Psalms 38
Psalm 38 is classified as a psalm of David’s repentance. In this psalm, the psalmist confesses to God the physical and mental suffering caused by his sin and asks for God’s mercy and deliverance. Overall, the psalm is divided into four major parts. (1) The psalmist acknowledges that his suffering is God’s discipline and judgment. (2) He laments the pain of being ill and troubled, and also being lonely because of his sin. (3) After describing a situation of loneliness caused by even those around him turning away, (4) he concludes with a plea in which he honestly lays bare his despair before God and asks for salvation.
1verseA Psalm by David, for a memorial. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
2verseFor your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me.
3verseThere is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
4verseFor my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5verseMy wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness.
6verseI am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.
7verseFor my waist is filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh.
8verseI am faint and severely bruised. I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
9verseLord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.
10verseMy heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
11verseMy lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.
12verseThey also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
13verseBut I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
14verseYes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15verseFor I hope in you, LORD. You will answer, Lord my God.
16verseFor I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
17verseFor I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.
18verseFor I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.
19verseBut my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
20verseThey who give evil for good are also adversaries to me, because I follow what is good.
21verseDon’t forsake me, LORD. My God, don’t be far from me.
22verseHurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.
Core Message and Distinctive Features
The core message of this psalm is that through the hardships that come as a result of a person’s sin, one turns back to God and seeks mercy. The psalmist candidly reveals that he finds the cause of his suffering in his own sin, and as a result he experiences physical weakness and a severing of relationships (people turning their backs on him), and even threats from his enemies. However, even in despair, he lays everything before God and ultimately earnestly asks for God’s response and for closeness with Him, leaving behind a thread of hope.
Points for Reflection
- We can learn from the psalmist the courage to acknowledge our own weakness honestly and confess it to God .
- When suffering comes into my life, I can reflect on examining its cause and on the attitude of the psalmist who first comes before God.
- Thinking that even a severing from others and even discouragement within the heart, when confessed without hiding to God, is connected to true prayer.
Try Applying It to Me
- I check whether I, too, can take my time of hardship as an opportunity to restore my closeness with God .
- I ask myself whether it becomes a habit of life to honestly reveal my own weakness and struggle to God and to live a life that seeks mercy.
