Psalms 38:1-6

1 Take a deep breath, God; calm down - don't be so hasty with your punishing rod.
2 Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood; my backside smarts from your caning.
3 I've lost twenty pounds in two months because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks because of my sin.
4 I'm swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt.
5 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I've lived so badly.
6 And now I'm flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night.

Psalms 38:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 38

\\<>\\. This psalm was composed by David under some sore affliction, and when in great distress of mind by reason of sin, perhaps his sin with Bathsheba; and was written as a memorial of his sense of sin, of his great afflictions, and deliverance from them; and therefore is said to be "to bring to remembrance", or to refresh his memory with the said things. Kimchi and Ben Melech think the psalm was made for the sake of such as are in distress, to put them in mind and teach them how to pray. The Targum calls the psalm, ``a good remembrance concerning Israel;'' and Jarchi says it was to remember the distress of Israel before the Lord, and that it is said with respect to all Israel; though others think the word "lehazcir" is the name of a psalm tune; and Aben Ezra was of opinion that it was the first word of some pleasant poem. The Septuagint version adds, ``concerning the sabbath,'' as if it was wrote to put persons in mind of that day; whereas there is nothing in the whole psalm that has any such tendency.

Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.