381 O Lord, be not bitter with me in your wrath; let not your hand be on me in the heat of your passion. 2 For your arrows have gone into my flesh, and I am crushed under the weight of your hand. 3 My flesh is wasted because of your wrath; and there is no peace in my bones because of my sin. 4 For my crimes have gone over my head; they are like a great weight which is more than my strength. 5 My wounds are poisoned and evil-smelling, because of my foolish behaviour. 6 I am troubled, I am made low; I go weeping all the day. 7 For my body is full of burning; all my flesh is unhealthy. 8 I am feeble and crushed down; I gave a cry like a lion because of the grief in my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before you; my sorrow is not kept secret from you. 10 My heart goes out in pain, my strength is wasting away; as for the light of my eyes, it is gone from me. 11 My lovers and my friends keep away from my disease; my relations keep far away.
12 Those who have a desire to take my life put nets for me; those who are designing my destruction say evil things against me, all the day their minds are full of deceit.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 38:1-12
Commentary on Psalm 38:1-11
(Read Psalm 38:1-11)
Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. The guilt of sin is a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it. It will be a burden to the sinners themselves, when they are heavy-laden under it, or a burden of ruin, when it sinks them to hell. When we perceive our true condition, the Good Physician will be valued, sought, and obeyed. Yet many let their wounds rankle, because they delay to go to their merciful Friend. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. The groanings which cannot be uttered, are not hid from Him that searches the heart, and knows the mind of the Spirit. David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agonies, of Christ on his cross, suffering and deserted.
Commentary on Psalm 38:12-22
(Read Psalm 38:12-22)
Wicked men hate goodness, even when they benefit by it. David, in the complaints he makes of his enemies, seems to refer to Christ. But our enemies do us real mischief only when they drive us from God and our duty. The true believer's trouble will be made useful; he will learn to wait for his God, and will not seek relief from the world or himself. The less we notice the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds. David's troubles were the chastisement and the consequence of his transgressions, whilst Christ suffered for our sins and ours only. What right can a sinner have to yield to impatience or anger, when mercifully corrected for his sins? David was very sensible of the present workings of corruption in him. Good men, by setting their sorrow continually before them, have been ready to fall; but by setting God always before them, they have kept their standing. If we are truly penitent for sin, that will make us patient under affliction. Nothing goes nearer to the heart of a believer when in affliction, than to be under the apprehension of God's deserting him; nor does any thing come more feelingly from his heart than this prayer, "Be not far from me." The Lord will hasten to help those who trust in him as their salvation.