Psalms 38:22

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

Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. The same voice as in Psalms 22:19. Compare also Psalms 35:3.

Psalms 38:22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.Ver. 22. Make haste to help me] Nam mora frangit etiam fortes, God oft delayeth, that he may set an edge on our desires; he holdeth us in request, that he may commend his blessings to us.

Verse 22. Make haste to help me] I am dying; save, Lord, or I perish. Whoever carefully reads over this Psalm will see what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and especially to sin after having known his mercy, and after having escaped from the corruption that is in the world. Reader, be on thy guard; a life of righteousness may be lost by giving way to a moment's temptation, and a fair character sullied for ever! Let him that most assuredly standeth take heed lest he fall. 'Tis but a grain of sweet that one can sow, To reap a harvest of wide-wasting wo. ANALYSIS OF THE THIRTY-EIGHTH PSALM This Psalm may be divided into two parts: - I. A deprecation; begun Psalms 38:1, and continued in Psalms 38:21-22. II. A grievous complaint of sin, disease misery, God's anger, the ingratitude of his friends, coldness of his acquaintances, and cruelty of his enemies; all which he uses as arguments to induce God to help him; continued, Psalms 38:2-20. I. In the first part he deprecates God's anger, and entreats a mitigation of it; though rebuked, let it not be in wrath; if corrected, let it not be in rigour: "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath," c. II. His complaint, on which he falls instantly, and amplifies in a variety of ways. 1. From the prime cause, GOD: "Thine arrows stick fast in me," c. 2. From the impulsive cause: "His sin, his iniquities," Psalms 38:4 "His foolishness," Psalms 38:5. 3. From the weight of his afflictions, which were, in general, "the arrows of God which stuck in him the hand of God, by which he was pressed;" which were so grievous "that there was no soundness in his flesh - no rest in his bones." 4. By an induction of particulars, where he declares many effects of the disease: - 1. Putrefaction of his flesh: "My wounds stink, and are corrupt." 2. The uncomfortable posture of his body: "I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly." 3. Torment in his bowels, c.: "My loins are filled with a loathsome disease." 4. Diseases through the whole system: "There is no soundness in my flesh." 5. Debility and grievous plague: "I am feeble," c. 6. Anguish that forced him to cry out: "I have roared," &c. 7. His heart was disquieted: "The disquietness of my heart." But that it might appear that he had not lost his hold of his hope and his confidence in God, he directs his speech to him, and says: "Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee." 8. He had a palpitation or trembling of heart: "My heart pants." 9. His strength decayed: "My strength fails." 10. A defect of sight: "The sight of my eyes is gone from me." All these calamities David suffered from within. He was tormented in body and mind but had he any comfort from without? Not any. 1.

22. Make haste &c.] Cp. Psalms 22:19; Psalms 40:13. O Lord my salvation] Cp. Psalms 62:2; Psalms 51:14.

Make haste to help me - Margin, as in Hebrew: “for my help.” This is an earnest prayer that God would come immediately to his rescue. O Lord my salvation - See the notes at Psalms 27:1.