Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

2Your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

3Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

4My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

5My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

6I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

7My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

8I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

9All my longings lie open before you, Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

10My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

11My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

12Those who want to kill me set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they scheme and lie.

13I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,

like the mute, who cannot speak;

14I have become like one who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

15Lord, I wait for you;

you will answer, Lord my God.

16For I said, “Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

17For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

18I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

19Many have become my enemies without cause;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

20Those who repay my good with evil

lodge accusations against me,

though I seek only to do what is good.

21Lord, do not forsake me;

do not be far from me, my God.

22Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my Saviour. (NIV)

In this Psalm we find David sick and lonely. The first thing he does is to acknowledge that he is suffering because of his own personal sin. Indeed, he feels the crushing weight of his guilt (4). It is a burden too heavy to bear. ‘Sin comes as a friend to entice you and then becomes a master to enslave you.’ Warren Wiersbe

But as David continues, we are able to see that some of his suffering is undeserved and without cause (19,20). Once again, his stance is one of prayerful waiting for the Lord (13-16; 21,22).

Ultimately, this psalm points us beyond David to ‘Great David’s greater Son’, Jesus, whose suffering was totally innocent. He was hated ”without a cause” (John 15:5). That quote in John 15 is not taken from Psalm 38, but Psalm 69:4. Nevertheless, we can affirm that Jesus’ innocent suffering upon the Cross provides the only answer to the overwhelming weight of sin and guilt we all carry.

At least, it does for those who, like David, repentantly confess their sin and throw themselves on the mercy of God.

”If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn.1:8,9)