wholesomeness · noun, common masculine singular absolute
flesh
בִּ֭בְשָׂרִיBiv.sa.ri
H1320
flesh (from its freshness) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
because
מִפְּנֵ֣יmi.pe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
anger
זַעְמֶ֑ךָza'.Me.kha
H2195
strictly froth at the mouth · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
rest
שָׁל֥וֹםsha.Lom
H7965
safe · noun, common masculine singular absolute
bones
בַּ֝עֲצָמַ֗יba.'a.tza.Mai
H6106
a bone (as strong) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
because
מִפְּנֵ֥יmi.pe.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
sin
חַטָּאתִֽיcha.ta.Ti
H2403
an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 6:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
Psalms 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psalms 31:9-10 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
Isaiah 1:5-6 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Lamentations 3:40-42 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
2 Chronicles 26:19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in hi…
Job 2:7-8 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
Job 33:19-22 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 38:1-11
The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a psalm to bring to remembrance; the 70th psalm, which was likewise penned in a day of affliction, is so entitled. It is designed, 1. To bring to his own remembrance. We will suppose it penned when he was sick and in pain, and then it teaches us that times of sickness are times to bring to remembrance, to bring the sin to remembrance, for which God contended with us, to awaken our consciences to deal faithfully and plainly with us, and set our sins in order before us, for our humiliation. In a day of adversity consider. Or we may suppose it penned after his recovery, but designed as a record of the convictions he was under and the workings of…
arrows . . . and thy hand--the sharp and heavy afflictions he suffered (Deu 32:23).
John Gill on Psalms 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh, because of thine anger,.... Such was the nature of the affliction the psalmist laboured under, and which he took to be an effect of the anger of God towards him, that the whole frame of nature was affected with it, and from the crown of the head to, the soles of the feet there was no health or soundness, as in Isaiah 1:6; where the same word is used as here; some think the word (g) here used has the signification of man; and that the sense is, that through, the violence of the distemper he had not so much, as the form of a man, as his antitype in Isaiah 52:14; and as this led him to a view of his sins, as the cause of his affliction, he was so far from thin…
Psalm 38:1-5
1. O Jehovah! rebuke me not in thy wrath, and chasten me not in thy anger. 2. For thy arrows go down in me [49] and thy hand has come down upon me. 3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy anger; nor any peace in my bones because of my sin. 4. For my iniquities have passed over my head, and as a weighty burden they have become too heavy for me. 5. My wounds have become putrid, they are corrupt, because of my foolishness.
1 O Jehovah! rebuke me not in thy wrath As I have already expounded this verse in the beginning of the sixth psalm, where it occurs, and that I may not prove tedious to the reader, I shall notice it more briefly here. David does not expressly ask th…
The Church Fathers
Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh the man who is filled with the fear of God abideth outside him, for fear keepeth fast hold upon the place of his understanding, and upon all the places of ingoing and outgoing of the city of his soul. Like the watchmen who stand by the gates of the city, even so doth fear keep fast hold upon the places of ingoing and outgoing of the soul, and it permitteth no act or thought to enter in or to go forth which it examineth not; for it neither permitteth any internal thought whatsoever to go forth, nor any external act that is not seemly to go in. And moreover this Prophet maketh known in other places the fear of God; "My flesh contracteth through fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments." And again he saith, "I am like a wine skin in ice, but I have not forgotten Thy commandments." And again he saith, "Sorrow is in my heart all the day long. How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn Thy face from me? How long wilt Thou forget me, for ever? How long wilt Thou set trouble in my soul?" And again he saith, "Heal me, O Lord, for my bones tremble, and my soul is greatly moved. I am weary with my groaning; every night make I my bed to swim; and I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye hath become sick because of Thine anger"; now it is evident that all these things arose from [his] fear of God. And again he saith, "I roared by reason of the groaning of my heart"; and again he saith, "Lead me, O Lord, in Thy fear and righteousness"; and again he saith, "There is no soundness in my flesh before the fear of Thee, and there is no health in my bones in the presence of my sins. For my iniquities have gone over my head; and [they are] as a heavy burden heavy upon me. My wounds stink and are corrupt, and in the presence of my iniquities I tremble greatly. All the day long I walk in sadness. For my ankles are filled with trembling. I am much moved, and I am brought to great misery." And again he saith, "My heart is turned back, and my strength hath forsaken me; and the light of my eyes is no longer with me." And again he saith, "I kept silent, and I was sorrowful, and I was afflicted even from good; And my sickness was stirred. My…
(Verse 3.) There is no soundness in my flesh from the face of your anger. Isaiah explained this passage to us: We have sinned, and you are angry with us (Isaiah 64:5). But who can withstand the face of the Lord's anger? Perhaps he can, because the eyes of the Lord are on those who do evil (Psalm 34:17). For if the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, how can the Prophet be weakened by the face of God's anger? Therefore, consider this, which David himself said later: For you have delivered me from all my troubles; and my eye looks upon my enemies (Psalm 54:9). For just as He looks upon the good deeds of the righteous, so He also uncovers the hidden sins of the wicked. Unless, perhaps, you refer this to Christ, who was delivered from all those who oppressed Him, when He withdrew Himself from the Jewish people, who were constantly wearing Him down with sacrileges and daily impieties; and He called His enemies to His grace, whom the eye of God saw and loved. Therefore, because God is merciful, there is no reason for despair. Though He may be angered, He forgives; though He may strike, He heals; though He delivers the flesh to destruction, He saves the spirit. Therefore, do not fear the weakness of the flesh; for when the holy one is weak, he is stronger. But what does he mean when he says, 'There is no peace in my bones because of the face of my sins'? What are these bones; are they of the soul or of the body? But the care for bodily pain would not be so great if the soul did not also suffer; for it is the desire of the holy to have the flesh scourged for the sake of the soul, just as Paul himself scourged himself lest his teaching be discredited. There are certain inner bones of man, just as there are other members, the eyes of the mind, and the nostrils; as Job said, 'The divine spirit is in my nostrils' (Job. XXVII, 3). Therefore, there are also bones by which a certain bond of charity is formed. Hence, Adam said of the partner of charity and co-heir of the grace of life: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.' (Gen. II, 23). The Apostle, interpreting this, said: 'This is a great mystery; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.' (Ephes. V, 32). And who would doubt that the sacrament of Christ and the Church is not carnal but spiritual, since every good person is bound in that marriage not by the flesh but by the beauty of virtue? And should…
Dictionary and topics
Conviction · OF SIN — OF SIN
Remorse · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Sin · Leads to: Disquiet — Leads to: Disquiet
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
(Heb.: 38:2-9) David begins, as in Psa 6:1-10, with the prayer that his punitive affliction may be changed into disciplinary. Bakius correctly paraphrases. Psa 38:2 : Corripe sane per legem, castiga per crucem, millies promerui, negare non possum, sed castiga, quaeso, me ex amore ut pater, non ex furore et fervore ut judex; ne punias justitiae rigore, sed misericordiae dulcore (cf. on Psa 6:2). The negative is to be repeated in Psa 38:2, as in Psa 1:5; Psa 9:19; Psa 75:6. In the description, which give the ground of the cry for pity, נחת, is not the Piel, as in Psa 18:35, but the Niphal of the Kal נחת immediately following (root נח). קצף is anger as a breaking forth, fragor (cf. Hos 10:7, lx…
Sin can lead to sickness and even death (1 Cor 11:30). Whether the psalmist actually felt physically ill or his sickness was a metaphor for emotional turmoil, he knew that it came from God and threatened his life (see Pss 32:3; 39:10).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 38:3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger. Mental depression tells upon the bodily frame; it is enough to create and foster every disease, and is in itself the most painful of all diseases. Soul sickness tells upon the entire frame; it weakens the body, and then bodily weakness reacts upon the mind. One drop of divine anger sets the whole of our blood boiling with misery. Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. Deeper still the malady penetrates, till the bones, the more solid parts of the system, are affected. No soundness and no rest are two sa…
