Psalms
Chapter 38
Lord, Do Not Rebuke Me in Anger
O Lord, rebuke me not in your rage, punish me not in your fury.
Your arrows have struck me; your hand has come down heavily upon me.
Your anger has spared no part of my body; my sin gives no peace to my bones.
For my transgressions overwhelm me; they weigh me down, like an unbearable load.
My wounds stink and fester within me, the outcome of my sinful folly.
Stooped and bowed down, I go about mourning all day.
My loins burn; my flesh is diseased;
my body, worn out and utterly crushed; I groan in pain and anguish of heart.
All my longing, O Lord, is known to you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart pounds as my strength ebbs; even the light has deserted my eyes.
My friends avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far off.
Those who seek my life lay snares for me; those who wish to hurt me speak of my ruin, and plot against me all day long.
But like a deaf-mute, I neither hear nor open my mouth.
I am like one whose ears hear not and whose mouth has no answer.
For I put my trust in you, O Lord; you will answer for me, Lord God.
I pray, “Don’t let them gloat over me, nor take advantage of my helplessness when my foot slips.”
For I am about to fall, my pain is ever with me.
I confess my transgression; I repent of my sin.
Many are my foes; many are those who hate me for no reason;
those, who pay me evil for good, and harass me because I seek good.
Forsake me not, O Lord, stay not far from me, O my God.
Come quickly to help me, O Lord, my savior!
Commentaries
38
This psalm requires no translation of ideas. Sometimes, one wonders if commentators are too quick to interpret terms like those used here in their literal sense. Is a specific illness troubling the psalmist? Or is it perhaps a deeper ailment of the heart? In any case, the sense of sin weighs heavily; the relief can only come from the Lord. The tone of distress is remarkably comforting. We often assume that the sacred writers of Israel were pure and saintly, but behind these words lies an awareness of serious and repeated sin. If so, the lesson for us is more pointed: the greater the sin, the greater the need for confidence—not of course, in ourselves but in God.
This psalm has become the prayer of all sinners, as we see in 1 John 1:8-9. Many sick people and sinners have found God amid their sins or their suffering. When illness or adversity strikes, we start to reflect. We then realize that the greatest misfortune is to be a sinner.