I doubt David is speaking figuratively here. It has long been known (and medical science confirms this) that there is a strong link between our spiritual/psychological welfare and our physical well-being. David is certainly not alone in feeling himself waste away, his strength drying up, under the burden of guilt.
Our culture says much about the health risks of smoking, sugar, fried foods and high-fructose corn syrup, obesity, stress, and the like. We don’t hear much about risks associated with abortion, despite the fact that roughly 1/3 of American women will have had an abortion by age 45. But consider the following. Physically speaking, every year over 140,000 women have immediate, and serious, complications from abortion. Abortion leads to an increased risk of breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers, complications in future pregnancies, and infertility.
Psychologically speaking, women who have undergone abortion are four times more likely to die in the twelve months following an abortion than those who bore children, and are six times more likely to commit suicide. Abortion leads to a higher incidence of drug and alcohol use, insomnia and nightmares, and eating disorders-all of which have obvious, visible, physical effects.
Abortion is heavy weight. And it is a weight often borne alone. Silently. But its effects are loud. They cry out in addiction, depression, anxiety, despair, isolation, and anger. If roughly 1/3 of the women in our congregations over the age of 45 have undergone abortion (to say nothing of the younger women of childbearing years), how many cases of addiction, depression, and anxiety might find their root there?
The good news is that the Gospel lifts heavy weights. Jesus came for the weary and heavy-laden-to give rest. To lift burdens, not to impose them. Let me suggest three ways, from Psalm 32, in which we can lead people to him.
First, make is plain that Jesus forgives abortion. Specifically. Sometimes our reluctance to speak about abortion as a sin comes from an understandable concern not to burden women who are already burdened by guilt from abortion. However, that is the point-the burden is already there. By being clear that abortion is sin, we make it equally clear that there is a Savior who died to bear the sin of the world, including abortion. Or, to say it another way, by failing to speak of the sin of abortion, we withhold the message of a Savior from a massive group of weary and heavy-laden, women and men, who are literally finding out that the wages of sin is death. But Jesus came to bring life.
Secondly, encourage confession. This follows the need to make the gospel plain, for people will not confess their sins unless they know there is a place to go with them. Sacramental confession is a great blessing, and we as clergy do well to make ourselves available for this, particularly during Lent. But so also is confession within the body: “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:17).
Finally, we need to address our people as they are. Notice the final sentence of the psalm. “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Who are the righteous? Those who trust the Lord. Make sure that our people who have confessed their sins, whatever those sins are, know that they are, in Christ, the righteous. Then, and only then, will we will be able to shout for joy.
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones (Prov. 17:22).