I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
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
The soul torn between extremes, burning fear, then icy horror; flaming desire, then dreadful numbness. A convinced sinner is crushed like grain in a mill, the wheels of divine wrath grinding conscience into pulp. When prayer becomes mere roaring, mere groan, know that the Father hears it all. He attends to the inarticulate agony of the soul as surely as to measured speech.
AI summary
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