Psalms 38:15
Ver. 15. For in thee, O Lord, do I hope,.... That he would plead his cause against his accusers and revilers, and who sought his hurt; that he should be delivered out of their hands, and out of all his afflictions; that he should be healed of his diseases, both of soul and body, under which he laboured; and should again enjoy the light of God's countenance, and have the discoveries of his pardoning grace and mercy; and this was the reason why he was so calm and quiet amidst the unkindnesses of his friends, and the cruel usage of his enemies;thou wilt hear, or "answer",O Lord my God; in the midst of all his distresses of body and mind, he had not given up his interest in God, as his God and Father; which is the great blessing of the covenant of grace, and which ever continues; and is the great support of believers, under whatsoever they meet with in soul and body, from friends or foes; this his God the psalmist believed would not only hear his cries in his sore distress, but hear the reproaches of his enemies, and answer them in a providential way in his own time, by terrible things in righteousness to their conviction and confusion; and therefore he himself was silent. Psalms 38:16Ver. 16. For I said, [hear me],.... This he had expressed in prayer to God; he had committed his cause to him, and entreated him that he would hear and answer him; giving this as a reason,lest [otherwise] they should rejoice over me; at his misfortunes and calamities, at the continuance of his trouble and distress, both of body and mind;when my foot slippeth; as it sometimes did through the corruptions of nature, the temptations of Satan, and the snares of the world; which is more or less the case of all the people of God, who are all subject to slips and falls, though they shall not finally and totally fall away;they magnify [themselves] against me; that is, his enemies exulted and triumphed over him: this was what he found by experience; and therefore makes use of it as an argument with God, that he would hear and answer and deliver him out of his trouble, and preserve him from falling. Psalms 38:17Ver. 17. For I [am] ready to halt,.... Meaning either that there was a proneness in him to sin; see Jer 20:10; or that he was subject to affliction and adversity, as the same word is rendered in Ps 35:15; and the words are either a reason and argument used with the Lord, to hear and keep his foot from slipping, that so his enemies might not rejoice over him, and magnify themselves against him; as they would do should he fall into sin or into any calamity, both which he was liable to: or they are a reason why he was so calm and quiet under the ill usage he met with from friends and enemies, because he was "ready for halting", or "prepared" {o} for it; he considered that he was born for trouble and adversity; that God had appointed him to it, and it was appointed for him, and therefore he was quiet under it; see Job 5:6; he was prepared to meet it; he expected it, it being the common lot of God's people; and therefore when it came upon him it was no strange thing to him. The Septuagint version, and those that follow that, render the words, "I am ready for scourges"; and Jerom applies them to Christ, who was ready to undergo scourges, sufferings, and death itself, for his people;and my sorrow [is] continually before me; that is, for his sin, which was ever before him, stared him in the face, lay heavy on his conscience, and appeared very terrible and loathsome to him; his sorrow for it was without intermission, and was a godly sorrow, a sorrow for sin, as committed against a God of love, grace, and mercy: or he may mean, that his affliction, which was grievous to him, was continually upon him night and day: our Lord himself, David's antitype, was a man of sorrows all his days.{o} Nwkn V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis. Psalms 38:18Ver. 18. For I will declare mine iniquity,.... Either to men, to ease his mind, justify God in his proceedings with him, and for their caution and admonition: or rather to God, against whom he had sinned, and who only could pardon him; with a view to which he was determined to make a free and open confession of it before him:I will be sorry for my sin, or "careful" {p} about it; that is, how he committed it for the future: true repentance for sin produces a carefulness to abstain from all appearance of it; see 2Co 7:10.{p} gada "solicitus ero", Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis, Ainsworth. Psalms 38:19Ver. 19. But mine enemies [are] lively,.... Or "living" {q} or "live"; not in a spiritual sense; for they had no lively hope, nor living faith, but were dead in trespasses and sins; nor merely in a natural sense, or corporeally, so David was living himself; but in great prosperity and worldly happiness, and so were brisk and cheerful, and lived a merry and pleasent life;[and] they are strong; not only hale and robust in body, but abounded in riches and wealth, which are the strength of wicked men;and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied; that is, such as hated him without a cause, and made lies and falsehoods the reasons of it: these increased in numbers, or in their outward state and circumstances; see Ps 73:4.{q} Myyx "viventes", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius. Psalms 38:20Ver. 20. They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries,....See Gill on "Ps 35:12";because I follow [the thing that] good [is]; or "follow good"; a good God, whom his soul followed hard after, Ps 63:8; the good Shepherd of the sheep, who led him into green pastures, whither he followed him, Ps 23:1; the good Spirit of God his guide, whom he walked after, Ro 8:1; good and holy men of God, whom he took for examples and copied after; and every good work, which he pursued with eagerness and pleasure; and all this drew upon him the hatred of his adversaries. Psalms 38:21Ver. 21. Forsake me not, O Lord,.... Or continue not to forsake; for he seems to have been under divine desertion, and might be under apprehensions that God had utterly forsaken him; which he entreats he would not, though his friends had forsook him, and his own strength had failed and left him, Ps 38:10;O my God, be not far from me; as to his gracious presence, and with respect to help and deliverance, otherwise God is not far from any of his creatures, being omnipresent. Psalms 38:22Ver. 22. Make haste and help me,.... Or, "for my help"; his case required haste, and God does help his people when none else can, and that right early;O Lord, my salvation; by which it appears that his prayer was a prayer of faith; he saw that his salvation was in the Lord, and in no other; and though he had been and was in such a low condition, both in soul and body, yet his faith was not lost; that is an abiding grace, and will continue under the influence of the author and finisher of it, until the end of it is received, the salvation of the soul. R. Moses {r} thinks the phrase "make haste" is to be repeated here, and read thus, "make haste, O Lord, to my salvation".{r} In Aben Ezra & R. Joseph Kimchi in R. David Kimchi in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.