Salmi 38

1 Salmo di Davide. Per far ricordare. O Eterno, non mi correggere nella tua ira, e non castigarmi nel tuo cruccio!

2 Poiché le tue saette si sono confitte in me, e la tua mano m’è calata addosso.

3 Non v’è nulla d’intatto nella mia carne a cagion della tua ira; non v’è requie per le mie ossa a cagion del mio peccato.

4 Poiché le mie iniquità sorpassano il mio capo; son come un grave carico, troppo pesante per me.

5 Le mie piaghe son fetide e purulenti per la mia follia.

6 Io son tutto curvo e abbattuto, vo attorno tuttodì vestito a bruno.

7 Poiché i miei fianchi son pieni d’infiammazione, e non v’è nulla d’intatto nella mia carne.

8 Son tutto fiacco e rotto; io ruggisco per il fremito del mio cuore.

9 Signore, ogni mio desiderio è nel tuo cospetto, e i miei sospiri non ti son nascosti.

10 Il mio cuore palpita, la mia forza mi lascia, ed anche la luce de’ miei occhi m’è venuta meno.

11 I miei amici, i miei compagni stan lontani dalla mia piaga, e i miei prossimi si fermano da lungi.

12 Quelli che cercan la mia vita mi tendono reti, e quelli che procurano il mio male proferiscon cose maligne e tutto il giorno meditano frodi.

13 Ma io, come un sordo, non odo: son come un muto che non apre la bocca.

14 Son come un uomo che non ascolta, e nella cui bocca non è replica di sorta.

15 Poiché, in te io spero, o Eterno; tu risponderai, o Signore, Iddio mio!

16 Io ho detto: Non si rallegrino di me; e quando il mio piè vacilla, non s’innalzino superbi contro a me.

17 Perché io sto per cadere, e il mio dolore è del continuo davanti a me.

18 Io confesso la mia iniquità, e sono angosciato per il mio peccato.

19 Ma quelli che senza motivo mi sono nemici sono forti, quelli che m’odiano a torto son moltiplicati.

20 Anche quelli che mi rendon male per bene sono miei avversari, perché seguo il bene.

21 O Eterno, non abbandonarmi; Dio mio, non allontanarti da me;

22 affrettati in mio aiuto, o Signore, mia salvezza!

Salmi 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

God's displeasure at sin. (1-11) The psalmist's sufferings and prayers. (12-22)

Verses 1-11 Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. The guilt of sin is a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it. It will be a burden to the sinners themselves, when they are heavy-laden under it, or a burden of ruin, when it sinks them to hell. When we perceive our true condition, the Good Physician will be valued, sought, and obeyed. Yet many let their wounds rankle, because they delay to go to their merciful Friend. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. The groanings which cannot be uttered, are not hid from Him that searches the heart, and knows the mind of the Spirit. David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agonies, of Christ on his cross, suffering and deserted.

Verses 12-22 Wicked men hate goodness, even when they benefit by it. David, in the complaints he makes of his enemies, seems to refer to Christ. But our enemies do us real mischief only when they drive us from God and our duty. The true believer's trouble will be made useful; he will learn to wait for his God, and will not seek relief from the world or himself. The less we notice the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds. David's troubles were the chastisement and the consequence of his transgressions, whilst Christ suffered for our sins and ours only. What right can a sinner have to yield to impatience or anger, when mercifully corrected for his sins? David was very sensible of the present workings of corruption in him. Good men, by setting their sorrow continually before them, have been ready to fall; but by setting God always before them, they have kept their standing. If we are truly penitent for sin, that will make us patient under affliction. Nothing goes nearer to the heart of a believer when in affliction, than to be under the apprehension of God's deserting him; nor does any thing come more feelingly from his heart than this prayer, "Be not far from me." The Lord will hasten to help those who trust in him as their salvation.

Chapter Summary

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.