“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes.” —G. Keith
Psalm 38 reflects the difficult challenges in the life of a committed believer. Although included with the Penitential Psalms, one half is about the bitter consequences of his own sin, but the other half deals with sorrows caused by others through no fault of his own. If you look for the Lord in the psalm, you see the pivot points, just as it is with us. The signal days of the believer’s life occur when we have meaningful interactions with the Lord—at conversion, in crises, for comfort, when we’re convicted, or at life’s consummation. Notice where David directly addresses the Lord (vv 1-2, 9-10; 15-16; 21-22). These mark out the subdivisions of the psalm. Between verses 1-2 and 9-10, we discover David’s inward searching caused by God’s chastening hand (vv 1-8); between verses 9-10 and 15-16, we have described his outward suffering caused by both friend and foe (vv 9-14); and between verses 15-16 and 21-22, we are encouraged by his homeward steps caused by learning the lessons he was taught (vv 15-22). Here’s the irony in the psalm. In the first part, he’s grief-stricken because he is GUILTY: “my sin…my iniquities…my foolishness…the turmoil of my heart” (vv 3-8). But in the second part, he is grief-stricken because he isn’t GUILTY and being falsely charged: “Those also who seek my life…who seek my hurt…who hate me wrongfully…who render evil for good,…because I follow what is good” (vv 12, 19-20). You’d almost think the believer can’t win. That is, until you read, “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (v 22). The two lessons? When it comes to our sin, make full confession to the Lord. When it comes to false accusations, mum’s the word (vv 13-14). Leave that with the Lord, too.