Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 38:17
For I [am] ready to halt, and my sorrow [is] continually before me.
17. For &c.] A further argument for a speedy hearing. For the metaphor cp. Psa 35:15.
my sorrow &c.] I.e. my suffering is unceasingly present with me. Cp. Psa 51:3.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For I am ready to halt – Margin, as in Hebrew, for halting. The word from which the word used here is derived means properly to lean on one side, and then to halt or limp. The meaning here is, that he was like one who was limping along, and who was ready to fall; that is, in the case here referred to, he felt that his strength was almost gone, and that he was in continual danger of falling into sin, or sinking under his accumulated burdens, and of thus giving occasion for all that his enemies said of him, or occasion for their triumphing over him. Men often have this feeling – that their sorrows are so great that they cannot hope to hold out much longer, and that if God does not interpose they must fall.
And my sorrow is continually before me – That is, my grief or suffering is unintermitted. Probably the reference here is particularly to that which caused his grief, or which was the source of his trouble – his sin. The fact that he was a sinner was never absent from his mind; that was the source of all his trouble; that was what so pressed upon him that it was likely to crush him to the dust.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 38:17
For I am ready to halt.
Resolution almost exhausted
We reach the I will by I must and I ought. Now, this struggle with self-will is like a man with narrow chest and feeble lungs walking in the teeth of a biting north-east wind; it is like a bare-footed girl treading a road made with rough stones and sharp flints; it is like a feeble man climbing a mountain by a rocky path beneath a noon-day sun; and under the exhaustion of resolution and courage and patience there be many that say, I am ready to halt. (Samuel Martin.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. For I am ready to halt] Literally, I am prepared to halt. So completely infirm is my soul, that it is impossible for me to take one right step in the way of righteousness, unless strengthened by thee.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ready to halt; just falling into utter destruction; see Jer 20:10; and therefore if thou dost not help me speedily, it will be too late.
My sorrow is continually before me; I am deeply and constantly sensible of thy just hand, and of my sins, the cause of it; wherewith I shall be overwhelmed, if thou dost not prevent it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
For I [am] ready to halt,…. Meaning either that there was a proneness in him to sin; see Jer 20:10; or that he was subject to affliction and adversity, as the same word is rendered in Ps 35:15; and the words are either a reason and argument used with the Lord, to hear and keep his foot from slipping, that so his enemies might not rejoice over him, and magnify themselves against him; as they would do should he fall into sin or into any calamity, both which he was liable to: or they are a reason why he was so calm and quiet under the ill usage he met with from friends and enemies, because he was “ready for halting”, or “prepared” o for it; he considered that he was born for trouble and adversity; that God had appointed him to it, and it was appointed for him, and therefore he was quiet under it; see Job 5:6; he was prepared to meet it; he expected it, it being the common lot of God’s people; and therefore when it came upon him it was no strange thing to him. The Septuagint version, and those that follow that, render the words, “I am ready for scourges”; and Jerom applies them to Christ, who was ready to undergo scourges, sufferings, and death itself, for his people;
and my sorrow [is] continually before me; that is, for his sin, which was ever before him, stared him in the face, lay heavy on his conscience, and appeared very terrible and loathsome to him; his sorrow for it was without intermission, and was a godly sorrow, a sorrow for sin, as committed against a God of love, grace, and mercy: or he may mean, that his affliction, which was grievous to him, was continually upon him night and day: our Lord himself, David’s antitype, was a man of sorrows all his days.
o V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17 Surely I am ready to halt This verse has led expositors to suppose that David was afflicted with some sore, from which he was afraid of having brought upon him the infirmity of halting all his days; but I have already shown, in Psa 35:15, that this supposition is very improbable. We have certainly no greater reason for supposing that David was lame than that Jeremiah was so, when he said,
“
All my familiars watched for my halting.” — (Jer 20:10,)
I therefore think that David here employs a metaphorical mode of expression, and that his meaning is, that if God did not soon come to his aid, there was no hope of his ever being restored to his former condition; and that he was so greatly afflicted, that he would walk as if he had been maimed or lame all the days of his life. (57) It next follows by way of exposition, that his sorrow was continually before him. The sense is, that he was so grievously afflicted, that he could not forget it for a single moment, so as to obtain some relaxation. In both the clauses of the verse, David confesses that his disease is incurable, unless he obtain some remedy from God, and that he cannot endure it, unless he be raised up and sustained by the hand of God himself. This is the reason why he directs all his thoughts and his requests to God alone; for as soon as he shall turn aside from him, he sees nothing but immediate ruin.
(57) “ Et que son affliction est telle, qu’il ne sera jour de sa vie qu’il ne s’en sente.” — Fr. “And that his affliction was such, that there would not be a day of his life but he would feel it.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
17. I am ready to halt The idea is, literally, My fall is certain; that is, humanly speaking, nothing is left for me but inevitable ruin, or help from God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 38:17 For I [am] ready to halt, and my sorrow [is] continually before me.
Ver. 17. For I am ready to halt ] i.e. To misbehave mysetf and so to mar a good cause by ill-managing it, and then what will become of thy great name? This is a very forcible motive to prevail with a jealous and just God.
And my sorrow is continually before me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
halt. Compare Psa 35:15 and Gen 32:31.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 38:17-18
Psa 38:17-18
RECAPITULATION OF Psa 38:1-10
“For I am ready to fall, and my sorrow is continually before me.
For I will declare mine iniquity;
I will be sorry for my sin.”
These verses also plead certain reasons why God might consent to forgive David.
“For I am ready to fall” (Psa 38:17). He is at his row’s end. His power to go onward is about exhausted. If God does not help now, he is doomed. This is reason (1).
“My sorrow is continually before me” (Psa 38:17). My grief is overwhelming me. This is reason (2).
“I will declare mine iniquity” (Psa 38:18). David here promises to make a full and open confession of his wrongdoing, which he most certainly did in the Penitential Psalms which are accredited to him in the Bible. This is reason (3). Another will appear in the following verse.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 38:17. Ready to halt is rendered “on the verge of a collapse” by Moffatt. The thought is that his trials were at that very moment about to overwhelm him. They would do so, he feared, unless God helped him.
Psa 38:18. Here is another reference to his sin. See the comments at Psa 38:3; Psa 38:5.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
to halt: Heb. for halting, Psa 35:15, *marg. Mic 4:6, Mic 4:7
sorrow: Psa 38:6, Psa 6:6, Psa 77:2, Psa 77:3, Isa 53:3-5
Reciprocal: Gen 32:31 – he halted Psa 13:2 – sorrow
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 38:17-18. For I am ready to halt To fall into destruction, Jer 20:10. And, therefore, if thou dost not help me speedily it will be too late. My sorrow is continually before me I am deeply and constantly sensible of thy justice in my chastisement, and I shall be overwhelmed with sorrow if thou dost not prevent it. For I will declare mine iniquity I will confess it to thee as the cause of my sufferings. I will be sorry for my sin Hebrew, , edag, I will be, or am solicitous, or anxious; full of grief for what is past, and of cares and fears for the future; therefore pity, pardon, and save me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
38:17 For I [am] ready to {m} halt, and my sorrow [is] continually before me.
(m) I am without hope to recover my strength.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Evidently the psalmist felt as if he were at the end of his rope. He wanted God to respond to his calls for help very soon. David had confessed whatever sin had led to his painful condition (cf. Jas 5:15). He was anxious about its consequences, but there was nothing more he could do except wait for God to deliver him.