Psalms 38:5

5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.

Psalms 38:5 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 38:5

My wounds stink, [and] are corrupt
Meaning his sins, which had wounded him, and for which there is no healing but in a wounded Saviour, and by his stripes we are healed, ( Isaiah 53:5 ) ; where the same word is used as here; Christ's black and blue stripes and wounds, as the word signifies, are the healing of ours, both of sins, and of the effects of them; which, to a sensible sinner, are as nauseous and loathsome as an old wound that is festered and corrupt;

because of my foolishness:
as all sin arises from foolishness, which is bound in the hearts of men, and from whence it arises, ( Mark 7:22 ) ; perhaps the psalmist may have respect to his folly with Bathsheba, which had been the occasion of all the distress that is spoken of both before and afterwards.

Psalms 38:5 In-Context

3 There is no soundness in my body because of Your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my sins have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
5 My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.
6 I am bent over and brought low; all day long I go around in mourning.
7 For my loins are full of burning pain, and there is no health in my body.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.