Bible in one year 8/22/ 2022 Psalm 38-40
By Rev. Katherine
Liu Bruce
Christian Arts
Ministries : Biblical precepts & Gospel music; Pastoral ministry &
Counseling
Psalm 38 This psalm falls into
three divisions, each beginning with an address to God. The first (vv.1-8)
describes the sufferings from sin; the second(vv.9-14), the longlines of sin;
and the third (vv.15-22), the confession of sin. Like other penitential psalms,
this lament focuses on David’s sin and God’s chastening as the cause of the
distress. David’s sin is not identified, though it is likely different form that
mentioned in Psalm 51. Wounds (v.11) the word is used of leprosy, indicating
that David’s friends avoided him as if he were a leper. David does not defend
himself against his enemies’ accusations(v.12). And he confesses that his sin
is the cause of his anxiety.
Psalm 38: 1-22 A psalm of David
O Lord, do not rebuke me
in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. For your arrows have pierced me,
and your hand has come down upon me. Because of your wrath there is no health
in my body; my bones have no soundness because of my sin. My guilt has overwhelmed
me like a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and are loathsome because
of my sinful folly. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go
about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my
body. I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. (vv.1-8).
All my longings lie open before you, O Lord; my sighing is
not hidden from you. My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has
gone from my eyes. My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my
neighbors stay far away. Those who seek my life set their traps, those who
would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they plot deception. I am like a
deaf man, who cannot hear, like a mute, who cannot open his mouth; I have
become like a man who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply. (vv.9-14).
I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God. For
I said, “ Do not let them gloat or exalt themselves over me when my foot
slips.” For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me. I confess my
iniquity; I am troubled by my sin. Many are those who are my vigorous enemies;
those who hate me without reason are numerous. Those who repay my good with
evil slander me when I pursue what is good. O Lord, do not forsake me; be not
far from me, O my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior. (vv.15-22).
Psalm 39 David
asks God to help him accept the brevity of life (vv.1-6). And to cease
chastening him in view of its shortness(vv.7-13). Jeduthun. One of the choir
directors appointed by David to lead public worship (1Chron.16:41;25:1-3 the
headings of Psalms 62,77). David’s feeling that God was to blame for the
brevity of life was strong enough to be taken for disloyalty if it had been
vented before the wicked. He asks that he may realize how certain it is that
life will end.(v.4). In verse 12 He prays that God will be kind to him in the
same way He taught Israel to be kind to the alien and stranger (Deut.10:18-19).
In the sense of diverting chastening for sin so that his days may be
enjoyable.(v.13).
Psalm 39:1-13 A psalm of
David
I said, “ I will watch
my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth as long as
the wicked are in my presence.” But when
I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased. My
heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke
with my tongue: “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let
me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the
span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a
breath. Man
is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he
heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. (vv.1-6).
But
now, Lord what do I look for? My hope is in you. Save me from all my
transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools. I was silent; I would not
open my mouth, for you are the one who has done this. Remove your scourge from
me; I am overcome by the blow of your hand. You rebuke and discipline men for
their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth—each man is but a breath.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord,, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were. Look away
from me, that I may rejoice again before I depart and am no more.” (vv.7-13).
Psalm 40 In this psalm of praise
(vv.1-10) and petition for deliverance (vv.11-17), David praises God for past
deliverance (vv.1-4), and offers himself in dedication (vv.5-10). Then David
brings a new problem before the Lord (vv.11-12), asking again for deliverance
(vv.13-17). The words of David’s dedication (vv.6-8) go beyond him to the Lord
Jesus, who came to be the obedient Sacrifice to end all sacrifices
(Heb.10:5-7). David compares his plight to that of a prisoner confined in a pit
and a traveler floundering in a treacherous quagmire. (v.2). verse 6 an
expression signifying obedience, based either on the custom of piercing the ear
as a sign of voluntary perpetual service (Ex.21:6) or on the idea of hearing
what God says)Isa.50:4-5). Instead of external ceremony only, David realizes
that God wants his heart. In effect, he is saying, “ Here I am to do what is
prescribed to me as my duty in the law, but to do it form the heart.”(v.6).
Psalm 40 : 1-17 A psalm
of David
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare. (v.5).
Sacrifice and offering you
did not desire, but my ears you have pierced burnt offerings you did not
require. Then I said, “ Here I am, I have come—it is written about me in the
scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I
proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, as you
know O Lord. I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your
faithfulness and salvation. I do not conceal your love and truth from the great
assembly. (vv.6-10).
Do not withhold your mercy
from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me.(v.11) For trouble without number surround me; my sins have
overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my
heart fails within me. (v.12).
Be pleased, O Lord, to save
me; O Lord, come quickly to help me. May all who seek to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all
who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me “ Aha! Aha!”
be appalled at their own shame. (vv.13-15).
But may all who seek you rejoice
and be glad in you, may those who love you salvation always say, “ The Lord be exalted!”
Yet I am poor and needs; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay. (vv.16-17).
Bibliography,
Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible
(NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.
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