Psalms 38:1

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.²For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. ³There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. ⁴For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear. ⁵My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. ⁶I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning. ⁷For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body. ⁸I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. ⁹O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You. ¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

- Title This deeply penitential Psalm is supposed to have been composed by David under some grievous affliction, either bodily or mental, or both, after his illicit intercourse with Bathsheba.

to bring: Psalms 70:1,*title

Cross-References

Genesis 38:2
There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.

Genesis 38:3
So she conceived and gave birth to a son, and Judah named him Er.

Joshua 12:15
the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one;

Joshua 15:35
Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

Judges 4:18
Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, "Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid." So he went into her tent, and she covered him with a blanket.

1 Samuel 22:1
So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there.

2 Samuel 23:13
At harvest time, three of the thirty chief men went down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a company of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

2 Kings 4:8
One day Elisha went to Shunem, and a prominent woman who lived there persuaded him to have a meal. So whenever he would pass by, he would stop there to eat.

Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding."

Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure,.... This and the following clause are the same as in Psalms 6:1, only instead of wrath there it is anger;

Psalms 6:1- :.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath - See the notes at Psalms 6:1, where the same language occurs, except in the change of a single Hebrew “word,” that is, “wrath,” though expressing the same idea.

Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure - See the notes at Psalms 6:1. The Hebrew in both is the same, except that in this place the negative particle is omitted, but without affecting the sense. It is not improbable that the one was copied from the other, or that this was composed with the language of the former in the memory. Thus we often use language with which we are familiar, as being well adapted to express our ideas.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

PSALM XXXVIII

David prays God to have mercy upon him, and gives a most

affecting account of his miserable state, 1-10;

complains of his being forsaken by his friends, and cruelly

persecuted by his enemies, 11-16;

confesses his sin; and earnestly implores help, 17-22.

NOTES ON PSALM XXXVIII

The title in the HEBREW states this to be A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. The CHALDEE; "A Psalm of David for a good memorial to Israel." The VULGATE, SEPTUAGINT, and AETHIOPIC: "A Psalm of David, for a commemoration concerning the Sabbath." The ARABIC: "A Psalm in which mention is made of the Sabbath; besides, it is a thanksgiving and a prophecy." Never was a title more misplaced or less expressive of the contents. There is no mention of the Sabbath in it; there is no thanksgiving in it, for it is deeply penitential; and I do not see that it contains any prophecy. The SYRIAC: "A psalm of David, when they said to the Philistine king, Achish, This is David, who killed Goliath; we will not have him to go with us against Saul. Besides, it is a form of confession for us." It does not appear that, out of all the titles, we can gather the true intent of the Psalm.

Several conjectures have been made relative to the occasion on which this Psalm was composed; and the most likely is, that it was in reference to some severe affliction which David had after his illicit commerce with Bath-sheba; but of what nature we are left to conjecture from the third, fifth, and seventh verses. Whatever it was, he deeply repents for it, asks pardon, and earnestly entreats support from God.

Verse Psalms 38:1. O Lord, rebuke me not — He was sensible that he was suffering under the displeasure of God; and he prays that the chastisement may be in mercy, and not in judgment.