สดุดี 38:17 วิจารณ์

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 I will declare mine iniquity,.... Either to men, to ease his mind, justify God in his proceedings with him, and for their caution and admonition: or rather to God, against whom he had sinned, and who only could pardon him; with a view to which he was determined to make a free and open confession of it before him: I will be sorry for my sin, or "careful" (p) about it; that is, how he committed it for the future: true repentance for sin produces a carefulness to abstain from all appearance of it; see Co2 7:10. (p) "solicitus ero", Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis, Ainsworth.

(Verse 17.) Therefore, for all these things, a beautiful remedy is prepared in the form of a whip, and it offers itself to the Lord, so that it may bear the scourges that please God. I indeed choose the holy kind of whip that David endured with composure; but he chose it because the necessity of choosing one out of three conditions was commanded. However, where it is not commanded, the servant of God is prepared for everything, whether he undergoes bodily illness or flees from the face of the enemy, or experiences the death of his sons, whom he does not fear to send ahead; because he can receive it without being dismayed. For he also knows that if he were to be punished with temporal punishment here, it could alleviate the eternal punishment of torment in the future. Therefore, he begs that his petition be accepted, and that he himself be punished in order to be accepted; for the Lord disciplines every son whom he accepts.

"For I am prepared for the scourges" [Psalm 38:17]. Quite a magnificent expression; as if He were saying, "It was even for this that I was born; that I might suffer." For He was not to be born, but from Adam, to whom the scourge is due. But sinners are in this life sometimes not scourged at all, or are scourged less than their deserts: because the wickedness of their heart is given over as already desperate. Those, however, for whom eternal life is prepared, must needs be scourged in this life: for that sentence is true: "My son, faint not under the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary when you are rebuked of Him." [Proverbs 3:11] "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." [Hebrews 12:6] Let not mine enemies therefore insult over me; let "them not magnify themselves;" and if my Father scourges me, "I am prepared for the scourge;" because there is an inheritance in store for me. You will not submit to the scourge: the inheritance is not bestowed upon you. For "every son" must needs be scourged. So true it is that "every son" is scourged, that He spared not even Him who had no sin. For "I am prepared for the scourges."

Sin made me deserve whipping, he is saying; thus I submit myself to punishment. I long for treatment at your hands, pricked as I am by the pangs of sin.

The third reason is on his own part, namely on the part of the one suffering. First, he sets forth readiness of soul. Second, its cause. He says therefore, "For I am ready for scourges." No one is impatient except about what he endures unwillingly. When, therefore, one is ready to endure, one is not impatient. Two kinds of men should be considered. Some are those who are not scourged here, but are reserved for eternal fire. Ps. 72: "They are not in the labor of men," etc., namely, they are not corrected here. Others are those who are scourged in this world, because God corrects them as sons. Heb. 12: "He scourges every son whom he receives." Gregory: it is a sign of eternal reprobation when God gives no scourge to a man in the world. So also Ambrose refused to lodge in the house of one who had always been in prosperity. And therefore he says, "For I am ready for scourges." First, he sets forth the pain. Second, the cause of the pain. Now it is customary that when someone suffers a severe pain, he endures another pain so as to be freed from a more grievous one: just as when a man endures the extraction of a tooth to be freed from a toothache. And therefore he says, I am ready for scourges, because I have another pain which I wish to cure. And therefore he says, "My pain," namely over my sins, "is before me always." Rom. 9: "Continual sorrow in my heart." Lam. 1: "O all you who pass by the way," etc. And this pain is greater than every other pain: not indeed in sensation, but according to the truth of the matter. Augustine says that all afflictions of the soul are caused by love: a man takes delight in what he loves, and fears the contrary of what he loves, and grieves similarly. Therefore the greater the love, the greater the sorrow over its contrary. But the least charity is the greatest love. Therefore sorrow over sin is the greatest; but it is not felt more, because the sensitive appetite is not moved except by the apprehension of sensible things, unless through the overflow of reason. And hence it is that a man feels more pain over certain other things than over sin; yet according to reason he would rather endure that than pain over sin. The cause of this great pain is sin; and therefore he says:

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].