Psalms 38

Psalms 38. THIS Psalm discovers in its commencement a near relation to the sixth, and in its close a near relation to the twenty-second. The coincidences with these Psalms are too literal to be acci-dental, and just as little could they originate in unintentional reminiscence. The contrary is evident from their occurringprecisely at the commencement and the close, and from the entirely original and independent character which the Psalm possesses. The Psalmist begins with a prayer to the Lord, that he would not further punish him in anger, and rests this prayer on the circumstance, that it had already been carried to an extreme with him, that the time had now come, when, with the righteous, love must necessarily take the place of anger, deliverance of punishment. This delineation of the suffering of the Psalmist is given in two sections. In the first, ver. 2-8, he complains, after having spoken in the general of God’s hand lying heavy upon him, in enlargement of the statement, that there is no sal-vation in his flesh, with which begins ver. 3, and with which he concludes ver. 7, upon his miserable bodily condition, and then upon the deep distress of his soul.

In the second, ver. 9-12, he points, after the introductory words in ver. 9, first again to the mournful situation in which he found himself, ver. 10, and then goes more deeply into the external distress, by which he was surrounded, as being completely abandoned by his friends, and left to enemies, who were eagerly bent on compassing his destruction, ver. 12. After this representation of the greatness of his sufferings, there follows in ver. 13-15 the protestation that he possessed the indispensable condition of the divine help, -patience, the still and devoted waiting upon God; and while showing how much he had cause to wait upon God, how much he stood. in need of God’s help, he here takes a new glance in ver. 16-20, at his sufferings, and gives a brief delineation of them: he has attained to the painful consciousness of his sins, and he is threatened with destruction by his numerous and power-ful enemies, who persecute him, because he strives after what is good.

In the conclusion, ver. 21, 22, the prayer is raised on the ground thus laid, that God would not forsake him, but would make haste to help him. The Psalm is alphabetical as to its number, that is, the num-ber of its verses coincides with that of the letters of the alpha-bet. It is in allusion to this alphabetical character, that in the two concluding verses three members make the last letter of thealphabet follow the first, תעזבני אל, etc. Along with the al-phabet, the number ten, as very often happens, is of importance. The main subject occupies twenty verses, followed by a conclu-sion of two. (Of course this supposes the superscription to be a part of the Psalm.) Of any particular occasion there is found no trace in the Psalm. What at first sight seems to point to this, is soon discerned by the experienced sense to be a mere individualizing, and rather concludes the other way.

The alphabetical arrangement already makes it probable, that the Psalmist speaks from the person of the righteous. According to many expositors, the situation must be of a sick person, according to several, that specially of a leper, who at the same time is pressed by enemies, and indeed so, that the sick-ness is the Psalmist’s chief cause of suffering.

But there are decisive grounds for holding, that the proper, the alone suffer-ings of the Psalmist, stood in the assaults of the wicked, and that the bodily prostration of which he complains, was only oc-casioned by these. As soon as it is perceived, that the Psalm did not originate in any particular occasion, it must from the first appear improbable, that a double and quite separate cause of suffering should exist; and this being the case, we can have no difficulty in concluding, that the sickness may very well have been the consequence of the assaults, but not the reverse; first, because in all the afflictions of the Psalms generally, and in par-ticular, of the Psalms of David, those occasioned by the assaults of the wicked come out so prominently, then, from the analogy of so many Psalms, in which the wretched bodily state appears as the result of the assaults, but especially from Psalms 6:6; Psalms 6:22 :to which the author has himself referred us,-which together shut us up to the conclusion, that the assaults were the proper and only sufferings. Further, in the resumed survey taken of the sufferings in ver. 18-20, the sickness is entirely omitted; there are first only on the one hand, the consciousness of sin, and, on the other, the malice of enemies. Finally, the prayer at the close does not plead for salvation, but only for help and assistance, according to the customary language of the Psalmist, against the enemies, clearly manifesting that neither sickness, nor the painful conviction of sin, was the original cause of his sufferings,-that these were to be considered merely as the ef-fects of hostile oppression, which should vanish along with their cause. The following view of the situation hence presents itself as the correct one. The Psalmist, or he, in whose name he speaks, towhom he offers weapons, with which he can prevail in the contest, is hard pressed by ungodly enemies.

The sting of his pain in this temptation is the consideration, perpetually true in itself, and, in the Old Testament especially, distinctly announced, that there is no suffering without sin, or that all suffering is punishment, sees in his enemies so many accusers sent against him by God, and in their superior power a testimony that God was visiting for his sins, which appear to him now in a very different light from what they had done during his prosperity. What he could easily have borne otherwise, prostrates him when so con-sidered, both in body and soul.

In his distress he turns himself to the Lord, with a prayer for deliverance from his enemies, which, at the same time, implies the forgiveness of his sins, and consequently his suffering was removed.A Psalm of David for remembrance. The person who is to be put in remembrance by the Psalm, is not, as is generally sup-posed, the Psalmist himself, or the whole church, but God, who seemed to have forgotten the Psalmist. Several expound: to praise the Lord, with an allusion to 1 Chronicles 16:4. But הזכיר always signifies only to mention, never to praise, comp. on Psalms 20:7, and for the same reason in the passage of Chroni-cles referred to, according to which the business of the Leviticalsingers stood in this, ולהלל ולהודות ולהזכיר, to remember, and to praise, and to extol, the הזיכר can only form the anti-thesis to the two other verbs, to which also the prefixed ו points. The Levites had partly to sing the songs of lamentation and prayer, and partly also those of praise and thanksgiving. The exposition: for remembrance, is confirmed also by the subject of the two Psalms, which have this in the superscription, where-in it is to be noted, that in Psalms 70. the superscription thus in-dicated is the more remarkable, since that Psalm contains pre-cisely the complaining and supplicating part of Psalms 40. with the exclusion of the praising and extolling part: and then by the connection with the אזכרה, remembrance-offerings, offerings through which God was brought by his people into remembrance, to which להזכיר probably alludes, comp.

Psalms 141:2, Revelation 8:4, where the prayers of the saints appear as a spiritual incense andremembrance-offering. The opposite is לתודה, for praise, in Psalms 100:1.

This superscription of itself contains a hortatory ele-ment. When God appears to have forgotten us, we must re-member him: the earnest prayer to God for help is the only and the sure means of attaining this.

Psalms 38:1-10

Ver. I. Lord, punish me not in thy rage, and chasten me not in thine indignation. It was already shown in Psalms 6:1, that the contrast is not that of chastisement in love against chastisement in anger, but that of the desired deliverance against chastisement, which always proceeds from the principle of anger.-In what follows, the Psalmist gives the ground, upon which his prayer for deliverance rests. The burden of his suffering is so great, that though he must bear it, yet God cannot permit his own to be destroyed.Ver. 2. For thine arrows stick in me, and over me came thy hand. נהתו, the Niph, found only here, of נהת, to go down. בי, not upon, but in me.

The arrows denote the chastisements of sin, depending on God. Hitzig maintains arbitrarily, that by the arrows only a particular form of these is to be understood, sickness; the reverse of which is shown by the original passage, Deuteronomy 32:23, where “I will send all my arrows against them,” stands in parallel, with, “I will heap mischiefs upon them,” and where presently hunger, burning, disease, are particularly named. Then also, in the very passage upon which Hitzig rests his view, Job 6:4, “The arrows of the Almighty are in me, their poison drinketh up my spirit,” the arrows denote the whole suffering which Job had already experienced, not merely his bodily sickness, but also the loss of his children and his sub-stance, the cooled love of his friends, and even of his wife.-For the second member compare Psalms 32:4; Psalms 39:10.-The gene-ral is followed by the particular; the Psalmist represents to God, in detail, the mournful condition in which lie was placed, in order to move him to compassion.Ver. 3. There is no salvation in my flesh because of thine anger, there is no peace in my bones because of my sins. Ver. 4. For my iniquities go over my head, as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. The Psalmist begins with the mournful state of his body. מתם from תמם, without injury, soundness, does not stand as an abstr. for conc., but we must translate literally: not is soundness in my flesh. This is shown by the parallel, not is peace: to my flesh is unsoundness, (and therefore) from my bones peace is far, (the violent pain presses through marrow and bone.) The anger of God is in so far the cause of the mournful bodily condition, as it hangs the infliction of enemiesover the Psalmist, sins, in so far as they provoke that anger, q. d.because of the hostile assault, in which I recognize the expres-sion of thine anger, the punishment of my sins. What is simply indicated in the expressions: because of thy anger, because of my sins, is more fully carried out in ver, 4. The transgressions of the Psalmist bear upon him in their consequences with insup- portable weight, comp. Psalms 40:12, “for innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold on me.” In the expression: they go over my head, the image is taken from billows: they flow over me like one who is nigh to drown-ing, Psalms 124:4.Ver. 5. They are corrupt, my sores fester because of my folly. מקק in Niph. to melt, here of the sores, which dissolve into a boil.

The verse is not to be taken figuratively indeed, but as an individualizing mark of the state of bodily dissolution, in which the Psalmist was placed, and which might also manifest itself in other forms under certain circumstances. Folly here indicates a bedimming of the understanding, in an ethical point of view, comp. on Psalms 14:1.

It is to be considered, not as the immediate, but as the primary cause of the miserable bodily condition. The folly has called forth the punishment of hostile oppression, and through grief on account of this did the Psalmist become so much the more corporeally wretched, as he could only recognize in it the chastisement of his folly. That the im-mediate cause is the hostile oppression, appears from the com-parison of Psa 31:9; Psalms 31:10. The extraordinary agreement of Isa 1:6, with this verse must be the less accidental as מתם also occurs there, which is nowhere besides found, excepting here in ver. 3 and 7. Isaiah has employed what is here an individu-alizing description, as an image of the mournful condition into which the people had fallen by their sins. In this allusion there is found a confirmation of the superscription, as referring the Psalm to David.Ver. 6.

I am beside myself, bowed down very much, continu-ally do I go in sadness. Ver. 7.

For my loins are quite dried up, and there is no soundness in my flesh. The Niphil of עוה occurs in Isaiah 21:3, in parallel. with being horrified, elsewhere of moral perverseness. It is here just our: being crazy. The Psalmist’s pains rob him of all recollection. The commonly re-ceived signification: to be crooked, bowed down, has no sure foundation, Upon שהותי and קדר comp. on Psalms 35:14.The first member of ver. 7, literally: for my loins are full of the dried, assigns as a reason for the distress of the Psalmist, his bodily emaciation, comp. on Psalms 22:17. The loins are espe-cially named, from being a chief seat of fat in the healthy, comp. on Job 15:27.

The exposition which is now current: my bowels are full of fever-burning, deserves rejection on every account. As there are words on both sides of the expression; soundness is not in my flesh, which are designed for an expansion of its meaning, they can only refer to the external state of the body;for the loins the bowels are arbitrarily substituted; קלה signi-fies not to burn, but to roast, dry up; the burnt, or more pro-perly, the dried, cannot stand for the burning.

In the expres-sion: there is not soundness, &c., the representation turns back to the commencement, and so rounds itself off.Ver. 8. I am very feeble and sore broken, I howl from the groanings of my heart. פוג to be cold, stiff, dead. נהם signi-fies not less than שאג, to roar, and instead of נהמת there might have been שאגת. The emphasis lies upon the words: of my heart. The bodily cry of the Psalmist is only a witness of the spiritual. In his inmost heart pain was raging. The re-presentation of the Psalmist has here reached its acme; he in-dulges himself in a moment’s rest, and then proceeds more softly.

The first section is completed in the number seven, and the seven is so divided, that two strophes, each of two verses, have before, after, and in the middle of them, a strophe of one verse. The main burden, the representation of the bodily distress, ver. 3-7, which rounds off through the resemblance of the beginning and the close, and by its having five as the number of its verses, points to a fourth addition, is hemmed in at the beginning and the close by a general subject.

The second section, ver. 9-12, is comprized, if we except ver. 9, which bears entirely the character of an introduction, in the number three, and in such a way, indeed, that each verse contains a separate deline-ation of the Psalmist’s suffering. If we reckon together the seven verses of the first, and the three verses of the second period, the whole representation of his sufferings will be con-tained in the number ten.Ver. 9. O Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my sighing is not hid from thee. The Psalmist had, at the close of the pre-ceding period, painted his affliction in such a manner, that if be had to do with a human friend, there would very naturallyhave been the suspicion of colouring. Hence, before he pro-ceeds farther in his lamentations, he appeals to the omniscience of God, who would bear him witness, that the strongest language he could use to express his misery, and the earnest desire of his heart after help, far from exceeding the reality, still fell short of it–q. d. Thou knowest how great my suffering is, and that I am not magnifying it to thee, in order to move thy compassion.The verse has for all sufferers the import of an impressive ad-monition, not to seek help from God for pretended or imaginary sufferings, and in their complaints not to go beyond the mea-sure which the occasion itself warrants.

The help of God, the omniscient, directs itself, not according to the greatness of the lamentation, but according to the greatness of the suffering.Ver. 10. My heart beats, my strength has left me, and the light of my eyes, even that is not with me.

Upon the light of the eyes, comp. on Psalms 13:3. The words are in nomin. absol. The expression: even they are not with me, instead of what we would have expected; even that is not with me, occa-sion no difficulty. If the glance of the eyes has gone, they themselves are at the same time gone too; for it is that, which makes the eye what it properly is. The lamentation upon the inward distress, that is, upon the sad condition in which he was placed as to soul and body, produced by the attacks of his ene-mies, the Psalmist now follows up by the complaint upon what was merely external, first, the faithlessness of his friends, then at the close, that, from which all the rest proceeded, the malice of his enemies.

Psalms 38:2

Ver. 2. For thine arrows stick in me, and over me came thy hand. πηϊε, the Niph, found only here, of πηϊ, to go down. αι, not upon, but in me. The arrows denote the chastisements of sin, depending on God. Hitzig maintains arbitrarily, that by the arrows only a particular form of these is to be understood, sickness; the reverse of which is shown by the original passage, Deuteronomy 32:23, where “I will send all my arrows against them,” stands in parallel, with, “I will heap mischiefs upon them,” and where presently hunger, burning, disease, are particularly named. Then also, in the very passage upon which Hitzig rests his view, Job 6:4, “The arrows of the Almighty are in me, their poison drinketh up my spirit,” the arrows denote the whole suffering which Job had already experienced, not merely his bodily sickness, but also the loss of his children and his substance, the cooled love of his friends, and even of his wife. For the second member compare Psalms 32:4, Psalms 39:10. The general is followed by the particular; the Psalmist represents to God, in detail, the mournful condition in which lie was placed, in order to move him to compassion.

Psalms 38:3-4

Ver. 3. There is no salvation in my flesh because of thine anger, there is no peace in my bones because of my sins. Ver. 4. For my iniquities go over my head, as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. The Psalmist begins with the mournful state of his body. ξϊν from ϊξν, without injury, soundness, does not stand as an abstr. for conc., but we must translate literally: not is soundness in my flesh. This is shown by the parallel, “not is peace:” to my flesh is unsoundness, (and therefore) from my bones peace is far, (the violent pain presses through marrow and bone.) The anger of God is in so far the cause of the mournful bodily condition, as it hangs the infliction of enemies over the Psalmist, sins, in so far as they provoke that anger, q. d. because of the hostile assault, in which I recognize the expression of thine anger, the punishment of my sins.

What is simply indicated in the expressions: because of thy anger, because of my sins, is more fully carried out in Psalms 38:4. The transgressions of the Psalmist bear upon him in their consequences with insupportable weight, comp. Psalms 40:12, “for innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold on me.” In the expression: they go over my head, the image is taken from billows: they flow over me like one who is nigh to drowning, Psalms 124:4.

Psalms 38:5

Ver. 5. They are corrupt, my sores fester because of my folly. ξχχ in Niph. to melt, here of the sores, which dissolve into a boil. The verse is not to be taken figuratively indeed, but as an individualizing mark of the state of bodily dissolution, in which the Psalmist was placed, and which might also manifest itself in other forms under certain circumstances. Folly here indicates a bedimming of the understanding, in an ethical point of view, comp. on Psalms 14:1. It is to be considered, not as the immediate, but as the primary cause of the miserable bodily condition. The folly has called forth the punishment of hostile oppression, and through grief on account of this did the Psalmist become so much the more corporeally wretched, as he could only recognize in it the chastisement of his folly.

That the immediate cause is the hostile oppression, appears from the comparison of Psa 31:9-10. The extraordinary agreement of Isa 1:6, with this verse must be the less accidental as ξϊν also occurs there, which is nowhere besides found, excepting here in Psalms 38:3 and Psalms 38:7. Isaiah has employed what is here an individualizing description, as an image of the mournful condition into which the people had fallen by their sins. In this allusion there is found a confirmation of the superscription, as referring the Psalm to David.

Psalms 38:6-7

Ver. 6. I am beside myself, bowed down very much, continually do I go in sadness. Ver. 7. For my loins are quite dried up, and there is no soundness in my flesh. The Niphil of ςεδ occurs in Isaiah 21:3, in parallel. with being horrified, elsewhere of moral perverseness. It is here precisely our: being crazy.

The Psalmist’s pains rob him of all recollection. The commonly received signification: to be crooked, bowed down, has no sure foundation, Upon ωηεϊι and χγψ comp. on Psalms 35:14. The first member of Psa 38:7, literally: for my loins are full of the dried, assigns as a reason for the distress of the Psalmist, his bodily emaciation, comp. on Psalms 22:17. The loins are especially named, from being a chief seat of fat in the healthy, comp. on Job 15:27. The exposition which is now current: my bowels are full of fever-burning, deserves rejection on every account. As there are words on both sides of the expression; “soundness is not in my flesh,” and are designed for an expansion of its meaning, they can only refer to the external state of the body; for the loins the bowels are arbitrarily substituted; χμδ signifies not to burn, but to roast, dry up; the burnt, or more properly, the dried, cannot stand for the burning.

In the expression: there is not soundness, &c., the representation turns back to the commencement, and so rounds itself off.

Psalms 38:8

Ver. 8. I am very feeble and sore broken, I howl from the groanings of my heart. τεβ to be cold, stiff, dead. πδν signifies not less than ωΰβ, to roar, and instead of πδξϊ there might have been ωΰβϊ. The emphasis lies upon the words: of my heart. The bodily cry of the Psalmist is only a witness of the spiritual. In his inmost heart pain was raging. The representation of the Psalmist has here reached its acme; he indulges himself in a moment’s rest, and then proceeds more softly.

The first section is completed in the number seven, and the seven is so divided, that two strophes, each of two verses, have before, after, and in the middle of them, a strophe of one verse. The main burden, the representation of the bodily distress, Psalms 38:3-7, which rounds off through the resemblance of the beginning and the close, and by its having five as the number of its verses, points to a fourth addition, is hemmed in at the beginning and a close of general import. The second section, Psalms 38:9-12, is comprized, if we except Psalms 38:9, which bears entirely the character of an introduction, in the number three, and in such a way, indeed, that each verse contains a separate delineation of the Psalmist’s suffering. If we reckon together the seven verses of the first, and the three verses of the second period, the whole representation of his sufferings will be contained in the number ten.

Psalms 38:9

Ver. 9. O Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my sighing is not hid from thee. The Psalmist had, at the close of the preceding period, painted his affliction in such a manner, that if he had to do with a human friend, there would very naturally have been the suspicion of colouring. Hence, before he proceeds farther in his lamentations, he appeals to the omniscience of God, who would bear him witness, that the strongest language he could use to express his misery, and the earnest desire of his heart after help, far from exceeding the reality, still fell short of it—q. d. Thou knowest how great my suffering is, and that I am not magnifying it to thee, in order to move thy compassion. The verse has for all sufferers the import of an impressive admonition, not to seek help from God for pretended or imaginary sufferings, and in their complaints not to go beyond the measure which the occasion itself warrants. The help of God, the omniscient, directs itself, not according to the greatness of the lamentation, but according to the greatness of the suffering.

Psalms 38:10

Ver. 10. My heart beats, my strength has left me, and the light of my eyes, even that is not with me. Upon the light of the eyes, comp. on Psalms 13:3. The words are in nomin. absol. The expression: even they are not with me, instead of what we would have expected; even that is not with me, occasion no difficulty. If the glance of the eyes has gone, they themselves are at the same time gone too; for it is that, which makes the eye what it properly is. The lamentation upon the inward distress, that is, upon the sad condition in which he was placed as to soul and body, produced by the attacks of his enemies, the Psalmist now follows up by the complaint upon what was merely external, first, the faithlessness of his friends, then at the close, that, from which all the rest proceeded, the malice of his enemies.

Psalms 38:11-12

Ver. 11. My lovers and my friends stand over against my stroke, and my neighbours stand afar off: Several: they consider me as one smitten by God, and fear to join themselves in fellow-ship with me. But this is not in the words. These only bring out the deep pain, which is occasioned by those who, when the sore pressure of affliction upon us calls them to come nearer and manifest an active love, by endeavouring, through their compas-sion to alleviate our sufferings; on the contrary, remove farther away, and abandon us to our pain, after the manner of the world, where the prosperous are envied, and the unfortunate forgotten, (comp. on Psalms 27. ver. 10,) whenever there is danger in taking part with a person and acknowledging him. The stroke of the Psalmist consists in the attacks of the enemies, and the devastations in body and soul, which were thereby producedupon him. מנגר over against, so that they do not come close to him. John Arnd.: “This was fully verified in the passion, as the disciples of our Lord were horrified at the stroke, which he had to bear upon the cross.

When the same is repeated in our experience, as the holy Job says: my friends are my railers, but mine eye weeps to God, we must console ourselves with the example of the Lord Christ, for the servant cannot be above his Lord; and it will avail for this purpose, if we commit ourselves to no man, nay to no creature, but to our dear Father, Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, whose faithfulness never fails.” While the friends are far, the enemies are near.Ver. 12. And they lay snares for me, who pursue after my soul, and they who seek my hurt, speak mischief, and meditate upon deceit perpetually. They speak mischief; not precisely, they concert mischievous plans against me, but, as the two following verses shew, and even the last member of this, they belch out mischievous calumnies against me. In the last member, הגה is better taken in the signification of meditating, than of speaking. For then are deed, word, and thought bound with one another, and we have here a complete counterpart to the decalogue, where prohibition to injure our neighbour, proceeds from deeds to words, (thou must not speak false witness against thy neigh-bour, corresponding to this here: they speak mischief,) and from words to thoughts, (thou shalt not covet.) The greatness of the suffering, however, does not alone suffice as a ground for the servant of the Lord praying for help; the manner in which he has borne these comes also into consideration. Patience, calm surrender is an indispensable condition of deliverance. Among men at large, according as every one seeks to help him-self in passionate excitement by means of words or deeds, (the latter are here particularly pointed to, because the enemies of the Psalmist sought especially by words, by false accusations, to destroy him,) he drives away from him the divine help. Hence, the Psalmist delineates, in ver. 13-15, his patience under the assaults of the enemy, amid which, trusting in God as the judge of his cause, he abstains from every passionate justification, every attempt to maintain by violence his right from those, who can have no ear for a quiet representation of what they are unwill-ing to acknowledge.

Psalms 38:12

Ver. 12. And they lay snares for me, who pursue after my soul, and they who seek my hurt, speak mischief, and meditate upon deceit perpetually. They speak mischief; not precisely, they concert mischievous plans against me, but, as the two following verses shew, and even the last member of this, they belch out mischievous calumnies against me. In the last member, äâä is better taken in the signification of meditating, than of speaking. For then are deed, word, and thought bound with one another, and we have here a complete counterpart to the decalogue, where prohibition to injure our neighbour, proceeds from deeds to words, (thou must not speak false witness against thy neighbour, corresponding to this here: they speak mischief,) and from words to thoughts, (thou shalt not covet.) The greatness of the suffering, however, does not alone suffice as a ground for the servant of the Lord praying for help; the manner in which he has borne these comes also into consideration. Patience, calm surrender is an indispensable condition of deliverance.

Among men at large, according as every one seeks to help himself in passionate excitement by means of words or deeds, (the latter are here particularly pointed to, because the enemies of the Psalmist sought especially by words, by false accusations, to destroy him,) he drives away from him the divine help. Hence, the Psalmist delineates, in Psalms 38:13-15, his patience under the assaults of the enemy, amid which, trusting in God as the judge of his cause, he abstains from every passionate justification, every attempt to maintain by violence his right from those, who can have no ear for a quiet representation of what they are unwilling to acknowledge.

Psalms 38:13-16

Ver. 13. And as a deaf man, hear not, and I am as a dumb man, who opens not his mouth. Ver. 14. And I am as a manthat hears not, and who has no replies in his mouth. Ver. 15.For upon thee, O Lord, do I hope; thou wilt answer, O Lord my God. John Arnd: “This was peculiarly, and in the high- est sense fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, since he answered.nothing to his calumniators and accusers during his holy pas-sion, but remained silent as a lamb that is led to the slaughter,and as a sheep that is dumb before his shearers and openethnot his mouth, (comp. Matthew 26:62; Matthew 26:63. John 19:9.) Thiswe must also learn to practise: in stillness and confidence isyour strength, Isaiah 30.” For the expression as a dumb man,we are to supply from the special: I hear, the general: I be-have myself. It may be explained from 1 Samuel 10:27, where itis said of Saul, when he was taunted by wicked men, “And hewas as one silent.” Luther, in rendering: “but I must be as aowing deaf man and hear not,” etc., missed the right sense. Accord-ing to him, ver. 13 and 14 describe, not the patience of thePsalmist, but the shamelessness of his enemies, who would notpermit him to speak. Ver. 14 is in substance not differentfrom ver. 13.

The apparent tautology is justified by the endea-yours of the Psalmist to bring clearly out his unimpassionedstillness, and his renunciation of all dependance on self. Thisappears the more in its place, as we have before us here an in-direct exhortation.

Ver. 15 carries back the patience of thePsalmist to its ground; it is a daughter of faith. He answersnot, because he is convinced that God will answer, whom hemust not forestall. The divine answer is a matter-of-fact one.After the Psalmist has referred back his stillness and patienceto his conviction, that God will help him, its proper ground, heshews on account of what he sets his hope in God, and betakesto him for refuge. He is afraid, that otherwise his enemies willtriumph over him, ver. 16, and while he shews how much reasonhe has for this fear, as destruction is so near him, he throws outin ver. 17-20, a new representation of his sufferings. Ver.16. For I speak, that they may not rejoice over me, who,on the slipping of my foot, lift themselves high against me.אמרתי, not, I pray, but, I think.

Before פן is to be supplied,it is matter of concern, or it is to be feared, or something similar.The second half of the verse is a relative clause, which, accord- ing to Hebrew custom, is but loosely appended. We can eitherexpound: who, (now already) since my foot slips, (a mark ofmisfortune as distinguished from entire ruin) magnify themselvesagainst me; or, who, when my foot slips, (when I come entirely down), would magnify themselves against me).

The first expo-sition has on its side Psalms 35:26, where the magnifying of the enemies belongs not to the feeling of terror, but to the sad ex-perience, and especially the next verse, where to the slipping of the foot the halting corresponds.

Psalms 38:16

Ver. 16. For I speak, that they may not rejoice over me, who, on the slipping of my foot, lift themselves high against me. ΰξψϊι, not, I pray, but, I think. Before το is to be supplied, it is matter of concern, or it is to be feared, or something similar. The second half of the verse is a relative clause, which, according to Hebrew custom, is but loosely appended. We can either expound: who, (now already) since my foot slips, (a mark of misfortune as distinguished from entire ruin) magnify themselves against me; or, who, if my foot slipped, (if I came entirely down), would magnify themselves against me). The first exposition has on its side Psalms 35:26, where the insolent behavior of the enemies is viewed not to a matter of dread, but as an occasion of distress, and especially the next verse, where the halting corresponds to the slipping of the foot.

Psalms 38:17-22

Ver. 17. For I am given over to suffering, and my pain is be-fore me continually. The Psalmist shews how his present posi-tion justified his fear of the triumph of his enemies: he finds himself in great misery. The first member is literally: for I am ready to halt. The being ready cannot just mean, being near; but is as much as: to the hand, given over, adjudged. For the halting cannot denote the full ruin, but only the misfortune, comp. Psalms 35:15, where it is used of a state, in which the Psalmist already finds himself, not which he dreads; and the misfortune was not simply near to the Psalmist, but he was al-ready in it. Elsewhere, also, for ex.

Job 12:5, נכון with ל, is used of what already exists. מכאב, pain, not subjectively, but objectively, therefore entirely corresponding to the biblical halt-ing. It is before me continually, q. d. it is my inseparable com-panion, corresponding to this: I am ready. The assertion that he finds himself in great misery, the Psalmist grounds in ver. 18-20 by recounting his sufferings.Ver. 18. For my guilt must I confess, I am sorry for my sin.The for denotes the relation, not merely of this verse, but ofthe whole section ver. 18-20 to. ver. 17. The suffering of thePsalmist consists primarily in this, that he has come to theknowledge of his sins, and rues these with poignant regret.-To this sense of sin there come, besides, the assaults of numerousand mighty enemies, all the more sensibly, as the Psalmist hadformerly done them good. Ver. 19.

And mine enemies live andare mighty, and many there are who hate me without cause.Ver. 20. And they that render evil for good are enemies tome, because that I follow after the good.

The first member ofver. 19 is literally: and mine enemies, living, are strong.היים cannot be joined as an adj. to איבי, for it must then havethe article. It contains an entire declaration, as much as: whoare living. While the Psalmist finds himself in a state like todeath, is dead while living, they are living and powerful.היים is quite suitable, whether we refer the עצמו to the qua-lity, or to the quantity of the enemies; they are strong in num-her, in agreement with the second member; and the conjecture הנם, without cause, is to be rejected. Certainly no one would have thought of putting in place of this, the more difficult היים. To follow after the good, is not quite the same with well-doing. It rather denotes a zealous moral striving in general.

This striving, however, in the Psalmist, had specially directed itself in respect to his present enemies. Comp.

Psalms 35:12. The rare form of the infin. רדופי; has been changed by the Masoritesinto the common one.Ver. 21. Forsake me not, O Lord; my God be not far from me. Ver. 22. Make haste to help me, Lord, my salvation. Calvin: “In this conclusion he brings shortly together the whole sum of his wishes and his prayer, viz.: that God would take up and help him, who had been abandoned by man, and in every way most wretchedly plagued.” The conclusion stands in designed verbal reference to Psalms 22:19. On the expression: Lord, my salvation, compare this: “say to my soul, I am thy salvation,” in Psalms 35:3.

Psalms 38:18-20

Ver. 18. For my guilt must I confess, I am sorry for my sin. The for denotes the relation, not merely of this verse, but of the whole section Psalms 38:18-20 to Psalms 38:17. The suffering of the Psalmist consists first in this, that he has come to the knowledge of his sins, and rues these with poignant regret. To this sense of sin there come, besides, the assaults of numerous and mighty enemies, all the more sensibly, as the Psalmist had formerly done them good. Ver. 19. And mine enemies live and are mighty, and many there are who hate me without cause. Ver. 20. And they that render evil for good are enemies to me, because that I follow after the good. The first member of Psa 38:19 is literally: and mine enemies, living, are strong. ηιιν cannot be joined as an adj. to ΰιαι, for it must then have the article.

It contains an entire declaration, as much as: who are living. While the Psalmist finds himself in a state like to death, is dead while living, they are living and powerful. ηιιν is quite suitable, whether we refer the ςφξε to the quality, or to the quantity of the enemies; they are strong in number, in agreement with the second member; and the conjecture ηπν, without cause, is to be rejected. Certainly no one would have thought of putting in place of this, the more difficult ηιιν. To follow after the good, is not quite the same with well-doing. It rather denotes a zealous moral striving in general. This striving, however, in the Psalmist, had specially directed itself in respect to his present enemies.

Comp. Psalms 35:12. The rare form of the infin. ψְ ?γεֹ ?τִ ?ι has been changed by the Masorites into the common one.

Psalms 38:21-22

Ver. 21. Forsake me not, O Lord; my God be not far from me. Ver. 22. Make haste to help me, Lord, my salvation. Calvin: “In this conclusion he brings shortly together the whole sum of his wishes and his prayer, viz.: that God would take up and help him, who had been abandoned by man, and in every way most wretchedly plagued.” The conclusion stands in designed verbal reference to Psalms 22:19. On the expression: Lord, my salvation, compare this: “say to my soul, I am thy salvation,” in Psalms 35:3.