Psalm 38:1 Komentář

This is one of the penitential psalms; it is full of grief and complaint from the beginning to the end. David's sins and his afflictions are the cause of his grief and the matter of his complaints. It should seem he was now sick and in pain, which reminded him of his sins and helped to humble him for them; he was, at the same time, deserted by his friends and persecuted by his enemies; so that the psalm is calculated for the depth of distress and a complication of calamities. He complains, I. Of God's displeasure, and of his own sin which provoked God against him (Psa 38:1-5). II. Of his bodily sickness (Psa 38:6-10). III. Of the unkindness of his friends (Psa 38:11). IV. Of the injuries which his enemies did him, pleading his good conduct towards them, yet confessing his sins against God (Psa 38:12-20). Lastly, he concludes the psalm with earnest prayers to God for his gracious presence and help (Psa 38:21, Psa 38:22). In singing this psalm we ought to be much affected with the malignity of sin; and, if we have not such troubles as are here described, we know not how soon we may have, and therefore must sing of them by way of preparation and we know that others have them, and therefore we must sing of the by way of sympathy. A psalm of David to bring to remembrance.

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 (Psa 38:1): O Lord! rebuke me not in thy wrath. With this same petition he began another prayer for the visitation of the sick, Psa 6:1. 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 (Psa 38:2): Thy arrows stick fast in me. Let Job's complaint (Job 7:4) 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 (Psa 18:14), 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 (Psa 38:3): 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, Psa 38:8. 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, Psa 38:3. 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 (Psa 38:4): "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 12:1. 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 7:24. The guilt of sin committed by us is a burden, a heavy burden; it is a burden to God (he is pressed under it, Amo 2:13), 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, Zac 5:8. Sinners are said to bear their iniquity. Threatenings are burdens. 2. As wounds, dangerous wounds (Psa 38:5): "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 4:23), 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, Psa 38:6. 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, Psa 38:8. 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 cog. (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, Psa 38:8. His heart panted, and was in a continual palpitation, Psa 38:10. 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 strong man 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 (Psa 38:11): 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 (Luk 10:31), 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 (Psa 38:9): "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.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 38 A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. This psalm was composed by David under some sore affliction, and when in great distress of mind by reason of sin, perhaps his sin with Bathsheba; and was written as a memorial of his sense of sin, of his great afflictions, and deliverance from them; and therefore is said to be "to bring to remembrance", or to refresh his memory with the said things. Kimchi and Ben Melech think the psalm was made for the sake of such as are in distress, to put them in mind and teach them how to pray. The Targum calls the psalm, "a good remembrance concerning Israel;'' and Jarchi says it was to remember the distress of Israel before the Lord, and that it is said with respect to all Israel; though others think the word "lehazcir" is the name of a psalm tune; and Aben Ezra was of opinion that it was the first word of some pleasant poem. The Septuagint version adds, "concerning the sabbath,'' as if it was wrote to put persons in mind of that day; whereas there is nothing in the whole psalm that has any such tendency.

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 Psa 6:1, only instead of wrath there it is anger; See Gill on Psa 6:1. . Psalms 38:2 psa 38:2 psa 38:2 psa 38:2For thine arrows stick fast in me,.... Meaning either words with which as a father the Lord rebuked him; and which were sharp and cutting, entered into him and abode with him, and gave him much pain and uneasiness; and by which he concluded that his rebukes were in wrath and hot displeasure; such as those in Sa2 12:11; so the words of men are compared to arrows, Psa 57:4 or outward afflictions, attended with inward trouble of soul; for as judgments are the arrows of God, such as famine, pestilence, &c. Eze 5:16, Deu 32:21; so the chastening dispensations of Providence, under which the people of God themselves are, are so called, because they oftentimes come swiftly, suddenly, and at unawares, and are very pungent and distressing; and sometimes stick fast and continue long, by reason of which they are inwardly wounded, and conceive of God as sorely displeased with them; see Job 6:4; and thy hand presseth me sore; the afflicting hand of God, which lay heavy upon him; and is a mighty hand when laid on such worms as mortal sinful men are, who cannot bear up under it, unless they have divine supports; see Job 19:21. This is by some supposed to be some bodily disease inflicted on him; some have thought of the leprosy, which was a stroke from the hand of God; but this is not likely, since he must have been deposed and shut up; the Jews indeed say (e) that he was a leper six months, and that the divine Presence was taken from him; a late learned man (f) thinks it was the smallpox, from the unsoundness of his flesh, the soreness of the disease, the stench of it, temporary blindness, and his friends standing aloof from him; though perhaps no other than affliction of mired for sin, comparable to the disease described, is meant. (e) In R. Obadiah in loc. (f) De Laney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 146.

The prophet … acknowledges his fault, recognizes his wounds and asks to be cured. One who wants to be cured does not shrink from correction. Still, he does not want to be chastised in the fury of indignation but in the word of God. God’s word is healing. As we read, “He sent his word and healed them.” David does not want to be corrected in wrath but to be disciplined in doctrine. It is as though you were to ask the surgeon not to apply his knife to your wound but to pour in ointment. He begs for the remedy but not for the knife. There is pain but not beyond measure. The remedy stings, but the patient’s blood does not flow.

(Vers. 1.) Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger; nor chasten me in your wrath. He who repents should be prepared to endure reproaches and suffer injuries; and not be disturbed if someone accuses him of his own sin. For if he himself must accuse himself, why does he not endure others accusing him? And if he should not fear being accused by a man, how much more by his Lord God, to whom we all, even in secret things, sin; since the condemnation of present things, especially the absolution of future things, is from Him. But those who are not condemned in this world, when they are not punished by men. Woe to me! if it is said of me: he has received his reward (Matthew 6:2). If a good deed is condemned by this judgment, how much more does the crime weigh down? For if mercy, thrown about with easy words, is robbed of eternal reward, how much more is the punishment of wickedness deferred by the bitter addition of interest? Therefore, he who repents should offer himself for punishment; so that he may be punished here by the Lord, and not be reserved for eternal torment: nor should he wait for the time, but rather confront divine indignation. See that his actions agreed with David's prayers. He had offended the Lord because he had ordered the people to be numbered. He anticipated the messenger of God with his confession, acknowledging that he had sinned greatly and foolishly. Not as if he were reminding the forgetful, but as if he were urging the one who hesitated, so that he would not delay the resolution of the offense any longer. 'I have sinned greatly,' he said, 'for I have done this thing' (1 Chronicles 21:8); and now, Lord, remove the iniquity of your servant. But how sins are removed, listen to the one who says: 'Her sin is forgiven; for she has received double from the hand of the Lord for all her sins' (Isaiah 40:2). Therefore, he does not demand that the sin be completely remitted; but rather that it be erased by a moderate solution; that is, that its memory be erased in the future. Finally, as if with the voice of an interrupter, the Lord, so that the punishment for the committed error would not be deferred, sent Nathan the prophet to him; and he came to the king and said to him: Choose what you want to happen: three years of famine over the land, or three months of fleeing from the face of your enemies and those pursuing you, or three days of death in the land. And now know, and see what I should answer to him who sent me (I Par. XXI, 11 and 12). See how God, as a teacher, moderates his anger, if we are not completely resistant to punishment; but let us request a method of alleviating, not avoiding, the penalty. He proposed three options, so that he could choose what he considered more moderate. Also, see how he provokes repentance; that we should offer ourselves to the offense: commanding the choice of punishment, so that a certain prerogative of choice is maintained in the punishment itself, and soothing the accused with this word. And David said to Nathan: I am in distress in these three, but I will fall more into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great, more than in the hands of men (1 Chronicles 21:13). Did he demand punishment for himself for the error? If he had, he would be blamed for impudence, for he would have been ungrateful for divine moderation. For a modest confession greatly supports the defendant; and the punishment we cannot avoid by defense, we lessen through shame. He chose not what was immune from punishment, but what he judged more moderately; so that he would entrust himself more to the kindness of God, who knows how to forgive, than to the power of men, who often exceed the measure of vengeance. Therefore, he has mercy on those who do not know how to err; he does not have mercy on those who are partakers of error. And the holy David's faith did not deceive him, but even in his offense, he obtained the grace of divine mercy. For he, who had determined to exercise death for three days on earth, did not allow even one day to pass by; but willingly granted a pardon until the hour of lunch, and, as I may use the word of Scripture, he repented of his wickedness (2 Samuel 24:16). See how Scripture exhorts you to not reject repentance, but to follow God, whom you ought to follow. He added well, above wickedness; because every revenge seems to be hard. Therefore even the day of judgment is called a bad day, from which blessed is the one who is freed by God; as it is written: In the bad day, the Lord will deliver him (Psalm 40:2). And the Lord said, saying, to the angel that he should spare there. Notice, however, that when the Lord wants to forgive, He gives grace and confidence to pray. And David saw the angel striking, and he said: Here I am; I have sinned, and I have done evil as a shepherd, and what have these done in this flock? Let your hand be upon me and upon the house of my father (I Chronicles 21:17). If the Lord had commanded the angel to spare, how then did the angel still strike, unless it is because the Lord, although he desires to forgive, desires to be asked for forgiveness, and in order to be asked, he acts? And no man would have seen the striking angel, unless the Lord had revealed the angel to his eyes. Hence, Elisha says: Lord, open the eyes of this boy, that he may see. And the eyes of the boy were opened, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots all around the prophet (II Kings 6:17). Do not be moved by the lowly appearance of a servant, compared to that of prophets or kings; for the appearance of horses and chariots is lower than the holiness of angels. And perhaps it may seem difficult to some who read hastily that David, humble in heart and meek, who spared his enemies, chose the death of the people rather than his own flight or hunger on the earth. He avoided the hunger of the people because it is considered more severe than the plague, which pollutes the sky and causes death. He did not request his own flight because of this; for the prophet could intercede for the people, as it happened: the people could not intercede for the prophet. For it is written: If the people should err, the priest shall pray for them; if the priest should err, who shall pray for him? Yet when he saw that the people were about to be killed, he offered himself to the striking angel, so that he himself would be struck instead of the people. It is even more that, not terrified by the appearance of the dead, he offered himself to the sword, rather than wishing for a discourse on the proposed condition. Therefore, he followed reason in his choice, and piety in his grief. But behold the grace of God, that he himself turned away from the intended condition. Is mercy a crime? For he threatens more and exacts less. He who keeps his promises in rewarding his rewards, in demanding punishments, violates the prescribed punishment. When he is angry with the guilty, he delays; when he takes pity, he hastens to absolve; he terrifies in order to correct; he admonishes in order to amend; he anticipates in order to forgive. Hence the Prophet also says of the Lord elsewhere: The cup in the Lord's hand is full of mixed wine. . . . but his dregs have not been poured out (Psalm 74:9). The cup is full for frightening, but it is not emptied for striking. The cup was full when death was commanded for three days, but the mercy of God intervened, the hand of the Angel held back before emptying that cup. But in order for you to know that the cup is a punishment or a sword, hear him saying: Take this cup of pure wine from my hand and make all the nations to which I send you drink from it, and they will vomit and act insane from the sight of the sword (Jeremiah 25:15-16). And it is said to Jerusalem: You have drunk the cup of wrath from the hand of the Lord; you have drunk the cup of ruin and have drained it, and there was no one to console you (Isaiah 51:17). Jerusalem has drunk the measure, which has sinned beyond measure: the Church of the Christians does not know how to drain the cup of wrath, but the anointed one has been drained: for whom Christ has emptied himself, so that he might be fragrant everywhere. This gift has been received from the hand of the Lord, but it does not know the cup of death. I choose two cups, one of death, the other of life. Christ emptied the cup of death with His blood; and He served a new cup, so that we may say: I will receive the cup of salvation (Psalm 115:13). The new cup is the Testament, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins. This cup is poured out, and its dregs are not found, because it cleanses every offense. We have said how the Lord bends his anger in vengeance; let us declare how he anticipates our prayers in rewarding us, and let us teach by his example. Listen to the robber saying to the Lord: Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42). The Lord answered: Amen I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. He was still asking that he be remembered when he would come into his kingdom; and although the Lord had not yet come, he was already giving him the heavenly kingdom. How swift is mercy! Slower is the fulfillment of the prayer than the reward for the one who gives. Therefore, David held moderation and did not ask for forgiveness, saying: Lord, do not accuse me in your anger, nor rebuke me in your fury. Fury in Greek is called θυμὸς, and it is the impulse of anger. This is what the Latin wanted to express: Neither in anger, nor in the very impulse of anger, do you accuse me or rebuke me. But rebuke is education. It is also said in Greek παίδευσις, about which it is said: Blessed is the man whom you have educated, O Lord (Psalm 93:13)! For indeed God is not open to passion, such as to become angry, since He is impassible; but because He vindicates, He appears to be angry. This appears to us; because we ourselves are accustomed to vindicate with emotion. However, often both men are found to vindicate without being moved; but to celebrate revenge with the utmost patience, to exercise torments. Therefore, why do you wonder in God, if you sometimes recognize this in man? We have already said that revenge is a form of anger. Finally, it has a use, so that we may say of anyone being punished, because it falls within the scope of the laws: not because it falls within the anger of the laws, but because it falls within the severity of the laws. Thus, in the same place, it says concerning the ten plagues of the Egyptians: He sent upon them his anger by evil angels (Psalm 77:49), that is, vengeance; for the law does not know how to be angry, but it knows how to be the minister of laws. Therefore, he who is the author of laws does not know how to be angry, to whom it is a desire to instill fear, not to punish. Therefore, imitate, O rulers, the divine example; so that you may be stricter in enacting laws, and merciful in exacting punishments. Let the severity of the laws restrain audacious insolence, and let the mercy of princes withdraw the guilty from punishment. Therefore, the Prophet recognizes his own fault, sees the wounds, and demands to be healed. He who wants to be healed does not shrink from being accused, but does not want to be accused in anger, but in the word of God. The word of God is healing. For we read thus: He sent forth his Word, and healed them (Psalm 107:20). He does not want to be educated in anger, but in doctrine; so that if you ask a doctor, he does not cut your wound, but applies medicine; he urges with the remedy, but does not cut. Finally, there is pain, but not beyond the measure of pain: it bites, but does not draw blood.

"O Lord, rebuke me not in Your indignation; neither chasten me in Your hot displeasure" [Psalm 38:1]. For it will be that some shall be chastened in God's "hot displeasure," and rebuked in His "indignation." And haply not all who are "rebuked" will be "chastened;" yet are there some that are to be saved in the chastening. So it is to be indeed, because it is called "chastening," but yet it shall be "so as by fire." But there are to be some who will be "rebuked," and will not be "corrected." For he will at all events "rebuke" those to whom He will say, "I was an hungred, and you gave me no meat." [Matthew 25:42] ... "Neither chasten me in Your hot displeasure;" so that You may cleanse me in this life, and make me such, that I may after that stand in no need of the cleansing fire, for those "who are to be saved, yet so as by fire." [1 Corinthians 3:15] Why? Why, but because they "build upon the foundation, wood, stubble, and hay." Now they should build on it, "gold, silver, and precious stones;" [1 Corinthians 3:12] and should have nothing to fear from either fire: not only that which is to consume the ungodly for ever, but also that which is to purge those who are to escape through the fire. For it is said, "he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." And because it is said, "he shall be saved," that fire is thought lightly of. For all that, though we should be "saved by fire," yet will that fire be more grievous than anything that man can suffer in this life whatsoever.. ..

David made this beginning to the sixth psalm as well, asking to be disciplined in the manner of a surgeon, not a judge, and to be treated not with harsh remedies but with mild ones.

Above, the Psalmist implored divine help against persecutors, at "Judge"; he also showed their wickedness, at "The unjust one said"; he taught us to despise the prosperity of the wicked in the preceding Psalm, "Do not be envious"; but in this Psalm he confesses that he is afflicted on account of his sins. Concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth his affliction. Second, his caution for the future, at "I said, I will guard." The title: "A Psalm of David, in remembrance." Augustine added "in remembrance of the Sabbath," but this is found neither in the Hebrew nor in Jerome. And it should be known that this is the third of the Penitential Psalms, and the distinctions of the Psalm refer to the various acts of penance and the remembrance of sins. And therefore he says "for remembrance," namely of sins. Is. 38: "I will recount to you all my years in the bitterness of my soul." But if "Sabbath" is added, it pertains to the purpose of this remembrance, namely why one ought to afflict oneself and remember, that is, on account of the Sabbath, that is, on account of the promised rest. Is. 58: "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing," etc., up to "you shall call the Sabbath a delight," that is, a delightful rest. The Psalm is therefore divided into two parts. In the first he asks for mercy. In the second he sets forth his misery, at "For your arrows." Mercy is sought from a judge whose punishment is feared. A judge first reproves with words: Ps. 49: "I will reprove you." Afterwards he corrects with deeds. The Psalmist therefore does not ask not to be reproved, but that it not be in fury; hence he says, "O Lord, do not reprove me in your fury." Fury and anger in God do not imply agitation, because Wis. 12: "He judges with tranquility." But they are said of God with respect to their effect, because a furious person does not spare. Hence he asks to be corrected, but not in anger; therefore he says, "nor in your wrath correct me," because, as is said in Prov. 6, "the zeal and fury of a man will not spare in the day of vengeance." Hence he reproves in fury when he does not spare, as in Mt. 25: "I was hungry and you did not give me to eat," etc. Likewise, "Depart, you cursed, into everlasting fire." Hence, I ask to be corrected, but not in fury. Second, he treats of the punishment of the judge. And there is a twofold punishment. One is unto destruction, and this is infernal; and he asks that this not be inflicted upon him, when he says, "O Lord, do not in your fury," etc. The other is unto correction; and he asks that this be inflicted upon him. But he asks that he not be corrected in wrath, at "nor in your wrath," that is, with a grave punishment, "correct me." Jer. 10: "Correct me, O Lord, but yet in judgment, and not in fury."

To bring to remembrance, or, remind God of His mercy and himself of his sin. Appealing to God for relief from His heavy chastisement, the Psalmist avows his integrity before men, complains of the defection of friends and persecution of enemies, and in a submissive spirit, casting himself on God, with penitent confession he pleads God's covenant relation and his innocence of the charges of his enemies, and prays for divine comfort and help. (Psa. 38:1-22) He deprecates deserved punishment, which is described (Psa 6:1), under the figure of bodily disease [Psa 38:3].

(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, נחת, is not the Piel, as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal נחת immediately following (root נח). קצף is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lxx φρύγανον), with ĕ instead of ı̆ in the first syllable, vowels which alternate in this word; and חמה, as a glowing or burning. חצּים (in Homer, κῆλα), God's wrath-arrows, i.e., lightnings of wrath, are His judgments of wrath; and יד, as in Psa 32:4; Psa 39:11, God's punishing hand, which makes itself felt in dispensing punishment, hence תּנחת might be attached as a mood of sequence. In Psa 38:4 wrath is called זעם 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. ככבּדוּ ממּנּי, 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, חבּוּרת (properly, suffused variegated marks from a blow or wheals, Isa 1:6; from חבר, Arab. ḥbr, to be or make striped, variegated), which הבאישׁוּ, send forth an offensive smell, and נמקּוּ, suppurate. Sin, which causes this, is called אוּלת, because, as it is at last manifest, it is always the destruction of itself. With emphasis does מפּני אוּלתּי form the second half of the verse. To take נעויתי 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 מפּני, vid., Ewald, 217, l. Thus sick in soul and body, he is obliged to bow and bend himself in the extreme. נעוה is used of a convulsive drawing together of the body, Isa 21:3; שׁחח, of a bowed mien, Psa 35:14; הלּך, of a heavy, lagging gait. With כּי in Psa 38:8 the grounding of the petition begins for the third time. His כּסלים, i.e., internal muscles of the loins, which are usually the fattest parts, are full of נקלה, 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. פּוּג is the proper word for the coldness and rigidity of a corpse; the Niphal means to be brought into this condition, just as נדכּא means to be crushed, or to be brought into a condition of crushing, i.e., of violent dissolution. The מן of מנּהמת 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.