Psalms 38

A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.

Ps 38:1-8 “David is distressed both in mind and body, forsaken by his friends, and regarded by his foes as one who is cast off for ever. The fire of divine anger burns within him like a fever, and the divine withdrawal as it were rests upon him like darkness. But he fights his way by prayer through this fire and this darkness to the bright confidence of faith. The Psalm, although it is the pouring forth of such elevated and depressed feelings, is nevertheless symmetrically and skilfully laid out.” (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

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 an 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.

Lest anyone think that the road home is easy for the prodigal, David’s testimony (as well as the corresponding experiences of millions) stands as a monument against such foolishness. God does chastise His people when they sin.

Heb 12:5-8

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

It is an act of love, to make the soul so desperate that the sinning saint will expend all of the effort necessary to recover himself so much as he can.

For a man to have the wonderful communion that David had known suddenly cut off is a great agony that only one given completely to Him might know. I have no doubt that many who profess to be Christian never know such times because they were unwilling to plumb the depths of this kind of despair. They had rather cut off the pain than work through it to a restored place with God. I worry about the reality of their conversion.

It is difficult to know if the physical symptoms being described are actual, the result of distress of mind, or are allegorical, describing the agony of his soul. More than likely his distress of mind actually caused his body to be in pain.

It is a remarkable testimony to how badly he longed to be restored. Only True Faith can create such longing, only Spiritual Life can enable such seeking. And, even here in his misery, the Holy Spirit of God was enabling him to press through the awfulness of this time, invisible to David but very real nonetheless.

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. 12 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. 13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. 14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

His suffering was not quietly contained behind a false bravado, he was too far gone for that. Everyone who came into his presence was smitten with the sight of a man who had lost his most valuable asset, his sense of the Presence and Fellowship of God.

It is obvious that the answer of God did not come quickly but extended to such a point that those closest to him began to worry about his sanity and those who were opposed to him had begun to work to unseat him. No help at all came from his companions, even the closest ones to him. It may be, vs 13,14, that he was for the most part unresponsive to any overtures of help from them all.

The only remedy he desired, renewal and repentance, eluded him during this time.

15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. 16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me. 17 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. 18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. 19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. 21 Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

Never did the despair become so bad that he gave up his hope in the Lord his God. Shame on those who claim that the struggles of life caused them to give up their Faith! The Laws of God and the agonies of the Conviction of Sin are given to us to drive us to Him. They are our Schoolmaster “to bring us to Christ.”

These words, no doubt, were thought and spoken during the most intense part of his experience. He was “ready to halt,” to fail, to quit, to crumble, and his enemies were ready to rise up against him. They were also growing in number, people whom he had mentioned at other times, those to whom he had done good.

This Psalm ends differently from many which speak of the answer has having been given already. He is still in the midst of the misery, still crying for help and still in danger of complete collapse. The saint who has sinned ends many of his prayers this way, still in agony, still crying for help, his prayers as yet unanwered.

History, of course, records that he did find Repentance though at a terrible cost.

— June 20, 2020