Chapter Thirty-Eight

The psalm was designated for performance by Jeduthun, one of the leaders of the choir at David’s time. The psalm was written by David. From its close similarity in content with Ps 37, it can be considered as written for the same reason and at the same time as the first, Ps 37, that is, at the beginning of Absalom’s uprising, when together with the awareness of his sin before God David could expect ruin from his enemies.

Lord, I will keep and have kept silence before my wicked enemies. But this silence caused a focusing of thought on my position; I feared: should not my life end in the near future? (2-6). I see the insignificance of man before You, Lord, and my hope is only in You (7-8). Forgive my iniquities and save me from my enemies. Stop punishing me with Your rebukes, but hear my cry for mercy, do not punish me with misfortunes until the coming of death, but put an end to them (9-14).

Psalm 38:2. I said: I will watch my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep guard over my mouth, while the wicked one is before me. Psalm 38:3. I was mute and silent, and refrained even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up. David, stricken by illness (see Ps 37), which he regarded as a deserved consequence of his sin, resolves not to answer all the unjust rebukes that his enemies brought against him (see Ps 37:13) “while the wicked one is before me,” while the anger of God, which permits the dominion of the wicked over him, does not cease. David, in submission to Divine Providence, resolves to be silent even when he could speak of the “good” that he had done and which his enemies forgot, who sought to find only evil in him.

Psalm 38:4. My heart grew hot within me; in my thoughts a fire kindled; I began to speak with my tongue: “My heart grew hot,” “in my thoughts a fire kindled”—David was tormented by burning, restless fears concerning the outcome of his illness.

Psalm 38:5. Tell me, Lord, my end and the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what my lifetime is. Psalm 38:6. Behold, You have made my days a span, and my lifetime is nothing before You. Surely all those living are but vanity. Psalm 38:7. Surely man walks about like a phantom; in vain he busies himself, he gathers and knows not who will have it. David’s awareness of his sin was so deep, the illness so strong, that he was convinced of his imminent death. Evidently, there remained to him in the way of life a “span,” the width of a hand, that is, about seven centimeters. David means by this expression that he has only a negligible number of days left to live. The entire duration of human life before God is absolute nothing; it is like a phantom, a shadow quickly vanishing, and all the activity of man, directed toward acquiring and establishing his own good, is vain, useless and pitiful. In this sermon about the vanity of life David pronounced condemnation of his past activity: he found nothing valuable in it, and therefore he looks with fear at the outcome of his life.

Psalm 38:8. And now what do I wait for, Lord? My hope is in You. What else, Lord, but rejection can I expect from You at my end? I am aware of my sin and guilt before You, but I cannot atone for it because of my speedy death; therefore all my hope is in You, Your mercy toward me and Your forbearance.

Psalm 38:9. From all my iniquities deliver me; do not hand me over to the scorn of the fool. Forgive me my iniquities, cleanse me of them, and do not give the wicked (“fool”) to triumph over me.

Psalm 38:10. I became mute; I do not open my mouth; because You have done this. Psalm 38:11. Turn away from me Your blows; I am perishing from the beating of Your hand. David depicts his complete submission to the will of God and to the sufferings sent to him.

Psalm 38:12. If with rebukes You chastise a man for his transgression, then his beauty will waste away like a moth. Surely every man is vanity! “The beauty of man will waste away from God’s rebukes.” By God’s rebukes are understood not only rebukes by word, but also the sending upon a man of external punishments according to his sins. A man sins constantly before God and by his behavior is capable of arousing His strong anger. If God were to relate to man only as His strict Judge, then no one of men would stand before His justice and all would perish.

Psalm 38:13. Hear, Lord, my prayer and give ear to my cry; be not silent to my tears, for I am a sojourner with You and a stranger, as all my fathers were. Mercy and forbearance from God preserve man, and for this forbearance toward himself David prays to Him. “For I am a sojourner with You and a stranger.” Earthly life of man is a journey, that is, it is temporal. The true life begins after the end of earthly life. As a sojourner, each man is subject to dangers from his sinful passions and attachments to earthly interests leading him astray on his path. From God are needed for man guidance on this path and forbearance toward the weaknesses of the sojourner. Such guidance David found in his misfortunes and the illness he was experiencing, which revealed to him his guilt. But for the correction of the path, David had enough of instructive guidance alone: he needed forbearance and mercy from God.

Psalm 38:14. Depart from me, that I may be refreshed, before I go away and am no more. David prays to God for this mercy: “Depart from me, that I may be refreshed,” that is, do not kill me in my illness, end my sufferings and thereby give me the possibility to “be refreshed,” to care for my moral regeneration and the expiation of my sin. This prayer of David is identical with the prayer of Job (Job 16:6).