Deeper Commentary
Psa 38:1 A Psalm by David, for a memorial- Psalm 38 appears to be David's lament of his bad conscience, some time before he makes his confession of Ps. 51. But he wishes his situation then to be remembered, to be memorialized, perhaps because he perceived that so many sinners remain in that limbo position for too long, and need to move forward from a niggle about sin towards the full repentance which David came to. In the context of the exiles, they needed to also make this move; and the same word for "memorial" is used often of how they were intended to "remember" (Is. 44:21; 46:8,9). "For a memorial" can be rendered "for the memorial offering" [LXX "for the sabbath", referencing some weekly memorial offering?], as if this Psalm was to be recited along with the memorial offering. And the equivalent for us is the breaking of bread. The idea of a memorial is not simply that our memory is jogged; it is also that God will be reminded, or 'rememberanced', hence those who pray are called God's rememberancers. He is put in mind of our plea for help in dealing with our sins and their consequences.
Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in Your wrath, neither chasten me in Your hot
displeasure-
"Rebuke" is the word translated "chasten" in the promises of 2 Sam. 7:14: "If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men". Nathan's words to David in 2 Sam. 12 were clearly enough this "rebuke". We enquire whether David asks to be rebuked but not in God's wrath; or whether he asks overall not to be rebuked. We note his identical request in Ps. 6:1. The Hebrew word is sometimes translated 'to correct' (Hab. 1:12 "You established them for correction"), even 'to plead with'. David knows he has sinned, but fears the rebuke. Yet elsewhere in the Psalms he urges men to accept the rebuke / chastening / correction of Yahweh. The parallel seems to be in the way that David never rebuked his son Adonijah ["His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why have you done so?", 1 Kings 1:6]. This Psalm 38 features David crying out because of physical and mental affliction; and in later Psalms he says that this is how he was before he confessed his sin. So this Psalm is written before the rebuke from Nathan. David didn't want it, because he suspected it would involve judgment of his "house" or family. He knew he had 'committed iniquity' but didn't want the threatened 'chastening with the rod of men'. And therefore he delayed his confession of 'committing iniquity'. He said "I will [in future] declare my iniquity" (:18). He didn't do it immediately because he feared the consequences, and here in Ps. 38:1 he appears to be trying to cut a deal with God ahead of his intended confession, asking for the 'rebuke' not to come. But he is eventually overpowered by Nathan's rebuke and confesses- and receives the 'chastening' / rebuke he so feared. He acted in many ways like a child. Wanting to confess but fearing the promised consequence. We marvel at the detailed picture of David's psychological state; we could call it his psycho-spiritual state. For there is in every man such a struggle to confess sin as intended.
David clearly knows he's sinned and God is angry, and he has been struck with some illness- although as discussed later, this could be a stress induced episode rather than some Divine stroke. He begs for salvation from consequences, but there appears no focus upon his confession of sin and true repentance.
These words however reflect David's great fear of the
consequences of his sin. I suggest on Ps. 51 that his strong urge for his
sin to be entirely obliterated is because he feared taking the promised
consequences for it. He was obsessed with building up his "house"
physically and in terms of his family, disregarding the promises to him in
2 Sam. 7 that his Messianic seed was the one who would have and build an
eternal house. So the consequences threatened- that evil would arise from
his own house and that his house would thereby be judged and self
destroyed- were almost a fate worse than death for him. His prayer
here is that of Ps. 6:1 "Rebuke me not in Your anger, nor discipline me in
Your wrath". He didn't want Divine discipline, and reflects this by
refusing to discipline his sons. Especially Adonijah: "His father had not
displeased him at any time in saying, Why have you done so?" (1 Kings
1:6). This desire for consequence of sin to be removed is a major theme
with David: "Consider my affliction [i.e. remove it] and forgive all my
sins" (Ps. 25:18); "Remove Your scourge away from me" (Ps. 39:10);
"Innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so
that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My
heart has failed me. Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me. Hurry to help me,
Yahweh" (Ps. 40:12,13). He asks for help and deliverance from the
consequences, more than forgiveness. David clearly associates his sins with the
consequences for them; and therefore, as discussed on Ps. 51, he seems to
want the total eradication of his sin because he wants to be free of the
consequences. Especially as those consequences meant that his "house" was
not going to be as he planned. In the bigger picture, God was trying to
get David to refocus away from any hope that his "house" would be the
eternal fulfilment of God's promises, and rather onto the promised Messiah
whose "house" would be eternal. So the judgments were not God lashing out
in anger, but rather seeking to educate David. His final words possibly
reflect how he did on one level 'get there': "Most certainly my house is
not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire,
although He doesn’t make it grow", i.e. right now in my lifetime (2 Sam.
23:5).
Psa 38:2 For Your arrows have pierced me, Your hand presses hard on me-
Soon after the sin with Bathsheba, David was struck with an apparently
terminal disease. He realized this was from God's hand.
His sense of being
"pierced" means that the language becomes relevant to the piercing of the
Lord Jesus on the cross. The Bathsheba psalms are so often those most
relevant to the crucifixion experience; because there the Lord achieved
total identity with sinful, condemned humanity. He felt exactly as David
did- even though He was personally sinless. Solomon seems to comment upon
God's arrows piercing or 'entering' (s.w.) David when he wrote that "A
rebuke enters deeper into one who has understanding than a hundred lashes
into a fool" (Prov. 17:10). True as this is, Solomon was all the same
justifying his father's response to the rebuke of Nathan and the Divine
arrows which 'entered deep' to David.
This pressing of God's hand is what he mentions as happening before he confessed his sin before Nathan: "When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy on me, my strength was dried" (Ps. 32:3,4). We get the impression David is saying 'Enough judgment and consequences!'. We have the same in Ps. 39:8-12: "Deliver me from all my transgressions. Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish [but his sins obviously made him a reproach and laughing stock, and God had said "by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme" 2 Sam. 12:4]... Remove Your scourge away from me; I am overcome by the blow of Your hand [as if God's hand was too heavy on him, in his view]. When You rebuke and correct man for iniquity, You consume his days like a moth... Hear my prayer, Yahweh". David's repeated requests to have his prayer heard suggests he was praying for the consequences to be taken away. He had already been assured of forgiveness. So what is he now pestering God to give him? He had forgiveness, he had assurance of final salvation in the promises of 2 Sam. 7. But he wanted more- he wanted a great life now free of consequence. All this suggests to me that he still failed to really register the depth of his sins, despite his repentance. For it's quite possible for man to repent and yet still not appreciate the dimensions of what he has done to others.
Psa 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation,
neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin- The same
language is used in the description of sinful Judah in Is. 1:6. David is
used as a role model for their repentance. "Soundness" is
literally shalom. David's lack of peace with God resulted in his
body feeling physically not at peace and out of step with itself. David
apparently had it in mind to make a full confession of sin (:18 "I will
declare my iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin") but it seems he doesn't
quite get to it because he is distracted by the fear of consequence and
immediate suffering ("But my enemies are vigorous", :19). He could have
fast tracked all this personal pain and suffering by making the
confession.
Psa 38:4 For my sins have gone over my head; as a heavy burden, they are
too heavy for me-
It should be noted that the sin of adultery is not highlighted in Nathan's rebuke of David, but rather that David had "killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife". This is twice emphasized in 12:9,10. This is not to say that the sin of weakness, of the moment, was irrelevant in God's sight. But the emphasis on how he had taken Bathsheba as his wife hints that this had been his long term intention, further suggesting that his sin with her was the end result of much prior meditation. This further illuminates the way in which David speaks of his sin with Bathsheba as if it comprised a whole multitude of other sins: "I acknowledged my sin (singular) unto You... I said, I will confess my transgressions (plural)" (Ps. 32:5 cp. 38:3,4,18). Ps. 25:7 also occurs in a Bathsheba context: "Remember not the sins of my youth..."; as if facing up to his sin with Bathsheba made David face up to sins of years ago, possibly also in a sexual context.
Psalm 38 speaks of how the guilt of his sin weighed so heavily upon him
(Ps. 38:4 NIV), whereas Ps. 32:5 ["I acknowledged my sin to You, I didn’t
hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh, and
You forgave the iniquity of my sin"] describes how the guilt of sin has now
been lifted from him- implying that he wrote Ps. 38 some time after the
sin, but before repenting properly. The point is, he didn’t crash
completely, he didn’t turn away from God in totality- he was still writing
Psalms at the time!
We must bear the burden either of our sins (Am. 2:13; Is. 58:6; Ps. 38:4) or of the Lord's cross (Gal. 6:4 etc.). We will experience either the spiritual warfare of the striving saint (Rom. 7:15-25), or the lusts of the flesh warring in our members, eating us up with the insatiability of sin (James 4:1; Ez. 16:28,29). Either we will mourn now in repentance (Lk. 6:25; the Greek for "mourn" is often in a repentance context), or we will mourn at the judgment (Mt. 8:12 etc.).
This complaint that his judgment is too heavy for him to bear is very much the spirit of Cain, complaining his punishment greater than he could bear and asking Him to lighten it, which God did (Gen. 4:13). LXX "my transgressions have gone over mine head: they have pressed heavily upon me like a weighty burden" connects with the reference to God's hand likewise "pressing" upon David (:2). His sins press down upon him, and so does God's hand- and David asks God to remove His hand. He fails to perceive that the problem is with his sin, which he needs to seriously deal with instead of bemoaning the results of it. The Lord Jesus clearly alludes to this in inviting men who are heavy laden to come to Him, because He will make the burden light. He thus presents every man as David.
Psa 38:5 My wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness-
David clearly directly connected his illness with his sin. There was
likely no medical truth in this; but God worked through his
misunderstanding, just as He did through similar misunderstandings about
demons in the first century. We may well enquire whether "foolishness" is
not rather a mild term for what he had done (also used in Ps. 69:5);
surely "wickedness" would have been more appropriate. "Foolishness" is
often used in Proverbs to refer to unwisdom and even silliness. But what
David did surely requires more extreme language. We note that David has
been quick to use a wide range of harsh adjectives and ideas in describing
the wickedness of others like Saul who had tried to murder the innocent.
And David had actually done so.
Psa 38:6 I am pained-
"My iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too
heavy for me" (Ps. 38:4) was spoken before David's frank confession of Ps.
51. It therefore reveals how David felt swamped by his sense of sin;
whilst recognizing it, he couldn't come to terms with explicitly
confessing it. Every child of God must have come somewhere near to this
feeling. The flesh can deceive us that just
recognizing
our sin somewhere in our consciousness is all that is needed. The lesson
taught by David is that there is the need for frank and total confession;
otherwise, the bad conscience will only deepen. "I am pained" (Ps. 38:6) uses Hebrew which is elsewhere translated
'to commit iniquity' (Ps. 106:6), 'to be crooked'. This is David recognizing 'I
am a sinner'- but still this did not
help him. Specific, uninhibited confession was still not forthcoming.
And bowed down greatly- The word can mean 'to humble'; and this is the required response to sin. David was representative of Israel in their sinfulness (s.w. Ps. 107:39); they were intended to follow his path of penitence.
I go mourning all day long- Evidence of a psychological and
emotional breakdown. David's mourning is stressed in his Psalms
regarding Bathsheba. But his lack of mourning for the child who died is
also strongly noted in the record. I suggest his mourning therefore was in
order to beg God to relent of His judgments against him- he was worried
about himself and not others whom he had hurt. He had been forgiven so the relenting he
sought was, again, from the consequences of his sins. It was customary for
the accused to appear before a court in mourning and David feels he is
still before God's court and can somehow change the verdict a bit.
“Whosoever comes before this court of the Sanhedrin to take his trial,
presents himself in the guise of humility and fear, appealing to your
compassion, with hair neglected, and clad in black garments.” (Josephus, Antiquities
of the Jews, 14.9.3).
Psa 38:7 For my waist is filled with burning- AV "a loathsome
disease". Earlier David had used the word in describing himself as
"lightly esteemed" (1 Sam. 18:23). What had been mere words expressing
theoretical humility were now translated into actual ownership. Our
expressions of humility likewise are brought into reality by God's hand,
often working through our own sins. "Waist" is AV "loins".
Although a different Hebrew word is used, the idea is as in 2 Chron. 6:9;
David had been promised a son that would come from his "loins". "Of the
fruit of your body will I set upon your throne" (Ps. 132:11). But now his
body has no soundness in it, and his loins / waist area / private parts
are "filled with a loathsome disease" (AV) / "burning". Again we see
David's concern that the promises to him of a "house" and eternal seed
would not be immediately fulfilled. But this was all a misunderstanding by
him of the promises; for they concerned a future Messianic seed who would
be God's Son, who would build a house of people for God's Name. So much of
David's concern about the consequences of his sin relates to his effort
not to relinquish his preferred interpretation of God's words of promise-
rather than focus quietly and gratefully upon the future work of the Lord
Jesus, the promised seed.
There is no soundness in my body- The word used for Judah's woeful condition in Is. 1:6. It should be noted that David/Bathsheba language is used to describe Israel's spiritually fallen state (e.g. Ps. 38:7 = Is. 1:6; Ps. 51:7 = Is. 1:18; Ps. 65:2 = Is. 40:15). David recognized this in Ps. 51:17, where he likens his own state to that of Zion, which also needed to be revived by God's mercy. As David's sin is likened to the killing of a lamb (2 Sam. 12:4), so the Jews killed Jesus. The troubles which therefore came upon his kingdom have certain similarities with the events of AD67-70. They were also repeated in the Nazi Holocaust, and will yet be. Israel are yet to fully repent after the pattern of David.
Psa 38:8 I am faint and severely bruised; I have groaned by reason of the
anguish of my heart- "I have roared
by reason of the disquietness (bad conscience) of my heart" (Ps. 38:8 AV).
This helps us locate this Psalm at the time when he "kept
silence" in not confessing his sin, before Nathan's rebuke. For "When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through
my roaring"
(Ps. 32:3) must refer to David's roaring to God in prayer (Ps.22:1) before
David's repentance, whilst keeping silent about his sin. In the same
context he laments: "I have roared by reason of the disquietness (bad
conscience) of my heart" (Ps. 38:8 AV). His very separation from God made him
pray to God the more, pleading for some form of spiritual healing. But
without realistic confession of sin, such prayer was shouting out words
into the darkness. David found that attempting to have a relationship with
God in such bad conscience only adds to the pain.
So many of the phrases in the Bathsheba penitential psalms are
used elsewhere about the Lord's sufferings. "I am faint and sore bruised"
(R.V., as Ps. 51:8) is Is. 53:5,10 about the Lord's sufferings; David's
silence before his accusers (:14) is also that of the Lord in His
sufferings (Is. 53:7). So in His sufferings for sin on the cross,
the Lord was totally identified with sinners and even felt as we do in
sin's separation from God. Thus He felt forsaken even though only sinners
are forsaken by God (:20).
Psa 38:9 Lord, all my desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from
You- All his desire was for forgiveness and salvation; and this was
granted. At the end of his life (Ps. 37:25), David reflected that if we
"delight yourself in Yahweh... He will give you the desires of your heart"
(Ps. 37:4). The desires of the heart is paralleled in Psalm 37
with inheriting the land eternally. If this is our greatest desire, we
shall receive it. This is a sublime truth. All those who truly love the
Lord's appearing as the master passion of their lives- will be acceptable
to Him (2 Tim. 4:8). This is why the hope of the Kingdom can never be a
mere hobby, but is by its very nature the all consuming passion of human
life.
Psa 38:10 My heart throbs, my strength fails me. As for the light of my
eyes, it has also left me- This could refer to heart problems and
failing eyesight, perhaps suggesting David had suffered a stroke soon
after sinning with Bathsheba. The language however seems tailored by him
to allude to Job, whose sufferings he often feels he fellowships. And this
is how we should be- seeing precedent in Biblical characters for all our
experiences. And yet as ever, we wonder at David's
continued allusion to Job- an innocent man falsely accused of sin, who
suffered despite his innocence. David likes to think of himself this way,
but actually he was absolutely guilty, unlike Job.
Psa 38:11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague, my kinsmen
stand far away-
It
is possible to infer that David and
Bathsheba experienced a falling out of love immediately after the
incident- as with many cases of adultery and fornication. In contrast to
their previous close contact, she had to
send to
tell him that she was pregnant. In addition, before David's repentance he
appears to have suffered with some kind of serious disease soon after it:
"My loins are filled with a loathsome (venereal?) disease: and there is
no soundness in my flesh" (:7 AV). It is even possible that David became
impotent as a result of this; for we get the impression that from this
point onwards he took no other wives, he had no more children, and even
the fail safe cure for hypothermia didn't seem to mean much to David (1
Kings 1:1-4). Therefore "My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my
sore" (Ps. 38:11) must refer to some kind of venereal disease. The Hebrew
word translated "lovers" definitely refers to carnal love rather than
that of friendship. It may be that an intensive plural is being used here-
in which case it means 'my one great lover', i.e. Bathsheba. We have
commented earlier how Amnon's obsessive love for Tamar was an echo of
David's relationship with Bathsheba. There may be a parallel in the way in
which afterwards, "Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred
wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he loved her"
(2 Sam. 13:15). All this would have been yet another aspect of the
emotional trauma which David went through at this time; to fall out of
love with the woman for which he had almost thrown away his eternal
salvation. And in addition to this, all Israel would have got to know
about what had happened- with a fair degree of exaggeration thrown in, we
can be sure.
The fact that the Father and Son right now accept us should strengthen against the pain of rejection both from the world we preach to, and from our brethren. Thus in Ps. 38:11-15 David laments at how rejected he is by all, and yet takes strength from God’s acceptance of him. Our conviction that we are accepted of Him should enable us to overcome the waves of rejection that inevitably accompany the preaching of the Gospel, and which discourage so many would-be preachers. We simply must believe that we will be there. David so often looks forward to the day of judgment with eagerness. David's enthusiasm for the coming of judgment reflected his understanding that it will be a day of the display of Divine mercy.
The Bathsheba Psalms all have special relevance to the Lord on the
cross. His lovers, friends and kinsmen stood far off from Him, perhaps in
a literal sense, perhaps far away from understanding Him.
"All his acquaintances stood afar off" (Lk. 23:49). If Mary wasn't
initially at the cross, John's connection between the dividing of the
clothes and her being there would suggest that she had made the clothes.
In any case, the four women at the cross are surely set up against the
four soldiers there- who gambled over the clothes. Perhaps the other women
had also had some input into the Lord’s clothing.
But "from my plague" uses the word specially used of leprosy (Lev. 13:3 etc.). His friends treat him as a leper, standing within sight but at a distance. His "close ones" (LXX "nearest of kin") were now no longer close but stand "afar off". This would suggest that leprosy was not Hansen's disease but a specific judgment by God- from which David was healed and cleansed by hyssop (Ps. 51). His "friends and neighbours" (LXX) would surely refer to his neighbour Bathsheba and her family; and that would also be the reference of MT "lovers and friends".
It seems from Psalm 32 that David's illness was in the period between the sin regarding Uriah, and his repentance: "While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”, and you forgave the guilt of my sin". It would be fair to assume that he was struck with leprosy [or something that felt like it] at this time. We wonder therefore why he didn't repent earlier, when this was the obvious thing to do. The delay in repentance is significant- despite the prodding of his conscience by his illness and leprosy. The delay in such circumstances reflects David's proud stubbornness and refusal to openly repent. Even when Nathan prods his conscience with the parable, David initially still doesn't make the obvious connection to himself, and considers it a real situation rather than a parable aimed at himself. In all this we see his major problem with accepting personal sinfulness.
Looking at all the symptoms described in this Psalm, it seems we have here an episode of psychotic depression. David may well have felt this as being "leprosy" even though it may not have been: depressed mood (:6), despair and anxiety (:8), tachycardia [heart throbbing], anergy, anhedonia (:10); and his deafness and muteness in :13,14 would refer to "sensory inattention, inability to concentrate, with depressive mutism or psychomotor retardation".
Psa 38:12 They also who seek after my life lay snares, those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long- It seems that there were plots against David immediately after his sin with Bathsheba- although the historical records don't appear to mention them. Bathsheba's grandfather, Ahithophel, later sided with Absalom against David. But the language here is relevant to Saul's persecution. David perhaps rewrote a wilderness Psalm with relevance to his later situation, perceiving that circumstances repeat in the life of the believer, and what he had learnt from one situation was to be applied to later ones in our lives.
Psa 38:13 But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t
open his mouth- This could refer to how David didn't hear or see the
plans to overthrow him- because he didn't want to. Just as Samson chose
not to perceive in reality that Delilah was going to betray him despite
knowing she would, and as the Lord knew Judas would betray Him, but
trusted him as His own familiar friend.
David likewise must have known the deceit of Ahithophel and Absalom; but
he chose not to see it, for love’s sake. See on Ps.
41:9.
Or we can read this as meaning that he didn't pay attention to the bad things said about him at this time. Maybe he was alluding to how Saul, when likewise criticized by “sons of belial”, “was as though he had been deaf” to their words (1 Sam. 10:27 RVmg.). He saw the good in Saul, he remembered that one good example he showed- and it empowered him to follow it.
Psa 38:14 Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no
reproofs- See on Ps. 51:4.
We
along with all the righteous ought to “shout for joy” that David really
was forgiven (Ps. 32:11)- for there is such hope for us now. David is our
example. And yet the intensity of David’s repentance must be ours. He hung
his head as one in whose mouth there were no more arguments, hoping only
in the Lord’s grace (Ps. 38:14 RVmg.). In
describing his feelings after the Bathsheba experience, David comments
that he was "as a man that hears not [the taunts of others against him],
and in whose mouth are no rebukes" (Ps. 38:14 AV).
The
pre-Bathsheba Psalms present David as a man who was so easily hurt by the
taunts of others, and whose mouth was indeed full of rebuke of others.
Possibly David later bitterly resented the rebuke of Nathan. And this was why he refused to rebuke his son Adonijah: “His father had never rebuked him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’ He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom” (1 Kings 1:6). Possibly this was because he didn't appreciate the seriousness of sin. The usual line of interpretation is of course that David felt unable to rebuke anyone because of his sin, and he became willfully naive and deaf to political intrigue against him, and generally uncritical of others: "I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs" (Ps. 38:14). That would be an understandable psychological reaction to his sin and the consequences.
Psa 38:15 For in You, Yahweh, do I hope. You will answer, Lord my God-
David's Psalms written before the sin with Bathsheba reflect a profound
sense of God's grace. Now this theoretical awareness is tested in
practice. David knows he is guilty of death under the Mosaic law; there is
no sacrifice prescribed for his gross sins. And yet he appears so positive
of being answered by God. It's wonderful how God uses sin and all manner
of human dysfunction in order to help us actualize our previously
theoretical understandings of His love and grace.
Psa 38:16 For I said, Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves
over me when my foot slips- David recognized that his steps had slid (Ps. 38:16; 94:18). But at the
end of his life, he reflects that the steps of the righteous don't slip
(Ps. 37:25,31). Perhaps David came to minimize his earlier slipping,
especially in the matter of Bathsheba, in his old age. Or perhaps he was
able to look back and see that despite temporary sliding of steps,
ultimately the steps of the righteous don't slide in the overall path of
their life.
Psa 38:17 For I am ready to fall; my pain is continually before me- "In mine adversity (Heb. tsela, limping) they rejoiced" (Ps. 35:15), "I am ready to halt (tsela) and my sorrow (repentance) is continually before me" (Ps. 38:17) uses a word which occurs elsewhere mainly in the context of Jacob limping after the night of wrestling (Gen. 32:31). This is one of many of David’s allusions to Jacob.
Many of the Psalms understood by the Jews as relevant to the Nazi holocaust are Bathsheba Psalms. “Out of the depths” they cried like David; and at the entrance to Bergen-Belsen it stands written: “My sorrow is continually before me” (Ps. 38:17), in recognition of having received punishment for sin [note how these kind of plaques contain no trace of hatred or calling for Divine retribution upon the persecutors]. See on 2 Cor. 7:7-11.
David's genuine sorrow for his sin during this period is still a
powerful exhortation to us, whose every sin must be repented of and
forgiven after the pattern of David's repentance. The extent
of his sorrow is heavily stressed: "My sorrow is continually before
me... my sin is ever before me" (Ps. 38:17; 51:3). How much sorrow is there
for our sins? Have the years mellowed our terror at sin? Things which once
appalled us can so easily become sins of habit, the real sorrow we once
experienced on committing them can be watered down to just a vague tickle
of conscience. The significance of David's sin and repentance being held
up as an example of our own should be a good antidote against such
problems. The chilling thing is, despite all this awareness of his sin
during the nine month period, when he was told the parable by Nathan- he
just didn’t see it. Every part of the story had such relevant application,
but David was blinded to it. He knew he had sinned, but this was only on a
surface level. “Thou art the man” was still news to him. We have commented
that “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not
forget thy commandments” (Ps. 119:176) was likely written by David with
his mind on his follies relating to Bathsheba. The point, is in the ‘lost’
state, he still remembered the commandments. He didn’t turn his back on
God; and neither do we, in our semi-spiritual unspirituality. We can
likewise be blinded to true, personal understanding of God’s message
because of our refusal to truly repent. Corinth and the Hebrews
could not understand the strong meet of the word because they were
divided; their divisiveness hindered their understanding. Husbands and
wives find their prayers hindered unless they are themselves united.
Psa 38:18 For I will declare my iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin-
We can read this as David resolving to in the future declare his
sin to God. But he is distracted in the next verse by his fear of the
consequences for his sin, and it was this which delayed his repentance.
Or we can read this as meaning that David through his Psalms was publically declaring his sin. "For I will declare mine
iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin" (Ps. 38:17,18) may mean
that David was so swamped by the trauma of the sin and the distancing from
God which he was experiencing, that he could only vaguely resolve that
some time in the future he would get down to a serious prayer session, in
which he would analyze and confess his sin. But instead he goes on
desperately pleading "O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help
me...". Our own sins so often gives us a nagging conscience; not because
we are consciously trying to pretend that we never sinned, but because we
will not make the effort to overcome the circumstances which stop us
making the mental effort necessary to put ourselves straight with God.
"Declare" is the word used for David's declaration of praise after his forgiveness concerning Bathsheba (Ps. 51:15). The "truth" which David declared after his forgiveness (Ps. 30:9) was the ultimate truth, of God's forgiveness of him by grace; a 'declaring' of his sin (Ps. 38:18 s.w.) and God's forgiveness.
Psa 38:19 But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without
reason are numerous-
David apparently had it in mind to make a full confession of sin (:18 "I will declare my iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin") but it seems he doesn't quite get to it because he is distracted by the fear of consequence and immediate suffering ("But my enemies are vigorous", :19).
"Without reason" reflects again David's deep
sense of injustice (see on Ps. 35:7). He uses the word for "false
witness", as if they were breaking one of the ten commandments; and he
uses it often, heaping condemnation upon any who dare lie / bear false
witness about him (Ps. 38:19; 52:3; 63:11; 101:7; 119:29,69,86,118; 120:2;
144:8,11). And yet David lied and deceived in order to get Uriah killed so
that he could take his wife for himself. Surely reflection upon that sin
made him realize that his zeal to condemn dishonesty was at best
misplaced; to lament it is one thing, but David was to be taught that he
had himself done the very thing he so condemned. We sense that he has not
yet come to full recognition of the enormity of his sin; for to complain
that his sufferings are "without reason" is inappropriate given what he
did. The implication is that he feels that their hatred is based
on misconception and misrepresentation. He appears to have no real sense
of the dimensions of his sin and how the punishments are just and
appropriate. This is finally true of all who lament that their sufferings
are unfair.
Psa 38:20 They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me,
because I follow what is good- As noted on :19, we sense that
David's
sense of outrage and injustice, insisting he has done "good", is
inappropriate considering the enormity of his sin. He still has to come to
a fullness of repentance; and indeed it could be argued from some of the
post Bathsheba Psalms that he perhaps failed to have the depth of
repentance he might have done, or at least rationalized his behaviour over
the years. What clearly irks David is his sense of
injustice done to him, and their ingratitude. David appears to just not
get it, that he has sinned and is spared death only by grace. His sense is
"Those repaying evil instead of goodness act as adversaries (against me)
because of my pursuing good". But David... you are suffering for your sin
of presumption, murder of your own faithful men and adultery. And lying
through your teeth about it all. But you say that you suffer because of
your doing good? We have no alternative than to conclude David really
doesn't register the full dimensions of his sins. I doubt he ever did, but
still God forgave him. Just as we are to accept the "Sorry about all
that..." from people who clearly have no real conception of what damage
their actions caused- or just don't wish to try to fully perceive it.
Throughout this Psalm, and many of David's penitential Psalms
[are they really that, we ask...], the language without doubt alludes to
Job. The descriptions of the physical and mental sufferings are all taken
from Job. David clearly saw Job as his hero- a righteous man who suffered
not because he had sinned, and who lost his wife and friends and standing
in society because of it. But this wasn't the case with David- he was
suffering a very light form of judgment for behaviour which deserved
instant death. But he likes to see himself as Job the innocent sufferer...
What should David have done, instead of just desperately trying
to remove the consequences of his sin and bemoaning the unfairness of his
punishment? Surely he should have resigned as leader of
the army and as king, asked Nathan and Gad to ask God to find another
king, resign from being king, and live in humble awe at the promises made
to him. And perhaps focus on his music ministry and fulfilling his promise
to teach others about morality. But he clung on to power as men tend to.
And it was all a misery for him and all concerned.
David is not alone in chafing under the consequences of sin. We are often
so hurt by the misbehaviour of others toward us but this is because we
fail to appreciate that we ought to be dead, and are alive by grace alone.
Likewise we like David may repent but without appreciating the huge
dimensions of our sins and their impact upon others. Or others may
apologize to us for sinning against us, yet we know they have absolutely
no idea of the damage caused. Yet God accepted David's repentance. He
accepts ours and that of others who sinned against us...
Psa 38:21 Don’t forsake me, Yahweh. My God, don’t be far from me-
Psa 38:22 Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation-
Psalm 38 appears to be David's lament of his bad conscience, some time
before he makes his confession of Ps. 51. Psalm 38 shows that David
certainly had some faith in God before his confession: "Forsake me
not... make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation" (Ps. 38:22). Yet
it is possible to intensely believe in the mercy of God, His ability to
save, and yet not have the real faith- which is to believe that this mercy
and salvation really can still apply to us personally. Thus he prays "Make me to hear joy and gladness" (Ps. 51:8). His introspective world of
sin and self-hate found joy a paradigm impossible to relate to; as with
mercy and salvation, he knew spiritual joy existed, but seemed unable to
make this apply to him personally.
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