The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Disease” it comes from the Hebrew Word “nega” which means “plague, disease, affliction.”
David describes overwhelming physical and emotional suffering he believes stems from his own sin. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Psalm 38.
David pleads with the Lord not to rebuke him in His wrath, nor chasten him in His hot displeasure, since God’s arrows stick fast in him, and His hand presses him sore, describing how there is no soundness in his flesh because of God’s anger, nor rest in his bones because of his sin, since his iniquities have gone over his head, as a heavy burden too heavy for him.
David describes his physical suffering vividly, his wounds stinking and being corrupt because of his foolishness, being troubled and bowed down greatly, going mourning all the day long, his loins filled with a loathsome “disease,” “nega” in Hebrew, no soundness in his flesh, feeble and sorely broken, roaring by reason of the disquietness of his heart.
David describes how his lovers and friends stand aloof from his sore, and his kinsmen stand afar off, while those who seek his life lay snares, and those who seek his hurt speak mischievous things, imagining deceits all day long, yet he, as deaf, does not hear, and as dumb, does not open his mouth, waiting for the Lord his God to hear him, confessing his iniquity, being sorry for his sin, asking the Lord not to forsake him, and to make haste to help him, closing this raw psalm of confession and physical anguish with genuine, humble dependence on God alone for both healing and rescue.
David’s willingness to connect his physical suffering directly to his own confessed sin, rather than blaming external circumstances or other people, models a kind of honest self-examination that can be genuinely difficult but ultimately healthy. His response to abandonment by friends, choosing silence and waiting on God rather than bitter retaliation, offers a model for handling isolation during genuinely difficult, self-inflicted seasons of suffering.
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