Devotional Short Note on Psalm 38: The
great issue we need to ask ourselves reading this Psalm of David is: is he sick
because of stress or is he stressed because of sickness? There is almost a case
to be made for both, is that not right? He kept pleading to be released from
the absence of soundness of the flesh (38:4a; 38:8b); there is no health in
[his] bones (38:4b); loins are filled with burning (38:8); he is benumb and
sore crushed (38:9a); plagued (38:12a); my pain is continually before me
(38:18b) indicating that he is sick. On the other hand his eyes are not focused
so much on his illness[es] which he knows is permitted by the Lord to have
positive endresult in his own life in future: His arrows has gone deep into him
(38:3a); it is because of the Lord’s indignation (38:4a). However, he also
knows that it is permitted by the Lord because of his own wrongdoing: sickness,
“because of my sin” (38:4b); “because of my foolishness” (38:6b). Then there is
stress also in his life since he mentioned “I groan by reason of my heart”
(38:9b). But, even the sickness or the stress is not that great an issue for
him since he knows the secret of winning this discomfort: “and my sighing is
not hid from You” (38:10b). David’s satisfaction is that God knows what is
happening to him. He prays that the Lord will not rebuke and chasten him in
future at the end of time, meaning that he will be lost at that time since it
is too late for atonement with God (38:2a-b). Sickness, stress and social
rejection are three ingredients to David’s discomfort here: “my friends and my
companions stand apart from my plague” (38:12a). The social problem becomes
more serious as he wanted to finish his poem: the kinsmen are against him: “my
kinsmen stands afar off” (38:12b); they seek after his life; the lay snares for
him; they speak crafty devices; they utter deceits (38:13). Is David taking
things too far? Is he imagining things that are not true? A similar case
happened to a friend of ours who is well off. In her loneliness at home while
her husband is working, she developed a mental problem beginning to imagine
things that are not there. One day she went to church and used socks that are
very short in the shoes. When she left she felt the people were looking at her
with dismay and resolved not to return to church. When after weeks my wife
convinced her of going to church, she went after bumping by accident into a
church-member near her apartment. When she arrived at church that Sabbath,
there were only a few people. “People knew I was coming, so they did not come”
was her conclusion. We know actually that David was in the right here looking
at 38:21b: “instead I follow the good.” This cancels David as sinner and honors
David as saint. When he says he follows the good, one do not need to doubt. The
Holy Spirit would have made sure the perspective is not disturbed here. That is
what He did with the Davi-leaks when Nathan the prophet came to tell him of his
sins in the Bathsheba-Uriah scandal. There are four reasons why David the saint
is speaking: “Lord, all my desires is before You” (38:10a); my sighing is not
hid from You” (38:10b); “for in You, O Lord, do I hope” (38:16a); “I am full of
care because of my sin” (38:19b). Lastly, the problem of David are not only
sickness, stress, friends, kinsmen, but also enemies: “my enemies are strong in
health” (38:20a). Whereas they substitute good for evil, David focuses on good.
What David is asking from the Lord is not atonement or salvation, but help
(38:23a) (see the insights of Hengstenberg on this). In fact, David is saved
since he calls the Lord “my salvation” (38:23b). The secret in life is then
this: other people cannot say that a person’s sickness came because of sin.
Only the individual knows subjectively the origin of the sickness. In privacy
he says to himself that he is sick because of his sin but only consciousness,
not deeds, only thoughts, not actions. It is a feeling of sinfulness by memory
but not sin alive in intentional planning. It is plaguing memories with Satan
constantly sitting with his finger on the rewind-button to replay over and over
the same memory-videos. It is not imaginative longings in David’s heart that
seeks opportunity to repeat his errors or sinning. When he says foolishness it
is past and when he says sin, it is no longer in mind. “For my iniquities are
gone over my head” (38:5a). He is reminded of his sinful acts of the past
regularly. “As a burden they are too heavy for me” (38:b). What a stress. He is
carrying this baggage of hateful events in his mind haunting him from time to
time. It is a heavy laden on his shoulder. Each one has to carry their own
burdens of deeds committed in their memories. For some it is sometimes very heavy
when they are reminded and this leads to stress and stress leads to sickness
which breeds more stress and apathy of friends and relatives. It is a vicious
circle. Says Ellen White: “Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far
more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they
shall come to Christ, the wellspring of life. Complaints of weariness,
loneliness, and dissatisfaction will then cease. Satisfying joys will give
vigor to the mind, and health and vital energy to the body” (Mind, Character,
and Personality Vol. 2 403.2; 403.4). “As you review the past with a clear
vision, you will see that at the very time when life seemed to you only a
perplexity and a burden, Jesus Himself was near you, seeking to lead you into
the light. You Father was by your side, bending over you with unutterable love,
afflicting you for your good, as the refiner purifies the precious core. When
you have thought yourself forsaken, He has been near you to comfort and sustain”
(Ellen White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4: 220.1).