Psalm 38: Sickness And Suffering Brought On By Sin Series

December 13, 2014

Tom Lowe

Title: PSALM 38: Sickness and Suffering Brought on by Sin.

A psalm of David.

PART 1 DAVID’S SIN (VERSES 1-4)

Part 2 David’s Suffering (verses 5-8)

Part 3 David’s Sorrow (verses 9-14)

Part 4 David’s Supplication (verses 15-22)

Psalm 38 (KJV)

Part 1: DAVID’S SIN (verses 1-4)

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.

Introduction to Psalm 38

This psalm is David’s confession and concerns physical sickness. David is very ill. His body is wasting away. We have no record of him having this illness, but as we have seen before he thanked God for his healing. The Jews, in their services, used this psalm as part of the general confession of sin on the great Day of Atonement. It was also read as an accompaniment to the presentation of that portion of the cereal offering which, mingled with oil, was burned with incense upon the altar as a “memorial offering.” Its purpose was to bring to the Lord’s remembrance the distress of the sufferer. We have here the lament of one suffering from an acute disease. He views his experience from a standpoint, which, previous to the challenge it met in the book of Job was one of the foundation pillars of the Old Testament that all suffering is punishment for sin. In his severe illness he sees the proof of his own wrongdoing. In his physical distress, he cries out to God. There is a wail of despair that haunts this psalm, but it is David’s despair in himself, not in God.

Not all affliction comes from disobedience (John 9:1-3), but physical troubles can be a consequence of sin—“Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (John 5:14). David doesn’t question the legitimacy of his suffering, for he admitted his sins (38:18), but he wonders why his suffering is so severe. David wanted God to remember him and grant forgiveness and healing.

This is the third of the penitential psalms, of which there are seven (6; 32; 51; 102; 130; 143) and, as you would expect, it has things in common with its predecessors (6, 32). Compare 6:1 with 38:1; 32:3 with 38:3, 8, 13-14; and 32:5 with 38:18. The description here of David’s physical condition is similar to the one in 32, so perhaps both psalms (along with 51) come out of the same situation.

At first glance, we might think this psalm describes the suffering of the Savior if it was not for the references to “my sin (v. 3),” “my iniquities (v. 4),” my foolishness (v. 5),” and “my plague (v. 11).” It might be valid to apply much of the rest of the language to the Lord Jesus because he suffered greatly at the hands of God and of man, but the basic interpretation certainly belongs to David at a time in his life when intense physical and mental distress were admittingly connected to some sin he had committed.

Introduction to Psalm 38, Part 1

We don’t think of the consequences when we start playing with sin. When we first indulge in some evil habit we rarely think of the fearful chains it has in store for us later on. David begins with that, for he was now receiving the due reward of his deeds; his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. He emphasizes two aspects of the consequences of sin; God’s chastening and the heavy burden of sin. We should highlight them in our Bibles and in our memories.

Verses 1 and 2 concern the “Divine anger” (verse 1 is a quotation of Psalm 6:1); verse 3 concerns David’s “Daily Anguish”; and verse 4, “the “Consequence of Sin.”

Commentary

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

Pain hurts, and David wasn’t ashamed to write about it, using a number of vivid images to convey to the Lord and to us the severity of his suffering. Like a loving father, the Lord first rebuked David and then chastened him, both of which are evidence of His love—“My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth” (Proverbs 3:11-12; see also Hebrews 12:1-11). If we don’t listen to the words of His heart, we will have to feel the weight of His hand—“For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me . . .” (Psalm 32:4; see also 39:10-11). One commentator compared “hot displeasure” to “hot bubbling lava” about to erupt.