Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 38:1
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
1. In words almost identical with Psa 6:1 the Psalmist deprecates the severity of a chastisement which seems to proceed from an angry Judge rather than from a loving Father. The emphasis is on in thy wrath in thy hot displeasure. Cp. Jer 10:24. For similar expressions of a sense of guilt under suffering, see Psa 25:18; Psa 31:10; Psa 39:10 ff.; Psa 40:12.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 8. The chastisement of sin.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath – See the notes at Psa 6:1, where the same language occurs, except in the change of a single Hebrew word, that is, wrath, though expressing the same idea.
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure – See the notes at Psa 6:1. The Hebrew in both is the same, except that in this place the negative particle is omitted, but without affecting the sense. It is not improbable that the one was copied from the other, or that this was composed with the language of the former in the memory. Thus we often use language with which we are familiar, as being well adapted to express our ideas.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 38:1-22
O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.
Great personal affliction
I. Elements of aggravation.
1. A dread of Divine displeasure (Psa 38:1).
2. A crushing sense of sin (Psa 38:4).
3. The desertion of professed friends (Psa 38:11).
4. The assaults of enemies (Psa 38:19-20).
II. Means of relief.
1. Remembrance of Gods cognizance of his sufferings (Psa 38:9).
2. Power of self-control (Psa 38:13).
3. Unbounded confidence in God (Psa 38:15).
4. Penitential confession of sin (Psa 38:18).
5. Importunate appeals to heaven. (Homilist.)
Things to be remembered
The title to this psalm is: A psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. This seems to teach us that good things need to be kept alive in our memories, that we should often sit down, look back, retrace, and turn over in our meditation things that are past, lest at any time we should let any good thing sink into oblivion.
I. Among the things that David brought to his own remembrance were his past trials and his past deliverances.
1. Such a remembrance will prevent your imagining that you have come into the land of ease and perfect rest.
2. They will refresh your memories with regard to the mercy of God, and so will stir you up to gratitude.
3. Such a remembrance will be of great service to you, if you are at this time enduring the like exercises. What God was, that He is. Having begun to deliver you, He will not afterwards forsake you.
II. The great point, however, in Davids psalm is to bring to remembrance the depravity of our nature. There perhaps is no psalm which more fully than this describes human nature as seen in the light which God the Holy Ghost casts upon it in the time when tie convinces us of sin. It is a spiritual leprosy, it is an inward disease which is here described, and David paints it to the very life, and he would have us recollect this. Child of God, let me bring to your remembrance the fact that you are by nature no better than the vilest of the vile. Children of wrath even as others, are you. Remember old John Bradfords remark; whenever he saw a man go by his window to Tyburn to be hanged–and he lived at that time where he saw them all–Ah! said he, there goes John Bradford if the grace of God had not prevented.
III. third thing the psalm brings to our remembrance is our many enemies. David says that his enemies laid snares for him, and sought his hurt, and spoke mischievous things, and devised deceits all day long. Well, says one, how was it that David had so many enemies? Must lie not have been imprudent and rash, or perhaps morose? It does not appear so in ills life. He rather made enemies by his being scrupulously holy, because he loved the thing which is good. Now you must not suppose that because you seek to live in all peaceableness and righteousness, that therefore everybody will be peaceable towards you. I come not to send peace upon earth, but a sword. The ultimate result of the religion of Christ is to make peace everywhere, but the first result is to cause strife. When the light comes, it must contend with the darkness; when the truth comes, it must first combat error; and when the Gospel comes, it must meet with enemies; and the man who receives the Gospel will find that his foes shall be they of his own household.
IV. The psalm reminds us of our gracious God. Praise the grace that has held you till now. Keep in remembrance the patience of God in enduring with you, the power of God in restraining you, the love of God in instructing you, and the goodness of God in keeping you to this day. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM XXXVIII
David prays God to have mercy upon him, and gives a most
affecting account of his miserable state, 1-10;
complains of his being forsaken by his friends, and cruelly
persecuted by his enemies, 11-16;
confesses his sin; and earnestly implores help, 17-22.
NOTES ON PSALM XXXVIII
The title in the HEBREW states this to be A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. The CHALDEE; “A Psalm of David for a good memorial to Israel.” The VULGATE, SEPTUAGINT, and AETHIOPIC: “A Psalm of David, for a commemoration concerning the Sabbath.” The ARABIC: “A Psalm in which mention is made of the Sabbath; besides, it is a thanksgiving and a prophecy.” Never was a title more misplaced or less expressive of the contents. There is no mention of the Sabbath in it; there is no thanksgiving in it, for it is deeply penitential; and I do not see that it contains any prophecy. The SYRIAC: “A psalm of David, when they said to the Philistine king, Achish, This is David, who killed Goliath; we will not have him to go with us against Saul. Besides, it is a form of confession for us.” It does not appear that, out of all the titles, we can gather the true intent of the Psalm.
Several conjectures have been made relative to the occasion on which this Psalm was composed; and the most likely is, that it was in reference to some severe affliction which David had after his illicit commerce with Bath-sheba; but of what nature we are left to conjecture from the third, fifth, and seventh verses. Whatever it was, he deeply repents for it, asks pardon, and earnestly entreats support from God.
Verse 1. O Lord, rebuke me not] He was sensible that he was suffering under the displeasure of God; and he prays that the chastisement may be in mercy, and not in judgment.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I confess I both deserve chastisement and need it, and therefore I desire not that thou wouldst remove it, but only moderate it. See the same expression Psa 6:1.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1-4. He deprecates deservedpunishment, which is described (Ps6:1), under the figure of bodily disease [Ps38:3].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,…. This and the following clause are the same as in Ps 6:1, only instead of wrath there it is anger;
[See comments on Ps 6:1].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 38:2-9) David begins, as in Psa 6:1-10, with the prayer that his punitive affliction may be changed into disciplinary. Bakius correctly paraphrases. Psa 38:2: Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum, sed castiga, quaeso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore ut judex; ne punias justitiae rigore, sed misericordiae dulcore (cf. on Psa 6:2). The negative is to be repeated in Psa 38:2, as in Psa 1:5; Psa 9:19; Psa 75:6. In the description, which give the ground of the cry for pity, , is not the Piel, as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal immediately following (root ). is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lxx ), with e instead of in the first syllable, vowels which alternate in this word; and , as a glowing or burning. (in Homer, ), God’s wrath-arrows, i.e., lightnings of wrath, are His judgments of wrath; and , as in Psa 32:4; Psa 39:11, God’s punishing hand, which makes itself felt in dispensing punishment, hence might be attached as a mood of sequence. In Psa 38:4 wrath is called as a boiling up. Sin is the cause of this experiencing wrath, and the wrath is the cause of the bodily derangement; sin as an exciting cause of the wrath always manifests itself outwardly even on the body as a fatal power. In Psa 38:5 sin is compared to waters that threaten to drown one, as in Psa 38:5 to a burden that presses one down. , they are heavier than I, i.e., than my power of endurance, too heavy for me. In Psa 38:6 the effects of the operation of the divine hand (as punishing) are wounds, (properly, suffused variegated marks from a blow or wheals, Isa 1:6; from , Arab. hbr , to be or make striped, variegated), which , send forth an offensive smell, and , suppurate. Sin, which causes this, is called , because, as it is at last manifest, it is always the destruction of itself. With emphasis does form the second half of the verse. To take out of Psa 38:7 and put it to this, as Meier and Thenius propose, is to destroy this its proper position. On the three , vid., Ewald, 217, l. Thus sick in soul and body, he is obliged to bow and bend himself in the extreme. is used of a convulsive drawing together of the body, Isa 21:3; , of a bowed mien, Psa 35:14; , of a heavy, lagging gait. With in Psa 38:8 the grounding of the petition begins for the third time. His , i.e., internal muscles of the loins, which are usually the fattest parts, are full of , that which is burnt, i.e., parched. It is therefore as though the burning, starting from the central point of the bodily power, would spread itself over the whole body: the wrath of God works commotion in this latter as well as in the soul. Whilst all the energies of life thus yield, there comes over him a partial, almost total lifelessness. is the proper word for the coldness and rigidity of a corpse; the Niphal means to be brought into this condition, just as means to be crushed, or to be brought into a condition of crushing, i.e., of violent dissolution. The of is intended to imply that the loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart, the outward expression of his ceaseless, deep inward groaning.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Sorrowful Complaints. | |
A psalm of David to bring to remembrance.
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 rest in my bones because of my sin. 4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a 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. 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.
The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a psalm to bring to remembrance; the 70th psalm, which was likewise penned in a day of affliction, is so entitled. It is designed, 1. To bring to his own remembrance. We will suppose it penned when he was sick and in pain, and then it teaches us that times of sickness are times to bring to remembrance, to bring the sin to remembrance, for which God contended with us, to awaken our consciences to deal faithfully and plainly with us, and set our sins in order before us, for our humiliation. In a day of adversity consider. Or we may suppose it penned after his recovery, but designed as a record of the convictions he was under and the workings of his heart when he was in affliction, that upon every review of this psalm he might call to mind the good impressions then made upon him and make a fresh improvement of them. To the same purport was the writing of Hezekiah when he had been sick. 2. To put others in mind of the same things which he was himself mindful of, and to teach them what to think and what to say when they are sick and in affliction; let them think as he did, and speak as he did.
I. He deprecates the wrath of God and his displeasure in his affliction (v. 1): O Lord! rebuke me not in thy wrath. With this same petition he began another prayer for the visitation of the sick, Ps. vi. 1. This was most upon his heart, and should be most upon ours when we are in affliction, that, however God rebukes and chastens us, it may not be in wrath and displeasure, for that will be wormwood and gall in the affliction and misery. Those that would escape the wrath of God must pray against that more than any outward affliction, and be content to bear any outward affliction while it comes from, and consists with, the love of God.
II. He bitterly laments the impressions of God’s displeasure upon his soul (v. 2): Thy arrows stick fast in me. Let Job’s complaint (ch. vii. 4) expound this of David. By the arrows of the Almighty he means the terrors of God, which did set themselves in array against him. He was under a very melancholy frightful apprehension of the wrath of God against him for his sins, and thought he could look for nothing but judgment and fiery indignation to devour him. God’s arrows, as they are sure to hit the mark, so they are sure to stick where they hit, to stick fast, till he is pleased to draw them out and to bind up with his comforts the wound he has made with his terrors. This will be the everlasting misery of the damned–the arrows of God’s wrath will stick fast in them and the wound will be incurable. “Thy hand, thy heavy hand, presses me sore, and I am ready to sink under it; it not only lies hard upon me, but it lies long; and who knows the power of God’s anger, the weight of his hand?” Sometimes God shot his arrows, and stretched forth his hand, for David (Ps. xviii. 14), but now against him; so uncertain is the continuance of divine comforts, where yet the continuance of divine grace is assured. He complains of God’s wrath as that which inflicted the bodily distemper he was under (v. 3): There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy anger. The bitterness of it, infused in his mind, affected his body; but that was not the worst: it caused the disquietude of his heart, by reason of which he forgot the courage of a soldier, the dignity of a prince, and all the cheerfulness of the sweet psalmist of Israel, and roared terribly, v. 8. Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God’s anger, which shows what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands. The way to keep the heart quiet is to keep ourselves in the love of God and to do nothing to offend him.
III. He acknowledges his sin to be the procuring provoking cause of all his troubles, and groans more under the load of guilt than any other load, v. 3. He complains that his flesh had no soundness, his bones had no rest, so great an agitation he was in. “It is because of thy anger; that kindles the fire which burns so fiercely;” but, in the next words, he justifies God herein, and takes all the blame upon himself: “It is because of my sin. I have deserved it, and so have brought it upon myself. My own iniquities do correct me.” If our trouble be the fruit of God’s anger, we may thank ourselves; it is our sin that is the cause of it. Are we restless? It is sin that makes us so. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. It is sin therefore that this good man complains most of, 1. As a burden, a heavy burden (v. 4): “My iniquities have gone over my head, as proud waters over a man that is sinking and drowning, or as a heavy burden upon my head, pressing me down more than I am able to bear or to bear up under.” Note, Sin is a burden. The power of sin dwelling in us is a weight, Heb. xii. 1. All are clogged with it; it keeps men from soaring upward and pressing forward. All the saints are complaining of it as a body of death they are loaded with, Rom. vii. 24. The guilt of sin committed by us is a burden, a heavy burden; it is a burden to God (he is pressed under it, Amos ii. 13), a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it, Rom 8:21; Rom 8:22. It will, first or last, be a burden to the sinner himself, either a burden of repentance when he is pricked to the heart for it, labours, and is heavy-laden, under it, or a burden of ruin when it sinks him to the lowest hell and will for ever detain him there; it will be a talent of lead upon him, Zech. v. 8. Sinners are said to bear their iniquity. Threatenings are burdens. 2. As wounds, dangerous wounds (v. 5): “My wounds stink and are corrupt (as wounds in the body rankle, and fester, and grow foul, for want of being dressed and looked after), and it is through my own foolishness.” Sins are wounds (Gen. iv. 23), painful mortal wounds. Our wounds by sin are often in a bad condition, no care taken of them, no application made to them, and it is owing to the sinner’s foolishness in not confessing sin, Psa 32:3; Psa 32:4. A slight sore, neglected, may prove of fatal consequence, and so may a slight sin slighted and left unrepented of.
IV. He bemoans himself because of his afflictions, and gives ease to his grief by giving vent to it and pouring out his complaint before the Lord.
1. He was troubled in mind, his conscience was pained, and he had no rest in his own spirit; and a wounded spirit who can bear? He was troubled, or distorted, bowed down greatly, and went mourning all the day long, v. 6. He was always pensive and melancholy, which made him a burden and terror to himself. His spirit was feeble and sorely broken, and his heart disquieted, v. 8. Herein David, in his sufferings, was a type of Christ, who, being in his agony, cried out, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. This is a sorer affliction than any other in this world; whatever God is pleased to lay upon us, we have no reason to complain as long as he preserves to us the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences.
2. He was sick and weak in body; his loins were filled with a loathsome disease, some swelling, or ulcer, or inflammation (some think a plague-sore, such as Hezekiah’s boil), and there was no soundness in his flesh, but, like Job, he was all over distempered. See (1.) What vile bodies these are which we carry about with us, what grievous diseases they are liable to, and what an offence and grievance they may soon be made by some diseases to the souls that animate them, as they always are a cloud and clog. (2.) That the bodies both of the greatest and of the best of men have in them the same seeds of diseases that the bodies of others have, and are liable to the same disasters. David himself, though so great a prince and so great a saint, was not exempt from the most grievous diseases: there was no soundness even in his flesh. Probably this was after his sin in the matter of Uriah, and thus did he smart in his flesh for his fleshly lusts. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. He was feeble and sorely broken, v. 8. His heart panted, and was in a continual palpitation, v. 10. His strength and limbs failed him. As for the light of his eyes, that had gone from him, either with much weeping or by a defluxion of rheum upon them, or perhaps through the lowness of his spirits and the frequent returns of fainting. Note, Sickness will tame the strongest body and the stoutest spirit. David was famed for his courage and great exploits; and yet, when God contended with him by bodily sickness and the impressions of his wrath upon his mind, his hair is cut, his heart fails him, and he becomes weak as water. Therefore let not the strongman glory in his strength, nor any man set grief at defiance, however it may be thought at a distance.
3. His friends were unkind to him (v. 11): My lovers (such as had been merry with him in the day of his mirth) now stand aloof from my sore; they would not sympathize with him in his griefs, nor so much as come within hearing of his complaints, but, like the priest and Levite (Luke x. 31), passed on the other side. Even his kinsmen, that were bound to him by blood and alliance, stood afar off. See what little reason we have to trust in man or to wonder if we disappointed in our expectations of kindness from men. Adversity tries friendship, and separates between the precious and the vile. It is our wisdom to make sure a friend in heaven, who will not stand aloof from our sore and from whose love no tribulation nor distress shall be able to separate us. David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agony, Christ, on his cross, feeble and sorely broken, and then deserted by his friends and kinsmen, who beheld afar off.
V. In the midst of his complaints, he comforts himself with the cognizance God graciously took both of his griefs and of his prayers (v. 9): “Lord, all my desire is before thee. Thou knowest what I want and what I would have: My groaning is not hidden from thee. Thou knowest the burdens I groan under and the blessings I groan after.” The groanings which cannot be uttered are not hidden from him that searches the heart and knows what is the mind of the Spirit,Rom 8:26; Rom 8:27.
In singing this, and praying it over, whatever burden lies upon our spirits, we would by faith cast it upon God, and all our care concerning it, and then be easy.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 38
CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION
Verses 1-22:
This is a psalm that brings to the Lord’s remembrance, David’s needs at the time of the meat offering, when the sweet smell of frankincense ascended up to the Lord in heaven, Gen 8:21.
Verses 1, 2 appeal to the Lord to “rebuke” him not in his wrath, against his iniquities, or to refrain from sorely chastening him for his sins, which humiliated him before his enemies, v.18. Verse 2 asserts that the Lord’s arrows stuck fast or deep and firm in his flesh, and the Lord’s chastening hand lay heavy upon him, to cause him deep pain, grief, and remorse, a thing it was designed to do, in calling him to repentance, Deu 32:23; Job 6:4; Psa 32:4; Psa 39:10; Heb 12:6-11; 1Jn 1:9.
Verse 3 recounts David’s testimony that “there was (existed) no soundness in his flesh or rest (Heb shalom) in his bones, because of God’s judgmental, chastening anger that had fallen upon him because of his sins. He had neither peace of mind nor sound health any more because of his willful transgressions against God, as also described Isa 1:5-6. The God of mercy and all grace does chasten his willful, disobedient children, even with an heavy hand, to cause them to have an accusing conscience of fear and shame, broken health, loss of property or loved ones, and even their own lives if they go obstinately on as His rebellious children, as often set forth in Israel, the life of Moses, David, Ananias and Sapphire, and certain ones in the Corinth church, 1Co 11:30-34.
Verses 4, 5 describe the extent and consequence of David’s sins as having “gone over my head,” like waves of judgment, to drown him; As an heavy burden too heavy (more than) for him to bear, but not for his Messiah Savior, as his sinbearer, as expressed Mat 11:28; Isa 53:4; Isa 53:6; Isa 53:11; 1Pe 5:7. He added that his wounds were so corrupt that they did stink, because of his foolishness or perverse sins against himself and God, Psa 14:1; Psa 69:5; Pro 8:36.
Verses 6, 7 declare that he was troubled, writhing in contortions of pain, bowed down very low, groveling, and mourning all day long, caused by his sins and God’s judgment. Verse 7 adds that his loins were filled with a loathsome disease, a vile disease, with no soundness, but toxic poison in all his flesh, 2Ch 21:18-19; Job 7:5; Job 30:18; Psa 41:8; Act 12:23.
Verse 8 laments that David was feeble, very weak and broken in pride, self-worth, self-esteem and humiliated for his deliberate wilful sins that had “found him out,” as fruit of corrupt seed that he had sown, Num 32:23; Gal 6:7-8. He had roared, groaned aloud, because of the disquietness of his heart and accusing conscience, a thing that God had sent to call him to repentance and restoration to useful service, Psa 51:1-12; Heb 12:6-12; 1Jn 1:8-9.
Verses 9, 10 are an open confession of David’s wretchedness, yet it relates his earnest cry of faith to the Lord for forgiveness and restoration to God’s favor. He had so grieved over his sins, under the chastening bodily pain that God had sent upon him, that his heart panted, continually palpitated, like a young deer chased by the hounds; His strength gradually went from him, and his eyes had almost lost their sight; Only God could see by lifting His heavy chastening. David was learning that “the way of the transgressor is hard,” See also Psa 42:1; Psa 119:81; Psa 119:83; Psa 13:3; 1Sa 14:27; 1Sa 14:29.
Verse 11 adds, “my lovers and my friends stand aloof (afar off) from my sore,” wanting no part of the kind of chastening he was experiencing. He added that even his kinsmen or family members also stood afar, aloof, looking out for number one, as also related Luk 23:49; Mat 26:56; Mat 27:55; Joh 16:32. It was also our Lord’s experience that when his enemies were near his friends fled.
Verse 12 further related that entrapment efforts were being made against his life and the overthrow of his kingdom in many mischievous or devious ways of enemy groups in collusion against him, 2Sa 16:7-8. Thoughts and deeds of malice were laid all day long by his enemies.
Verses 13, 14 describe how David was brought in broken health to be silent, like a deaf man, opened not his mouth in defense before God or men for his sins. When cursed by Shimei, David forbad Abishai from killing him, knowing that Absalom, his son’s rebellion was also pay-day for his sins, that when fully confessed and chastened God would raise him up again; Like our Lord, under the burden of our sins, he “opened not his mouth,” Isa 42:2; Isa 53:7, accused, David opened not his mouth, even as our Lord, again, 1Sa 10:27; Mat 26:62-63; Joh 19:9.
Verse 15 relates David’s deep trust and firm hope in the Lord’s rescuing him from his immediate plight, See Jer 14:8; Jer 50:7. He addressed the Lord as his anchor-hope and pled with him to hear, heed, or answer, Psa 145:18-19; Heb 6:17-19; Tit 2:13.
Verse 16 relates David’s cry to the Lord to rescue him soon lest the cry of his enemies should rejoice over him. For when his foot (foothold) slipped, in any way, his enemies rejoiced, made the most of it, as his misfortune made them feel as if they were soon to be righteous victors in seizing the anointed King David’s throne of rule over Israel, v. 15; Psa 35:26.
Verses 17, 18 relate that David confessed he was ready to halt (for halting) totally disabled from walking, with sorrow, grief and depression continually upon him. He added “I will (to) or desire to declare (acknowledge my iniquity),” since he had lost sight of it in his prosperity, Psa 32:5; Psa 51:3; Pro 28:13. He had come to recognize that “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper.” So he asserted, “I will be sorry for my sins,” a thing that works repentance to salvation, 2Co 7:9-10.
Verses 19, 20 declare that his enemies are lively, active, and strong against him, and yet they hate him wrongfully, with a motive for greed and covetousness. They are multiplied in numbers, as adversaries, to render evil for good against David, because David did (from a civil, ruling standpoint) that which was good, upright, honest, refraining from bribes and false judgments; and they knew it, 1Pe 3:14; 1Jn 3:12; Psa 35:19; Joh 15:25; Psa 35:12. They did not seek good or peace and pursue it, Heb 12:14; Rom 12:18; Rom 12:21; Rom 14:19; Psa 34:14.
Verses 21, 22 conclude this Davidic prayer to the great Jehovah, his Lord and God, to hear, heed, answer, or come to his rescue speedily, forsaken as he was by man, even his former lovers and family members, v.19; Psa 35:3. It is the same voice or outcry as related Psa 22:19; Psa 35:3. The cry was directly addressed to “O Lord, my salvation,” Exo 15:2; Isa 12:2; Joh 2:9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 O Jehovah! rebuke me not in thy wrath As I have already expounded this verse in the beginning of the sixth psalm, where it occurs, and that I may not prove tedious to the reader, I shall notice it more briefly here. David does not expressly ask that his afflictions should be removed, but only that God would moderate the severity of his chastisements. Hence we may infer, that David did not give loose reins to the desires of the flesh, but offered up his earnest prayer in a duly chastened spirit of devotion. All men would naturally desire that permission should be granted them to sin with impunity. But David lays a restraint upon his desires, and does not wish the favor and indulgence of God to be extended beyond measure, but is content with a mitigation of his affliction; as if he had said, Lord, I am not unwilling to be chastised by thee, but I entreat thee, meanwhile, not to afflict me beyond what I am able to bear, but to temper the fierceness of thy indignation according to the measure of my infirmity, lest the severity of the affliction should entirely overwhelm me. This prayer, as I have said, was framed according to the rule of godliness; for it contains nothing but what God promises to all his children. It should also be noticed, that David does not secretly indulge a fretful and repining spirit, but spreads his complaint before God; and this he does, not in the way of sinful complaining, but of humble prayer and unfeigned confession, accompanied with the hope of obtaining forgiveness. He has used anger and wrath as denoting extreme rigour, and has contrasted them with fatherly chastisement.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE RIGHTEOUS VS. THE WICKED
Psalms 37-39
AN OUTLINE.
COUNSEL37.
Exercise faith versus fretfulness.
Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.
And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
For evil doers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
The Lord shall laugh at him: for He seeth that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken: but the Lord upholdeth the righteous.
The Lord knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
For such as be blessed of Him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of Him shall be cut off (Psa 37:1-22).
Expect mercy versus judgment.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.
The Lord will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him! but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace,
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: He is their strength in the time of trouble.
And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him (Psa 37:23-40).
CONFESSION38.
He finds no soundness in himself.
O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.
For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee.
My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me (Psa 38:1-10).
His hope is alone in God.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
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.
But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope: Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me,
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me,
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin,
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
Make haste to kelp me, O Lord my salvation (Psa 38:11-22).
CONSIDERATION39.
His resolutions did not stand him in stead.
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am,
Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them (Psa 39:1-6).
His deliverance is a matter of mercy only.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in Thee.
Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it.
Remove Thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of Thine hand.
When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity.
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not Thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with Thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more (Psa 39:7-13).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
This is a psalm of David to call to remembrance his past life, and, no doubt, has especial reference to his sin with Bathsheba. It calls up to the view of his memory the sins of the past, the afflictions of the past, the enemies of the past, and the mercies of the past. It is well to have times of remembrance in life, like milestones on the road, to remind of the journey we have travelled, and to inspire us onward to the future. The past is not entirely to be forgotten; it is to be called up as evidence of our own depravity, of the Divine faithfulness, and as a profitable moral reflection for the soul.
A CONSCIENCE AWAKENED BY A SENSE OF THE DIVINE CHASTISEMENT
(Psa. 38:1-22.)
I. That the Divine chastisement is greatly afflictive to men. This is evident throughout the entire psalm; in fact, it would appear as though the writer were unable to find similitude by which to liken, or language in which to express, his moral pain occasioned by the Divine chastisement.
1. The Divine chastisement makes men apprehensive of the wrath of God (Psa. 38:1). David, no doubt, felt that he justly merited the Divine rebuke in its mood of strong displeasure. He had sinned, and sin always leads men to regard God as offended. It changes the Divine favour into disapprobation. The soul is certain to view God through its own moral experiences, and hence, according to its consciousness of innocence or guilt, He appears as a Father or as a Judge. The Divine anger is the bitterest element in the sorrow of the good.
2. The Divine chastisement is keen in its penetration into the soul of man (Psa. 38:2). The Divine chastisements are keen, swift, and penetrating as barbed arrows. They are shot unseen; they come unexpected; they make little noise; they are abiding in their injury. Thus it is with those who are convinced of sin. The arrow of the Holy Spirit penetrates to their innermost soul, and causes terrible pain of conscience. Gods arrows always his their mark, and are intended to remind of the bitterness of sin.
3. The Divine chastisement makes men morally loathsome to themselves (Psa. 38:3; Psa. 38:5). Here we see the view which an awakened conscience takes of its moral condition. When the soul is wounded by sin it becomes offensive to its own inner gaze. The sinner, when under conviction by the Spirit of God, sees all his life as one festering sore, and loathes it with penitential grief.
4. The Divine chastisement leads men to an overwhelming consciousness of sin (Psa. 38:4). A man, when under the rebuke of God, feels himself to be overwhelmed in the sea of his sins. There is no human refuge for him. No light reaches him. The number of mans sins are an index to the woe of the Divine chastisements. If the sins were not deep the rebuke would not be so loud. Sin is a heavy burden, and if not cast upon the Lord, will sink the sinner into perdition.
5. The Divine chastisement leads men into grievous unrest (Psa. 38:3-8). The Divine chastisement penetrates to the inner being of man, even to the bones, and causes unrest. The good in this condition are like a ship in the storm. There can be no quietude of soul where there is sin. An awakened conscience can only obtain peace in Christ, who is the Prince of peace.
6. The Divine chastisement divests life of all human joy (Psa. 38:10).
II. That the Divine chastisement often tests the sincerity and worth of human friendship. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off (Psa. 38:11).
1. The Divine chastisement tests the sincerity of human friendship. Friends, who are thick as eagles on a carcase while the feast lasts, are scarce in that neighbourhood when the repast is over. When the devil divested Job of his property, he also relieved him of his imagined friends. When men are undergoing the Divine chastisement they are generally left in loneliness. Then companions fear lest they should share the woe of their afflicted comrade. They stand aghast at the reversed condition of things. At such times relatives are false to the natural affection they ought to bear toward their brother in adversity. Our Lord was forsaken by His disciples. Only true friendship survives the test of adversity.
2. The Divine chastisement generally stimulates the cunning policy of the wicked (Psa. 38:12). And thus it often happens that in the hour of Divine chastisement inward grief of soul is combined with outward exigencies. When wicked men see the good in trouble then they consider it a favourable time for executing their hellish schemes. They are unmerciful; they are cowardly; their strength is in stealth; they are malicious; they are ever active; they promote slander; they delight in lies. God only can defeat their cunning devices.
3. The Divine chastisement leads men to examine the moral tendency of their lives (Psa. 38:17-18). Here the Psalmist acknowledges the moral weakness of his life, in that he is ready to halt in despair. He also confesses his sin without reservation of thought or language. Thus the Divine chastisement revealed him to himself in no pleasing light. David reviews his life in its inner meaning and in its public bearing, and intimates that his enemies accuse him falsely. Sorrow makes men review all their social and moral relationships.
III. The Divine chastisements call into requisition the self-restraint of the good. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth (Psa. 38:13-14). David was silent, notwithstanding the strong provocations of his enemies. He probably knew that it would be but little use to contend with them by words, and that if he did, he would only arouse them to fiercer anger. Hence he manifests the wisdom of silence. It is generally wise to treat angry and slanderous men with silence. Silence is the language of dignified innocence. It is a token of noble self-control. Man has the ability to subdue his natural feelings when they are unduly excited by cruel enemies. Christ answered his accusers not a word. It is the token of a strong soul that it can bear slander and persecution in silence, only seeking the Divine vindication and protection.
IV. That the Divine chastisements awaken the repentant soul to importunate prayer. Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation (Psa. 38:21-22). Thus, if David was silent toward men, he was not silent toward God, and in trouble it is far better to pray to God than to talk to men. Prayer enables men to be self-contained. David said that, if Heaven forsook him, he would indeed be friendless. The Divine Companionship is the protection of the good from all the plottings of wicked men. Adverse circumstances awaken men to earnest prayerto prayer which is soon triumphant in its experience of the salvation of God.
LESSONS:
1. How many are afflicted by the chastisements of Heaven.
2. How many are left companionless by the sorrows of life.
3. How many are driven to devotion by anguish of heart.
4. How the mischief of the wicked may be turned by God to the good of the prayerful.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 38
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
Prayer for Deliverance from Disease and from Enemies.
ANALYSIS
Part I. Against Disease. Stanza I., Psa. 38:1-2, Jehovahs Anger Deprecated. Stanza II., Psa. 38:3-5, The Psalmist traces his Disease to his Sin. Stanza III., Psa. 38:6-8, Describes Effect of Disease on Himself, Stanza IV., Psa. 38:9-11, On his Friends.
Part II. Against Enemies. Stanza I., Psa. 38:12-14, Enemies PerfidyHow Treated by Psalmist. Stanza II., Psa. 38:15-18, Reasons for so treating it, Stanza III., Psa. 38:19-22, The Character and Strength of his Enemies move the psalmist to Importunity in Prayer.
(Lm.) PsalmBy DavidTo bring to Remembrance. (Part I.)
1
Jehovah! do not in thy vexation correct me,
nor in thy wrath chastise me;[404]
[404] Cp. Psa. 6:1.
2
For thine arrows have sunk down in me,
and thy hand hath sunk down upon me.
3
There is no soundness in my flesh by reason of thine indignation,
no wholeness in my bones by reason of my sin;
4
For mine iniquities have passed over my head,
like a burden that is heavy they are too heavy for me:
5
My weals stink they fester,
by reason of my foolishness.
6
I am bent I am bowed very low,
all the day have I gloomily walked;
7
For my loins are filled with shame,[405]
[405] That which is contemnedBr. (after ancient versions). Or: burning; so Dr., Del., Per. Leeser (burning disease).
and there is no wholeness in my flesh;
8
I am benumbed and crushed exceedingly,
I have roared with the growl of a lion.[406]
[406] So Gt.Gn.: and so Br.
9
Sovereign Lord! before thee is all my desire,
and my sighing from thee is not hid.
10
My heart fluttereth[407] my strength hath forsaken me,
[407] PalpitatesO.G. Is in a fermentBr. Throbbeth violentlyDel.
and the light of mine eyes[408]even they are not with me;
[408] Cp. Eze. 24:16.
11
My lovers and my friends from before my stroke[409] stand aloof,
[409] Note the word: negaesp. of a disease, regarded as sent by divine chastisementO.G. and note is occurrences in Leviticus 13, 14; 2Sa. 7:14, Psa. 38:11; Psa. 39:10; Psa. 89:32, Isa. 53:8. The word is especially used of the plague of leprosyKp.
and my neighbours at a distance remain.
(Part II.)
12
And they who seek my life[410] have laid snares,
[410] U: soul.
and they who study my hurt have threatened engulfing ruin;
and deceitful things all the day do they mutter.
13
But I am as one deafI do not hear,
and as one dumb who openeth not his mouth.[411]
[411] Cp. Isa. 53:7.
14
Thus have I become as a man who cannot hear,
and in whose mouth are no replies.
15
Because for thee have I waited,
thou thyself wilt answer Sovereign Lord My God.
16
Lest mine enemies rejoice over me,
when my feet slipped against me they did great things.
17
Because I to stumble am ready,
and my pain is before me continually;
18
Because mine iniquity must I declare,
I am anxious by reason of my sin.
19
Since mine enemies without cause have become strong,
and multiplied are they who hate me for false reason;
20
And they who repay evil for good
are mine adversaries because I pursue good
21
Do not forsake me Jehovah,
my God! be not far from me:
22
Oh haste thee to my help,
Sovereign Lord! my salvation!
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician. (CMm.) To Jeduthun.[412]
[412] Prob. leader of Male Choir, having thanks and confession specially under his care. Other Jeduthun psalms are 61, 76. Sheminith prob. indicates the same choir. Cp. Intro. Chap., II., 3.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 38
O Lord, dont punish me while You are angry!
2 Your arrows have struck deep; Your blows are crushing me.
3, 4 Because of Your anger my body is sick, my health is broken beneath my sins. They are like a flood, higher than my head; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
5, 6 My wounds are festering and full of pus. Because of my sins I am bent and racked with pain. My days are filled with anguish.
7 My loins burn with inflammation[413] and my whole body is diseased.
[413] Implied.
8 I am exhausted and crushed: I groan in despair.[414]
[414] Or, Because of the pains in my heart.
9 Lord, You know how I long for my health once more. You hear my every sigh.
10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.
11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at a distance.
12 Meanwhile my enemies are trying to kill me. They plot my ruin and spend all their waking hours planning treachery.
13, 14 But I am deaf to all their threats; I am silent before them as a man who cannot speak. I have nothing to say.
15 For I am waiting for You, O Lord my God. Come and protect me.
16 Put an end to their arrogance, these who gloat when I am cast down!
17 How constantly I find myself upon the verge of sin;[415] this source of sorrow always stares me in the face.
[415] Literally, I am ready to fall.
18 I confess my sins; I am sorry for what I have done.
19 But my enemies persecute with vigor, and continue to hate methough I have done nothing against them to deserve it.
20 They repay me evil for good and hate me for standing for the right.
21 Dont leave me, Lord! Dont go away!
22 Come quickly! Help me, O my Savior.
EXPOSITION
Our analysis suggests that this psalm is divisible into two parts; not because there are any outward signs of such division, but solely for the purpose of drawing attention to the fact, which becomes clear on examination, that there are two distinct strains of thought in the psalm, however closely they are conjoined. For three stanzas the prayer is solely for the removal of disease, without any allusion to enemies. Then, for three more stanzas, there is a sustained reference to enemies, with only a bare allusion to disease. In both parts of the psalm the writer acknowledges that he has sinned; but this confession is naturally more frank and solemn in the former part than in the latter. The whole psalm may well have been indited by David, even as it is inscribed to him: the only surprisingbut by no means incrediblething is, as we are beginning to discover, that David was severely chastised for his great sin by the direct infliction, from Jehovahs own hand, of a loathsome disease, concerning which the history in Samuel and Chronicles is silent. However surprising such silence may at first sight appear, it is so far from being incredible that on reflection it seems natural, or at least excusable. No royal scribe would feel called on to record the damaging fact in the public chronicles; and it may well have been that even the faithful prophetic historian of the time felt relieved of any duty to insert in his narrative an account of an affliction endured in almost unbroken silence by the erring but still beloved monarch. Notwithstanding which, however, now that, after all these centuries, we look back on those distant times, and realise afresh the dishonour done by David to the name of Jehovah and to the sanctity of his ways,we cannot fail to discover something more than poetic justice, that the terrible secret should long ago have come out; and THAT in just the very best way conceivable,namely, by disclosure from the offending monarchs own mouth,slightly veiled by poetic allusion rather than by blunt narration, and divulged amidst the solemnities of the worship of Him who is of too pure eyes to behold iniquity, yet still plainly confessed and sorely lamented. If anything were yet wanting to impart a finishing-touch of moral and aesthetic fitness to the manner of the revelation, it would be found in the reflection, which Dr. Thirtle has brought home to us, that we probably owe it to Davids loving son Hezekiah that these Davidic confessions of Divinely inflicted disease ever saw the light. When once Hezekiah had himself groaned under a similar Divine inflictionthough not perhaps for the like causeand been again mercifully raised up from his couch of tears, then was prepared a joint-author of psalmody of sufficiently refined and sanctified culture to be entrusted with the delicate task of deciding that these snatches of leper-songs should find place in Temple worship. He, finding the leper-wail of Uzziah in the palace library, could be trusted to find place for it in his gallery of sufferers in Psalms 31, where it could serve to strike a preliminary note and thus prepare usas the sixth psalm had in a measure prepared usfor the fuller and more personal confessions of the psalm now before us, and then for the further confessions of Psalms 39, in both of which the leper-wail is heard and leper-disfigurement is seen; after which the renewed confessions of Psalms 40, 41, 51 and others no longer surprise us. Henceforth, it may be surmised, we shall handle these reminiscences of an exciting creative age in Israel, with a tender reverence which only a measurably adequate appreciation of their spiritual origin could have inspired. After this, it seems but commonplace to observe, as before noted, that Davids wail over a Divinely inflicted disease, as a direct punishment for his sin, is pointed with a franker and more explicit confession of his transgressions, than are his complaints of the treacherous friends who had now turned against him. Doubtless, it was due to his sin that they were permitted thus to wrong him, and it was well even in this connection, that he should declare his iniquity and be anxious by reason of his sin; but we can well understand that the royal transgressor felt that many of the wounds he was now receiving from his enemies were such as they, at least, had no right to inflict, of which infliction therefore he had good cause to complain. If these things are noted, the psalm will be ready to all the greater and more varied edification. We have only to add that the Chief Musicians assignment of this pathetic psalm to Jeduthun, as leader of the Male Choir, commends itself as most appropriate, and would probably hold good for the similar psalm that follows.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
Does this psalm tell us of Gods punishment of David? Discuss.
2.
The psalmist surely associates his sickness with his sinwhy?
3.
Can affluent America ever recognize her sin? Will it take physical sicknesspainweaknesseven poverty to bring us to repentance? Discuss.
4.
David (or whoever is involved in the psalm) never lost hopeWhy?
5.
The person-to-person relationshipi.e. as it relates to God and the psalmist is a very big part of all the psalmshavent we depersonalized everything including God? Discuss.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) O Lord, rebuke.See Note, Psa. 6:1, of which verse this is almost a repetition.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Rebuke me not in thy wrath The psalm opens with the words of Psa 6:1. David trembles lest the chastisement should pass over to the severity of condign punishment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1). The Psalmist Describes the Chastening that He is Experiencing and Acknowledges the Heinousness of His Sin ( Psa 38:1-8 ).
He commences with a prayer that, while God may rebuke and chasten him as he deserves, He will not do it so much in anger as in grieved love (Psa 38:1). He cannot bear the thought that God could be wholly at odds with him. And he then goes on to describe the experience that he is going through, the depths of his spiritual anguish (Psa 38:2), his deep sense of sin (Psa 38:3-4), and the consequent spiritual chastening which he is enduring (Psa 38:5-8), because of what he has done. It is clear that he is going through a period of deep conviction of sin.
Whether he was actually physical experiencing fever and illness, or was simply describing his spiritual darkness of spirit in similar terms is debatable. But either way it was making him search out his heart before God. He was experiencing the chastening of God for the good of his soul (Heb 12:3-11).
Psa 38:1-2
‘O YHWH, rebuke me not in your wrath,
Nor chasten me in your hot displeasure.
For your arrows stick fast in me,
And your hand presses me sore.
Initially his prayer is to his covenant God, the One Whom he knows watches over him and cares for him. But he does not pray on the basis of a cosy relationship, for he knows that he has sinned, and sinned deeply. He knows that he must thus endure God’s displeasure. He does, however, know that he does it to One Who will welcome his repentance, and has the remedy for his sin. Chastening may be his lot, but he does not want it to turn out to be condemnation.
So as one who is enduring the hand of God pressing heavily on him, and as one who is aware of God’s arrows being fired at him, and ‘piercing his body’, an apt picture of the ways in which God brings home conviction of sin, he yet prays that God will deal with him in mercy and chastening rather than in wrath. Acknowledging fully that he is receiving his just deserts, he does not want to feel that God is dealing with him only in judgment. He accepts God’s rebukes, and God’s manifestation of displeasure, as just, but he wants to be able to see them in terms of the chastening of a stern Father, rather than as evidence that he is cut off from God’s mercy. Let YHWH then remember that He is his God, and not treat him as one for whom there is no forgiveness. Let Him rather have compassion on him in his failure.
Psa 38:3-4
There is no soundness in my flesh,
Because of your indignation,
Nor is there any health in my bones,
Because of my sin.
For my iniquities are gone over my head,
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.’
He describes the state in which he finds himself as God’s chastening strikes home. His chastening may have been spiritual chastening which is being described here in vivid pictorial language, or it may well have included physical illness as one of God’s means of chastening (1Co 11:30), but either way he is finding it difficult to cope with, not because of the fact of the spiritual pressure or the illness, but because of the deep underlying sense of the sin that was responsible for it. And this is because he is aware of God’s indignation against his sin, and feels totally corrupt. He feels as though his flesh is rotten, and that he has no vestige of life within him, no ‘life in his bones’. (The bones of a man were often seen as representing his inner man). He feels that he is ‘dead in his sin’. Indeed he feels that his iniquities are so heavy that they are weighing him down, and that they are so many that they are overwhelming him. They are flowing over his head as though he were drowning in a river of them. For the truth is that he has seen himself as he really is in God’s sight.
Thus in Paul’s words he could say, ‘in me, that is in my flesh, there is no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to do what is good I cannot discover’ (Rom 7:18). And he really meant it. That is why he feels totally lost and unworthy, even though he knows in his heart that a merciful God will offer him hope.
Note the two contrasts, ‘because of Your indignation — because of my sin’. Both are bringing home to him the poverty of his spiritual condition, something which he now describes in more detail.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Prayer for Relief from a Burden of Guilt.
v. 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath, v. 2. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, v. 3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger, v. 4. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head, v. 5. My wounds, v. 6. I am troubled, v. 7. For my loins, v. 8. I am feeble and sore broken, v. 9. Lord, all my desire is before Thee, v. 10. My heart panteth, v. 11. My lovers and my friends, v. 12. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me, v. 13. But I, as a deaf man, heard not, v. 14. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs, v. 15. For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope, v. 16. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me, v. 17. For I am ready to halt, v. 18. For I will declare mine iniquity, v. 19. But mine enemies, v. 20. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries, because I follow the thing that good is, v. 22. Make haste to help me, O Lord, my Salvation,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THIS is the third of the penitential psalms, and is appropriately recited by the Church on Ash Wednesday. Of all the penitential psalms it is the one which shows the deepest marks of utter prostration of heart and spirit under a combination of the severest trials, both mental and bodily. The mind of the writer is racked by a sense of God’s displeasure (Psa 38:1, Psa 38:2, etc.), by grief at the desertion of friends (Psa 38:11), by fear of the machinations and threats of enemies (Psa 38:12, Psa 38:19, Psa 38:20). His body is smitten with disease, the flesh without soundness, the bones full of aches, the loins agonized with a sense of burning, the heart palpitating, the strength and sight failing (Psa 38:3-10) And through all there is the feeling that the whole is the result of his own sin (Psa 38:3-5, Psa 38:18). Still the writer is not reduced to despair. He clings to God (Psa 38:1, Psa 38:9, Psa 38:15, Psa 38:21, Psa 38:22). He accepts his sufferings as a just chastisement. He confesses his iniquity, and is sorry for his sin. He prays to God (Psa 38:1, Psa 38:21); he pours out his complaints to him (Psa 38:9); he hopes in him (Psa 38:15); finally, he calls upon him as “his Salvation” (Psa 38:22).
The psalm is ascribed to David by the title, but is not generally allowed to be his. It is assigned commonly to an unknown sufferer. Still, some modern critics, notably Canon Cook, in the ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ accept the statement of the title, and find the psalm very suitable to the circumstances of David “at the period just preceding the revolt of Absalom.” Canon Cook holds that “at that time there are indications that David was prostrate by disease, which gave full scope to the machinations of his son and his abettors.” If this were so, the Davidical authorship would certainly he probable; but the absence of any mention of such an illness from the Second Book of Samuel is a difficulty which cannot easily be got over.
The psalm falls into three divisions: From Psa 38:1 to Psa 38:8; from Psa 38:9 to Psa 38:14; and from Psa 38:15 to the end. Each part begins with an appeal to God, whereon follows a description of the writer’s sufferings. Part ill both begins and ends with an appeal to God.
Psa 38:1
O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath (comp. Psa 6:1, where the first of the penitential psalms begins similarly). The prayer is for the cessation of God’s wrath, rather than of the “rebuke” which has resulted from it. Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure (see the comment on Psa 6:1).
Psa 38:2
For thine arrows stick fast in me. (On the “arrows” of the Almighty, see above, Psa 7:13; and comp. Job 6:4; Psa 18:14; Psa 45:5; Psa 64:7; Psa 77:17, etc.) It has been maintained that by “God’s arrows” only sickness is meant (Hitzig); but the contrary appears from Deu 32:1-52 :23425. Hengstenberg is right, “The arrows of the Almighty denote all the chastisements of sin depending on God.” And thy hand presseth me sore. The verb used is the same in both clauses; but it is difficult to express both ideas by one term in English. Dr. Kay makes the attempt by translating, “For thine arrows have sunk deep in me; yea, thine hand sank heavily on me.”
Psa 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger. The psalmist begins with a description of his bodily troubles; and, first of all, declares that there is “no soundness in his flesh,” i.e. no healthiness, no feeling of vigour, no vital strength. Neither is there any rest in my bones, he says, because of my sin. His bones ache continually, and give him no rest (comp. Psa 6:2; Psa 22:14; Psa 31:10; Psa 42:10; and Job 30:17, Job 30:30).
Psa 38:4
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head; i.e. they overwhelm me like waves of the sea. Together with my bodily pain is mingled mental anguisha sense of regret and remorse on account of my ill-doing, and a conviction that by my sins I have brought upon me my sufferings. As an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. They press me down, crush me to the earth, are more than I can bear.
Psa 38:5
My wounds stink and are corrupt. The writer reverts to his bodily pains. He has “wounds,” which “stink” and “are corrupt;” or “fester and become noisome,” which may be boils, or bed-sores, and which make him a loathsome object to others (comp. Job 9:19; Job 30:18). Because of my foolishness. Because I was so foolish as to forsake the way of righteousness, and allow sin to get the dominion over me.
Psa 38:6
I am troubled; literally, bent; which some take physically, and explain as “twisted by violent spasms,” others, psychically, as “warped in mind,” “driven crazy.” I am bowed down greatly; i.e. bowed to earth, crooked, as men are in extreme old age, or by such maladies as lumbago and rheumatism. I go mourning all the day long. My gait is that of a mournerI stoop and move slowly.
Psa 38:7
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease; my loins are full of burning (Kay, Revised Version). A burning pain in the lumbar region is apparently intended. And there is no soundness in my flesh. Repeated from Psa 38:3.
Psa 38:8
I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. In concluding his accounts of his physical condition, the writer passes from details to more vague and general statements. He is “feeble,” i.e. generally weak and wanting in vigourhe is “sore broken,” or “sore bruised” (Revised Version), i.e. full of aches and pains, as though he had been bruised all overand the “disquietness of his heart” causes him to vent his anguish in “roarings,” or groanings.
Psa 38:9-14
In this second strophe the physical are subordinated to the moral sufferings; the former being touched on in one verse only (Psa 38:10), the latter occupying the rest of the section. Of these the most tangible are the pain caused by the desertion of his “lovers,” “friends,” and “kinsmen” (Psa 38:11), and the alarm arising from the action taken, simultaneously, by his ill wishers and adversaries (Psa 38:12). These afflictions have reduced him to a condition of silencealmost of apathy, such as is described in Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14.
Psa 38:9
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. This has been called “the first indication of hope in this psalm;” but there is a gleam of hope in the prayer of Psa 38:1. Hope, however, does here show itself more plainly than before. The psalmist has laid “all his desire” before God, and feels that God is weighing and considering it. He has also opened to him “all his groanings”uttered freely all his complaint. This he could have been led to do only from a conviction that God was not irrevocably offended with him, but might, by repentance, confession, and earnest striving after amendment (Psa 38:20), be reconciled, and induced to become his Defence (Psa 38:15) and his Salvation (Psa 38:22).
Psa 38:10
My heart panteth. This verse, which reverts to the bodily sufferings, seems a little out of place. But Hebrew poetry is not logical, and cares little for exact arrangement. Three more bodily troubles are noticed, of which this is the firstthe heart “pants,” i.e. throbs, or palpitates violently. My strength faileth me. The strength suddenly fails. As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. The sight swims, and is swallowed up in darkness (comp. Job 17:7).
Psa 38:11
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; or, from my stroke (comp. Psa 39:10, where the same word is used). The psalmist feels himself to be “stricken, smitten of God” (Isa 53:4). He looks for comfort and sympathy to his friends, but they, with a selfishness that is only too common, hold aloof, draw away item him, and desert him (comp. Job 19:13, Job 19:14). And my kinsmen stand afar off; or, my neighbours. The stricken deer is forsaken by the rest of the herd (comp. Mat 26:56, Mat 26:58).
Psa 38:12
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me. To the desertion of friends is added the persecution of enemies, who take advantage of the debility and prostration caused by sickness to plot against the writer’s life, to “lay snares for him,” and devise evil against him. Those who assign the psalm to David suppose the devices described in 2Sa 15:1-6 to he referred to. And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long; literally, speak malignity; i.e. calumniate mebring false accusations against me.
Psa 38:13
But I, as a deaf man, heard not. I took no notice, i.e. I made as if I was deaf. And I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. So far this psalmist, whether David or another, was a type of Christ (see Isa 53:7; Mat 26:63; Mat 27:14; 1Pe 2:23).
Psa 38:14
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs; i.e. I was like a man who is unable to answer, to reprove, or rebuke an adversary. So great was my self-restraint.
Psa 38:15
For in thee, O Lord, do I hope. Thus I acted, because my hope was in thee. I looked for thy interposition. I knew that thou wouldst “maintain my right, and my cause” (Psa 9:4) in thine own good time and in thine own good way. I said to myself in my heart, Thou wilt hearor rather, thou wilt answer (Revised Version)O Lord my God; and I was content to leave my defence to thee.
Psa 38:16
For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me; rather, for I said, I will be silent, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me. I feared lest by answering rashly or intemperately I might give my enemies occasion against me. I knew by experience that, when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. They are always on the watch to catch at any slip on my part, and make it a ground for magnifying themselves and denying me. Hence my silence.
Psa 38:17
For I am ready to halt. I am weak and helpless, liable at any moment to stumble and fall. And my sorrow is continually before me; i.e. my sin, which I sorrow over, which lies at the root of all my distress (comp. Psa 51:3).
Psa 38:18
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. The four “fors,” beginning four consecutive verses, are somewhat puzzling. Canon Cook suggests that they introduce four reasons for the psalmist’s silence (Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14) and abstinence front self-justification:
(1) because God hears him, and will make answer for him (Psa 38:15);
(2) because, if he spoke, he might give further occasion to his enemies (Psa 38:16);
(3) because he feels in danger, and is conscious of sin (Psa 38:17); and
(4) because he has no course open to him but confession and contrition.
If we are justified in attributing the psalm to David, and in assigning its composition to the period immediately preceding Absalom’s rebellion, we must look upon it as opening to us a view of David’s condition of mind at that time which is of great interest.
Psa 38:19
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong. The psalmist goes back to the thought of his enemies, to whom he has made no answer, and whom he has not ventured to rebuke (Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14). He remembers that they are full of life and strength; he calls to mind the fact that they are many in number; he puts on record the cause of their enmity, which is not his sin, but his earnest endeavour to forsake his sin and follow after righteousness (Psa 38:20); and then, in conclusion, he makes a direct appeal to God for aid against themfirst negatively (Psa 38:21), and then positively in the final outburst, “Make haste to help me, O Lord my Salvation” (Psa 38:22). And they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. This suits well the time of Absalom’s conspiracy, when day by day more and more of the people forsook David and joined the party of his son. (2Sa 15:12, 2Sa 15:13).
Psa 38:20
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries (comp. Psa 35:12). Because I follow the thing that good is; literally, because I follow good.
Psa 38:21
Forsake me not, O Lord (comp. Psa 27:9; Psa 71:9, Psa 71:18; Psa 119:8). God never really forsakes his saints (Psa 37:28). He withdraws sometimes for wise purposes the sense of his presence and favour, so that they feel as if they were forsaken; but this is only temporary; O my God, be not far from me (comp. Psa 22:19; Psa 35:22; Psa 71:12).
Psa 38:22
Make haste to help me, O Lord my Salvation (see Psa 22:19; Psa 31:2; Psa 40:13; Psa 70:1; Psa 71:12, etc.). This so frequent cry always shows imminent peril; or at any rate, a belief in it. The writer hero was in danger doublyfrom disease and from his enemies. Thus he might well cry out.
HOMILETICS
Psa 38:4
Conviction of sin an element of true Christian life.
“As a heavy burden.” Jonah, when carried down in his living tomb to “the roots of the mountains,” with the sea-weeds about his head, was not plunged in a deeper sea of trouble than David in the experience this psalm records (comp. Psa 32:3-5). He felt that his troubles were the just and wise chastisement of his sins; and they lead him to confession (verse 18). He humbly bows under God’s hand; but only prays that he may feel that chastisement is not in wrath, but in mercy (verse 1; cf. Heb 12:5, etc.). These words supply a starting-point for some remarks on conviction of sin as an element in true Christian life.
I. CONVICTION OF SINq.d. sorrowful sense of blameworthiness before GodSPRINGS FROM A TRIPLE ROOT:
(1) an awakened and enlightened conscience;
(2) definite memory of particular sins;
(3) clear and affecting views of holiness.
1. The natural effect of persistent sin is to deaden conscience (Eph 5:19). Conscience may be awake, but completely perverted by ignorance or false belief; e.g. the heathen mother flinging her infant into the Ganges (Act 26:9). When the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the mind, and applies the truth to the heart, sin is seen and felt to be “exceeding sinful” (Rom 7:7-13). Hence to a tender, rightly informed conscience, things appear sinful in which an ungodly heart discerns no harm.
2. We sin in many other ways than in deliberate acts of conscious transgression. We “leave undone what we ought to do;” fail in intention, in mixed unworthy motives, even when our action is good; selfishness, cowardice, sloth, unfaithfulness; falling (how far!) short of the Divine standardlove to God with all the heart, mind, soul, strength, and to our neighbour as ourself. We may know all this, confess it, seek pardon; but it does not oppress and burden conscience like some definite act of sinperhaps long pastwhich stands out with frightful clearness in the memory (Psa 51:3).
3. The measure of the sinfulness of sin is its opposition to holiness. The Bible standard of holiness is God’s character revealed to us, above all, in Christ (1Pe 1:15, 1Pe 1:16). Therefore our view of our own sinfulness will depend on our clear and affecting apprehension of God’s holiness. The robe that looks white in dim light will betray all its spots and stains in midday sunshine.
II. EXPERIENCE GREATLY VARIES, EVEN IN REAL CHRISTIANS, REGARDING CONVICTION OF SIN. With some, overwhelming; with others, consciously deficient. This may arise from either of the sources spoken of, or a combinationtenderness or dulness of conscience, remembrance of particular sins, closeness of converse with God, and deep and lofty views of holiness. Some Christians may be patterns, but none are models, for others.
III. DIM, FEEBLE SENSE OF SIN AND OF ITS EVIL SEEMS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE CHRISTIANITY OF TO–DAY. There is a great advance in prevailing views and teaching regarding Divine love; but no corresponding advance regarding Divine righteousness and holiness. This tends to enfeeble Christian life and work. Nothing is more dangerous than the use of exaggerated language to express our inner life. Let no Christian for whom they would be exaggerated and unreal adopt the words of the text. But let us seek a quickened conscience, a faithful self-knowledge, above all, nearness to God, that we may see all sin, and our own, in the light both of his holiness and of his love.
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE
Psa 38:1-22
Sin stinging like an adder.
This has been called one of the penitential psalms. It may be called so without any severe strain of language; and yet its penitential tone is very far removed from that of either the thirty-second or the fifty-first psalm. There is little doubt that there is a sincere acknowledgment of the sin; but here the main stress of the grief seems to be attributable rather to the suffering consequent upon the sin, than to the guilt of the sin itself. And we cannot resist the conviction that an undue reticence (which, alas! often results in an infrequent and inadequate warning against sins of the flesh) has somewhat warped and fettered the remarks of many expositors. For the physical suffering which is here detailed with distressing precision, points to sin as the cause thereofto that sin which is one of the seriously poisoning influences in our social fabric, and against which no pleadings can be too tender, and no warnings can be too loud. Let us first study the case, and then utilize it.
I. THE CASE STATED. Even before entering into detail, it is obvious that the case is one of intense suffering. The details, however, will show us but too clearly what the suffering was, and how it was accounted for.
1. There had been the commission of sin. Psa 38:3-5 give us three terms“sin,” “foolishness,” “iniquity.“ The sin was one which brought about a great deal of:
2. Bodily disorder. Note the following expressions:
(1) “My flesh” (Psa 38:3).
(2) “My bones” (Psa 38:3).
(3) “My loins” (Psa 38:7).
(4) “No soundness” (Psa 38:3).
(5) “No health” (Psa 38:3).
(6) “Wounds” (Psa 38:5).
(7) “Ulcers” (Psa 38:5, Hebrew).
(8) “Offensive” (Psa 38:5).
(9) “Burning” (Psa 38:7).
(10) This alternating with deathly coldness (Psa 38:8).
(11) “Palpitation” (Psa 38:10).
(12) The frame bent and bowed with the suffering (Psa 38:6).
(13) “Failing strength” (Psa 38:10).
(14) “Dimness of sight” (Psa 38:10).
Surely this puts before us, in no obscure fashion, the terrible physical woe which the writer was enduring.
3. Great mental anguish.
(1) God’s arrows struck very deeply into his soul (Psa 38:2).
(2) God’s hand pressed heavily upon him (Psa 38:2).
(3) He went abroad as a mourner (Psa 38:6).
(4) He roaredgroaned aloudall the day long.
It may not be always possible to affirm that such and such suffering is the effect of this or that specific sin. But sometimes we can. And it is no wonder if sins of the flesh bring fleshly suffering. It is an ordained law of God that it should be so. Hence the sufferings are rightly regarded as “the arrows of God.“
4. In his trouble, lovers and friends stand aloof from him. Even neighbours and kinsmen drew themselves afar off (Psa 38:11). Earthly friends are like swallows, who come near in fine weather, and fly away ere the weather turns foul.
5. He was laden with reproach, and even beset with snares. (Psa 38:12.)
6. He did not and could not reply. To the charges laid at his door he had no justifications to offer, and therefore said nothing (cf. Psa 38:14, Hebrew). This was so far wise.
7. Though silent to man, he pours out his heart to God. He calls God his God; even though guilt lies heavily on the soul.
(1) He declares the whole case before the mercy-seat (Psa 38:9).
(2) He confesses the sin (Psa 38:18).
(3) He deprecates the Divine displeasure (Psa 38:1).
(4) He appeals for help (Psa 38:22).
Note: There is a great difference between men who “are overtaken in a fault,” and those whose life is one perpetual sin of alienation from God. David lived in an age when lustfulness was scarcely recognized as wrong at all, save where the holy Law of God had gleamed on it with the searching light of Heaven. If David fell into this sin, it was because he was injured by the low conventional standard of his day. If he regarded it as sin, and mourned over it, it was because he was under the educating influence of that Word which was as “a lamp to his feet, and a light unto his path.”
8. While David moans his sin as threatening him with destruction and ruin, he looks for salvation in God and God alone. (Psa 38:22.) “O Lord my Salvation.”
II. THE CASE UTILIZED. Here is evidently a psalm which is one of a number that contain a rehearsal of the writer’s private experience. They profess to be that, and therefore, unless some good reason to the contrary is shown, we rightly assume that they are that. The expositor who desires to deal faithfully with all the psalms, and with the whole of each psalm, will often find himself between two opposite schools. On one side, there are those who would enclose every psalm within the limits of a naturalistic psychology; while there are others who seem to regard every psalm as referring directly or indirectly to Christ. But while the second and forty-fifth psalm. can by no means be accounted for by a rationalistic psychology, so this thirty-eighth psalm can by no means be applied to the Messiah directly or indirectly. Let us not select facts to fit a theory; but study all the facts, and frame the theory accordingly. In this personal moan and groan we have:
1. Suffering following on sin. Of what kind the sin was there can be little question. And if we wonder that David could fall into such sin, we may well askWhat can be expected of a man who had six wives (2Sa 3:2-5)? The Law of God might, indeed, be the rule of his life, but he was injured and corrupted by falling into the conventionalisms of his day; and hence in his private life he came far short of his own professed ideal. Is not the like incongruity between the ideal and the actual often seen even now?
2. If it was owing to “conformity to the world“ that David thus sinned, it was because he had before him God‘s revelation of the evil of sin that he was so bowed down under a sense of the guilt thereof. The revealed Law of God stood high above the level to which he had attained; hence a shame and self-loathing on account of sin, which would nowhere else have been known.
3. Smarting under the sense of guilt, David yet tells God all. He knew God to be one “pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin;” and hence the burdens of sin and guilt, as well as of care, were laid before the mercy-seat (Psa 32:5).
4. At times, however, words fail; then the desire and the groaning are perfectly understood. (Psa 38:9.) Who does not understand something of this that knows anything of the “energies of prayer”? There are “groanings which cannot be uttered.” As there are “songs without words,” so are there “prayers without words.” For the grief consequent upon sin may be, and often is, aggravated by the desertion of those friends who will smile on us when we are prosperous, and will turn their backs on us when adversity comes. But, even so, it is an infinite mercy to be shut up to God, and to let the heart lie “naked and opened” before One who will never misunderstand, and who will never forsake us.
5. For our God is “Jehovah our Salvation.“ That is his revealed name, and to it he will ever be true. See how gloriously “the sure mercies of David” are set forth in Psa 89:26-33. God is “a just God, and a Saviour” (Isa 45:21). Hence we should never let our consciousness of guilt drive us from him; rather should it always make us “flee unto” him “to hide us.”
6. Hence only those who have the light of God‘s revelation can possibly have any gospel for men smarting under the guilt of sin. We do not know any one passage in Scripture in which the combination is more remarkable of a man whose sin has brought deepest shame and agony upon him, and who yet is laying hold of God under that beautiful, that matchless name, “my Salvation” (Psa 89:22). Very often, indeed, the word “salvation” in the Old Testament means mainly, if not exclusively, temporal deliverance. Here, at any rate, it cannot be so limited; for the salvation required to meet the case of woe thus laid before God must be one which includes cancelling guilt, purifying from corruption, and healing disease. And that revelation of God as our Salvation which was made in germ to the Hebrews, is disclosed more fully to us under Christ. He is “made wisdom from God unto us, even righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; that (according as it is written) he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1Co 1:30, 1Co 1:31). In the very volume where sin is dealt with most seriously, it is also treated most hopefully; and the very revelation which cries with trumpet-power, “All have sinned,” also cries, “Look unto me, and be ye saved.”C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 38:1-22
Thoughts in affliction.
The preacher saith, “In the day of adversity consider” (Ecc 7:14). We should “call to remembrance”
I. THE HAND OF GOD IN AFFLICTION. Our afflictions may be various, and have various causes. But we should look higher than mere human instrumentality, or the action of natural laws. We should acknowledge the hand of God (Psa 38:2). What a change this makes l It soothes our resentments. It calms our fears. God sees all. He knows how we suffer. He who has stricken us can heal our wounds. He who has “pressed us sore” is able to pour joy into our hearts.
II. THE CONNECTION OF SIN WITH AFFLICTION. If there is suffering, there must have been sin. We may not be able to trace the connection; and we may greatly err and wound others cruelly if we say that certain sufferings are the result of certain sins. But, while we are not to judge others, we should judge ourselves. Our sufferings ought to bring our sins to remembrance. And the more strictly we scan our lives, and the more severely we search our hearts, the more will our sins increase, till their pressure and weight become intolerable, and we cry out, “They are too heavy for me” (Psa 38:4).
III. THE INADEQUACY OF ALL HUMAN AID IN AFFLICTION. Affliction is a great revealer. It not only shows us much as to ourselves, but also as to others. It proves who are true and who are false; who are worthy and who are unworthy; who may be trusted to stand by us, and who will wax cold and forsake us, “having loved this present world.” Job bitterly complained of his friends: “Miserable comforters are ye all.” The psalmist was still more sorely tried: “My lovers and friends stand aloof from my sore” (verse 11). Even when true and willing, our friends can do but little for us in our greatest straits. Counsel is good. Sympathy is better. Generous aid is better still. But the best of all, the only help that goes to the root of the matter, is when some true friend, like Jonathan, “strengthens our hands in God.”
IV. THE DIVINE RESOURCES OF THE GODLY IN AFFLICTION. There is prayer. The disciples in trouble came to Jesus and told him all. So we may pour out all our heart to God (verse 9). There is compression. It is a marvellous relief to bring our sins to God (verse 18). The burden that is too heavy for us will fall off when we cast ourselves as humble penitents at the foot of the cross. There is renewed consecration. Whatever comes, we must hold fast to our hope. Every danger and strait, every great fear that pales the face and makes the heart grow faint, should lead us to the renewal of our vows, and the reinvigoration of our purpose to “follow only what is good” (verse 20). Above all, there is refuge in God. From the beginning, and all through, the psalmist is with God, confessing, pleading, appealing; and in the end he gathers up all the desire of his heart in the earnest cry, “Forsake me not, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord my Salvation!” (verses 21, 22).
Thus he found comfort; and so may we also. Jerome said, “If any sickness happen to the body, we are to seek for the medicine of the soul;” and the true and only Physician of the soul is Christ.W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 38:1-22
A fearful picture of the sufferings which a great sin can cause.
Supposed to be one of David’s penitential psalms.
I. COMPLICATED MENTAL AND BODILY SUFFERING. (Psa 38:1-8.)
1. Dread of God‘s further anger. Guilt makes a man full of fear and apprehension (Psa 38:1).
2. His sin was realized as an intolerable burden. (Psa 38:4.) A load that he was unable to carry; or a great wave passing over his head and threatening to overwhelm him.
3. His sin was an enfeebling and disquieting sorrow. (Psa 38:6, Psa 38:8.) Continual, unintermittent, that made life one lasting agony.
4. Mental suffering brought on great bodily suffering and prostration. Body and mind react upon each other when any great trouble comes upon us; and we are reduced to the deepest pitch of misery.
II. HE IS PUNISHED BY MEN AS WELL AS BY GOD. (Psa 38:9-14.)
1. His friends are alienated, and refuse him any comfort. (Psa 38:10, ]1.) When we feel forsaken of God and man, then our cup of agony is full, This was our Lord’s experience at the Crucifixion.
2. His enemies also seek to give him his death-blow. (Psa 38:12, Psa 38:19, Psa 38:20.) They endeavour to take advantage of his fall to ruin him and take his life. How bad men “rejoice in the iniquity” of the righteous!
3. Conscious of sin, he is obliged to be silent. (Psa 38:13, Psa 38:14.) Consciousness of guilt makes him unable to refute the false charges of his enemies. Of what avail is it to speak when we are deeply self-condemned? This is an aggravation of our punishment, when we cannot defend ourselves. before our foes.
III. HE RENOUNCES ALL SELF–HELP TO HOPE IN GOD. (Psa 38:15-22.)
1. If God did not hear him, his enemies would rejoice over him. For he himself was so weak that he had no strength to contend with them (Psa 38:16, Psa 38:17).
2. He will earnestly repent and confess his sin. (Psa 38:18.) This is our only way of restoration to the favour of God or man. Repentance is the earnest turning away from the sin with sincere loathing of mind.
3. An imploring cry for speedy rescue. (Psa 38:21, Psa 38:22.) When we feel as on the brink of death, we do not think of “God’s time;” we are impatient for deliverance, and we cry for present help in our time of trouble.
LESSON. Think into what straits and suffering a man’s sins have power to bring him, and what his opportunity of salvation is in Christ.S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 38.
David moveth God to take compassion of his pitiful case.
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.
Title. mizmor ledavid lehazkiir. A psalm of David, &c. David’s memorial psalm, Whether David really laboured under any grievous sickness which gave occasion to this psalm; or whether, under the representation of a sick man, he poetically describes his own lamentable distress; this psalm was composed by him, to put him in remembrance of that affliction, with which he confesses his sinfulness had provoked God to visit him. Theodoret, and many other commentators, think that David was not sick; but that in this psalm he called to remembrance all the sad disasters which had befallen him; as the murder of his son Amnon, the rebellion of his son Absalom, and all the other calamities mentioned in his history. But Dr. Delaney is of opinion, that this psalm, as well as the three next, were occasioned by a grievous distemper with which David was afflicted, and which he considered as the chastisement of God upon him for his sins. That this calamity fell upon him about the time when a dangerous and rebellious conspiracy was formed against him, appears from the same psalms; and, forasmuch as we hear of no more than one conspiracy of that kind formed against him, it follows that his sickness fell upon him about this time: and, that his distemper was that which is now known to us under the name of the smallpox, is, as I conceive, very probable from the same psalms. The reader will find this opinion defended in the 7th chapter of the 4th book of the Life of David. But, whether this psalm be understood in a literal or allegorical sense, David bewails his sins so pathetically in it, that it is reckoned among the penitential psalms. We would just observe, that by bringing to remembrance, in the title, may be meant his praying to God to remember him, and deliver him out of his afflictions.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 38
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance
1O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath:
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2For thine arrows stick fast in me,
And thy hand presseth me sore.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger;
Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4For mine iniquities are gone over mine head:
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5My wounds stink and are corrupt
Because of my foolishness.
6I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
7For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease:
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8I am feeble and sore broken:
I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9Lord, all my desire is before thee;
And my groaning is not hid from thee.
10My heart panteth, my strength faileth me:
As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore;
And my kinsmen stand afar off.
12They 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.
13But I, as a deaf man, heard not;
And I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14Thus I was as a man that heareth not,
And in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15For in thee, O Lord, do I hope:
Thou wilt hear O Lord my God.
16For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me:
When my foot slippeth they magnify themselves against me.
17For I am ready to halt,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18For I will declare mine iniquity;
I will be sorry for my sin.
19But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong:
And they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20They also that render evil for good
Are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
21Forsake me not, O Lord:
O my God, be not far from me.
22Make haste to help me,
O Lord my salvation.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
For the Title comp. Introduct., 6, No. 3. The Psalm begins (Psa 38:7) with the same petition as Psalms 6, that God will bring the sufferings, endured by the petitioner as a punishment for his sins, to an end, that He will cease from His judgment of wrath. This prayer is based upon the fact, that the sufferings, sent upon him by God (Psa 38:2) and deserved by great sins (Psa 38:3-4), have entirely worn him out in body and soul (Psa 38:5-7), so that he can only sigh to God (Psa 38:8) in the greatest anguish and abandonment (Psa 38:9). For his friends have withdrawn from him (Psa 38:10), and his enemies, who aspire after his life, regard him as lost (Psa 38:11). But he does not heed them, or contradict them (Psa 38:13-14), but has put his hope in God (Psa 38:15-16). For he is now in the most extreme bodily weakness and anguish of heart, on account of his sins, the guilt of which he confesses (Psa 38:17-18); and his enemies are active, numerous, and they hate him, although he has given them no reason, but rather has sought to do them good (Psa 38:19-20), hence his sighing prayer for the help of Jehovah, whom his faith is still able to apprehend and confess as his God, and as his salvation (Psa 38:21-22). Hengst supposes that this Psalm did not originate from the circumstances of an individual, but was uttered by the righteous personified, and that the peculiar sufferings are due to the enmity of the wicked, whose number and superiority is regarded as an evidence of Divine visitation, which thus considered, make him miserable and worn out in body and soul. Others suppose that the sufferings of the entire people, or the pious portion of them, occasioned by heathen oppressors or ungodly enemies, are described by a late prophet (Chald., Isaki, Rosenm. II.), perhaps by Jeremiah (De Wette), under the figure of a sickness. These views, however, are opposed by the contents and statements of the Psalm A real man laments, sighs, and implores, on account of plagues which severely afflict him personally; but the cause of his sufferings does not appear to be wicked enemies, who abuse him and wound him bodily (Hitzig with reference to Jer 20:2, which however the strong self-accusations do not suit), or whose attacks and complaints had caused his sufferings, which are described partly under the figure of sickness, partly are brought under the idea of moral guilt (Hupfeld). The enemies are not mentioned until the second half of the Psalm, and then, it is true, as deadly enemies, yet not as those which have caused the bodily sufferings described fully at the beginning, but rather as those who have used these things as snares and accusations against him. The bodily sufferings are represented as a real sickness, although not exactly as leprosy (Ewald, Kster, Maurer); yet the sick man himself regards his miserable condition as sufferings sent by God as a punishment for his sins; and from this visitation is developed his consciousness of guilt, his continued moral pain, his confession of sin, and at the same time his correct behaviour towards his adversaries and his God, towards his adversaries, which without reason, yea, against all right, are at enmity with him, instead of thanking him for the benefits they have received, and recognizing his moral efforts; towards his God, on whom he ceases not to wait as his help, abandoning all self-help, and all excuses, and to whom as near to assist him, he exclusively directs his prayer. By this view the bond of unity between the two parts of this Psalm, often missed, may be shown, and its relationship with, as well as its difference fromPs. 6, be placed in a stronger light; so likewise its order among Davids penitential Psalms 5
Str I. [Ver 1. This verse is the same as Psa 38:1 of Psalms 6, with merely one verbal substitution of the synonym for Bakius has the following paraphrase: Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum; sed castiga, quso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore, ut judex; ne punias justiti rigore, sed misericordi dulcore.C. A. B.]
Psa 38:2. For Thine arrows have sunk into me.This figurative expression is used not only of leprosy (Job 6:4), but likewise of hunger (Eze 5:16), and generally of calamities of Divine visitation (Deu 32:23). Hence it follows from this various use of the figure, that it is inadmissible to limit this to a particular kind of visitation, yet not that the following description of sickness is to be regarded merely as figurative.
Str II Psa 38:3. Soundness.The expressions in Isa 1:6, which are entirely similar, do not imply that they are figurative in this Psalm. For Isaiah refers to the body of the people. In such a connection he might very well look upon sins as abscesses, and moral ruin under the figure of phases of sickness, without danger of being misunderstood. But this explanation is inadmissible for this Psalm, although it has been promoted by the Vulgate after the Sept., which has in Psa 38:3 b: non est pax ossibus meis, and in Psa 38:7 a, with many ancient Psalters after the Cod. Vat. of the Sept., anima mea impleta est illusionibus, whilst the Cod. Alex., as likewise Symmach. has the reading instead of .[No health in my bones.Perowne: Such is the proper and original meaning of the word (shalom), integritas; peace, being the derived meaning, peace only there properly existing, where all is complete and entire, nothing wanting. The same is true with the German Heil which is used here by most interpreters.C. A. B.]
[Psa 38:4. Gone over my head.A usual figure of danger and trouble taken from a flood of water, comp. Psa 18:16.Too heavy for me.They are conceived as a burden weighing upon the conscience, incapable of being borne any longer. Comp. Gen 4:13, and Psa 32:4, where the hand of God is felt in themC. A. B.]
[Str. III. Psa 38:5. My bruises stink and run.Alexander: The two verbs both denote suppuration, the first in reference to the offensive smell, the second to the running or discharge of matter.Foolishness:Perowne: His sin, as seen now in its true light, showing itself to be folly, for all sin is self-destruction. This confession of his sin is in fact, at the same time, a confession of the justice of his punishment.
Psa 38:6. I am bent, I am bowed down exceedingly, all day long I go about squalid.Delitzsch: Being so deeply sick in soul and body, he must be greatly bent and bowed down. of the writhing contraction of the body, Isa 21:3, of the bowed-down attitude, Psa 35:14, of a clumsy, drawling walk. literally black with dirt, squalid, in allusion to the Oriental custom of putting ashes on the head, and going about with rent and soiled garments as a sign of mourning, vid.Psa 35:14.C. A. B.]
Str. IV. Psa 38:7. For my loins are full of dryness. is understood by Sept. and Symmach. [vid. Psa 38:3] not of blasted or kindled (properly roasted, dried at the fire), but after another derivation (Isa 3:5), of disrespect and scorn. The loins are brought into view as the seat of strength, but are here designated not as dried out, dried up (Luther, Hengstenberg), which, so far as they had become weak, would be full of that which contempt heaped upon the sick man, full of scorn, which issues from the loins (Schegg); they are here described as full of dryness. It is doubtful whether we could understand by this blasted (Camph.). Burning sores (Ewald) would be better. The reference is certainly not to a burning fever (Chald., Calvin, Geier, et al.) in the bowels (many recent interpreters after Bochart); still less as a figurative expression of the withering, consuming power of sorrow (Hupf.). The construction demands a material object, leads rather to a special condition of sickness.
Psa 38:8. [I am benumbed, cold, chilly, torpid, in contrast with the warmth and energy of life. It is used of the disappearing of the warmth of life, and at the same time of the stopping of the pulse and even life itself. Perowne thinks that it refers to the alternations of a fever fit, and refers to the burning inflammation in the preceding verse. But it is better with our author not to think of a fever, but of a state of feebleness, in connection with the real loathsome disease which was upon him.C. A. B.]I roar from the moaning of my heart.Hitzig proposed the reading or instead of (Begriff der Kritik, S. 120 sq.). and to translate I cry more than the roaring of the lion. Afterwards he rejected this conjecture, and contended against it, to the regret of Olsh. The words are not at all tautological, but express that the sighing of the mouth originates from the moaning of the heart.
[Str. V. Psa 38:10. My heart palpitatesAlexander: The palpitation of the heart, denoting violent agitation, is combined with loss of strength and dimness of the eyes, so often mentioned as a sign of extreme weakness. See above on Psa 13:3 and compare Psa 6:7; Psa 31:9; Psa 40:12C. A. B]
Str VI. Psa 38:11-12. Away from the presence of my plagueThe translation of Luther originates from the Vulgate, amici meiadversum me appropinquaverunt. It has likewise in the following line; vim faciebant (), in stead of: have laid snares. The Sept. has read instead of or confounded the two. But the latter is rendered evident here by a play upon the words in the Hebrew.
[Str. VII. Psa 38:13. Deafdumb.Alexander: The same two words for deaf and dumb are used together in Exo 4:11. Not only the idea, but the form of expression in this sentence, is copied by Isaiah in his prophetical description of Christs sufferings (Isa 53:7), and seems to have been present to our Saviours own mind when He held his peace before the High Priest (Mat 26:62-63), and gave no answer to the Roman Governor (Joh 19:9).
Psa 38:14. In whose mouth there are no replies.Delitzsch: The consciousness of guilt and resignation stop his mouth, so that he may not and cannot refute the false accusations of his enemies; he has no counter evidence to justify himself.C. A. B.]6
Str. VIII. [Psa 38:15. Thou wilt hear.The thou is emphatic, and is thus contrasted strongly with the enemies before whom the Psalmist was dumb, making no replies, but pleading alone before God. Riehm: This expectation is based upon reasons adduced by three following one another, yet co-ordinate; Psa 38:16, upon the wish which he has expressed, and to which God is to respond by hearing it; Psa 38:17, upon the greatness of his misery; Psa 38:18, upon his penitence.C. A. B.]
Psa 38:17. The Vulgate after the Sept. differs from the Hebrew text, and has: in flagella paratus sum. [The Hebrew text is, however, correct, and the translation I am ready to halt or fall down sufficiently assured.C. A. B ]
Str. IX. Psa 38:19. But mine enemies are lively, are numerous.The reading maintained by the ancient translations may be interpreted after 1Sa 25:6. Most recent interpreters suppose after Houbigant that this reading is a corruption from , that is, without cause, Psa 35:19; Psa 69:4.
Psa 38:20. After this verse many Greek and Latin, all the thiopic, and some of the Arabic, and one of the Syriac Psalters, have the additional clause: et projecerunt me dilectum tanquam mortuum abominatum (comp. Isa 14:19), explained by Theodoret of Absaloms behaviour towards David.
[Str. X. Psa 38:21-22. These petitions are frequent in the Psalms. Comp. Psa 10:1; Psa 13:1; Psa 22:1; Psa 22:19; Psa 35:22. Delitzsch: He closes with sighs for help. He does not gain that the darkness of wrath should be lighted up. The fides supplex does not become fides triumphans. But the closing words, Lord, my salvation, show the difference between Cains penitence and Davids. True penitence has faith in itself, it doubts of self, but not of God.C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. When a man perceives the chastening hand of God in his severe sufferings, and tastes the righteousness of the Lord therein, his sufferings may be very painful, yet if he values his communion with God, the experience of the Divine wrath and his grief on account of his personal guilt will be still more painful. Therefore he will pray first, not for the cessation of his bodily sufferings, his external plague, his temporal affliction, although he may be laid upon a bed of painful sickness and worried even to the exhaustion of his strength; he prays, first of all, for the removal of the angry judgment of God and the anxiety of heart on account of his sins.
2. In severe sickness and other visitations of God, we learn, often for the first time, the crushing weight of the chastening hand of God, the depth of guilt which exceeds all human thought and imagination, the deadly power of sin which destroys soul and body. But this most tormenting experience helps the sinner to permanent health, if he does not complain, in his cries over his misery or the treatment he has received, but charges himself with folly and sin, and if he does not despair, but confesses his guilt with penitence.
3. He has to undergo a severe conflict if his friends withdraw from him in the days of his necessity and anguish, when Divine chastisement has come upon him, and his enemies approach him with charges and accusations, especially if he is entitled to a very different treatment on account of his previous relations with them. Thus the genuineness of his repentance is tested. The decision with reference to salvation takes place, when the afflicted man earnestly withstands every temptation to self-justification, renounces all attempts to help himself, and resigns himself with sincere self-abnegation to God with confession and prayer, and waits on God with the hope that his prayer will be heard.
4. The virtue of this patient, devout and trusting waiting upon God, consists in the faith of the penitent, by which, in all his ill desert, he yet apprehends God as his God, and trusts in Him as the God of his help notwithstanding the superiority of his enemies and the strong feeling of his own weakness. He leaves the manner and the means of help to God. But he may pray most pressingly that God will draw near; for this is a token to the penitent of His mercy and a sign of His readiness to grant his supplication; for although he is forsaken by all the world and despairs of himself, yet he does not doubt, but knows and apprehends his salvation in God the Lord. Psa 22:19; Psa 35:3.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Sin prepares wrath, and the wrath of God has sharp weapons; but God may be sought by the penitent.Sin involves the visitation of Divine wrath, but repentance implores and obtains forbearance.Sin ruins people; but those who are converted to God will not be lost.Fire in the conscience is worse than fire in the bones.The fire of the Divine wrath should excite not only grief on account of the punishment of sin, but likewise sincere repentance in the heart of the sinner.Stricken by the hand of God, accused by his own conscience, forsaken by his best friends, attacked by his worst enemies, the sinner is yet not ruined, but delivered, if he is converted to God in his misery by his sins.Whom God visits with chastisement He will take to Himself, but it is necessary that He should rescue him from the way of ruin.It is not enough to taste the consequences of sin, you must confess their punishableness, their folly, their guilt, if you would obtain deliverance.He who totters under the hand of God may be saved from falling, if he grasps the hand which smites him.God chastises sinners earnestly, but not in order to kill them, but to give life, if they will only observe and learn to seek Him.True repentance does not despair; although abandoned by all the world, it seeks salvation in God.The sick-bed may become a bed of victory, 1) by humiliation under the strong hand of God; 2) by penitent confession of sin; 3) by believing apprehension of God as the God of help and salvation.
Starke: God can seldom bring us to repentance without chastisement, and He chastens us in order that we may not regard ourselves as guiltless.No one knows what the anguish of conscience is, who has not experienced it, and been obliged to struggle with sin and the wrath of God, there is no grief in the world to be compared with it.The hearts of many are like a rock from which the arrows rebound. Blessed are those whose souls are wounded unto salvation by Gods arrows.Sin wounds a man unto death, not only in his soul, but often it seizes upon his body and makes him utterly miserable.It is lamentable, that whilst every animal helps his fellow, man alone causes all kinds of sufferings and mishaps to his fellows.It is not necessary for you to hear and speak when God has taken this upon Himself for you. You may be entirely still.The ungodly and hypocritical seek to deny and conceal their sins as far as possible, but the pious confess that they are guilty before God and man.The pious have their faults, but this is not the reason why they are persecuted by the world, it is because they will not live as the world would have them.If it is your desire not to be forsaken by God, take care that you do not depart from Him by a wicked life and conformity to the world.
Luther: Truly to feel sin and tremble on account of a wicked conscience, is torture above all other torture. External persecutors boldly help to this; for they hunt a man in his conscience, boast against the righteous, that God is with them.And because He withholds consolation, such terror of heart must ensue, as if God were angry on account of sin. But yet David teaches us to hold fast and not despair, and defends himself against their boasting with prayers, and rises upon Divine promises, and lays hold of his cause by the true handle. . Thus we should pray and not despair in any anxiety of soul, although we are sinners and feel deeply the burden of sin and its tempest.Osiander: We should not pray that our Heavenly Father should not chastise us at all (comp. Heb 12:5), but that He should chastise us with the rod of the parent and not punish us with the sword of justice.Selnekker: I am well satisfied with my cross, for my sinful nature needs it well.Frisch: If God has shot His arrows from heaven into you, you must send the arrows of prayer to heaven, and implore His grace; if He has laid His heavy chastening hand upon your neck, you must lay your hand of faith on your heart; thus will He bind up your wounds and quicken you after the affliction.Rieger: At first David depends on the mercy of God; then he invokes the searching omniscience of God; finally he supplicates the speedy help of God.Tholuck: We acquire a deeper knowledge of the state of our hearts, by our behaviour when afflicted (impatient complaints, faint-heartedness, disinclination to prayer), than we ever could in good days.If the tempter can convince the soul, when sufferings are long continued, that God does not trouble Himself at all about it, that is the hottest affliction.Diedrich: God sends afflictions upon us that we may thereby be brought to a more thorough knowledge of ourselves.Taube: In time of trouble we see how soon our own strength fails, and the humble knowledge of this is one of the blessings of repentance.Thym: We are comforted under the severest pains. 1) By the word about Christ, 2) by prayer to Christ, 3) by strength from Christ.The sufferings of earth: 1) their nature; 2) their origin; 3) our behaviour under them.
[Matt. Henry: Our wounds, by sin, are oftentimes in a bad condition, no care taken of them, no application made to them, and it is owing to the sinners foolishness, in not confessing sin. Psa 32:3-4. A slight sore neglected may prove of fatal consequences, and so may a slight sin, slighted and left unrepented of.The less notice we take of the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds.When our enemies are most clamorous, ordinarily it is our prudence to be silent, or to say little, lest we make ill worse.If we are truly penitent for sin, that will make us patient under affliction, and particularly under unjust censures.Barnes: Trouble never accomplishes its proper effect unless it leads us to God; and anything that will lead us to Him is a gain in the end.No Christian, when he comes to die, ever feels that he has been too much afflicted, or that any trial has come upon him for which there was not occasion, and which was not designed and adapted to do him good.Spurgeon: It seems strange that the Lord should shoot at His own beloved ones, but in truth He shoots at their sins rather than them, and those who feel his sin-killing shafts in this life, shall not be slain with His hot thunderbolts in the next world.It is well when sin is an intolerable load, and when the remembrance of our sins burdens us beyond endurance.None more lonely than the broken-hearted sinner, yet hath he the Lord for his companion.Until the Holy Ghost applies the precious blood of Jesus, a truly awakened sinner is covered with raw wounds which cannot be healed nor bound up, nor mollified with ointment.We shall not be left of the Lord. His grace will succor us most opportunely, and in heaven we shall see that we had not one trial too many or one pang too severe.C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[5][Delitzsch: In this Psalm a peculiarity of the penitential Psalms is repeated, namely, that the petitioner has to lament not only that his soul and body are worn out, but likewise over external enemies, who come forth as his adversaries and make his sins an occasion of preparing ruin for him. This is owing to the fact that the Old Testament believer, whose consciousness of sin was not so spiritual and deep as in the believer of the New Testament, almost always was sensible of the external act of sin. The enemies which then would prepare for him ruin, are the instruments of the Satanic power of evil, who desire his death, whilst God desires his life, as is likewise felt by the New Testament believer even without external enemies.C. A. B.]
[6][Calvin sees two reasons for his silence; (1) his enemies would not suffer him to speak; (2) his own patient submission to the will of God. Perowne thinks that only the last is prominent here, but it seems better with Delitzsch to think of his own consciousness of guilt, under the severity of the Divine chastisement stopping his mouth with reference to the slanders of his enemies as he appeals to God to hear him as in Psa 38:15 sq.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 567
DAVIDS DISTRESS AND CONSOLATION
Psa 38:1-9. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure: for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head; as an heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt, because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease; and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble, and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
IT will be of great use to us through life to treasure up in our minds the dealings of God with us on some particular occasions. As his care over us in our difficulties may well call for a stone of remembrance, which shall be called our Eben-ezer, so his merciful attention to us at the first commencement of our humiliation before him may well be written in indelible characters upon our hearts. The Prophet Jeremiah, looking back to some season of peculiar distress, records his experience in terms of lively gratitude [Note: Lam 3:1-4; Lam 3:12-13; Lam 3:17-21.]: and, in like manner, David opens to us all his views and feelings when he sought the Lord after a season of darkness and distress; and he tells us that this psalm was written by him to bring to remembrance the troubles he then endured, and the tender mercies of God towards him.
From the part we have just read, we shall be led to consider,
I.
His distress
This was exceeding great.Let us notice,
1.
The source and cause of it
[He traces it to sin as its proper cause [Note: ver. 3, 4, 5.]: and sin is the true and only source of all trouble Sin is an object of Gods abhorrence; and wherever it exists unlamented and dominant, he will visit it according to its desert. In whomsoever it be found, whether he be a king on his throne, or a beggar on a dunghill, he will make no difference, except indeed to punish it in proportion to the light that has been resisted, and the aggravations with which it has been committed. Doubtless the sins of David were of most transcendent enormity, and therefore might well be visited with peculiar severity: but we must not imagine that his are the only crimes that deserve punishment: disobedience to God, whether against the first or second table of the Law, is hateful in his sight, and will surely subject us to his hot displeasure ]
2.
The extent and depth of it
[His soul was overwhelmed with a sense of Gods wrath. Gods arrows pierced his inmost soul: and his hand was heavy upon him, and pressed him sore. His iniquities, which, when they were yet only committed in desire and purpose, appeared light, now were an insupportable burthen to his soul; insomuch that he roared by reason of the disquietness of his heart. Here then we see what sinners may expect in this life. Verily such experience as this is little else than a foretaste of hell itself
But his body also was afflicted with a grievous disease, which had been sent of God as an additional mark of his righteous indignation [Note: ver. 3, 5, 7.]. And no doubt, if we could certainly discover the reasons of the Divine procedure, we should often see diseases and death inflicted as the chastisement of sin [Note: 1Co 11:30.]. David viewed his disorders in this light: and those, without any additional load, were heavy to be borne; but, when added to the overwhelming troubles of his soul, they almost sunk him to despair. Let those who think lightly of sin, view this monarch in the state above described, and say, whether sin, however sweet in the mouth, be not at lust the gall of asps within us [Note: Job 20:12-14.]: yes, assuredly, it will sooner or later bite like a serpent, and sting like an adder.]
But in the midst of all this trouble, he makes mention of,
II.
His consolation
Whilst deeply bemoaning his sin, he was assured that God was privy to all the workings of his soul, beholding his desires, and hearing all his groans. Now this was a great consolation to him, because he well knew,
1.
That God, in the groanings of a penitent, recognizes the voice of his own eternal Spirit
[Groans are the natural expressions of inward pain and anguish; and when they arise from a sense of sin, they are indications of a penitent heart. But no pious disposition is found in man till it is planted there by the Holy Ghost. God is the Author of every good and perfect gift, and must give us to will, no less than to do whatever is acceptable in his sight. As for groanings on account of sin, they are more especially said to be the fruits of the Spirit, who thus helpeth our infirmities, and enables us to express those feelings which are too big for utterance [Note: Rom 8:26.]. To man such inarticulate sounds would convey no distinct idea; but God understands them perfectly, because he knoweth the mind of the Spirit: and he delights in them, because it is in this way that the Spirit maketh intercession for us, and because these very intercessions are according to the will of God [Note: Rom 8:27.].
What a consolatory thought is this to one that is overwhelmed with a sense of sin! He knows not what to pray for as he ought; and perhaps the load upon his spirit disables him for uttering what his unembarrassed judgment would dictate: but he recollects that God needeth not any one to interpret to him our desires: he understands a sigh, a tear, a look, with infallible certainty: he sees all the self-lothing and self-abhorrence that is contained in such expressions of the penitents feelings; and in answer to them, he will do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.]
2.
That to such expressions of penitence all the promises of God are made
[It is not to the fluent tongue, but to the contrite heart, that pardon and peace are promised. To this man will I look, says God, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones [Note: Isa 57:15; Isa 66:2.]. He will fulfil, not the requests only, but the desire also, of them that fear him, and of them that hope in his mercy. If only we look unto him we shall be lightened, yea, we shall be saved with an everlasting salvation [Note: Psa 102:17; Psa 102:19-20. Isa 45:17; Isa 45:22.]. The publican who dared not so much as lift up his eyes unto heaven, but smote on his breast, and cried, God be merciful to me a sinner! went down to his house justified, when the self-applauding Pharisee was dismissed under the guilt of all his sins.
Now this is an unspeakable consolation to the weary and heavy-laden sinner. Had he to look for grounds of worthiness, or even for any considerable attainments, in himself, he would be discouraged; but finding that the invitations of God are made to him as wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and that the promises are suited to him in that state, he comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, and finds rest and peace unto his soul.]
From this view of the Psalmists experience we see,
1.
What an evil and bitter thing sin is
[Fools will make a mock at sin, and represent it as a light and venial thing: but let any one look at David in the midst of all the splendour of a court, and say, what sin is, which could so rob him of all earthly pleasure, and bring such torment upon his soul. Was that a light matter? If we will not be convinced by such a sight as this, we shall learn it by sad experience in the eternal world, where the worm that will prey upon our consciences shall never die, and the fire that shall torment our bodies shall never be quenched. O that we might be instructed, ere it be too late!]
2.
What an enviable character is the true Christian, even when viewed under the greatest disadvantages
[We cannot conceive a Christian in circumstances less enviable than those of David in the passage before us: yet compare him with an ungodly or impenitent man under the most favourable circumstances that can be imagined, and ask, Whose views are most just? Whose feelings most rational? Whose prospects most happy? With the one God is angry every day; on the other he looks with complacency and delight: the joys of the one will soon terminate in inconceivable and everlasting misery; and the sorrows of the other in endless and unspeakable felicity [Note: Luk 16:19-26 and Isa 35:10.]. The sinner in the midst of all his revellings has an inward witness of the truth of our Lords assertion; Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.]
3.
Of what importance it is to attain just views of the character of God
[If God be viewed merely as a God of all mercy, we shall never repent us of our sins: and if he be viewed as an inexorable Judge, we shall be equally kept from penitence by despair. But let him be seen as he is in Christ Jesus, a God reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing their trespasses unto them, let him be acknowledged as a just God and yet a Saviour, and instantly will a holy fear spring up in the place of presumption, and hope dispel the baneful influence of despondency.
Know then, Beloved, that this is the very character of God as he is revealed in his Gospel: he is just, and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus: he is to the impenitent indeed a consuming fire: but, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Let the groaning penitent then look up to him with cheerful hope; yea, with assured confidence, that God will not despise even the lowest expressions of penitential sorrow: however bruised the reed may be, the Lord Jesus will not break it; nor will he quench the smoking flax, though there be in it but one spark of grace, and a whole cloud of corruption: never did he yet despise the day of small things; nor will he ever cast out the least or meanest that come unto him. Only come to him in faith, and according to your faith it shall be done unto you.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS
Here is another of those blessed portions of the divine word, in which the Prophet speaketh much of Christ. The whole Psalm is a continued petition, in which Jehovah is appealed to for compassion.
A Psalm of David to bring to remembrance.
Psa 38:1
In the very opening of this Psalm, I beg the Reader’s particular regard to the title of it, and that with an eye to Christ. A Psalm to bring to remembrance. What is worthy to be so done, but what concerns the Lord Jesus? Is not the Holy Ghost said by Christ himself to be his remembrancer? Joh 14:26 . And is not this act of bringing to remembrance among the sweetest and most blessed offices of the Holy Ghost? If we therefore look to the Holy Ghost as the Author and Giver of his own scripture, and this Psalm among the rest; and if we can clearly trace Christ as set forth in this Psalm; do we not then enter into a full apprehension of the gracious purpose for which it was written, and for what special design the object of it is intended, in bringing to the remembrance of the church all things which refer to the person and work of the Lord Jesus, as well as all things whatsoever Jesus himself hath said unto us? I do not presume to decide upon this point; but I venture to throw out the views I have of it in this light. And if I do not greatly err, I humbly conceive we shall find, as we prosecute the perusal of this Psalm, much indeed to bring to remembrance concerning the Lord Christ, if the Holy Ghost graciously condescends here, as in numberless other instances, to be the kind remembrancer in our hearts of what is here recorded in relation to him. If we consider the prophet describing in this first verse the Lord Christ, we may behold him as our Surety, bearing our sins, and carrying our sorrows; and as such the apostle represents him in the days of his flesh, offering up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears. Heb 5:7 . Reader! we shall be so far from lessening the interest we have in what is here said, in our cries and groans under the conscious sin of our nature from thus looking unto Jesus, that, under God’s grace, it will call forth a more awakened concern at every petition, when we behold what sin hath done in calling forth the agonies of the Son of God. And a conscious interest in him, and union with him as our Surety, will give energy to all our prayers upon this and every other occasion. And how truly interesting is it to behold Christ with an eye of faith thus praying; and to hear him with the ear of faith thus pleading; when enduring that curse which the law denounced against the sinner, and thus redeeming us from the curse by becoming both sin and a curse for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Gal 3:13 ; 2Co 5:21 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Repentance
Psa 38:18
There can be no real repentance, and, therefore, no blessed forgiveness, unless we attain to two things: a knowledge of what sin is how serious, how full of peril, how displeasing to God, how exceeding sinful; and a knowledge of what we are ourselves a recognition in the full light of consciousness of our own lives and our own deeds. But a yet further step is necessary, which is to weld together these two convictions, and to see that our own lives, our deeds, our thoughts, make us sinners before God, without subterfuge and without excuse. It is true of millions may it not be true of us? that, while we hate sin in the abstract, while we confess, in a vague collective way, that ‘we have offended against God’s holy laws,’ yet we do not condemn ourselves (see Rom 2:17-24 ).
I. How is it, then, that men do not connect together their intimate knowledge of themselves and their theoretical hatred of sin? There are various ways in which men try to escape their own detection. There is:
( a ) The sorcery of words. Men call sins, which they see others commit, by their true names; they call their own sins by false and simple names. What is pride in others is in themselves proper spirit; what is slander in others is in themselves moral indignation; what is cheating in others is in themselves legitimate profit; what is in others an immoral acquiescence is in themselves a practical common sense; what is in others licence is in themselves Christian liberty.
( b ) Men will hardly ever look at their own actual deeds in connexion with their own true motives. They live two lives. One is their habitual round of conduct, which is often base, mean, and unworthy. The other is their traditional homage to righteousness, which is upright and respectable. That imaginative life they choose to take for their true life. Their lives are like a stately temple front, its entablature enriched with a pious inscription. Alas! Enter beyond the vestibule, and in some inmost shrine, there, as they sit shrouded, and almost incognito, each man to himself, there, in dark, secret chambers, all the bad, impure, and dishonourable work of their lives is done!
( c ) The freely condemning every other sin but the one to which they are themselves addicted. A man may be a libertine in heart and life, and yet, corrupt as he is or has been, he walks with head erect, and is very proud of himself, because he is such ‘a man of honour’. Or, it may be, a man is earning his living as a professional liar, and living in an envenomed atmosphere of gossip; and yet he may go regularly to church, and take himself for a Christian, because, perhaps, he feels a contempt for avarice. Or he may be earning his bread by means dishonest and immoral; by trades that ruin men, body and soul; by houses in which the poor are huddled together like swine; and yet he may speak of sensuality with the fiercest denunciation. It is thus a matter of primary importance, by self-examination, to see that there are no personal sins for which we make an exception; no Commandments which, for ourselves only, we strike out of the Decalogue.
II. What should be our protection against these specious thoughts of our own hearts and our own counsel? God has not left you unshielded. He has assigned the soul of man to the special guardianship of those two pure and strong Archangels of our being: Duty, that angel so stern and yet so beautiful, and Conscience, that aboriginal vicar of Christ, with a voice now like the blast of a trumpet, now thrilling, and still, and small. A man who, from his youth upward, has, by the grace of God, committed himself to the care of these two, such a man is safe.
III. If we should receive the grace of Christ, we must come as true penitents; if otherwise, we shall not be forgiven. We must not only see that sin is hateful; we must not only confess, ‘Thus and thus have I done,’ but we must see that we individually and specifically are sinners, and that without excuse. It is only to the helpless who feel themselves to be helpless that Christ comes. To the blind, who say, We see’; to the lepers, who cry, ‘We are clean’; to the sinners, who say, ‘We have no sin’ (and therefore their sin remaineth), Christ comes not.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XVI
THE MESSIANIC PSALMS AND OTHERS
We commence this chapter by giving a classified list of the Messianic Psalms, as follows:
The Royal Psalms are:
Psa 110 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 72 ; Psa 45 ; Psa 89 ;
The Passion Psalms are:
Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 ;
The Psalms of the Ideal Man are Psa 8 ; Psa 16 ; Psa 40 ;
The Missionary Psalms are:
Psa 47 ; Psa 65 ; Psa 68 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 100 ; Psa 117 .
The predictions before David of the coming Messiah are, (1) the seed of the woman; (2) the seed of Abraham; (3) the seed of Judah; (4) the seed of David.
The prophecies of history concerning the Messiah are, (1) a prophet like unto Moses; (2) a priest after the order of Melchizedek; (3) a sacrifice which embraces all the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament; (4) direct references to him as King, as in 2Sa 7:8 ff.
The messianic offices as taught in the psalms are four, viz: (1) The Messiah is presented as Prophet, or Teacher (Psa 40:8 ); (2) as Sacrifice, or an Offering for sin (Psa 40:6 ff.; Heb 10:5 ff.) ; (3) he is presented as Priest (Psa 110:4 ); (4) he is presented as King (Psa 45 ).
The psalms most clearly presenting the Messiah in his various phases and functions are as follows: (1) as the ideal man, or Second Adam (8); (2) as Prophet (Psa 40 ); (3) as Sacrifice (Psa 22 ) ; (4) as King (Psa 45 ) ; (5) as Priest (Psa 110 ) ; (6) in his universal reign (Psa 72 ).
It will be noted that other psalms teach these facts also, but these most clearly set forth the offices as they relate to the Messiah.
The Messiah as a sacrifice is presented in general in Psa 40:6 . His sufferings as such are given in a specific and general way in Psa 22 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 69 . The events of his sufferings in particular are described, beginning with the betrayal of Judas, as follows:
1. Judas betrayed him (Mat 26:14 ) in fulfilment of Psa 41:9 .
2. At the Supper (Mat 26:24 ) Christ said, “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him,” referring to Psa 22 .
3. They sang after the Supper in fulfilment of Psa 22:22 .
4. Piercing his hands and feet, Psa 22:16 .
5. They cast lots for his vesture in fulfilment of Psa 22:18 .
6. Just before the ninth hour the chief priests reviled him (Mat 27:43 ) in fulfilment of Psa 22:8 .
7. At the ninth hour (Mat 27:46 ) he quoted Psa 22:1 .
8. Near his death (Joh 19:28 ) he said, in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 , “I thirst.”
9. At that time they gave him vinegar (Mat 27:48 ) in fulfilment of Psa 69:21 .
10. When he was found dead they did not break his bones (Joh 19:36 ) in fulfilment of Psa 34:20 .
11. He is represented as dead, buried, and raised in Psa 16:10 .
12. His suffering as a substitute is described in Psa 69:9 .
13. The result of his crucifixion to them who crucified him is given in Psa 69:22-23 . Compare Rom 11:9-10 .
The Penitential Psalms are Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 . The occasion of Psa 6 was the grief and penitence of David over Absalom; of Psa 32 was the blessedness of forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah; Psa 38 , David’s reference to his sin with Bathsheba; Psa 51 , David’s penitence and prayer for forgiveness for this sin; Psa 102 , the penitence of the children of Israel on the eve of their return from captivity; Psalm 130, a general penitential psalm; Psa 143 , David’s penitence and prayer when pursued by Absalom.
The Pilgrim Psalms are Psalms 120-134. This section of the psalter is called the “Little Psalter.” These Psalms were collected in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, in troublous times. The author of the central psalm of this collection is Solomon, and he wrote it when he built his Temple. The Davidic Psalms in this collection are Psa 120 ; Psa 122 ; Psa 124 ; Psa 131 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 133 . The others were written during the building of the second Temple. They are called in the Septuagint “Songs of the Steps.”
There are four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents,” viz:
1. The first theory is that the “Songs of the Steps” means the songs of the fifteen steps from the court of the women to the court of Israel, there being a song for each step.
2. The second theory is that advanced by Luther, which says that they were songs of a higher choir, elevated above, or in an elevated voice.
3. The third theory is that the thought in these psalms advances by degrees.
4. The fourth theory is that they are Pilgrim Psalms, or the songs that they sang while going up to the great feasts.
Certain scriptures give the true idea of these titles, viz: Exo 23:14-17 ; Exo 34:23-24 ; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1Ki 12:27-28 : Psa 122:1-4 ; and the proof of their singing as they went is found in Psa_42:4; 100; and Isa 30:29 . They went, singing these psalms, to the Feasts of the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Psa 121 was sung when just in sight of Jerusalem and Psa 122 was sung at the gate. Psa 128 is the description of a good man’s home and a parallel to this psalm in modern literature is Burns’s “Cotter’s Saturday Night.” The pious home makes the nation great.
Psa 133 is a psalm of fellowship. It is one of the finest expressions of the blessings that issue when God’s people dwell together in unity. The reference here is to the anointing of Aaron as high priest and the fragrance of the anointing oil which was used in these anointings. The dew of Hermon represents the blessing of God upon his people when they dwell together in such unity.
Now let us look at the Alphabetical Psalms. An alphabetical psalm is one in which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are used alphabetically to commence each division. In Psalms 111-112, each clause so begins; in Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 145 ; each verse so begins; in Psa 37 each stanza of two verses so begins; in 119 each stanza of eight verses so begins, and each of the eight lines begins with the same letter. In Psa 25 ; 34 37 the order is not so strict; in Psa 9 and Psa 10 there are some traces of this alphabetical order.
David originated these alphabetical psalms and the most complete specimen is Psa 119 , which is an expansion of the latter part of Psa 19 .
A certain group of psalms is called the Hallelujah Psalms. They are so called because the word “Hallelujah” is used at the beginning, or at the ending, and sometimes at both the beginning and the ending. The Hallelujah Psalms are Psalm 111-113; 115-117; 146-150. Psa 117 is a doxology; and Psalms 146-150 were used as anthems. Psa 148 calls on all creation to praise God. Francis of Assisi wrote a hymn based on this psalm in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister. Psa 150 calls for all varieties of instruments. Psalms 113-118 are called the Egyptian Hallel. They were used at the Passover (Psalm 113-114), before the Supper and Psalm 115-118 were sung after the Supper. According to this, Jesus and his disciples sang Psalms 115-118 at the last Passover Supper. These psalms were sung also at the Feasts of Pentecost, Tabernacles, Dedication, and New Moon.
The name of God is delayed long in Psa 114 . Addison said, “That the surprise might be complete.” Then there are some special characteristics of Psa 115 , viz: (1) It was written against idols. Cf. Isa 44:9-20 ; (2) It is antiphonal, the congregation singing Psa 115:1-8 , the choir Psa 115:9-12 , the priests Psa 115:13-15 and the congregation again Psa 115:16-18 . The theme of Psa 116 is love, based on gratitude for a great deliverance, expressed in service. It is appropriate to read at the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and Psa 116:15 is especially appropriate for funeral services.
On some special historical occasions certain psalms were sung. Psa 46 was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before the decisive battle of Leipzig, on September 17, 1631.Psa 68 was sung by Cromwell’s army on the occasion of the battle of Dunbar in Scotland.
Certain passages in the Psalms show that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices. For instance, Psa 118:27 ; Psa 141:2 seem to teach very clearly that they approved the Mosaic sacrifice. But other passages show that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important and foresaw the abolition of the animal sacrifices. Such passages are Psa 50:7-15 ; Psa 4:5 ; Psa 27:6 ; Psa 40:6 ; Psa 51:16-17 . These scriptures show conclusively that the writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
QUESTIONS
1. What are the Royal Psalms?
2. What are the Passion Psalms?
3. What are the Psalms of the Ideal Man?
4. What are the Missionary Psalms?
5. What are the predictions before David of the coming Messiah?
6. What are the prophecies of history concerning the Messiah?
7. Give a regular order of thought concerning the messianic offices as taught in the psalms.
8. Which psalms most clearly present the Messiah as (1) the ideal man, or Second Adam, (2) which as Prophet, or Teacher, (3) which as the Sacrifice, (4) which as King, (5) which as Priest, (6) which his universal reign?
9. Concerning the suffering Messiah, or the Messiah as a sacrifice, state the words or facts, verified in the New Testament as fulfilment of prophecy in the psalms. Let the order of the citations follow the order of facts in Christ’s life.
10. Name the Penitential Psalms and show their occasion.
11. What are the Pilgrim Psalms?
12. What is this section of the Psalter called?
13. When and under what conditions were these psalms collected?
14. Who is the author of the central psalm of this collection?
15. What Davidic Psalms are in this collection?
16. When were the others written?
17. What are they called in the Septuagint?
18. What four theories as to the meaning of the titles, “Songs of the Steps,” “Songs of Degrees,” or “Songs of Ascents”?
19. What scriptures give the true idea of these titles?
20. Give proof of their singing as they went.
21. To what feasts did they go singing these Psalms?
22. What was the special use made of Psa 121 and Psa 122 ?
23. Which of these psalms is the description of a good man’s home and what parallel in modern literature?
24. Expound Psa 133 .
25. What is an alphabetical psalm, and what are the several kinds?
26. Who originated these Alphabetical Psalms?
27. What are the most complete specimen?
28. Of what is it an expansion?
29. Why is a certain group of psalms called the Hallelujah Psalms?
30. What are the Hallelujah Psalms?
31. Which of the Hallelujah Psalms was a doxology?
32. Which of these were used as anthems?
33. Which psalm calls on all creation to praise God?
34. Who wrote a hymn based on Psa 148 in which he called the sun his honorable brother and the cricket his sister?
35. Which of these psalms calls for all varieties of instruments?
36. What is the Egyptian Hallel?
37. What is their special use and how were they sung?
38. Then what hymns did Jesus and his disciples sing?
39. At what other feasts was this sung?
40. Why was the name of God delayed so long in Psa 114 ?
41. What are the characteristics of Psa 115 ?
42. What is the theme and special use of Psa 116 ?
43. State some special historical occasions on which certain psalms were sung. Give the psalm for each occasion.
44. Cite passages in the psalms showing that the psalm writers approved the offering of Mosaic animal sacrifices.
45. Cite other passages showing that these inspired writers estimated spiritual sacrifices as more important than the Mosaic sacrifices.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 38:1 A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance ] Made purposely for a memorial, both of what he had suffered and from what he had been delivered. See 1Ch 16:4 Exo 30:16 Lev 2:2 ; Lev 6:15 . Recordatio autem intelligitur miseriae ex misericordia, Psa 132:1 Isa 62:6 ; Isa 63:7 . It is probable that David had so laid to heart the rape of his daughter Tamar, the murder of his eldest son, Amnon, the flight of his next son, Absalom, and other troubles that befell him (Basil thinks Absalom’s conspiracy, Ahithophel’s perfidy, Shimei’s insolence, &c.), that it cost him a great fit of sickness; out of which hardly recovering, he penned this and some other psalms (as the 35th, 39th, 40th), but this especially, for a memento, to remind him of his own recent misery and God’s never failing mercy to him. Both these we are wondrous apt to forget, and so both to lose the fruit of our afflictions, by falling afresh to our evil practices (as children soon forget a whipping), and to rob God, our deliverer, of his due praises; like as with children eaten bread is soon forgotten. Both these mischiefs to prevent, both in himself and others (for we are bound not only to observe God’s law, but also to preserve it as much as may be from being broken), David composed this psalm, for to record, or to cause remembrance (see the like title, Psa 70:1 ), and for a form for a sick man to pray by, as Kimchi noteth; not to be sung for those in purgatory, as some Papists have dreamed.
Ver. 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath ] He beginneth and endeth the psalm with petitions, filleth it up with sad complaints; wherein we shall find him groaning, but not grumbling; mourning, but not murmuring, for that is not the guise of God’s people. He beginneth with Eheu Iehova non recuso coargui et castigari. “Correct me, O Lord, but with judgment; not in anger, lest thou bring me to nothing,” Jer 10:24 . See Psa 6:1 . See Trapp on “ Psa 6:1 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
“A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.” Though there is no right ground for applying this psalm to Christ as ancients and moderns have done, yet His Spirit breathes unequivocally through it as through all. Indeed, without questioning the peculiar comfort it will prove to the godly Jew when awakened in the latter day to feel. its value, it is most suitable to the Christian suffering under the chastening hand of the Lord for folly and sin. Then is the time to cherish confidence in Him, as the Christian may do even more deeply and dropping all thought of enemies save of a spiritual kind. We can cry even then, Abba, Father.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 38:1-8
1O Lord, rebuke me not in Your wrath,
And chasten me not in Your burning anger.
2For Your arrows have sunk deep into me,
And Your hand has pressed down on me.
3There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4For my iniquities are gone over my head;
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.
5My wounds grow foul and fester
Because of my folly.
6I am bent over and greatly bowed down;
I go mourning all day long.
7For my loins are filled with burning,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8I am benumbed and badly crushed;
I groan because of the agitation of my heart.
Psa 38:1-8 Most other English translations have this section broken down into several strophes. Strophe division is not a textual issue. It is speculation not inspiration.
The psalmist describes his condition and feelings.
1. he senses YHWH’s displeasure
a. do not rebuke me in Your wrath BDB 406, KB 410, Hiphil imperfect used in a jussive sense, cf. Psa 6:1
b. do not chasten me in Your burning anger BDB 415, KB 418, Piel imperfect used in a jussive sense; this verb often is used of covenant violations (cf. Lev 26:18; Lev 26:28; Psa 6:1; Psa 39:11; Psa 94:10; Psa 118:18; Hos 10:10)
2. he feels YHWH’s punishment
a. Your arrows have sunk deep into me, cf. Deu 32:23; Job 6:4; Psa 7:12-13; Psa 45:5
b. Your hand has pressed me down, cf. Psa 32:4; Psa 39:10 (note same verb in both lines but used in different senses, BDB 639, KB 692)
3. the physical result of YHWH’s displeasure (because of sin, Psa 38:3 b,4,5b)
a. no soundness (BDB 1022, shalom) in my flesh
b. no health in my bones
c. wounds (lit. stripes, BDB 289) grow foul (BDB 92, KB 107, Hiphil perfect) and fester (BDB 596, KB 583, Qal perfect)
d. bent over (bent, BDB 730, KB 796, Niphal perfect; bowed down, BDB 1005, KB 1458, Qal perfect, cf. Psa 35:14) in mourning
e. loins are filled (BDB 569, KB 583, Qal perfect) with burning
f. repeat of a. above
g. benumbed (BDB 806, KB 916, Niphal perfect, lit. spent)
h. crushed (BDB 194, KB 221, Niphal perfect, Piel in Psa 51:8)
i. groan (BDB 980, KB 1367, Qal perfect, i.e., animal sounds)
Notice the string of perfect tense verbs. YHWH’s anger (BDB 893) and wrath (BDB 409) have come (imperfects) and remain (perfects)! What a terrible condition of mind (Psa 38:4; Psa 38:8 b) and body!
Psa 38:4 over my head This verb (BDB 716, KB 778, Qal perfect) is used of water.
1. flood as war Isa 8:8; Isa 23:10; Dan 11:10; Dan 11:40; Nah 1:8
2. waves literal in Isa 54:9
3. waves figurative of problems and emotions Psa 42:7; Psa 88:16-17; Psa 124:4-5
The psalmist’s guilt from sin has overwhelmed him!
Psa 38:5 fester This verb (BDB 596, KB 628, Niphal perfect) is used in Leviticus 26, the cursing and blessing passage parallel to Deuteronomy 27-28. It denoted a rotten decay (cf. Lev 26:39 [twice]). Sin destroys! Often in horrible ways!
Psa 38:6 mourning This term is from the Hebrew root to be dark (BDB 871). It could mean
1. dressed in dark clothing as a sign of mourning
2. dirt placed on head and clothing as a sign of mourning
3. an idiom for the condition of the heart, soul, mind (here because of known sin)
SPECIAL TOPIC: GRIEVING RITES
I am bent over and greatly bowed down There are two parallel verbs.
1. bent over BDB 730, KB 796, Niphal perfect which can be viewed as
a. bewilderment Isa 21:3
b. perversion of mind 1Sa 20:30; Pro 12:8
c. literal which matches the parallel verb
2. bowed down BDB 1005, KB 1458, Qal perfect which seems to denote a bent body as a figure of a bent heart
Psa 38:7 loins There are several terms that are used in the OT to represent the whole person.
1. soul BDB 659, nephesh
2. spirit BDB 924, ruah
3. heart BDB 524, leb
4. kidneys BDB 480
5. only here, loins BDB 492
There are several more. Only context can determine when this concept is meant. One part of the body represents the whole person.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Title. A Psalm = Mizmor. See App-65.
of David = by David.
to bring to remembrance. Used on the Day of Atonement.
This group of four Psalms closes the first book, and is similar in character to the four that end the second book.
Compare Psalm 38 Title (Psa 38:1) with Psalm 70 Title (Psa 70:1).
Compare Psa 38:4, Psa 38:11, Psa 38:22 with Psa 69:1, Psa 69:2, Psa 69:8, Psa 69:13.
Compare Psa 40:2, Psa 40:3, Psa 40:6, Psa 40:13-17, with Psa 69:14, Psa 69:30, Psa 69:31.
Compare Psa 41:1 with Psa 72:13.
Compare Psa 41:2, Psa 41:3, Psa 41:7, Psa 41:8, with Psa 71:10, Psa 71:13, Psa 71:18.
Compare Psa 41:7, Psa 41:8, with Psa 71:10-11.
Compare Psa 41:13 with Psa 72:18, Psa 72:19.
LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 38:1-22
Psa 38:1-22 . This is read on Yom Kippur. Now David, through some sin, and he doesn’t tell us what, became very sick. And this psalm is occasion by this great sickness that David had because of some sin that he committed.
O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in your hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness ( Psa 38:1-5 ).
Now just what it was, maybe a venereal disease or something that David is experiencing here. But he said that,
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart pants, my strength fails: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends they stand aloof from my sores; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life they are laying traps for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man and I opened not my mouth. Thus I was as a man that hears not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slips, and they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are my adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation ( Psa 38:6-22 ).
So David is in a bad shape because of his sin. A loathsome horrible stinking disease. It has caused his friends to shun him and his enemies to try to wipe him out at this point. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. Remember, although this is a very sorrowful Psalm, it was written by a man of God. It will show you what a terrible thing sin must be, for even a child of God feels the smart of it very grievously. This is not the language of an unforgiven sinner; it is the cry of a saint who, for a while, has sinned, and is feeling the bitterness of his transgression.
Psa 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath:
If thou dost rebuke me, O Lord, do it gently! Be not very angry with me, for I cannot bear it, I shall die under it. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath.
Psa 38:1. Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Chasten me, it will do me good; it is needful; it is profitable; but not in thy displeasure, certainly not in thy hot displeasure. The man of God is more afraid of Gods anger than he is of suffering. He does not object to affliction; what he does fear is any degree of the wrath of God in the chastisement.
Psa 38:2. For thine arrows stick fast in me,
Does God shoot at his own children? Yes, but only that he may kill the sin in them; and he knows how to make his arrows stick, and stick fast, too, in his own dear children. The Lord hates sin with a perfect hatred. Even when sin was laid on Christ, even though it was none of his, yet the Father forsook him. He will not endure sin anywhere; but he hates it most in those whom he loves most: Thine arrows stick fast in me.
Psa 38:2. And thy hand presseth me sore.
As if Gods hand pressed heavily upon the soul of David. I remind you again that this was a man of God who thus cried out. If any of you, who are not the children of God, are feeling the heavy hand of the Lord on account of your sin, do not wonder at it. If his own children do not escape the rod, he is not likely to spare you. See into what a terrible condition David came, as he tells us in the third verse.
Psa 38:3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger;
He felt as if his very flesh was decaying, rotting, dissolving, and that there was no soundness in it. When God deals with men in a way of anger, they cannot stand against him any more than the wale can resist the heat of the furnace. Beware, I pray you, that you provoke not Gods eternal wrath in hell, for even here it is not to be borne; what will it be when mercys gate is closed? There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger.
Psa 38:3. Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
His very bones suffered through his sin. He could not rest, he turned over and over in his bed but he could not find a place soft enough to lie upon in peace. Sin will make any mans bones ache when once his conscience is really quickened, and, with David, he will cry, There is no rest in my bones because of my sin.
Psa 38:4. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head:
David was like a man who has sunk seven fathoms deep. Big waves of iniquity rolled over him, and he saw no light, no hope, no way of escape.
Psa 38:4. As an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
It is a great mercy when sin is a burden; for, when it becomes too heavy for us to bear, Christ will bear it. A man is in an ill case when he finds no burden in sin, when he thinks he is quite able to bear it himself but he, to whom sin is an insupportable, intolerable load, is already on the road to mercy. See how the psalmist goes on to show that his case is worse still.
Psa 38:5. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
He got to be so bad that he could not bear himself. His sorrow on account of his folly had made him feel as if he was a corrupt being, like one suffering with a foul cancer, unfitted for the company of his fellows: My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. As I read that verse, it brings up memories of my own state of mind before I found the Saviour. Look at the title of the Psalm: To bring to remembrance. That is just what it has done with me; perhaps it is doing the same with some of you.
Psa 38:6. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
I again remind you that this is a child of God, a man who had enjoyed the light of Gods countenance; and yet he was in this sad state. Do not utterly condemn yourselves, do not say that you are not the people of God, because you are troubled in heart; but if you really are not Gods people as yet, but only seekers after him, do not wonder if sin greatly grieves and vexes you.
Psa 38:7-9. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee;
The first beam of comfort comes in here. Lord, I am almost at deaths door, yet thou knowest my desire; I do not love sin, I wish to be a true believer, I desire to be holy. Lord, all my desire is before thee. Thou canst read it as if it were written in a book. I need not speak, for I should only spoil my case with my words; but all my desire is before thee.
Psa 38:9. And my groaning is not hid from thee.
I can hide my groaning in a measure from my fellow-creatures, I try to suppress my moans when anybody is near; but my groaning is not hid from thee. Thank God, there is not a tear in any eye but God sees it, nor a groan in any heart but God hears it! Make much of this truth, and find sweet consolation in it.
Psa 38:10. My heart panteth,
That is the best sort of prayer in all the world, when there are no words, but in silence there is a panting and longing after God. We cannot explain what this panting is; but if you have ever seen a hunted stag panting for breath, you have some idea what David meant when he said, My heart panteth.
Psa 38:10. My strength faileth me:
That is good prayer, too. When I am weak, then am I strong. When I cannot pray, I do pray. When my strength fails me, then Gods strength comes in to help me.
Psa 38:10-11. As for the sight of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
If you have ever had much trouble, you will find that your friends are rather scarce at such times. Friends are very much like swallows; they twitter about us in the summer, and they build their nests under our eaves; but where are they in the winter? Ah! where are they? You may ask the question, but who can answer it? Sorrow is not a thing which attracts company; men naturally hide themselves from grieving companions. So David says, My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off
Psa 38:12-13. 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. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
It is a fine thing, when you are slandered, not to hear it, and it is a better thing never to reply to it. I have always tried to possess one deaf ear and one blind eye, and I believe that the deaf ear is the better ear, and the blind eye by far the more useful of the two. Do not remember the injury that is done to you, try to forget it, and pass it over. Do not go about the world determined to grasp every red-hot iron that any fool holds out before you. Let it alone. It will be for your own good and for Gods glory to be very patient under the slander of the wicked.
Psa 38:14-15. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
So the psalmist, by his example, encourages you to take your troubles to God, and not to handle them yourselves. Spread them before him, and trust in him to deliver you in his own time and way.
Psa 38:16-21. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong; and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me.
The persecuted psalmist resorts to his God; let us do the same when we also are persecuted for righteousness sake.
Psa 38:22. Make haste to help me, O lord my salvation.
Davids case is urgent, and his plea is earnest. If we are in a like case, let us also cry, Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 38:1-10
PRAYER OF A SUFFERING PENITENT
The chapter heading here is the one found in the superscription, which also names David as the author. As Delitzsch observed:
“The occasion was David’s adultery (2Sa 12:14); and Psalms 6; Psalms 38; Psalms 51; and Psalms 32 form a chronological series. Here, David is distressed both in mind and in body, forsaken by his friends, and regarded by his foes as one who is cast off forever. The fire of divine anger burns within him like a fever; and the divine withdrawal as it were rests upon him like darkness.
The authorship of this psalm, despite its being numbered among the Penitentials, is declared by some to be uncertain.
“Jeremiah has been suggested as the author of this psalm”; but this appears to us as utterly unacceptable. As Baigent noted, “In Jeremiah there is no consciousness of sin, such as is found in the author of this psalm. We have already noted that Delitzsch accepted the Davidic authorship; and Rawlinson tells us that Canon Cook did also.
Barnes summed up this question, declaring that, “The psalm purports to have been written by David, and there is no reason to doubt that it was composed by him. There is no tradition to the contrary, and there is nothing in the psalm inconsistent with that supposition.
In spite of Barnes’ remarks above, it appears to us that there is one problem connected with the proposition that David is the author. That is the matter of the terrible disease which is so often mentioned in this psalm. The Scriptures do not record elsewhere any reference to David’s ever having suffered from such a malady as that which is described here.
This problem disappears if we interpret the description of disease here as “figurative,” which of course is possible. Ash noted, for example, that, “`Wounds’ in Psa 38:5 may be either literal or figurative.
Spurgeon categorically rejected the proposition that any physical disease whatever is described in the psalm.
“I am persuaded that the description here does not tally with any known disease of the body. It is very like leprosy, but it has certain features which cannot be found in any leprosy ever known, either by ancient or modern writers. The fact is, it is spiritual leprosy, an inward disease, which is here described.
Several scholars have divided the psalm into three parts; but we prefer to use the more detailed divisions suggested by Dahood: (1) “The illness described (Psa 38:1-10); (2) the reaction of others (Psa 38:11-16); (3) a summary of Psa 38:1-10 (Psa 38:17-18); (4) a summary of Psa 38:11-16 (Psa 38:19-20); and (5) the conclusion (Psa 38:21-22).
THE ILLNESS DESCRIBED
Psa 38:1-10
“O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath;
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
For thine arrows stick fast in me,
And thy hand presseth me sore.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation;
Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
For mine iniquities have gone over my head:
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
My wounds are loathsome and corrupt,
Because of my foolishness.
I am pained and bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
For my loins are filled with burning;
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am faint and sore bruised:
I have groaned by reason of the disquietude of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before thee;
And my groaning is not hid from thee.
My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me:
As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.”
Practically all of the scholars whose works are available to this student understand these verses to be a description of a very loathsome disease that had overcome David; but, as stated in the introduction to the chapter, we find it very difficult to accept this interpretation. There is no Biblical record whatever (aside from this passage) that recounts any such illness of David as that which appears here. Furthermore, there are definite statements in these ten verses that, by no stretch of imagination, can be literal.
“God’s arrows, and God’s hand pressing sorely upon David” (Psa 38:2), his sins piled up above his head (the figure is that of a drowning man) (Psa 38:4), how could this be literal? There is nothing literal about such statements. Then why must the rest of the paragraph be construed as the literal description of some disgusting bodily disease? Furthermore, what disease ever fit such a description as that which is found here?
This alleged disease was `total muscle fatigue’ and `rotten bones'(Psa 38:3), `stinking wounds’ (Psa 38:5) `arthritic pain that bent him over’ (Psa 38:6) `burning pains in the kidneys,’ (Note: In the Hebrew perspective, the loins always meant, `the seat of the emotions’; and this statement is obviously figurative.), `fainting’ and `bruises all over him,’ (Psa 38:8), `total loss of all strength,’ `rapid palpitation of the heart,’ and `total blindness,’ (10).” It certainly takes a good imagination to see this as a description of any kind of a disease. Entirely too much is included here to fit that explanation.
“What a horrible creature man appears to be in his own conscience when his depravity and vileness are fully exposed by the searching eyes of God.
It is the view of this writer that we have here a figurative description of the terrible mental anguish, emotional despair, oppressive sense of guilt, and mortal fear of David that his sins would result in God’s rejection of him and the consequent triumph over him of his bitter enemies.
Rawlinson noted that David’s fear here was a triple threat: “His mind is racked by a sense of God’s displeasure (Psa 38:1-2), by grief at the desertion of his friends (Psa 38:11), and by fear of the triumph over him of his enemies (Psa 38:12; Psa 38:19-20).
“My wounds are loathsome … I am pained” (Psa 38:5-6). Jamieson agreed that these verses apply to David’s `mental anguish.
“I have groaned, etc.” (Psa 38:8 b). Addis declared that the Hebrew here means, “I have cried louder than the roaring of a lion. Delitzsch pointed out the spiritual import of this passage, writing that, “The loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart; it is the outward expression of the ceaseless inward groaning.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 38:1. God suffers his faithful servants to be tested by the persecutions of the enemies. David did not mean to ask the Lord to relieve him of all unpleasantness. His idea was to ask for a modification of it.
Psa 38:2. David likened the troubles suffered to come on him to the arrows of the Lord. He did not mean that God directly afflicted him, but he suffered the enemy to wound him with the arrows of persecution.
Psa 38:3. David had always considered himself human and subject to the same weaknesses as other men. He believed that one’s faithfulness to God needed to be tested in order to fortify him against his natural tendency to sin. That test at times was so severe that he described it figuratively by its effect on his body.
Psa 38:4. Gone over mine head means his iniquities had overwhelmed him. This means his afflictions, for iniquities often has that application.
Psa 38:5. It is well for us to make frequent reference to 1Sa 13:14. The reason David was a man after God’s own heart was his frankness and willingness to admit his sins and other weaknesses. He manifested almost what we might term was an “inferiority complex” in regard to his moral and spiritual worth. That is why we have so many verses along here in which are the severe criticisms of himself.
Psa 38:6. All of the things complained of in this verse pertain to the mind or inner man. David was greatly worried over the trials he was having.
Psa 38:7. Disease is not in the original and is not necessary. Loins has a general meaning and refers to the sources of strength in various parts of the body. The verse means that David was practically reduced in strength by reason of his many trials.
Psa 38:8. This verse is similar in thought to the last one above. There is no evidence that David had any special physical affliction, but his many trials and persecutions had the effect of prostrating him.
Psa 38:9. The second half of this verse explains the first. David believed his complaints were known to the Lord, and that was why he made his desire known to Him.
Psa 38:10. These are strong statements, intended to express the depressed state of David’s mind over his troubles.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This is the third of what are known as the penitential psalms. The circumstances of the singer were most distressing. He was suffering from some terrible physical malady, deserted by his friends, and persecuted by his enemies. The deepest bitterness of his soul was caused by his overwhelming sense of his moral pollution. He recognized that all his sufferings were the rebukes and chastisements of Jehovah for his sin. This sense of sin crushed him and in his distress he cried out to Jehovah.
The use of the divine names and titles in this psalm is interesting. The first cry for help is to Jehovah. When he would utter his complaint concerning the desertion of friends and persecution of foes, the singer addresses himself to the Lord as the supreme Being. In his final appeal he both begins and closes with Jehovah, Lord, and God. All the foundations seem to have given way beneath his feet, and with deep contrition and desperate endeavor he strives to take hold of God in all the facts of His being. In this he was right, for so desperate a case demands the help, the government, the might of God. Blessed be His name forever; all are at our Disposal.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Cry of the Needy Penitent
Psa 38:1-22
A long drawn-out sigh of pain. Some think it should be classed with Psa 32:1-11; Psa 51:1-19, as belonging to the time of Davids fall and repentance. It is filled with a sense of Gods judgments and the profound consciousness of sin. Perhaps David was suffering physically, or he may be describing his spiritual maladies in terms borrowed from that source. His friends stood apart and his enemies were near. But it was wise to refrain from man and to wait only on God. When we are buffeted and derided, the true attitude is our Lords. As the dumb sheep before her shearers, He opened not His mouth!
In Psa 38:15 the tone becomes calmer. The soul begins to recover its center of gravity in God. Notice the fourfold repetition of For, Psa 38:15-18. Faith marshals her arguments. Out of stony griefs she builds Bethels. Like Samson, she finds honey in the lions carcass. But God will not forsake. He never for a moment withdraws His close attention. The Refiner sits by the crucible, and will cool down the heat the moment it has done its work.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Psalm 38 might be designated The Penitents Plea. It is the cry of a man who is distressed and broken-hearted because of his sin, and who comes to God acknowledging his guilt and looking to Him for forgiveness.
Over the first four verses we might write the word Conviction. We have the expression here of a convicted soul, of a man who is not trying to make excuses for his sins. As long as you find a person endeavoring to excuse his sins and failures, you will know that the plowshare of conviction has never gone in deep enough. When King Saul was faced about his sin by Samuel he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray Thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel (1Sa 15:30). In other words, Oh yes, I have done wrong, but make something of me in the eyes of the people. There is no evidence there of real conviction. When a man is truly convicted he stops making excuses and stops seeking honor for himself. And so in these four verses we listen to the Psalmist pouring out the feelings of his heart which is broken because of his sin.
Oh Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore. What a mercy it is when one falls into sin-and such sin as David fell into-that God does undertake to deal with him, that the sharp arrows of the Almighty do pierce his soul, and that the hand of God is heavy upon him, making him feel the weight of his guilt. He continues, There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. He realizes he is righteously exposed to the anger of God. Sin demands punishment We may try to excuse it, but God is of purer eyes than to behold evil (Hab 1:13). God is never going to save one sinner and leave that sinners sin unpunished. If He does not punish it on the sinner, it must be punished on the sinners Substitute. And that is what took place on Calvary. At the Cross the Lord Jesus bore the judgment. The old hymn says,
He bore on the tree the sentence jot me,
And now both the surety and sinner are free.
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. It is the voice of a convicted sinner.
Over verses 5 to 14 we may write the word, Humiliation. As he continues looking into his own heart, as he continues dwelling upon the sin that has crushed his life, he is bowed down before God in a sense of deepest humiliation. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Although feeling in his body and in his spirit the effects of his sin and knowing that God is dealing with him because of that sin, he realizes that there is no one else to whom he can turn for deliverance but to the very God that is afflicting him.
Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee. My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off. There is a sense in which the Lord Jesus entered into that. Though He was the absolutely holy One, when He took the sinners place He could use such language as this. He could say, My lovers and My friends stand aloof from My sore; and My kinsmen stand afar off. 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. But now David, because he knew that he deserved what he was receiving, and Jesus, because He was taking our place and was accepting the judgment due to our sins as though He had deserved it, could use the words of the next two verses, But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. It is a great thing to come to the place where you have no fault to find with anybody but yourself. Many of us spend so much of our time finding fault with other people. We can see other peoples faults and can magnify their sins, but we are so unconscious of our own faults and sins. When people accuse us we get so indignant and forget that if our worst enemies knew all that we know about our own hearts and the sins of our own lives, they would say far worse than they do say. David here bows his head before God and has nothing to say because his own conscience is accusing him worse than any of them.
From the 15th to the 20th verse we have his confession. For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope: Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. And you know what God says elsewhere, He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Pro 28:13). David says he will not try to cover it up, I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Once they blamed him for his sin; now they blame him for turning to God and professing to find in Him forgiveness.
In the last two verses he expresses his confidence, Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Psa 38:9
I. This passage, strictly and plainly interpreted, represents a fact that is without exception: “Lord, all my desire is before Thee.” In a certain sense, every being susceptible of desire may say this. The desires of all beings are before God; His eye is ever upon them. Every heart lives in Him, and He is and must be better acquainted with each spirit than that spirit can ever be with itself. This fact suggests two thoughts. (1) How great must God be to be capable of such knowledge. (2) How near does such knowledge bring us to God.
II. The text represents also the performance of an important duty. David was in the habit of prayer. All his desires were before God by prayer. He had the habit of speaking to God about everything. This habit of David is likewise our duty. Notice: (1) Prayer is sometimes restrained. There are desires pent up in the soul that are consuming the soul like fire, or eating into the soul like rust. (2) Groaning is sometimes effectual, fervent prayer, and the sort of prayer that avails much.
III. These words represent a state of hallowed privilege. If all my desire be before God, and my groaning be not hid from Him, then (1) there is hope of the desire being satisfied; (2) there is no need for anxiety or fear.
IV. Here, too, is a large provision of rest for the soul. How quiet a man may be, and ought to be, who can speak to God thus. The most common ordinances are the surest channels of relief. Prayer is as old as sin in man; but it is far from being worn out, and there is no substitute for prayer.
V. Here, too, is a comfortable thought for seasons of weakness and of discouragement, for instance when in devotion the mind fails, and the mind does sometimes fail, especially in the case of the sick. And, again, when all things appear to be working against us, and working to our injury, what a consolation it is to feel that the very pressure of business upon a man’s spirit is better known to God than it is to the man of business himself!
VI. The text is also a plea in prayer: “All my desire is before Thee.” The spirit of prayer has been produced and has been expressed in supplication; and now that there is no restraint in prayer, give to me, work for me, respond according to Thy promise to the thirstings and to the longings of this heart.
S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Pulpit, 1877, p. 127.
I. The first thought here is the efficacy of prayer. (1) It cleanses and purifies the desires. (2) It availeth much with God.
II. The second clause opens a yet deeper depth. There are groanings which cannot become prayers, and “my groaning is not hid from Thee.” (1) Believe, first, that God does hear our groaning, and that in hearing it He hears that which first drew Him from His throne to Gethsemane and Calvary. (2) Believe, further, that He is striving by all the agencies and ministries of His love to bring out that groaning into confession. (3) Believe, lastly, that when He has taught you the “speech of the penitent, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before Thee,” you may tune your heart and your lips to praise.
J. Baldwin Brown, The Sunday Afternoon, p. 114.
Reference: Psa 38:9.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvi., No. 1564.
Psa 38:17
There are some roads in which we cannot halt, the road, for instance, which leads to death. There are paths in which it is well to halt: the paths of infidelity and scepticism, unbelief, vain and evil imagination, corrupt and unholy desire, and of outward transgression. But there are paths in which the traveller too often feels ready to halt.
I. Which are these paths? (1) In the path of simple confidence in the redeeming God we are sometimes ready to halt. (2) In the path of implicit and unquestioning obedience we are ready to halt. (3) In the path of the patient endurance of sorrow we are ready to halt. (4) In the path of resisting evil we are ready to halt. (5) In the path of doing good to others we are ready to halt.
II. But why ready to halt? (1) One is ready to halt because he is so weak, (2) another because he is so weary, (3) some because they are disappointed, (4) others because they are ready to despair.
III. What shall those who are ready to halt do? (1) If they will, they may complain. They may complain to God, but not of God. (2) They should consider their ways. (3) They ought to pray. (4) They must not yield to weariness, but battle with it, and go on. Consistency, integrity, wisdom, gratitude, all say, “Go on.” And the end saith, “Come on.” Christ saith to the pilgrim ready to halt, “Move on. Go on.”
S. Martin, Comfort in Trouble, p. 136.
References: Psa 38:21.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 165; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 146.
Psa 39:1
I. How important it is that we should seek to order our speech aright, seeing that our words are the outcoming of our inmost heart, the revelation of the deepest, most hidden things which are there.
II. How important it is that we should order our speech aright, seeing that words reach so far, exercise so vast an influence. They have sometimes been called “winged,” and so they are, travelling far and fast by paths of their own.
III. We might well pray this prayer, having regard to the difficulty of the duty which we here propose to ourselves: a difficulty so great that St. James could say, “If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.”
IV. Consider the strict judgment and account to which God will call us for our use of this excellent talent of speech. “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned;” and from other sayings of Christ our Lord it is to be feared that many a light word, as it seems now, will prove heavy enough at the day of judgment: many a word lightly spoken now will have to be heavily accounted for then.
R. C. Trench, Sermons in Westminster Abbey, p. 114.
References: Psa 39:1.-R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 200; C. Wordsworth, Sermons at Harrow School, p. 198; Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 74; J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, 3rd series, p. 60.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Psalm 38
The Suffering Saint and Confession of Sin
1. Suffering and Humiliation (Psa 38:1-8)
2. Looking to the Lord (Psa 38:9-15)
3. Confession and prayer (Psa 38:16-20)
This Psalm is read by the Jews on the day of atonement. It pictures great suffering in body and soul; it reminds us in different ways of the book of Job. (See and compare Psa 38:2 with Job 6:4; Psa 38:4 with Job 23:2; Psa 38:11 with Job 19:13; the loathsome disease, with no soundness in the flesh, also reminds of Jobs experience.) And the suffering one looks to Jehovah, He is his hope. He confesses his sins, pleads, Make haste to help me, O Lord of my salvation. And that cry will always be answered.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
– Title This deeply penitential Psalm is supposed to have been composed by David under some grievous affliction, either bodily or mental, or both, after his illicit intercourse with Bathsheba.
to bring: Psa 70:1,*title
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psalms 38
Proper Psalm for Ash Wednesday (Morning).
Psalms 38-40 = Day 8 (Morning).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
The trial of the righteous which is the result of sin in them.
A psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.
The two psalms that close the series here take up the question of the holiness of God in connection with the sufferings of the righteous, which confessedly are many, and which, at the time which is continually before us, will be of such exceptional severity. Still they are both of the most general character, containing no special references to that time which would narrow their application in any way. The present one speaks of sin in the believer as that which necessarily entails suffering for him; the judgment of this being now, that in the day of judgment he may escape it (1Co 11:32). The New Testament shows us this as the Father’s judgment, the chastening of His own children that they may be partakers of His holiness (Heb 12:10). Not that this is the whole account, however, as the former passage shows; for God must needs maintain His character as the Governor of His creatures before all. So the apostle Peter warns us that “the time is come when judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely” -or “with difficulty” -“be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1Pe 4:17-18.)
1. The first section shows us therefore the soul under conviction, and in dread of the divine anger. We must not expect, notwithstanding the grace realized in the thirty-second psalm, that there will be here the clearness of knowledge which the New Testament has brought to us. Sin is felt and owned, and God’s anger is dreaded. Nay, already His arrows stick fast in the sufferer, and the mighty hand of God presses down upon him. He feels it in his whole condition, taking soundness from his flesh, and health from his bones. His sin is the burden upon him, a burden he has not strength to carry.
2. We have next the humiliation and misery of it. The wounds become open sores, which stink and are corrupt. But this corruption has its root in “folly,” the opposition spiritually to divine wisdom. He is bent and bowed down under the pressure: mourning all the day long. Again, he cries out of the disease that fills him, no soundness anywhere at all; and again he complains of his feebleness, with an anguish that continually increases.
3. But in the very One who smites faith finds its refuge. He, the Omniscient, is not regardless of his desire, nor ignorant of his misery. To Him he turns when he is, as it were, forsaken of himself, and when his intimates avoid him as under the stroke of God; only his enemies remain, busy with plots against his life. With all this he is like a man deaf and dumb his mouth stopped, as one before God (Psa 39:9). Self-restrained, he has no reproofs, though their wickedness is transparent. But he has left all to God, in whom he anchors himself and is at rest. God shall answer for him.
4. But to Him he can speak therefore, and put it all before Him: and accordingly we find now the trial so put, but more the external part of it, the worst having found relief. First, the attitude of the enemies, ready to use every slip of his to exalt themselves by it. Himself too, so conscious of his readiness to halt, humbled and discouraged by his failure, the reality of his sin which he could not hide, and at which his soul trembled. And that which had abased and cast him down had strengthened and multiplied too his enemies, who persecuted him in fact, not for the failure which he confessed, but for the good which, spite of the failure, he had really followed. Common enough, we all know, is such conduct on the part of those who would fain hide under a cloak of righteousness what is mere hatred of righteousness itself! But how bitter then to the soul those sins of the righteous which give them their desired opportunity! But they use these to their own ruin, while God uses them to the humbling of His people, that He may come in for them.
5. So the psalmist turns to Him once more. The unerring government of God will make no mistake. He knows, after all, those who own Him God, their God; who cling in the consciousness of weakness and worthlessness to Him as Saviour. Their sins cannot make their need of Him less as that, nor change the Unchangeable, who, undeceived from the beginning, and for no good in them, has taken such place of relationship toward them. So the cry that ends the psalm has in it these tokens -so simple as they are -of answer and acceptance, Jehovah my God”, “Lord, my salvation”! He who can cry from the heart thus will certainly find God no less than his faith accounts Him.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psalms 38
An appeal to God from chastisement because of iniquity (Psa 38:1-4). The mental anguish is described in figures of physical disease, and yet it is not impossible that such disease may have been part of the chastisement (Psa 38:5-8).
The desertion of friends and the opposition of enemies also entered into it (Psa 38:10-17). There are verses susceptible of an application to Christ, but others would prevent its application as a whole to him.
Psalms 40
Messianic (compare Heb 10:5 ff.). To quote the Scofield Bible: It opens with the joy of Christ in resurrection (Psa 40:1-2). Psa 40:3-5 give his resurrection testimony. The others are retrospective. Mine iniquities (Psa 40:12) may mean penal afflictions. This meaning is common (Psa 31:11; Psa 38:4; compare Gen 4:13; Gen 19:15; 1Sa 28:10; also 2Sa 16:12; Job 19:29; and Isa 5:18; Isa 53:11). It is also favored by the clause taken hold of me, which can be said appropriately of sufferings, but not of sins (compare Job 27:20; Psa 69:24). Thus, difficulties in referring this psalm to Christ are removed.
The language of verses 14-15 is not imprecatory, but a confident expectation (Psa 5:11), though the former sense is not inconsistent with Christs prayer for His murderers, as their confusion and shame might be to prepare them for seeking forgiveness (compare Act 2:37).
Psalms 41
Closes Book 1 of the Psalms (see introductory lesson). It celebrates the blessedness of having compassion upon the poor (Psa 40:1-3) which the psalmist contrasts with the treatment he received both from avowed enemies and professed friends.
Psalms 42-43
The rhythm of Hebrew poetry is not in the sound but in the recurrence of the thought. Thought may be rhythmic as well as sound, and the full meaning of Scripture is not grasped by one who does not feel how thoughts can be emphasized by being restated differently. In this we see the wisdom of God as applied to the Scripture, for the poetry of the Bible can be translated into any tongue without serious loss to the thought, while of other poetry, depending as it does on the sound, this cannot be said. The first of the two psalms expresses the feelings of an exile from the altar of his God. The spirit of the whole lyric is summed up in its refrain, a struggle between hope and despair:
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God:
For I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance And my God!
This refrain is found to unify into a single poem Psalms 42, 43; and the whole falls into three strophes. Instead of three strophes and a refrain, substitute three verses and a chorus, and we have a more popular idea of the poetical form of the two psalms.
Psalms 44
The section of psalms now entered upon introduces The Sons of Korah, but whether they were written by them, or for them, as a class of the Levitical singers, is difficult to say. The present psalm was penned with reference to a national calamity, just when, or what, is not known. But the psalmist recounts past deliverances in such crises as a ground of confidence and hope now.
Psalms 45-46
Is Messianic, for the proof of which, see the marginal references to the New Testament. The divisions are: The beauty of the King (Psa 45:1-2); His coming in glory (Psa 45:4-5); His Deity and the character of His reign (Psa 45:6-7); the Church as associated with Him in His earthly reign (Psa 45:9-13); Her virgin companions (the Jewish remnant?) (Psa 45:14-15); the whole concluding with an allusion to His earthly fame (Psa 45:16-17).
The Scofield Bible thinks this psalm might be classed with the two following, as all three look forward to the advent in glory. The same might be said of all down to and including Psalms 50, with the possible exception of Psalms 49.
To speak of Psalms 46 particularly: Israel is seen in great trouble but firmly trusting in God (Psa 46:1-5). The cause is the gathering of the nations against her (Psa 46:6). But God is with her and overcomes the nations, visiting them with judgment (Psa 46:7-8). Following these judgments there is peace over all the earth (Psa 46:9-11). This is clearly millennial in its ultimate application.
Psalms 47
Is of the same character. Psalms 52 also can hardly be read by anyone familiar with the later revelations of the Bible concerning the Antichrist without thinking of that arch-despot. He is overcome by the Lord (Psa 47:5), and exalted over by the righteous (Psa 47:6-7), whose trust in the mercy of God has not been in vain (Psa 47:8-9).
Psalms 51
Historical, and grounded on the sad event in Davids life dwelt upon in 2 Samuel. The ScofieId Bible characterizes it in its successive steps as The mould of the experience of a sinning saint, who comes back to full communion and service: (1) Sin is judged before God, Psa 51:1-6; (2) forgiveness and cleansing are secured through the blood, Psa 51:7-19; and (3) the restored one is now filled with the Holy Spirit for joy, power, service and worship, Psa 51:11-17; and is at last seen in fellowship with God, not about self, but Zion (Psa 51:18-19). Personally, while it was Davids pathway to restored communion, dispensationally, it will be that of returning Israel at the end of the age (Deu 30:1-10).
The other psalms in this lesson give their historical setting in their titles, and the student of those preceding will interpret them with little difficulty.
QUESTIONS
1. What verses of Psalms 38 would seem to prevent its Messianic application?
2. What Messianic psalms are noted in this lesson?
3. In what does the rhythm of Hebrew poetry consist?
4. What advantage does this give the poetry of Scripture?
5. Repeat the chorus of Psalms 42, 43.
6. Which psalms of this lesson look forward to the millennial age?
7. On what historical event is Psalms 51 grounded?
8. What dispensational application is possible in its case?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Psa 38:1-2. Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure I confess that I both deserve chastisement and need it, and therefore I do not desire that thou shouldest entirely remove it, but only moderate it: see Psa 6:1. For thine arrows Thy judgments inflicted on my outward and inward man; stick fast in me Have entered deep into me, as , nichathu bi, is properly rendered; and thy hand presseth me sore , tinchath gnali, is come down upon me; as when a strong man lifts up his hand and weapon, that it may fall down with the greater violence, and make a deeper wound.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In Psa 38:19-20, David intimates that he was hated wrongfully, because he followed good. This psalm was composed under some new outbreaking of Sauls 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.
Psa 38:1-3. 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.
Psa 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.
Psa 38:8; Psa 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.
Psa 38:11-12. 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.
Psa 38:13-14. 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.
Psa 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.
Psa 38:19. Mine enemies are lively, flourishing in splendour and power, while I am in exile, suffering from hardships and want.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XXXVIII. A Penitential Psalm.After a short prayer for pity (verbally identical with Psa 6:2), the poet describes his bodily and mental pains, the desertion of his friends, and the unscrupulous attack of his foes. But he waits in silence for Yahwehs answer and is ready to confess his sin, turning eagerly and hopefully to his God.
Psa 38:2. arrows: the pains God sends.
Psa 38:8 b. Read, I have cried out louder than the roaring of a lion.
Psa 38:18. It is impossible to say whether the poet is referring to some definite sin or only to the general sinfulness of human nature.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 38
The godly soul forsaken by lover and friend, and reproached by enemies, when suffering, under the chastening of the Lord, for his own sin.
Psalms 38 and 39 present the governmental dealings of the Lord with a believer as the direct result of his own sin and failure, and not, as in many other psalms, as the outcome of the sin of the nation. These experiences of the soul under chastening doubtless set forth the exercises of the godly remnant of the Jews in a latter day, while containing important principles applicable to a failing saint at any time.
(vv. 1-5) The soul fully recognizes that, on the one hand, his sufferings come from the Lord, and, on the other, are the direct outcome of his own sin. He can say Thy hand presseth me sore; and the chastening is because of my sin; and mine iniquities and my foolishness.
(vv. 6-8) The failing saint is allowed to feel and express, the misery, humiliation, and feebleness of his condition as the result of his sin. He has to say I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I am feeble and sore broken.
(vv. 9-12) Nevertheless his faith is not allowed to fail. The soul finds its resource in the Lord. He takes comfort from the fact, that, if his sin is before the Lord, so also his groaning is not hid from the Lord. He turns to the Lord when his own strength has failed him (v. 10); when lovers, friends and kinsmen forsake him (v. 11), and when his enemies take occasion by his fall to reproach him, seek his hurt, speak mischievous things, and imagine evil devices against him.
(vv. 13-15) Whatever the enemy may say or do, the godly soul is dumb and cannot utter any reproof, for he is conscious that he himself has sinned. He therefore leaves himself in the hands of the Lord, who can, if He sees fit, answer the enemy – In thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: thou wilt answer O Lord my God (JND).
(vv. 16-20) The enemy, with no love for good or hatred of evil, takes occasion by the slip of the godly to rejoice in his fall and to magnify himself. As for the godly, his sin has made him realize his own weakness, as one ready to halt. He is ever conscious of his sin over which he grieves. His enemies take occasion by his sin to persecute him; not, however, because of his failure, but because he follows that which is good.
(vv. 21-22) All may have forsaken him, but his confidence is that the Lord will not forsake him. He looks to the Lord for help and deliverance.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
38:1 [A Psalm of David, to bring to {a} remembrance.] O LORD, rebuke me not in thy {b} wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
(a) To put himself and others in mind of God’s chastisement for sin.
(b) He desires not to be exempted from God’s rod, but that he would so moderate his hand, that he might be able to bear it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 38
In this individual lament psalm, which has been called "the penitent’s plea," [Note: Ironside, p. 222.] David expressed penitence that he had sinned against God and had thereby incurred His discipline. This discipline came in the form of opposition from enemies that the psalmist asked God to remove.
The title "memorial" (NASB) or "petition" (NIV) literally means: "to bring to remembrance." It also occurs in the title of Psalms 70.
"Since with God to remember is to act, this word speaks of laying before Him a situation that cries out for His help." [Note: Kidner, p. 153.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. God’s discipline 38:1-12
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
David viewed his present suffering as an indication that God was very angry with him (cf. Psa 6:1). He pictured God shooting arrows at him as though God were his enemy in battle and as pressing down on him with His cosmic hand.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 38:1-22
THIS is a long-drawn wail. passionate at first, but gradually calming itself into submission and trust, though never passing from the minor key. The name of God is invoked thrice (Psa 38:1, Psa 38:9, Psa 38:15), and each time that the psalmist looks up his burden is somewhat easier to carry, and some “low beginnings of content” steal into his heart and mingle with his lament. Sorrow finds relief in repeating its plaint. It is the mistake of coldblooded readers to look for consecution of thought in the cries of a wounded soul: but it is also a mistake to be blind to the gradual sinking of the waves in this psalm, which begins with deprecating Gods wrath, and ends with quietly nestling close to Him as “my salvation.”
The characteristic of the first burst of feeling is its unbroken gloom. It sounds the depths of darkness, with which easy-going, superficial lives are unfamiliar, but whoever has been down into them will not think the picture overcharged with black. The occasion of the psalmists deep dejection cannot be gathered from his words. He, like all poets who teach in song what they learn in suffering, translates his personal sorrows into language fitting for others pains. The feelings are more important to him and to us than the facts. and we must be content to leave unsettled the question of his circumstances, on which, after all, little depends. Only, it is hard for the present writer, at least, to believe that such a psalm, quivering, as it seems, with agony, is not the genuine cry of a brothers tortured soul, but an utterance invented for a personified nation. The close verbal resemblance of the introductory deprecation of chastisement in anger to Psa 6:1 has been supposed to point to a common authorship, and Delitzsch takes both psalms, along with Psa 32:1-11 and Psa 51:1-19, as a series belonging to the time of Davids penitence after his great fall from purity. But the resemblance in question would rather favour the supposition of difference of authorship, since quotation is more probable than self-repetition. Jer 10:23 is by some held to be the original, and either Jeremiah himself or some later singer to have been the author of the psalm. The question of which of two similar passages is source and which is copy is always ticklish. Jeremiahs bent was assimilative, and his prophecies are full of echoes. The priority, therefore, probably lies with one or other of the psalmists, if there are two.
The first part of the psalm is entirely occupied with the subjective aspect of the psalmists affliction. Three elements are conspicuous: Gods judgments, the singers consciousness of sin, and his mental and probably physical sufferings. Are the “arrows” and crushing weight of Gods “hand,” which he deprecates in the first verses, the same as the sickness and wounds, whether of mind or body, which he next describes so pathetically? They are generally taken to be so, but the language of this section and the contents of the remainder of the psalm rather point to a distinction between them. It would seem that there are three stages, not two, as that interpretation would make them. Unspecified calamities, recognised by the sufferer as Gods chastisements, have roused his conscience, and its gnawing has superinduced mental and bodily pain. The terribly realistic description of the latter may, indeed, be figurative, but is more probably literal. The reiterated synonyms for Gods displeasure in Psa 38:1, Psa 38:3, show how all the aspects of that solemn thought are familiar. The first word regards it as an outburst, or explosion, like a charge of dynamite: the second as “glowing, igniting”; the third as effervescent, bubbling like lava in a crater. The metaphors for the effects of this anger in Psa 38:2 deepen the impression of its terribleness. It is a fearful fate to be the target for Gods “arrows,” but it is worse to be crushed under the weight of His “hand.” The two forms of representation refer to the same facts, but make a climax. The verbs in Psa 38:2 are from one root, meaning to come down, or to lie upon. In Psa 38:2 a the word is reflexive, and represents the “arrows” as endowed with volition, hurling themselves down. They penetrate with force proportionate to the distance which they fall, as a meteoric stone buries itself in the ground. Such being the wounding, crushing power of the Divine “anger” its effects on the psalmist are spread out before God, in the remaining part of this first division, with plaintive reiteration. The connection which a quickened conscience discerns between sorrow and sin is strikingly set forth in Psa 38:3 in which “Thine indignation” and “my sin” are the double fountainheads of bitterness. The quivering frame first felt the power of Gods anger, and then the awakened conscience turned inwards and discerned the occasion of the anger. The three elements which we have distinguished are clearly separated here; and their connection laid bare.
The second of these is the sense of sin, which the psalmist feels as taking all “peace” or well-being out of his “bones” as a flood rolling its black waters over his head, as a weight beneath which he cannot stand upright, and again as foolishness, since its only effect has been to bring to him not what he hoped to win by it, but this miserable plight.
Then, he pours himself out with the monotonous repetition so natural to self-pity, in a graphic accumulation of pictures of disease, which may be taken as symbolic of mental distress, but are better understood literally. With the whole, Isa 1:5-6, should be compared, nor should the partial resemblances of Isa 53:1-12 be overlooked. No fastidiousness keeps the psalmist from describing offensive details. His body is scourged and livid with parti-coloured, swollen weals from the lash, and these discharge foul-smelling matter. With this compare Isa 53:5, “His stripes” (same word). Whatever may be thought of the other physical features of suffering, this must obviously be figurative. Contorted in pain, bent down by weakness, dragging himself wearily with the slow gait of an invalid, squalid in attire, burning with inward fever, diseased in every tortured atom of flesh, he is utterly worn out and broken. {same word as “bruised,” Isa 53:5} Inward misery, the cry of the heart, must have outward expression, and, with Eastern vehemence in utterance of emotions which Western reticence prefers to let gnaw in silence at the roots of life, he “roars” aloud because his heart groans.
This vivid picture of the effects of the sense of personal sin will seem to superficial modern Christianity exaggerated and alien from experience; but the deeper a mans godliness, the more will he listen with sympathy, with understanding and with appropriation of such piercing laments as his own. Just as few of us are dowered with sensibilities so keen as to feel what poets feel, in love or hope, or delight in nature, or with power to express the feelings, and yet can recognise in their winged words the heightened expression of our own less full emotions, so the truly devout soul will find, in the most passionate of these wailing notes, the completer expression of his own experience. We must go down into the depths and cry to God out of them, if we are to reach sunny heights of communion. Intense consciousness of sin is the obverse of ardent aspiration after righteousness, and that is but a poor type of religion which has not both. It is one of the glories of the Psalter that both are given utterance to in it in words which are as vital today as when they first came warm from the lies of these long dead men. Everything in the world has changed, but these songs of penitence and plaintive deprecation, like their twin bursts of rapturous communion, were “not born for death.” Contrast the utter deadness of the religious hymns of all other nations with the fresh vitality of the Psalms. As long as hearts are penetrated with the consciousness of evil done and loved, these strains will fit themselves to mens lips.
Because the psalmists recounting of his pains was prayer and not soliloquy or mere cry of anguish, it calms him. We make the wound deeper by turning round the arrow in it, when we dwell upon suffering without thinking of God; but when, like the psalmist, we tell all to Him, healing begins. Thus, the second part (Psa 38:9-14) is perceptibly calmer, and though still agitated, its thought of God is more trustful, and silent submission at the close takes the place of the “roaring,” the shrill cry of agony which ended the first part. A further variation of tone is that, instead of the entirely subjective description of the psalmists sufferings in Psa 38:1-8, the desertion by friends and the hostility of foes, are now the main elements of trial. There is comparative peace for a tortured heart in the thought that all its desire and sighing are known to God. That knowledge is prior to the hearts prayer, but does not make it needless, for by the prayer the conviction of the Divine knowledge has entered the troubled soul, and brought some prelude of deliverance and hope of answer. The devout soul does not argue “Thou knowest, and I need not speak,” but “Thou knowest, therefore I tell Thee”; and it is soothed in and after telling. He who begins his prayer, by submitting to chastisement and only deprecating the form of it inflicted by “wrath,” will pass to the more gracious thought of God as lovingly cognisant of both his desire and his sighing, his wishes and his pains. The burst of the storm is past, when that light begins to break through clouds, though waves still run high.
How high they still run is plain from the immediate recurrence of the strain of recounting the singers sorrows. This recrudescence of woe after the clear calm of a moment is only too well known to us all in our sorrows. The psalmist returns to speak of his sickness in Psa 38:10, which is really a picture of syncope or fainting. The hearts action is described by a rare word, which in its root means to go round and round, and is here in an intensive form expressive of violent motion, or possibly is to be regarded as a diminutive rather than an intensive, expressive of the thinner though quicker pulse. Then come collapse of strength and failure of sight. But this echo of the preceding part immediately gives place to the new element in the psalmists sorrow arising from the behaviour of friends and foes. The frequent complaint of desertion by friends has to be repeated by most sufferers in this selfish world. They keep far away from his “stroke,” says the psalm, using the same word as is employed for leprosy, and as is used in the verb in Isa 53:4 (“stricken”). There is a tone of wonder and disappointment in the untranslatable play of language in Psa 38:11 b. “My near relations stand far off.” Kin are not always kind. Friends have deserted because foes have beset him. Probably we have here the facts which in the previous part are conceived of as the “arrows” of God.
Open and secret enemies laying snares for him, as for some hunted wild creature, eagerly seeking his life, speaking “destructions” as if they would fain kill him with their words, and perpetually whispering lies about him, were recognised by him as instruments of Gods judgment, and evoked his consciousness of sin, which again led to actual disease. But the bitter schooling led to something else more blessed-namely, to silent resignation. Like David, when he let Shimei shriek his curses at him from the hillside and answered not, the psalmist is deaf and dumb to malicious tongues. He will sneak to God, but to man he is silent, in utter submission of will.
Isa 53:7 gives the same trait in the perfect Sufferer, a faint foreshadowing of whom is seen in the psalmist; and 1Pe 2:23 bids all who would follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, like Him open not their mouths when reviled, but commit themselves to the righteous Judge.
Once more the psalmist lifts his eyes to God, and the third invocation of the Name is attended by an increase of confidence. In the first part, “Jehovah” was addressed; in the second the designation “Lord” was used; in the third, both are united and the appropriating name “my God” is added. In the closing invocation (Psa 38:2-3) all three reappear, and each is the plea of a petition. The characteristics of these closing verses are three: humble trust, the marshalling of its reasons, and the combination of acknowledgment of sin and professions of innocence. The growth of trust is very marked, if the first part, with its synonyms for Gods wrath and its deprecation of unmeasured chastisement and its details of pain, be compared with the quiet hope and assurance that God will answer, and with that great name “my Salvation.” The singer does not indeed touch the heights of triumphant faith; but he who can grasp God as his, and can be silent because he is sure that God will speak by delivering deeds for him and can call Him his Salvation, has climbed far enough to have the sunshine all round him, and to be clear of the mists among which his song began. The best reason for letting the enemy speak on unanswered is the confidence that a mightier voice will speak. “But thou wilt answer, Lord, for me” may well make us deaf and dumb to temptations and threats, calumnies and flatteries.
How does this confidence spring in so troubled a heart? The fourfold “For” beginning each verse from 15 to 18 (Psa 38:15-18) weaves them all into a chain. The first gives the reason for the submissive silence as being quiet confidence; and the succeeding three may be taken as either dependent on each other, or, as is perhaps better, as coordinate and all-assigning reasons for that confidence. Either construction yields worthy and natural meanings. If the former be adopted, trust in Gods undertaking of the silent sufferers cause is based upon the prayer which broke his silence. Dumb to men, he had breathed to God his petition for help, and had buttressed it with this plea, “Lest they rejoice over me,” and he had feared that they would, because he knew that he was ready to fall and had ever before him his pain, and that because he felt himself forced to lament and confess his sin. But it seems to yield a richer meaning, if the “Fors” be regarded as coordinate. They then become a striking and instructive example of faiths logic, the ingenuity of pleading which finds encouragements in discouragements. The suppliant is sure of answer because he has told God his fear, and yet again because he is so near falling and therefore needs help so much, and yet again because he has made a clean breast of his sin. Trust in Gods help, distrust of self, consciousness of weakness, and penitence make anything possible rather than that the prayer which embodies them should be flung up to an unanswering God. They are prevalent pleas with Him in regard to which He will not be “as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth there is no reply.” They are grounds of assurance to him who prays.
The juxtaposition of consciousness of sin in Psa 38:18 with the declaration that love of good was the cause of being persecuted brings out the twofold attitude, in regard to God and men, which a devout soul may permissibly and sometimes must necessarily assume. There may be the truest sense of sinfulness, along with a clear-hearted affirmation of innocence in regard to men, and a conviction that it is good and goodwill to them, not evil in the sufferer, which makes him the butt of hatred. Not less instructive is the double view of the same facts presented in the beginning and end of this psalm. They were to the psalmist first regarded as Gods chastisement in wrath, His “arrows” and heavy “hand,” because of sin. Now they are mens enmity, because of his love of good. Is there not an entire contradiction between these two views of suffering, its cause and source? Certainly not, but rather the two views differ only in the angle of vision, and may be combined, like stereoscopic pictures, into one rounded, harmonious whole. To be able so to combine them is one of the rewards of such pleading trust as breathes its plaintive music through this psalm, and wakes responsive notes in devout hearts still.