the middle of a fracturing relationship, you can understand the ambivalence in this psalm. Enemies abound; most of us have people in our lives who would have no problem plunging the blade into our backs and even giving it a twist or two. They might be subtle about it, but the Christian who hasn’t made any enemies in life is either very young 

or completely clueless. Jesus himself told us that if they hated him, they will hate us. Unfortunately, he wasn’t just talking about people outside the Church. 

Such antagonism would be easier to manage if it weren’t for our own deceitful and wicked hearts. I would love to be able to blame all my troubles on this man or that woman who had it in for me, but it isn’t quite that cut and dried, and this psalm gives us an insight into myself that I often work hard to avoid. David is genuinely hurting. He has very real enemies who would like nothing more than to see him go down in flaming defeat. He knows what it is like to be betrayed by a friend—even worse, by his own son. But he also knows that he himself brought on much of his trouble. It isn’t enough for God to sympathize with his pain; he also needs forgiveness for his complicity in his own problems. So do I. So do you.

We are usually more eager to receive sympathy than forgiveness because the latter requires an admission of our own guilt. Things are not always as straightforward as we want others to believe. The spouse of the addicted individual can garner lots of sympathy, but healing cannot come until the codependency and complicity in the addiction is addressed. I want God to look with sympathy on my affliction and pain, but until I acknowledge and confess my part in the problem, God cannot bring healing. It is the acknowledgment of my own sin that enables me to stop playing the victim (which only abdicates control) and begin to take responsibility of my own life. 

So Lord Jesus, in your mercy look on my affliction and pain, and by your grace forgive all my sins.