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Psalms 38

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The Burden of Sin and Illness 1–8

1
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. ​
2
For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. ​
3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. ​
4
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. ​
5
My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. ​
6
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8
I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

Isolation and Inward Trust 9–14

9
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. ​
10
My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. ​
12
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. ​
13
But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. ​
14
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

Confession and Hope in God 15–20

15
For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. ​
16
For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. ​
18
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. ​
19
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. ​

Urgent Petition for Deliverance 21–22

21
Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. ​
22
Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 38

Verse 1

to bring to remembrance — The heading (from zakar, to remember) stands over only one other psalm, Ps 70, which also ends in a cry to 'make haste' (vv.1, 5), as this one does (v.22). 'Rebuke' (yakach) and 'chasten' (yasar) are paired also in Ps 6:1, whose first line is nearly the same.

Verse 2

thine arrows stick fast — One verb, nachath, is used twice: the arrows 'stick fast' and the hand 'presseth me sore', a pressing down. Job speaks likewise, 'the arrows of the Almighty are within me' (Job 6:4), and David elsewhere, 'thy hand was heavy upon me' (Ps 32:4).

Verse 3

no soundness in my flesh — Methom, soundness; the words return in v.7. 'Rest' is shalom, peace or wholeness, which the bones lack. Two causes stand side by side, 'thine anger' and 'my sin', as in Isa 1:5–6, where the people's revolt is followed by 'no soundness in it'.

Verse 4

an heavy burden — Massa, a load carried. The iniquities 'are gone over mine head' (abar, passed over) and are 'too heavy' (kabed) to bear. Ps 40:12 says the same, 'mine iniquities have taken hold upon me'; Christ's call is to those who 'labour and are heavy laden' (Matt 11:28).

Verse 5

my wounds stink — Chabburah, a weal from a blow, the word of Isa 53:5, 'with his stripes we are healed'. 'Foolishness' is ivveleth, folly, and the sores are traced to it: 'O God, thou knowest my foolishness' (Ps 69:5). Isa 1:6 gives the same picture, 'wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores'.

Verse 9

all my desire is before thee — 'Lord' is Adonai, here and in vv.15 and 22; the divine name stands in vv.1, 15 and 21. 'Desire' is ta'avah, and 'groaning' is anachah, the word of Ps 6:6, 'I am weary with my groaning'. The two are laid open to him together, and neither is 'hid' (satar).

Verse 11

stand aloof from my sore — 'Sore' is nega, a stroke or blow. 'Lovers', 'friends' and 'kinsmen' (qarov, the near ones) all 'stand' off, the verb amad used twice. The same distance is kept at the cross: 'all his acquaintance… stood afar off' (Luke 23:49); compare Job 19:13.

Verse 12

imagine deceits — 'Imagine' is hagah, to murmur or meditate, the verb of the blessed man's 'in his law doth he meditate day and night' (Ps 1:2); here its object is 'deceits' (mirmah), 'all the day long'. 'Lay snares' is naqash; Ps 140:5 draws the same picture, 'the proud have hid a snare for me'.

Verse 13

as a deaf man, heard not — The silence is chosen: illem, dumb, and 'openeth not his mouth'. Ps 39:9 repeats it, 'I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it'. Isa 53:7 says it of the Servant, 'he opened not his mouth', and Peter of Christ, who 'when he was reviled, reviled not again' (1 Pet 2:23).

Verse 15

in thee, O LORD, do I hope — Yachal, to wait expectantly, the verb of Ps 42:5, 'hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him'. The silence of v.13 is a waiting for an answer: 'thou wilt hear' is literally 'thou wilt answer' (anah). The verse uses both 'LORD' and Adonai, with 'my God'.

Verse 17

ready to halt — Tsela, a limping or stumbling, found also in Ps 35:15 ('adversity') and Jer 20:10 ('my halting'), where friends watch for it. 'Sorrow' is mak'ob, the word of Isa 53:3, 'a man of sorrows'; here it is 'continually' (tamid) before him, as his sin is in Ps 51:3.

Verse 18

I will declare mine iniquity — Nagad, to tell, to make known: the same confession as Ps 32:5, 'I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid', and of Prov 28:13. 'Sorry' is daag, to be anxious, the verb of Saul's 'take thought for us' (1 Sam 9:5). Cf. 1 John 1:9, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us'.

Verse 20

render evil for good — The pair 'evil for good' is also in Ps 35:12. 'Adversaries' is satan used as a verb, 'to oppose' (also Ps 71:13; 109:4), the verb of Zech 3:1, 'Satan standing at his right hand to resist him'. 'Follow' is radaph, the verb of Ps 23:6, 'goodness and mercy shall follow me'.

Verse 21

Forsake me not — Azab, to leave: the verb of Ps 22:1, 'why hast thou forsaken me?'. 'Be not far' (rachaq) is the prayer of Ps 22:11 and Ps 35:22, 'O Lord, be not far from me'. The two short petitions answer the distance of friends in v.11, who 'stand afar off'.

Verse 22

O Lord my salvation — Adonai, the third use in the psalm (vv.9, 15, 22), not the divine name; 'salvation' is teshuah, deliverance. 'Make haste to help me' is the prayer of Ps 70:1, 5, whose heading also reads 'to bring to remembrance'. The psalm opens on the LORD's wrath and ends by calling him 'my salvation'.