Psalms 38

Psalms 38THEME: A penitential psalm involving physical diseaseThis is entitled “A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance” and is classed as a penitential psalm. It is David’s confession and concerns physical sickness. David is very ill. His body is wasting away. We have no record of his having this illness, but we have seen before that he thanked God for his healing.

Psalms 38:1

David, in deep distress, prays that God will not judge him in anger.

Psalms 38:2

This is real conviction.

Psalms 38:3

David’s physical sickness is the result of sin.

Psalms 38:4

You and I cannot carry our burdens, friend, and we especially cannot carry the burden of sin. We must give that burden to God.

Psalms 38:5

Disease, the result of his foolishness, is followed by mental anguish. In the first church in which I served, there was a doctor in the congregation. He called me into his office one day and showed me this psalm. He said, “There are many people who believe that David had a venereal disease. I was told that in medical school, but I do not agree with it.” He asked me what I thought. Well, I agreed with him that I would not accept that diagnosis. Regarding the prophetic aspect of this psalm, some have interpreted it as being a description of the condition of Christ on the cross, that when Christ bore our sins, He also bore our diseases and actually took in His own body all the diseases of mankind. This could not be true, because disease is the result of sin, and there was no sin in Him. Concerning His birth, Luk_1:35 says, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” He was holyHe was not born with a sin nature. Of Christ’s earthly life the Father said, “…Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mar_1:11). Toward the end of His life on earth the Lord Jesus said, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? …” (Joh_8:46). Jesus was holy, harmless, and separate from sin. He could not be the spotless Lamb offered for our sin if He were diseaseddisease is the result of sin. Christ was holy when He went to the cross. For the first three hours that Christ was on the cross, man did his worst; but in those last three hours God did His best, for Christ took upon Himself the sin of the world. It is at this point that we need to be careful. It was the sin of the world that Christ took. When we are told that He bore our diseases, it is the disease of sin. Simon Peter confirms this in 1Pe_2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed"healed of what?

Our diseases? No! We are healed of sin. He bore our sins on the cross and took care of the sin problem for us. He did not have a diseased body. Disease is the result of sin, and there was no sin in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is an awful, blasphemous thing to say that Jesus Christ was diseased when He hung on the cross. Those of us who have endured illness and disease in our bodies can identify with David in this psalm. And it is the proper thing to do to first take your case to the Great Physicianand then make an appointment with the best doctor you can find. Let’s be practical about this. All the skill and wisdom a doctor has comes from God, whether or not he acknowledges it.