Psalm 38:6 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.

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.

For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease,.... The word here used has the signification of burning (k); and the Targum renders it, "my loins are filled with burning"; a burning fever was upon him, or there was an inflammation in those parts; a hot burning ulcer, which might be nauseous; and so was true in both senses. Aben Ezra interprets it abominable and vile; something not fit to be mentioned; and so Kimchi and Ben Melech. The word is rendered sometimes "lightly esteemed"; as in Sa1 18:23; and Jarchi thinks it has this sense here; and the meaning is, that he was vile in his own eyes, and mean in his own esteem. Doubtless the psalmist has reference to something more than a bodily disease; at least not to that only, but to the disease of his soul also, sin, which has the nature of a disease; it is an hereditary one, which is derived from one to another by propagation; it is universal, and reaches to all men, and to all the parts of the body and powers of the soul; it is a complication of disorders: it is in its own nature mortal, and ever incurable but by Christ; and, as here, it is a loathsome one; it is loathsome to God, and to all sensible sinners: and when the psalmist says his loins were filled with it, it may signify that it was an internal disorder that was in him; sin that dwelt in him, a law in his members; and may denote the aboundings of sin in him, the swarms of corruptions that were in him; as also the pain it gave him, and the quick sense he had of it; and there is no soundness in my flesh: which is repeated, see Psa 38:3; partly for confirmation's sake, and partly to show the continued sense of it, as persons under a disorder are continually making mention of it. (k) R. Joseph Kimchi & Abendana "ardore", Pagninus, Vatablus; "ardens ulcus", Musculus, so some in Vatablus; "tostione", Piscator; "adustione", Gejerus; so the Targum; "adusto", Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 742.

The very best order of beginning every speech and action is to begin from God and to end in God.

I am afflicted and bowed down by miseries until the end; I go about in sorrow all day long. Until what end does he say he is bowed down? Is it the legitimate end of repentance? Or moreover, so that we may understand it mystically, until Christ, who is the end of the Law; who allowed himself to be scourged, allowed his body to be stoned to death? But those wounds emitted no smell of repentance, but rather the fragrance of all grace. Finally, death did not consume Him, as it does with other men; rather, the fountain of eternal life gushed forth, as Scripture teaches us, saying: "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3). Therefore, water sprang forth from His wound, so that we might drink salvation. All sinners of the earth will drink, so that they may cast off their sins. Consider each detail. Christ was afflicted with miseries in order to make blessed those who were in misery. Let no one call him who is just miserable, for he himself said: You will make no one miserable (Isaiah 33:1). He was bent down so that we could be raised up; he was sad so that we could be made joyful; as it is written: For if I cause you sorrow, who then will make me glad, unless the one who is made sad by me (2 Corinthians 2:2). Therefore, whoever is made sad by the Lord Jesus Christ, he himself makes Christ glad; and he himself is made joyful by Christ. Therefore, we also recognize that we must not be satisfied with superficiality. Let us bend until the end, that is, not only having faith in Christ, but also enduring our sufferings, and let us rejoice in our sufferings, just as Christ rejoiced in his sufferings. He took them upon himself for his servants, so let us undergo them for the Lord. This, therefore, is the end. "I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, which is the Church, of which I have become a minister" (Colossians 1:24). We see what we must undertake, who have taken up the priestly ministry; that we ought to endure courageously not only the afflictions of the body for ourselves, but also for the Church of the Lord.

"I am troubled, I am bowed down even unto the end" [Psalm 38:6]. Wherefore was he "bowed down"? Because he had been "lifted up." If you are "humble, you shall be exalted;" if you exalt yourself, you shall be "bowed down;" for God will be at no loss to find a weight wherewith to bow you down....Let him groan on these things; that he may receive the other; let him "call the Sabbath to remembrance," that he may deserve to arrive at it. For that which the Jews used to celebrate was but a sign. Of what thing was it the sign? Of that which he calls to remembrance, who says, "I am troubled, and am bowed down even unto the end." What is meant by even "unto the end"? Even to death. "I go mourning all the day long." "All day long," that is, "without intermission." By "all the day long," he means, "all my life long." But from what time has he known it? From the time that he began to "call the Sabbath to remembrance." For so long as he "calls to remembrance" what he no longer possesses, would you not have him "go mourning"? "All the day long have I gone mourning."

Well is it said of this our crookedness, as a type of the human race, through the Psalmist: I am bowed down and humiliated utterly. For having contemplated that man was created for gazing upon the heavenly light, but having been cast out on account of his sins, he carries the darkness of his own mind, does not seek heavenly things, attends to the lowest things, by no means desires celestial things, always turns earthly things over in his mind, and what he grieved concerning his race, he cried out in himself, saying: I am bowed down and humiliated utterly. For losing the contemplation of heavenly things, if man thought only of the necessities of the flesh, he would be bowed down and humiliated, but nevertheless not utterly. Therefore he whom not only necessity casts down from higher thoughts, but also illicit pleasure prostrates, is not only bowed down but utterly bowed down.

"Wretched." Above the Psalmist said, "There is no peace in my bones," and he showed what his sins are, that they are many, grave, and repeated; here he treats of the removal of peace. And concerning this he does two things. First, he sets forth the restlessness against peace. Second, he sets forth the remedy of consolation and hope, at "O Lord, before you." He shows the restlessness of his soul in two ways. First with respect to dejection, and with respect to the irascible power. Second with respect to the dejection of the heart, which pertains to the stirring of the concupiscible power, at "all day long." Concerning the first he does two things. First, he sets forth the cause of dejection. Second, the dejection itself. The cause of dejection is that "I am made wretched," that is, I recognize my own wretchedness. Wretchedness is opposed to happiness, and therefore it consists in contrary things. Human happiness consists in the things of the world. Ps. 143: "They have called that people blessed who have these things." True happiness consists in cleaving to God; and therefore it follows: "Rather, blessed is the people whose Lord is their God." Therefore one is wretched by the fact that one is turned away from God through sin. Prov. 14: "Sin makes peoples wretched." This man, therefore, knowing himself to be separated from God through sin, considers himself wretched; and from this his soul is said to be dejected. Hence he says, "I am bowed down." This bowing down can refer to the depression of the soul on account of the heaviness of sin, because sins act like a heavy burden that bows a man down and makes him look at the ground; so sins make one look at lower things and do not permit one to tend upward through affection. 2 Chr. 36: "I am bowed down with many iron chains." Or it can refer to humility; as if to say, I am bowed down on account of humility, because when a man recognizes his sin, he does not have lofty thoughts. Lk. 18, concerning the publican, who would not lift his eyes to heaven. And this bowing down should not be momentary, but throughout one's whole life; hence he says, "unto the end," namely of life, as long as the corruption of the body endures. Rom. 7: "Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?" Next he treats of the sorrow of the heart, and he does three things. First, he sets forth the sorrow. Second, the cause of the sorrow. Third, the magnitude of the sorrow. He says therefore: not only am I humbled against pride, but I am also saddened, against the delight of sin; and this is good sorrow. 2 Cor. 7: "For sorrow that is according to God is good." And he touches on two things concerning sorrow. First, that it must be continual; hence he says, "all day long." Rom. 9: "Continual sorrow in my heart." Ps. 6: "I will wash my bed every night." Jer. 9: "And I will weep day and night for the slain of my people." Augustine: "Let him always grieve, and rejoice over his grieving." Second, because there is a kind of sorrow that swallows up and leads to despair. 2 Cor. 2: "Lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with excessive sorrow." There is another that is oppressive, and this is sloth, which so casts down that it does not permit one to do good. But the sorrow of the penitent is not like this, but is accompanied by hope and the exercise of good works; hence he says, "I walked about," that is, I was making progress in life and good works. Progress in good is an entering in, because the spiritual goods toward which a good person tends are interior. Phil. 3: "Forgetting what lies behind" (that is, temporal goods, toward which sinners tend, which are exterior), "I stretch forth to those things which are ahead." Prov. 4: "I will lead you by paths of equity, which when you have entered, your steps will not be straitened."

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].