Why Do I Feel Empty?

Main message: The sermon argues that shame often hides beneath symptoms like anger, control, addiction, exhaustion, and defensiveness, and that the way out is confession rather than silence. Psalm 32 shows that when David stops covering up his sin and brings it into the light, God forgives him and lifts his head.

Key points:

• Shame can show up indirectly in the body, emotions, and behavior, like “referred pain.”
• Common shame responses include anger, control, proving yourself, distraction, and compulsive habits.
• Shame grows in silence and secrecy; hiding creates a shame cycle that feeds itself.
• David’s experience in Psalm 32 shows that confession breaks the cycle: “I acknowledged my sin…”
• Breaking silence applies both to sins we’ve committed and wounds done to us.
• God is “the lifter of my head,” and Jesus ultimately bears shame so believers don’t have to live under it.

Scriptures mentioned: Psalm 32, 2 Samuel 12, 2 Samuel 15, Psalm 3:3