Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 38:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 38:2. Thine arrows stick fast in me — This no doubt, refers to the acute pains which he endured; each appearing to his feeling as if an arrow were shot into his body.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 38-39 The cries of the sick

The psalmist David felt that sometimes punishment for his sins took the form of sickness (e.g. Psalms 6:0) or opposition from those who envied or hated him (e.g. Psalms 25:0). Both elements appear again in the prayer of Psalms 38:0, which, being a confession of sin, was suitable to be offered with certain sacrifices.

As the suffering David cries to God for mercy, he admits that, because of his sin, he deserves what he has got (38:1-4). He vividly describes the sickness, sores and pain that he has to endure (5-7), but his inner suffering is much greater. It leaves him crushed and repentant before God (8-10). Friends forsake him and enemies plot against him (11-12), but he bears their slanders as if he cannot hear them and cannot reply to them (13-14). He can only leave the matter in God’s hands and trust that his downfall will give his enemies no cause to gloat over him or dishonour God (15-17). Although he has confessed his sins, his enemies still persecute him. He prays that God will not leave him alone in his hour of grief (18-22).

Psalms 39:0 views sickness in a different context from the previous psalm. As the psalmist looks back on his sickness, he asserts that he did not want to complain, in case he gave the wicked an excuse for dishonouring God. In the end, he could restrain himself no longer (39:1-3). His illness made him see how short and uncertain life is (4-6). He now sees this as all the more reason why he should trust in God and seek his forgiveness. He does not want to be mocked as one whose faith leaves him with fear and uncertainty in the face of death (7-8).

In view of all he has been through, the psalmist now asks for relief from his sufferings. The lesson God has taught him is that he should not place too high a value on the temporary things of life (9-11). He sees himself as a traveller, as a passing guest, and prays that his divine host will treat him with fitting kindness in the few days of life that remain (12-13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE ILLNESS DESCRIBED

"O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath; Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation; Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities have gone over my head: As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds are loathsome and corrupt, Because of my foolishness. I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with burning; And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am faint and sore bruised: I have groaned by reason of the disquietude of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; And my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me: As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me."

Practically all of the scholars whose works are available to this student understand these verses to be a description of a very loathsome disease that had overcome David; but, as stated in the introduction to the chapter, we find it very difficult to accept this interpretation. There is no Biblical record whatever (aside from this passage) that recounts any such illness of David as that which appears here. Furthermore, there are definite statements in these ten verses that, by no stretch of imagination, can be literal.

"God's arrows, and God's hand pressing sorely upon David" (Psalms 38:2), his sins piled up above his head (the figure is that of a drowning man) (Psalms 38:4), how could this be literal? There is nothing literal about such statements. Then why must the rest of the paragraph be construed as the literal description of some disgusting bodily disease? Furthermore, what disease ever fit such a description as that which is found here?

This alleged disease was `total muscle fatigue' and `rotten bones'(Psalms 38:3), `stinking wounds' (Psalms 38:5) `arthritic pain that bent him over' (Psalms 38:6) `burning pains in the kidneys,' (Note: In the Hebrew perspective, the loins always meant, `the seat of the emotions'; and this statement is obviously figurative.), `fainting' and `bruises all over him,' (Psalms 38:8), `total loss of all strength,' `rapid palpitation of the heart,' and `total blindness,' (10)." It certainly takes a good imagination to see this as a description of any kind of a disease. Entirely too much is included here to fit that explanation.

"What a horrible creature man appears to be in his own conscience when his depravity and vileness are fully exposed by the searching eyes of God."Charles Haddon Spurgeon, p. 184.

It is the view of this writer that we have here a figurative description of the terrible mental anguish, emotional despair, oppressive sense of guilt, and mortal fear of David that his sins would result in God's rejection of him and the consequent triumph over him of his bitter enemies.

Rawlinson noted that David's fear here was a triple threat: "His mind is racked by a sense of God's displeasure (Psalms 38:1-2), by grief at the desertion of his friends (Psalms 38:11), and by fear of the triumph over him of his enemies (Psalms 38:12; Psalms 38:19-20)."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 297.

"My wounds are loathsome… I am pained" Jamieson agreed that these verses apply to David's `mental anguish.'Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary, p. 358.

"I have groaned, etc." Addis declared that the Hebrew here means, "I have cried louder than the roaring of a lion."W. E. Addis, p. 278. Delitzsch pointed out the spiritual import of this passage, writing that, "The loud wail is only the utterance of the pain that is raging in his heart; it is the outward expression of the ceaseless inward groaning."F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-B, p. 22.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For thine arrows stick fast in me - See the notes at Job 6:4. The word rendered “stick fast” - נחת nâchath - means properly to go or come down; to descend; and the literal idea here would be, “thine arrows come down upon me.” It is not so much the idea of their “sticking fast” when in the wound or flesh; it is that they come down upon one, and pierce him. The meaning is, that he was afflicted “as if” God had wounded him with arrows - arrows which pierced deep in his flesh. Compare the notes at Psalms 45:5. The allusion is to the disease with which he was afflicted.

And thy hand presseth me sore - The same word is used here which in the former part of the verse is rendered “stick fast.” The idea is, that the hand of God had “descended” or “come down” upon him, prostrating his strength, and laying him on a bed of pain.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.For thy arrows go down in me. He shows that he was constrained by dire necessity to ask an alleviation of his misery; for he was crushed under the weight of the burden which he sustained. This rule is always to be observed in our prayers — to keep God’s promises present to our view. But God has promised that he will chastise his servants, not according to their deserts, but as they are able to bear. This is the reason why the saints so often speak of their own weakness, when they are severely oppressed with affliction. David very properly describes the malady under which he labored, by the terms, the arrows and the hand, or the chastisement of God. Had he not been persuaded that it was God who thus afflicted him, he could never have been brought to seek from him deliverance from his affliction. We know that the great majority of men are blinded under the judgments of God, and imagine that they are entirely the events of chance; and scarcely one in a hundred discerns in them the hand of God. But, in his sickness, as in all his other adversities, David views the hand of God lifted up to punish him for his sins. And certainly, the man who estimates his affliction only by the feeling of pain which it produces, and views it in no other light, differs nothing from the beasts of the field. As every chastisement of God should remind us of his judgment, the true wisdom of the saints, as the prophet declares,

“to look to the hand of him who smiteth.”— (Isaiah 9:13)

The pronoun thy is therefore emphatic. David’s words are, as if he had said, I have not to do with a mortal man, who can shoot his arrows with a force only in proportion to his own strength, but I have to do with God, who can discharge the arrows that come from his hand with a force altogether overwhelming.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 38:1-22

Psalms 38:1-22 . This is read on Yom Kippur. Now David, through some sin, and he doesn't tell us what, became very sick. And this psalm is occasion by this great sickness that David had because of some sin that he committed.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in your hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness ( Psalms 38:1-5 ).

Now just what it was, maybe a venereal disease or something that David is experiencing here. But he said that,

I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart pants, my strength fails: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends they stand aloof from my sores; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life they are laying traps for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man and I opened not my mouth. Thus I was as a man that hears not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slips, and they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are my adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation ( Psalms 38:6-22 ).

So David is in a bad shape because of his sin. A loathsome horrible stinking disease. It has caused his friends to shun him and his enemies to try to wipe him out at this point. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David viewed his present suffering as an indication that God was very angry with him (cf. Psalms 6:1). He pictured God shooting arrows at him as though God were his enemy in battle and as pressing down on him with His cosmic hand.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. God’s discipline 38:1-12

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 38

In this individual lament psalm, which has been called "the penitent’s plea," [Note: Ironside, p. 222.] David expressed penitence that he had sinned against God and had thereby incurred His discipline. This discipline came in the form of opposition from enemies that the psalmist asked God to remove.

The title "memorial" (NASB) or "petition" (NIV) literally means: "to bring to remembrance." It also occurs in the title of Psalms 70.

"Since with God to remember is to act, this word speaks of laying before Him a situation that cries out for His help." [Note: Kidner, p. 153.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For thine arrows stick fast in me,.... Meaning either words with which as a father the Lord rebuked him; and which were sharp and cutting, entered into him and abode with him, and gave him much pain and uneasiness; and by which he concluded that his rebukes were in wrath and hot displeasure; such as those in 2 Samuel 12:11; so the words of men are compared to arrows, Psalms 57:4 or outward afflictions, attended with inward trouble of soul; for as judgments are the arrows of God, such as famine, pestilence, c. Ezekiel 5:16

Deuteronomy 32:21 so the chastening dispensations of Providence, under which the people of God themselves are, are so called, because they oftentimes come swiftly, suddenly, and at unawares, and are very pungent and distressing; and sometimes stick fast and continue long, by reason of which they are inwardly wounded, and conceive of God as sorely displeased with them; see Job 6:4;

and thy hand presseth me sore; the afflicting hand of God, which lay heavy upon him; and is a mighty hand when laid on such worms as mortal sinful men are, who cannot bear up under it, unless they have divine supports; see Job 19:21. This is by some supposed to be some bodily disease inflicted on him; some have thought of the leprosy, which was a stroke from the hand of God; but this is not likely, since he must have been deposed and shut up; the Jews indeed say e that he was a leper six months, and that the divine Presence was taken from him; a late learned man f thinks it was the smallpox, from the unsoundness of his flesh, the soreness of the disease, the stench of it, temporary blindness, and his friends standing aloof from him; though perhaps no other than affliction of mired for sin, comparable to the disease described, is meant.

e In R. Obadiah in loc. f De Laney's Life of King David, vol. 2. p. 146.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A psalm of David to bring to remembrance.

      1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.   2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.   3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.   4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.   5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.   6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.   7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.   8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.   9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.   10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.   11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

      The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a psalm to bring to remembrance; the 70th psalm, which was likewise penned in a day of affliction, is so entitled. It is designed, 1. To bring to his own remembrance. We will suppose it penned when he was sick and in pain, and then it teaches us that times of sickness are times to bring to remembrance, to bring the sin to remembrance, for which God contended with us, to awaken our consciences to deal faithfully and plainly with us, and set our sins in order before us, for our humiliation. In a day of adversity consider. Or we may suppose it penned after his recovery, but designed as a record of the convictions he was under and the workings of his heart when he was in affliction, that upon every review of this psalm he might call to mind the good impressions then made upon him and make a fresh improvement of them. To the same purport was the writing of Hezekiah when he had been sick. 2. To put others in mind of the same things which he was himself mindful of, and to teach them what to think and what to say when they are sick and in affliction; let them think as he did, and speak as he did.

      I. He deprecates the wrath of God and his displeasure in his affliction (Psalms 38:1; Psalms 38:1): O Lord! rebuke me not in thy wrath. With this same petition he began another prayer for the visitation of the sick, Psalms 6:1. This was most upon his heart, and should be most upon ours when we are in affliction, that, however God rebukes and chastens us, it may not be in wrath and displeasure, for that will be wormwood and gall in the affliction and misery. Those that would escape the wrath of God must pray against that more than any outward affliction, and be content to bear any outward affliction while it comes from, and consists with, the love of God.

      II. He bitterly laments the impressions of God's displeasure upon his soul (Psalms 38:2; Psalms 38:2): Thy arrows stick fast in me. Let Job's complaint (Job 7:4; Job 7:4) expound this of David. By the arrows of the Almighty he means the terrors of God, which did set themselves in array against him. He was under a very melancholy frightful apprehension of the wrath of God against him for his sins, and thought he could look for nothing but judgment and fiery indignation to devour him. God's arrows, as they are sure to hit the mark, so they are sure to stick where they hit, to stick fast, till he is pleased to draw them out and to bind up with his comforts the wound he has made with his terrors. This will be the everlasting misery of the damned--the arrows of God's wrath will stick fast in them and the wound will be incurable. "Thy hand, thy heavy hand, presses me sore, and I am ready to sink under it; it not only lies hard upon me, but it lies long; and who knows the power of God's anger, the weight of his hand?" Sometimes God shot his arrows, and stretched forth his hand, for David (Psalms 18:4), but now against him; so uncertain is the continuance of divine comforts, where yet the continuance of divine grace is assured. He complains of God's wrath as that which inflicted the bodily distemper he was under (Psalms 38:3; Psalms 38:3): There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy anger. The bitterness of it, infused in his mind, affected his body; but that was not the worst: it caused the disquietude of his heart, by reason of which he forgot the courage of a soldier, the dignity of a prince, and all the cheerfulness of the sweet psalmist of Israel, and roared terribly, Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger, which shows what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands. The way to keep the heart quiet is to keep ourselves in the love of God and to do nothing to offend him.

      III. He acknowledges his sin to be the procuring provoking cause of all his troubles, and groans more under the load of guilt than any other load, Psalms 38:3; Psalms 38:3. He complains that his flesh had no soundness, his bones had no rest, so great an agitation he was in. "It is because of thy anger; that kindles the fire which burns so fiercely;" but, in the next words, he justifies God herein, and takes all the blame upon himself: "It is because of my sin. I have deserved it, and so have brought it upon myself. My own iniquities do correct me." If our trouble be the fruit of God's anger, we may thank ourselves; it is our sin that is the cause of it. Are we restless? It is sin that makes us so. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. It is sin therefore that this good man complains most of, 1. As a burden, a heavy burden (Psalms 38:4; Psalms 38:4): "My iniquities have gone over my head, as proud waters over a man that is sinking and drowning, or as a heavy burden upon my head, pressing me down more than I am able to bear or to bear up under." Note, Sin is a burden. The power of sin dwelling in us is a weight, Hebrews 12:1. All are clogged with it; it keeps men from soaring upward and pressing forward. All the saints are complaining of it as a body of death they are loaded with, Romans 7:24. The guilt of sin committed by us is a burden, a heavy burden; it is a burden to God (he is pressed under it, Amos 2:13), a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it, Romans 8:21; Romans 8:22. It will, first or last, be a burden to the sinner himself, either a burden of repentance when he is pricked to the heart for it, labours, and is heavy-laden, under it, or a burden of ruin when it sinks him to the lowest hell and will for ever detain him there; it will be a talent of lead upon him, Zechariah 5:8. Sinners are said to bear their iniquity. Threatenings are burdens. 2. As wounds, dangerous wounds (Psalms 38:5; Psalms 38:5): "My wounds stink and are corrupt (as wounds in the body rankle, and fester, and grow foul, for want of being dressed and looked after), and it is through my own foolishness." Sins are wounds (Genesis 4:23), painful mortal wounds. Our wounds by sin are often in a bad condition, no care taken of them, no application made to them, and it is owing to the sinner's foolishness in not confessing sin, Psalms 32:3; Psalms 32:4. A slight sore, neglected, may prove of fatal consequence, and so may a slight sin slighted and left unrepented of.

      IV. He bemoans himself because of his afflictions, and gives ease to his grief by giving vent to it and pouring out his complaint before the Lord.

      1. He was troubled in mind, his conscience was pained, and he had no rest in his own spirit; and a wounded spirit who can bear? He was troubled, or distorted, bowed down greatly, and went mourning all the day long,Psalms 38:6; Psalms 38:6. He was always pensive and melancholy, which made him a burden and terror to himself. His spirit was feeble and sorely broken, and his heart disquieted, Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. Herein David, in his sufferings, was a type of Christ, who, being in his agony, cried out, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. This is a sorer affliction than any other in this world; whatever God is pleased to lay upon us, we have no reason to complain as long as he preserves to us the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences.

      2. He was sick and weak in body; his loins were filled with a loathsome disease, some swelling, or ulcer, or inflammation (some think a plague-sore, such as Hezekiah's boil), and there was no soundness in his flesh, but, like Job, he was all over distempered. See (1.) What vile bodies these are which we carry about with us, what grievous diseases they are liable to, and what an offence and grievance they may soon be made by some diseases to the souls that animate them, as they always are a cloud and clog. (2.) That the bodies both of the greatest and of the best of men have in them the same seeds of diseases that the bodies of others have, and are liable to the same disasters. David himself, though so great a prince and so great a saint, was not exempt from the most grievous diseases: there was no soundness even in his flesh. Probably this was after his sin in the matter of Uriah, and thus did he smart in his flesh for his fleshly lusts. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. He was feeble and sorely broken,Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. His heart panted, and was in a continual palpitation, Psalms 38:10; Psalms 38:10. His strength and limbs failed him. As for the light of his eyes, that had gone from him, either with much weeping or by a defluxion of rheum upon them, or perhaps through the lowness of his spirits and the frequent returns of fainting. Note, Sickness will tame the strongest body and the stoutest spirit. David was famed for his courage and great exploits; and yet, when God contended with him by bodily sickness and the impressions of his wrath upon his mind, his hair is cut, his heart fails him, and he becomes weak as water. Therefore let not the strongman glory in his strength, nor any man set grief at defiance, however it may be thought at a distance.

      3. His friends were unkind to him (Psalms 38:11; Psalms 38:11): My lovers (such as had been merry with him in the day of his mirth) now stand aloof from my sore; they would not sympathize with him in his griefs, nor so much as come within hearing of his complaints, but, like the priest and Levite (Luke 10:31), passed on the other side. Even his kinsmen, that were bound to him by blood and alliance, stood afar off. See what little reason we have to trust in man or to wonder if we disappointed in our expectations of kindness from men. Adversity tries friendship, and separates between the precious and the vile. It is our wisdom to make sure a friend in heaven, who will not stand aloof from our sore and from whose love no tribulation nor distress shall be able to separate us. David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agony, Christ, on his cross, feeble and sorely broken, and then deserted by his friends and kinsmen, who beheld afar off.

      V. In the midst of his complaints, he comforts himself with the cognizance God graciously took both of his griefs and of his prayers (Psalms 38:9; Psalms 38:9): "Lord, all my desire is before thee. Thou knowest what I want and what I would have: My groaning is not hidden from thee. Thou knowest the burdens I groan under and the blessings I groan after." The groanings which cannot be uttered are not hidden from him that searches the heart and knows what is the mind of the Spirit,Romans 8:26; Romans 8:27.

      In singing this, and praying it over, whatever burden lies upon our spirits, we would by faith cast it upon God, and all our care concerning it, and then be easy.