Psalms 38:1-22
1 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 resta 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;b 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.
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 gonec from me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore;d 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.
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,e 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.
21 Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
In Psalms 38:19, David intimates that he was hated wrongfully, because he followed good. This psalm was composed under some new outbreaking of Saul's persecution, when his mind sunk under depression, and when he joined his sorrows to those of the Saviour. It was a sabbatical psalm of confession in the synagogue.
Psalms 38:1. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath. To contend with heaven is more than a mortal can bear. Thine arrows are shot against me, as when a company of archers flank a column; there is no place in my flesh unwounded; neither have I rest in my bones because of my sin. A mortal man under the scourge should give glory to God, and connect his afflictions with his transgressions. Thus he cried out of the depths, like the Saviour, when the sorrows of death compassed him about.
Psalms 38:5. My wounds stink and are corrupt. I have no friend to share my griefs and wash my sores. I watch and weep alone. Therefore those words and the following describe the complicated troubles which pursued David.
Psalms 38:8 ; Psalms 38:10. I have roared because of the disquietness of my heart. Grief cannot always be allowed to prey on the mind like a silent worm; it will utter itself in language of its own. Yea, I have wept till my strength faileth; till the light of my eyes becomes dim by a superabundance of tears.
Psalms 38:11. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore. They tremble lest a jealous monarch should suspect them of treason, and deprive them of life, as was done to the priests of Nob. Oh, if I had prophet or friend to console me, it would divide the rolling torrents of all my grief. But now the wicked, regarding me as lost, spread snares for my feet; yea, hunt my soul as a partridge on the mountains.
I find not where to lay my head, But in the silence of the dead.
Psalms 38:13. But I, as a deaf man, heard not, being astounded by a nation full of court fabrications, deceits, and lies. So the Saviour was silent, and answered not a word.
Psalms 38:15. In thee, oh Lord, is my hope. Thou wilt eventually hear and deliver me, with thy strong hand. Thou wilt not forsake me. Make haste to help me, oh Lord, my salvation. Thus to the saints, the darkest cloud brightens into day.
Psalms 38:19. Mine enemies are lively, flourishing in splendour and power, while I am in exile, suffering from hardships and want.