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38. Psalm 38

¹ LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
   or discipline me in your wrath.
² Your arrows have pierced me,
   and your hand has come down on me.
³ Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
   there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
⁴ My guilt has overwhelmed me
   like a burden too heavy to bear.

    ⁵ My wounds fester and are loathsome
   because of my sinful folly.
⁶ I am bowed down and brought very low;
   all day long I go about mourning.
⁷ My back is filled with searing pain;
   there is no health in my body.
⁸ I am feeble and utterly crushed;
   I groan in anguish of heart.

    ⁹ All my longings lie open before you, Lord;
   my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
   even the light has gone from my eyes.
¹¹ My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
   my neighbors stay far away.
¹² Those who want to kill me set their traps,
   those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
   all day long they scheme and lie.

    ¹³ I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
   like the mute, who cannot speak;
¹⁴ I have become like one who does not hear,
   whose mouth can offer no reply.
¹⁵ LORD, I wait for you;
   you will answer, Lord my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them gloat
   or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

    ¹⁷ For I am about to fall,
   and my pain is ever with me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity;
   I am troubled by my sin.
¹⁹ Many have become my enemies without cause One Dead Sea Scrolls manuscript; Masoretic Text my vigorous enemies;
   those who hate me without reason are numerous.
²⁰ Those who repay my good with evil
   lodge accusations against me,
   though I seek only to do what is good.

    ²¹ LORD, do not forsake me;
   do not be far from me, my God.
²² Come quickly to help me,
   my Lord and my Savior.

15 For on thee, O Jehovah! do I wait. David here shows the source of his patience. It consisted in this, that, trusting in the grace of God, he overcame all the temptations of the world. And certainly, the mind of man will never be framed to gentleness and meekness, nor will he be able to subdue his passions, until he has learned never to give up hope. The Psalmist, at the same time, adds, that he cherished his hope by constant meditation, lest he should yield to despair. And this is the only means of our perseverance, when, on the ground of his own promises, with which we are furnished, we appeal to him, yea, rather when setting before our view his fidelity and his constancy in fulfilling what he has promised, we are sureties to ourselves for him. Accordingly, Paul, in Romans 5:4, very properly joins patience to hope and consolation. The repetition of terms in this verse shows, that this holy man was subjected to a severe and arduous conflict. Thou, he says, O Lord! my God, wilt answer me. His language implies, that if God should delay to come to his help, there was reason to fear that he would faint from weariness, or fall into despair, unless, setting this double defense before him, he persevered valiantly in the conflict.

16 For I said, lest they rejoice over me. Here he also confirms his faith and his earnestness in prayer from this consideration, that if he should be forsaken of God, his enemies would triumph. This indignity, on their part, is of no small weight in inducing God to help us; for the wicked, in thus magnifying themselves against us, and indulging in derision, not only make war with our flesh, but also directly assail our faith and endeavor to destroy whatever there is of religion and the fear of God in our hearts. What is the object of all their mockery, but to persuade us that what God has promised is vain and worthless? The Psalmist immediately adds, that it is not without cause that he is struck with the fear that his enemies would rejoice over him, since he had already had experience of their proud boastings. We are taught from this passage, that in proportion as our enemies increase in insolence and cruelty towards us, or, seeing us already overwhelmed by a heavy load of adversities, in their proud disdain trample us under their feet, we ought to cherish the greater hope that God will come to our help.