Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 38. This is a lament that lays a person's troubles before God, when that person realizes that these troubles result from his own sin. The psalm describes anguish of body and mind, desertion by friends, and how the singer's folly has made him vulnerable to enemies ready to pounce. Because the psalm acknowledges that the singer's sins lie behind these troubles, it is often called a "penitential" psalm (along with Psalms 6; 32; 51; 130; 143). Of course, not all troubles result from one's own sins; but this psalm is geared to those that do. The title associates the psalm with the "memorial offering" (cf. Lev. 2:2), the portion of the grain offering that the priest burns on the altar; its purpose was probably to "remind" God that the worshiper had consecrated these gifts of God's own abundant providence.

38:1-8 The Tumult of My Heart. The singer describes the anguish of his body and mind, acknowledging that he deserves it because of his sin (anger, wrath, v. 1; because of, vv. 3, 5, 8), and that these troubles come from God (your arrows, v. 2). The physical and emotional distress is complete.