Psalms of David

What do we know about Psalm 38?

It is a quasi-acrostic poem. The 22 verses correspond to one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, but the poem itself does not follow the alphabet. This links it to the previous psalm, Psalm 37. which is acrostic.
It is a lament. Many Biblical laments have 22 verses such as Lamentations 1 to 4 which are acrostic and Lamentations 5 which is not.
It is a Chaistic psalm. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a form used in nearly all of the psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. I have separated the psalm below to show the themes, A – D and the repetition D’ – A’.
It could be a Messianic psalm.

-o0o-

Psalms in Book 1 (Psalms 1 to 41) are primarily personal songs, so I will look at how they apply to us personally. Social and communal aspects of life and work do not come in until the later books of Psalms.

The books of Psalms are roughly themed like this:

Book 1: Psalms 1 – 41: God is beside us.
Book 2: Psalms 42 – 72: God goes before us
Book 3: Psalms 73 – 89: God is all around us.
Book 4: Psalms 90 – 106: God is above us.
Book 5: Psalms 107 – 150: God is among us.

A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.

A. A prayer to God

38 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath!

B. Consequences of sin

² For your arrows have sunk into me,
    and your hand has come down on me.
³ There is no soundness in my flesh
    because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
    because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;
    like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
⁵ My wounds stink and fester
    because of my foolishness,
⁶ I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
    all the day I go about mourning.
⁷ For my sides are filled with burning,
    and there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and crushed;
    I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

C. An appeal to God

⁹ O Lord, all my longing is before you;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
    and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

D. Deserted by freinds during an increase in enemies

¹¹ My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
    and my nearest kin stand far off.
¹² Those who seek my life lay their snares;
    those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
    and meditate treachery all day long.

D’. David does not complain

¹³ But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
    like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ I have become like a man who does not hear,
    and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

C’. God will hear

¹⁵ But for you, O Lord, do I wait;
    it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
¹⁶ For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
    who boast against me when my foot slips!”

B’. Consequences of sin

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,
    and my pain is ever before me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity;
    I am sorry for my sin.
¹⁹ But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
    and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
²⁰ Those who render me evil for good
    accuse me because I follow after good.

A’. A prayer to God

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord!
    O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
    O Lord, my salvation!

Psalm 38 ESVUK (Words in italics are not part of the psalm but are added to show the poetic structure.)

At first sight, David believes that God is causing him to fail and is ill as a result. He has a sense of guilt that is too heavy to bear and is sinking him into despair. But Biblical laments are often prophetic. I’m going to stick my neck out and say that this is a redemption song.

I left a question mark as to whether Psalm 38 is messianic, about Jesus, because there are two main camps on this and a lot of opinions between the two. If you are in the camp that says the Messianic Psalms are those that are quoted in the New Testament, then it clearly is not one of them. Others disagree. Psalm 38 talks about innocent suffering and uses the language of sickness, even though it is about physical opposition, though being overstressed can make you ill. This reminds me of Isaiah’s songs, especially Chapter 53, which talks of the people being healed through the suffering of God’s servant. Psalm 38 also has a similar structure to Psalms 22 and 88. On the other hand in Psalm 38 David does not refer to himself as God’s anointed, Messiah in Hebrew. However, it does include the Hebrew word satan in verse 20. Those who repay our good acts with evil ones are doing the work of Satan. Because there is a supernatural element here this is more than just a lament. I believe that Psalm 38 is Messianic and is about God’s mercy and forgiveness.

This redemption song tells of David struggling, weighed down by his own sin, but it reminds us of Jesus who was weighed down by the weight of all of our sins. God takes sin seriously. What David does when feeling crushed is shown in the second half of the song gives us a pattern of how we can deal with our feelings of being weighed down by our own unworthiness.

Firstly, in the D’ section, he does not accuse. He stays silent. “It wasn’t my fault,” is not heard in this song, there is no blame shifting.

Secondly, in the C’ section, he waits. God will act in God’s time, there is no call for instant retribution here, it is God who will act, there must be no vendettas. Sometimes the hardest thing about having faith is waiting, there is a certainty here that God will act.

The B’ section is where confession comes in. The order is important, repentance and confession come out of faith not the other way round. We confess our sins, being an Anglican that is in every church service. Trusting in God means falling on the mercy of God. God can be trusted.

The A’ section is a restating of the A section. David is still physically in the same situation, still waiting for God to act. But through not shifting the blame, trusting God and confessing there is a difference in tone, a certainty that God will act. “Do not rebuke me,” has changed to “Make haste to help me.”

Psalm 38 is about forgiveness and mercy. But it is also about grace. David does not deserve God’s help, but he believes that God will help. May we have some of the faith of David.

---

< Psalm 37 | Psalm 38 | Psalm 39 >
< Previous | Psalms of David | Next >