Psalm 38

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:33:34utc

The Adam Clarke Commentary

The same commentary continues with: "Several conjectures have been made relative to the occasion on which this Psalm was composed, and the most likely is that it was in reference to some severe affliction which David had after his illicit commerce with Bath-sheba; but of what nature we are left to conjecture from the third, fifth, and seventh verses. Whatever it was, he deeply repents for it, asks pardon, and earnestly entreats support from God."

The keyword in the title is the Hebrew word zakar, which, according to Strongs Definitions means, "to remember." The KJV translates it in some instances with "to burn incense." Some translations, therefore, use the words "sacrifice of commemoration."^¹ If we take zakar to refer to a sacrifice, it is not clear which sacrifice is meant. When we go to the book of Leviticus,² we come, probably, closest if we look at the peace offerings or fellowship offerings, which consisted of two categories, those that were sacrifices of praise, and those that accompanied vows. The text of this psalm corresponds more to the votive sacrifices. George Knight in his Commentary on the Psalm suggests that the title "For the Memorial Offering" would be better translated with "To bring to remembrance." He draws a line to the celebration of the Lord's Supper. This too would put the theme against the background of a sacrifice.

Returning to the thought of the Fellowship Offering, we find it hard to rank this psalm under the votive offerings, and it could hardly be classified as a hymn of praise. The fellowship offering expresses man's response to the realization of the fact that his sins have been atoned for, and that God allowed another creature to die in man's place. In this psalm, David wrestles intensely with his sin and its consequences. It seems as if the sin offering and the guilt offering which precede the fellowship offering in their psychological sequence, that is from man's viewpoint, have completely faded out of the picture. But if we leave the sacrifice out of it, we lower this psalm to a long drawn out complaint in which a sick man describes his symptoms. Knight suggests a theory that the sickness was a kind of venereal disease, such as syphilis or gonorrhea. It seems, however, that we do not get very far in understanding what the Holy Spirit has to say to us in this psalm if we concentrate upon the symptoms described. The diagnosis of the sickness is, probably, the least important part of this psalm.

Knight divides this psalm into three "cries for help," which are worth mentioning here: The first goes from the verses 1-8; the second from 9-14, and the third from 15-22. The best approach to the meaning of this psalm is, probably, to see in it the struggle of a man who has brought the prescribed sacrifices of sin offering for the sins he has committed, the guilt offering for the sinful nature he finds within him, and the fellowship offering for his relationship with God, but for whom, nevertheless, the reality of it all has never really penetrated his soul. He is like Isaiah who, in spite of the fact that an animal sacrifice was burning in his behalf upon the altar in the temple, cried out: "Woe to me, I am ruined…,"³ until the live coal taken from the altar touched his lips. We could write above this psalm Isaiah's words: "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows."⁴

It is the fact that David was obviously ill when he wrote this psalm that makes the matter of his guilt so urgent. God takes David's struggle seriously, otherwise this poem would never have been incorporated in the Book of Psalms. If we stick to Knight's division of the psalm, we can say that the first section deals mainly with David's physical condition (the verses 1-8), the section part emphasizes the emotional aspect in his relationship with his fellow human beings (the verses 9-14), and in the third segment (the verses 15-22), the spiritual aspect, the effect of his affliction upon his relationship with God, is described. This division is not airtight, because different thoughts are here and there interspersed. It could be that this kind of confusion of thoughts is introduced on purpose, to make more real the fact that we are dealing with a sick person.

It is a known fact that our physical condition influences our spiritual life, and certainly has its bearing upon our emotions. In general, we function better on a social and spiritual level if we feel fit in body. We seldom realize that this in itself is a symptom of the topsy-turvy world in which we live. If sin had never entered our world, our spirit would rule supremely over our body; now, the influence of our spirit upon our physical condition is very limited, even in the best instances. It is important that we are aware of this problem. C. S. Lewis' famous pronouncement is certainly applicable here: "God whispers to us in our pleasures, He speaks to us in our conscience, but He shouts to us in our pain."

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What God shouts to us is always related to the fact that our body rules over our spirit, and that this situation is abnormal. This is an important feature in the matter of faith healing.

I. The illness vs. 1-8

The opening verse of this psalm is identical with Psalm Six, but this psalm is less messianic than the other. David calls the symptoms of his illness "God's arrows." "For your arrows have pierced me," and he acknowledges that his suffering is the result of his iniquity. He sees a connection between certain sins he committed and the illness that afflicts him. We can only accept Knight's suggestion that the sickness is venereal if we do not accept the subscript "A psalm of David" as part of the inspired Scripture, and that we do not want to do. So we will leave the symptoms described here for what they are. It is tempting to think that David was wrong in believing that his sickness was a punishment for a particular sin, and to say that sickness is not always a chastisement for sin. But the only thing we can say is that sickness is not always related to particular sins we commit, and we know that some that in some cases there is a connection. There are certainly sicknesses that are the result of a sinful lifestyle. The fact that some people go through life with psychological guilt complexes, and that some sicknesses are psychosomatic does not change the facts.

When David says: "O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath," he leaves the door open for grace, but he admits that he has merited what befell him. In the life of every Christian there ought to be the realization that God is not unjust if He leaves us to rot in our sins. We should never abandon this truth completely. Everyone who looks at his life in the light of God will condemn himself. The seriousness of our acts, and the reality of who we are will dawn upon us, if God lets His light shine upon us. Yet, there is hope in David's words. He is aware that God is gracious and compassionate, and that we seldom receive the punishment we merit. The Hebrew word that is translated here with "discipline" is yacar, which Strongs defines as: "to chastise, literally (with blows) or figuratively (with words); hence, to instruct." The idea is that God educates us, that there is a goal He wants us to reach. That is why James says: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."⁶ It is obvious that David has not reached that point yet in this psalm. His main problem is that he does not see any perspective in his circumstances. He cannot see that God would allow pain in his life because He loves David. He sees only a God who is incensed, and beats him because He is angry.

The only person who ever received the full brunt of God's anger in His suffering is Jesus Christ. We may, therefore, see in these verses a shadow of the suffering of our Lord. It would have been a chronological impossibility for David to see his pain in this light. David wrestles with the fact that, after bringing the sacrifice for his sin and for his guilt, he ought to have a realization of forgiveness and of a clean conscience, but he does not. This may be the essence of his pain. He thinks he understands the "why" of his pain, but there is something that does not click. He asks himself the question: "Why does this happen to me, who am a child of God?" The Jewish rabbi Harold Kushner asks this question in his book Why do bad Things happen to good People? It is terrible to come to the conclusion that we do not fall under the category of "Good People." Kushner, however, does not come to this conclusion. He rather believes that the premature death of his son is due to the fact that God may be compassionate, but He is not omnipotent.

God created our body in such a way that pain is a warning signal. Because of the fall in sin, however, this system has gotten out of hand, and that which should have been a help to warn us against danger turned against us. Yet, God uses our pain as a means to draw us to Himself. In some cases we may be comforted by the fact that the pain we suffer is nothing compared to what Jesus went through at the cross. There is no pain God did not feel Himself in the body of His Son.

David did the only thing a man can do in his pain: he called to YHWH. He may not have understood what happened to him, but he did what we all have to do when we suffer. As long as we live on earth, the problem of pain will be with us, and we have to keep on looking for an answer. There are no easy answers. We should, however, never come to the conclusion that God wants to torture us. He may allow us to feel pain, but that is something different.

II. Human relations vs. 9-14

Just as riches and poverty influence human relations, so do sickness and health. This will vary from one culture to another. In a germ-free society, material possessions wll exercise a stronger power; in a primitive world, a sick person will be ostracized. We see in the animal world that the stronger animals kill off the weak and the sick among them. This tendency is not completely absent in our Western world either, certainly not in a capitalistic society. A socialist government will try to avert this, at least outwardly. But only in the fellowship of Christ, where the members of the body love one another, is there place for the sick, and where healing is offered. Natural man is always repulsed by sickness. This seems to be David's problem. Only a child of God can demonstrate pure compassion, because the love of Christ compels him.

George Knight comes up with a rather strange interpretation for vs. 9: "All my longings lie open before you." Holding on to the theory of a venereal disease, he translates "longings" with sinful lust, the sexual desire that led to the sickness. It is true that the KJV translates the Hebrew word ta'avah occasionally with "lust,"

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but in Strongs Definitions it is rendered as: "a longing; by implication, a delight (subjectively, satisfaction, objectively, a charm)." If David were really speaking about sinful desires, his brokenness of heart and confession of sin would be rather out of place. It would be as if he would say to God: "This the way I am," without any trace of repentance.

What is intended is, obviously, that David reveals his intimate feelings before the Lord. God knows us through and through. The problem is not that He does not understand our reactions and emotions, but that we do not know ourselves, and that we often do not understand what we do, and why we do it. This is one of the symptoms of a sickness, even if our illnesses are not psychosomatic. The realization that God knows us and loves us, and that, in His love, He shows us who we are in His light, is a vital part of our healing. He knows what we think and feel, and He knows what we really desire in the depth of our being.

Although David uses the words "longings" and "sighing" as poetical parallels, there is, of course an important difference between the two. Longings can be good and harmonious; our sighs are evidence of an unreached goal. At the basis of this is the model of God's character, and our awareness of how much, as people who were created in His image, we have deviated from the original. Sighing is caused by the damage sin has caused in the life of each human being. The fact that David sighs in the presence of God is, in itself, part of his deliverance.

After the description of his emotional suffering, in vs. 9, David comes to the physical aspect in vs. 10. "My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes." "The light of my eyes" may be a poetical expression for David's wife. God called Ezekiel's wife "the delight of your eyes." We read in his prophecy that God says: "Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. … So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died."⁸ It seems safer, though, to take the expression literally.

David feels himself suddenly isolated in his social life. He needs the pity and compassion of his fellow humans for his lot, but he finds himself alone. Our thoughts go to our Lord Jesus Christ. At the deepest point in His emotional life, when He needed the support of His intimate friends, His disciples were asleep. He said to Peter, John, and James: "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Then we read: "Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. 'Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?' he asked Peter."⁹ And when they came to take Him into custody to be crucified, we read: "Then all the disciples deserted him and fled."¹⁰ David experiences here something of this lowest point in the history of man. For us, who live on the other side of the cross, it is possible to fall back upon our Lord's suffering. "The fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, [and] becoming like him in his death,"¹¹ can be the greatest of consolations. For David, this was impossible to know. David speaks of people from whom he expected sympathy, and in vs. 12 he mentions a group of men who see in David's weakened condition an occasion to attack him. "Those who seek my life" may be human beings, but if they are, evil forces from below are manipulating them. The first thing we have to bear in mind in the Kingdom of Heaven is that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."¹² And those spiritual forces will fall upon us, especially when they find us physically weakened.

The verses 13 and 14 may also point to Christ's suffering. In the words of Isaiah: "He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth."¹³ Thus, our Lord set the example as to how to oppose the Evil One. A. W. Tozer wrote a book I Talk Back to the Devil." The Biblical advise, however, is not to answer him. We are not called upon to defend ourselves; the Holy Spirit, God's lawyer of all lawyers, will take up our defense. By taking this attitude, David places himself upon the basis of victory. Those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb have already conquered Satan. We can, therefore, ignore his accusations.

We called this section "Human Relations." It is obvious that human relations are part of a cosmic relationship involving us and God, against the devil. Our fellowship with God, and the influence Satan exercises upon this world determines the way we live together as human beings.

III. The Spiritual Aspect: Our relationship with God vs. 15-22.

As said before, it is hard to maintain a strict division of this psalm. The thoughts in the different sections run together. But in this last section, hope in God is the main theme. The NIV says: "I wait for you, O LORD," but most of the older versions use the word hope. The KJV, for example, says: "For in thee, O LORD, do I hope." The Hebrew word used here is yachal, which is rendered in Strongs Definitions as: "to wait; by implication, to be patient, hope." In the New Testament "hope" has a deeper meaning than it does in the Old Testament. Paul uses the word "blessed hope" for the Second Coming of Christ. We read: "We wait for the blessed hope-- the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ."¹⁴ In the context of this psalm "hope" pertains to the restoration of everything that had become abnormal through man's fall into sin. "Hope" stands for a new heaven and a new earth, but above all, for seeing the face of God. David may not express this very clearly here, but this is his intent.

David expects an answer from God, not only an answer to his questions, but that God would answer his enemies. God's answers are often quite different from what we expect. God is always full of surprises. In the book of Job, Job puts a series of questions before God, to which he receives no direct answer. When God appears to Job, He speaks about things that were quite different from the questions that occupied Job's mind. Yet, we get the impression that Job considered that all his questions were answered. It appears that God answers the questions we ought to have asked, which are not always the ones we do ask. We often ask the wrong questions, or we do not know what to ask. Seeing God and walking with Him will make most of our questions melt away. "The things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." God answers us in Jesus Christ. He does not give an answer; He is the answer. Once we have learned to ask the right questions, we have become mature. This is what C. S. Lewis means to convey in his book Till We Have Faces. One of the main purposes of our being on earth is that we learn to ask the right questions. The problem is never that God does not know the answers to our questions. The question is not what is being said, either by God or by us. God's answers to David stopped the mouths of his enemies. God's answer is always creative; to David it comes in the form of salvation, healing, and rehabilitation. God's answer to David would completely change the relationship between him and his enemies.

In this psalm, David experiences a tremendous spiritual struggle. Demons are stronger than men. The battle is unmatched, if we are left to ourselves. The devil always wants us to believe that we are alone when we face him. That is the crisis David passes through here; but pass through he does, because of his trust in the Lord. He has visions of what could happen to him, and that makes him afraid. But the assurance that God will not forsake him settles the matter. He also understands that the wall of opposition he faces is the result of pursuing what is good. In a sense, it is always encouraging when the devil takes the trouble to make life hard for us; it is an indication that he considers us to be a threat to him.

The prayer: "Be not far from me, O my God. Come quickly to help me," is a strange mixture of hope and doubt. That is the way we are as human beings, and God does not seem to mind this. The fact that God would be far from us, and that He would have to hurry to help us is anthropomorphism. The omnipresent God is never far, and "come quickly" is a time-bound concept that does not apply to the Eternal One. The paradox finds its basis in our humanity. The Apostle Paul illustrates this beautifully in his address to the philosophers at the Areopagus, when he said: "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us."¹⁵ "He is not far from each one of us," but we can be far from Him, spiritually, and emotionally. Two people can sit next to each other and be miles apart at the same time. It is up to us to approach God. This may be the only reason that God allows pain in our lives: that we would draw nearer to Him.

Changes in our outward circumstances, such as physical healing, or improvement of relationships, are always secondary. The important thing is that we learn to know God as the One who is nigh, as the One who is our salvation. The NIV renders the last phrase with: "O Lord my Savior," but other versions read: "O Lord, my salvation!"¹⁶ The Hebrew word is teshuw`ah, which is defined by Strongs as "rescue." When David calls God, "my salvation" he has reached the goal God had set for him. Compared to this, nothing else in this life has real meaning.

¹ The Dutch NBG uses this. (Bij het gedenkoffer).

² Lev. 3; 7:11-21