For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body.
David composed this psalm as a memorial, knowing how quickly God's chastisements slip from our minds even though they ought to instruct us all our lives. The title points to his purpose: to keep the lessons of affliction alive in himself and in others.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 38:1-22
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease —a hot, dry, parching disorder, probably accompanied by loathsome ulcers. Spiritually, the fire burns within when the evil of the heart is laid bare. Note the emphatic words, the evil is loathsome, it is in the loins, its seat is deep and vital—the man is filled with it. Those who have passed through the time of conviction understand all this.
When afflicted, we must call our sins to mind and set them in order before God for humiliation. This psalm teaches the sick what to think and say in their distress, but above all: pray that God's rebuke may not come in wrath, for that makes the affliction wormwood and gall.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 38:1-11