It's good for us when our prayers about our sorrows are linked with pleas about our sins. When we're under God's hand, we shouldn't be consumed by our pain, but also remember our offenses against God. It's right to take both sorrow and sin to the same place. David took his sorrow to God, and he confessed his sin to God. We must take our sorrows to Him as well.

Even your small sorrows can be placed on God, for He counts the hairs of your head. And your great sorrows can be given to Him, for He holds the ocean in His hand. Go to Him with any trouble, and you'll find Him able and willing to help you. But we also need to take our sins to God.

Carry them to the cross so the blood of Jesus can cleanse their guilt and destroy their hold. The special lesson here is to go to the Lord with both sorrows and sins in the right spirit. All David asks about his sorrow is, "Look upon my affliction and my pain." His next request is more urgent: "Forgive all my sins." Many would have asked, "Remove my affliction and my pain, and then look at my sins." But David prays, "Lord, as for my affliction and my pain, I'll leave them to Your wisdom. I'd like relief, but do as You will. As for my sins, I know what I need: forgiveness. I can't bear their curse for a moment." A Christian sees sorrow as lighter than sin: he can endure ongoing troubles, but not the burden of his sins.