Psalms 38:8

8 I am faint and broken beyond measure; I roar by reason of the agitation of my heart.

Psalms 38:8 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 38:8

I am feeble
Both in body, natural strength being weakened by the affliction, and dried up like a potsherd by the heat of the distemper; and in soul, being weak in the exercise of faith and other graces. The word is used of Jacob, fainting at and disbelieving the news of his son Joseph being alive, ( Genesis 45:26 ) ;

and sore broken;
in his constitution with the disease, and in his mind with trouble; especially for his sin, and under a sense of the divine displeasure; his bones were broken by his fall, and his heart broken with a sense of sin, ( Psalms 51:8 Psalms 51:17 ) ;

I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart:
which was like the raging of the sea, as the word F12 rendered disquietness here signifies; and to which the uneasiness and restlessness of wicked men is sometimes compared, ( Isaiah 5:30 ) ( 57:20 ) ; and so great was the disquietude of this good man under affliction, and sense of sin and wrath, that he had no rest night nor day; and could not forbear crying out, in a very hideous manner, like the roaring of a lion.


FOOTNOTES:

F12 (tmhnm) "prae fremitu", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus, so Piscator, Cocceius, Michaelis.

Psalms 38:8 In-Context

6 I am depressed; I am bowed down beyond measure; I go mourning all the day.
7 For my loins are full of burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am faint and broken beyond measure; I roar by reason of the agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my sighing is not hid from thee.
10 My heart throbbeth, my strength hath left me; and the light of mine eyes, it also is no more with me.
The Darby Translation is in the public domain.