Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 38:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 38:11. My lovers — Those who professed much affection for me; my friends, רעי reai, my companions, who never before left my company, stand aloof.

My kinsmen — קרובי kerobai, my neighbours, stand afar off. I am deserted by all, and they stand off because of נגעי nigi, my plague. They considered me as suffering under a Divine judgment; and, thinking me an accursed being, they avoided me lest they should be infected by my disease.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalm 38-39 The cries of the sick

The psalmist David felt that sometimes punishment for his sins took the form of sickness (e.g. Psalms 6:0) or opposition from those who envied or hated him (e.g. Psalms 25:0). Both elements appear again in the prayer of Psalms 38:0, which, being a confession of sin, was suitable to be offered with certain sacrifices.

As the suffering David cries to God for mercy, he admits that, because of his sin, he deserves what he has got (38:1-4). He vividly describes the sickness, sores and pain that he has to endure (5-7), but his inner suffering is much greater. It leaves him crushed and repentant before God (8-10). Friends forsake him and enemies plot against him (11-12), but he bears their slanders as if he cannot hear them and cannot reply to them (13-14). He can only leave the matter in God’s hands and trust that his downfall will give his enemies no cause to gloat over him or dishonour God (15-17). Although he has confessed his sins, his enemies still persecute him. He prays that God will not leave him alone in his hour of grief (18-22).

Psalms 39:0 views sickness in a different context from the previous psalm. As the psalmist looks back on his sickness, he asserts that he did not want to complain, in case he gave the wicked an excuse for dishonouring God. In the end, he could restrain himself no longer (39:1-3). His illness made him see how short and uncertain life is (4-6). He now sees this as all the more reason why he should trust in God and seek his forgiveness. He does not want to be mocked as one whose faith leaves him with fear and uncertainty in the face of death (7-8).

In view of all he has been through, the psalmist now asks for relief from his sufferings. The lesson God has taught him is that he should not place too high a value on the temporary things of life (9-11). He sees himself as a traveller, as a passing guest, and prays that his divine host will treat him with fitting kindness in the few days of life that remain (12-13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE REACTION OF OTHERS

“My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me; And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, hear not; And I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Yea, I am as a man that heareth not, And in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: Thou wilt answer, O Lord, my God. For I said, Lest they rejoice over me: When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.”

“My lovers” Barnes tells us that the meaning of the Hebrew here is, “An acquaintance, a companion, or a friend.”Barnes’ Notes on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, a 1987 reprint of the 1878 edition), Vol. 1, p. 339. In this context it refers to David’s supporters.

As Kidner observed, “It is ironical that the more desperately a person needs the support of friends and loved ones the less likely he is to receive it”!Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 154. As Rawlinson put it, “The stricken deer is deserted by the rest of the herd.”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 299.

“I am as a deaf man… as a dumb man… as a man that heareth not” Deafness and muteness are clearly figures of speech in this passage; and it is quite likely that the same metaphorical meaning of maladies mentioned previously in the same passage is intended.

“In whose mouth are no reproofs” The marginal alternative for `reproofs’ here is `arguments.’ indicating that David was in no mood whatever to attempt any self-justification.

“O Jehovah… O Lord… my God” There are three different names for God in this single verse, indicating, as Kidner observed, that, “David knew God by name (Yahweh) and by covenant (my God), and as Master and Savior (Psalms 38:22 b).”Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 255.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

My lovers - See the notes at Psalms 31:11. The reference here is to those who professed to be his friends.

And my friends - The word used here means properly an acquaintance, a companion, a friend, Job 2:11; Job 19:21; then, a lover, a friend, a neighbor. The phrase here would be synonymous with our word “kinsmen.”

Stand aloof - They are unwilling to come near me; they leave me to suffer alone.

From my sore - Margin: “stroke.” The Hebrew word means properly a stroke, a blow, Deuteronomy 17:8; Deuteronomy 21:5; then a stroke in the sense of calamities or judgments, such as God brings upon men: Genesis 12:17; Exodus 11:1. The meaning here is, that they stand aloof from him, or refuse to come near him, as if he were afflicted with some contagious disease.

And my kinsmen - Margin: “neighbors.” The Hebrew word used here - קרוב qârôb - means properly near, nigh; spoken of a place, Genesis 19:20; then of time, Isaiah 13:6; then of kindred or affinity, Numbers 27:11; and then of friendship, meaning our intimate acquaintance - as we should say, those who are “near” to us, Job 19:14. The word would be applicable to neighbors or to warm personal friends.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

11My friends and my companions stand away from my sore Here David enumerates other circumstances to show the aggravated character of his misery, that he might excite the compassion of God. One of these is, that he finds no help or solace among men. In saying that his friends stand away from him, he means, that they cease from performing any of the offices of humanity towards him. This might happen either from pride or fear. If they withdrew from this poor afflicted man because they despised him, they were cruel and proud; and if they refused him their assistance for fear of being brought into odium, it was most unpardonable cowardice. But in the meantime, it augmented not a little the calamity of David, that even his friends and kinsfolk dared not to show any token of compassion towards him. It is, indeed, a very sore trial, when a man, who has had a great number of friends, comes to be abandoned by them all.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 38:1-22

Psalms 38:1-22 . This is read on Yom Kippur. Now David, through some sin, and he doesn't tell us what, became very sick. And this psalm is occasion by this great sickness that David had because of some sin that he committed.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in your hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presses me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness ( Psalms 38:1-5 ).

Now just what it was, maybe a venereal disease or something that David is experiencing here. But he said that,

I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart. Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee. My heart pants, my strength fails: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends they stand aloof from my sores; and my kinsmen stand afar off. They also that seek after my life they are laying traps for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man and I opened not my mouth. Thus I was as a man that hears not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs. For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slips, and they magnify themselves against me. For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare my iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. They also that render evil for good are my adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is. Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation ( Psalms 38:6-22 ).

So David is in a bad shape because of his sin. A loathsome horrible stinking disease. It has caused his friends to shun him and his enemies to try to wipe him out at this point. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. God’s discipline 38:1-12

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 38

In this individual lament psalm, which has been called "the penitent’s plea," [Note: Ironside, p. 222.] David expressed penitence that he had sinned against God and had thereby incurred His discipline. This discipline came in the form of opposition from enemies that the psalmist asked God to remove.

The title "memorial" (NASB) or "petition" (NIV) literally means: "to bring to remembrance." It also occurs in the title of Psalms 70.

"Since with God to remember is to act, this word speaks of laying before Him a situation that cries out for His help." [Note: Kidner, p. 153.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

His sufferings had also affected others. The Lord knew his condition (Psalms 38:9-10), his friends were avoiding him (Psalms 38:11), and his enemies were taking advantage of his weakness. They were trying to disparage and destroy him.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore,.... As if it was a plague sore, lest they should be infected with it; or because they could not bear the stench of his wounds, and the loathsomeness of his disease, or to see him in his agonies, and hear his roaring and his groans, Psalms 38:2; or as taking his case to be desperate, as if he was just dying, and no help could be given him, Psalms 38:10; If it was the leprosy, as some Jewish writers have affirmed, the word נגע, translated "sore", being used for the plague of the leprosy, they were obliged by the ceremonial law to keep at a distance from him: but this rather seems to be voluntary, and to proceed from neglect and contempt. These "lovers" and "friends" were such for whom David had had an affection, and had been friendly to, and therefore it was ungrateful in them to act the part they did; and such who had pretended love and friendship to him in his health and prosperity, but now had deserted him, which is a common case; see Job 19:13. Afflictions try men's friends; and as that is a time when friendly visits are most wanting and most useful, so it is an aggravation of the affliction, and makes it the heavier when such are denied;

and my kinsmen stand afar off; that were near to him by the ties of nature or friendship.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A psalm of David to bring to remembrance.

      1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.   2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.   3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.   4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.   5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.   6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.   7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.   8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.   9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.   10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.   11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

      The title of this psalm is very observable; it is a psalm to bring to remembrance; the 70th psalm, which was likewise penned in a day of affliction, is so entitled. It is designed, 1. To bring to his own remembrance. We will suppose it penned when he was sick and in pain, and then it teaches us that times of sickness are times to bring to remembrance, to bring the sin to remembrance, for which God contended with us, to awaken our consciences to deal faithfully and plainly with us, and set our sins in order before us, for our humiliation. In a day of adversity consider. Or we may suppose it penned after his recovery, but designed as a record of the convictions he was under and the workings of his heart when he was in affliction, that upon every review of this psalm he might call to mind the good impressions then made upon him and make a fresh improvement of them. To the same purport was the writing of Hezekiah when he had been sick. 2. To put others in mind of the same things which he was himself mindful of, and to teach them what to think and what to say when they are sick and in affliction; let them think as he did, and speak as he did.

      I. He deprecates the wrath of God and his displeasure in his affliction (Psalms 38:1; Psalms 38:1): O Lord! rebuke me not in thy wrath. With this same petition he began another prayer for the visitation of the sick, Psalms 6:1. This was most upon his heart, and should be most upon ours when we are in affliction, that, however God rebukes and chastens us, it may not be in wrath and displeasure, for that will be wormwood and gall in the affliction and misery. Those that would escape the wrath of God must pray against that more than any outward affliction, and be content to bear any outward affliction while it comes from, and consists with, the love of God.

      II. He bitterly laments the impressions of God's displeasure upon his soul (Psalms 38:2; Psalms 38:2): Thy arrows stick fast in me. Let Job's complaint (Job 7:4; Job 7:4) expound this of David. By the arrows of the Almighty he means the terrors of God, which did set themselves in array against him. He was under a very melancholy frightful apprehension of the wrath of God against him for his sins, and thought he could look for nothing but judgment and fiery indignation to devour him. God's arrows, as they are sure to hit the mark, so they are sure to stick where they hit, to stick fast, till he is pleased to draw them out and to bind up with his comforts the wound he has made with his terrors. This will be the everlasting misery of the damned--the arrows of God's wrath will stick fast in them and the wound will be incurable. "Thy hand, thy heavy hand, presses me sore, and I am ready to sink under it; it not only lies hard upon me, but it lies long; and who knows the power of God's anger, the weight of his hand?" Sometimes God shot his arrows, and stretched forth his hand, for David (Psalms 18:4), but now against him; so uncertain is the continuance of divine comforts, where yet the continuance of divine grace is assured. He complains of God's wrath as that which inflicted the bodily distemper he was under (Psalms 38:3; Psalms 38:3): There is no soundness in my flesh because of thy anger. The bitterness of it, infused in his mind, affected his body; but that was not the worst: it caused the disquietude of his heart, by reason of which he forgot the courage of a soldier, the dignity of a prince, and all the cheerfulness of the sweet psalmist of Israel, and roared terribly, Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger, which shows what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands. The way to keep the heart quiet is to keep ourselves in the love of God and to do nothing to offend him.

      III. He acknowledges his sin to be the procuring provoking cause of all his troubles, and groans more under the load of guilt than any other load, Psalms 38:3; Psalms 38:3. He complains that his flesh had no soundness, his bones had no rest, so great an agitation he was in. "It is because of thy anger; that kindles the fire which burns so fiercely;" but, in the next words, he justifies God herein, and takes all the blame upon himself: "It is because of my sin. I have deserved it, and so have brought it upon myself. My own iniquities do correct me." If our trouble be the fruit of God's anger, we may thank ourselves; it is our sin that is the cause of it. Are we restless? It is sin that makes us so. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. It is sin therefore that this good man complains most of, 1. As a burden, a heavy burden (Psalms 38:4; Psalms 38:4): "My iniquities have gone over my head, as proud waters over a man that is sinking and drowning, or as a heavy burden upon my head, pressing me down more than I am able to bear or to bear up under." Note, Sin is a burden. The power of sin dwelling in us is a weight, Hebrews 12:1. All are clogged with it; it keeps men from soaring upward and pressing forward. All the saints are complaining of it as a body of death they are loaded with, Romans 7:24. The guilt of sin committed by us is a burden, a heavy burden; it is a burden to God (he is pressed under it, Amos 2:13), a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it, Romans 8:21; Romans 8:22. It will, first or last, be a burden to the sinner himself, either a burden of repentance when he is pricked to the heart for it, labours, and is heavy-laden, under it, or a burden of ruin when it sinks him to the lowest hell and will for ever detain him there; it will be a talent of lead upon him, Zechariah 5:8. Sinners are said to bear their iniquity. Threatenings are burdens. 2. As wounds, dangerous wounds (Psalms 38:5; Psalms 38:5): "My wounds stink and are corrupt (as wounds in the body rankle, and fester, and grow foul, for want of being dressed and looked after), and it is through my own foolishness." Sins are wounds (Genesis 4:23), painful mortal wounds. Our wounds by sin are often in a bad condition, no care taken of them, no application made to them, and it is owing to the sinner's foolishness in not confessing sin, Psalms 32:3; Psalms 32:4. A slight sore, neglected, may prove of fatal consequence, and so may a slight sin slighted and left unrepented of.

      IV. He bemoans himself because of his afflictions, and gives ease to his grief by giving vent to it and pouring out his complaint before the Lord.

      1. He was troubled in mind, his conscience was pained, and he had no rest in his own spirit; and a wounded spirit who can bear? He was troubled, or distorted, bowed down greatly, and went mourning all the day long,Psalms 38:6; Psalms 38:6. He was always pensive and melancholy, which made him a burden and terror to himself. His spirit was feeble and sorely broken, and his heart disquieted, Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. Herein David, in his sufferings, was a type of Christ, who, being in his agony, cried out, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful. This is a sorer affliction than any other in this world; whatever God is pleased to lay upon us, we have no reason to complain as long as he preserves to us the use of our reason and the peace of our consciences.

      2. He was sick and weak in body; his loins were filled with a loathsome disease, some swelling, or ulcer, or inflammation (some think a plague-sore, such as Hezekiah's boil), and there was no soundness in his flesh, but, like Job, he was all over distempered. See (1.) What vile bodies these are which we carry about with us, what grievous diseases they are liable to, and what an offence and grievance they may soon be made by some diseases to the souls that animate them, as they always are a cloud and clog. (2.) That the bodies both of the greatest and of the best of men have in them the same seeds of diseases that the bodies of others have, and are liable to the same disasters. David himself, though so great a prince and so great a saint, was not exempt from the most grievous diseases: there was no soundness even in his flesh. Probably this was after his sin in the matter of Uriah, and thus did he smart in his flesh for his fleshly lusts. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. He was feeble and sorely broken,Psalms 38:8; Psalms 38:8. His heart panted, and was in a continual palpitation, Psalms 38:10; Psalms 38:10. His strength and limbs failed him. As for the light of his eyes, that had gone from him, either with much weeping or by a defluxion of rheum upon them, or perhaps through the lowness of his spirits and the frequent returns of fainting. Note, Sickness will tame the strongest body and the stoutest spirit. David was famed for his courage and great exploits; and yet, when God contended with him by bodily sickness and the impressions of his wrath upon his mind, his hair is cut, his heart fails him, and he becomes weak as water. Therefore let not the strongman glory in his strength, nor any man set grief at defiance, however it may be thought at a distance.

      3. His friends were unkind to him (Psalms 38:11; Psalms 38:11): My lovers (such as had been merry with him in the day of his mirth) now stand aloof from my sore; they would not sympathize with him in his griefs, nor so much as come within hearing of his complaints, but, like the priest and Levite (Luke 10:31), passed on the other side. Even his kinsmen, that were bound to him by blood and alliance, stood afar off. See what little reason we have to trust in man or to wonder if we disappointed in our expectations of kindness from men. Adversity tries friendship, and separates between the precious and the vile. It is our wisdom to make sure a friend in heaven, who will not stand aloof from our sore and from whose love no tribulation nor distress shall be able to separate us. David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agony, Christ, on his cross, feeble and sorely broken, and then deserted by his friends and kinsmen, who beheld afar off.

      V. In the midst of his complaints, he comforts himself with the cognizance God graciously took both of his griefs and of his prayers (Psalms 38:9; Psalms 38:9): "Lord, all my desire is before thee. Thou knowest what I want and what I would have: My groaning is not hidden from thee. Thou knowest the burdens I groan under and the blessings I groan after." The groanings which cannot be uttered are not hidden from him that searches the heart and knows what is the mind of the Spirit,Romans 8:26; Romans 8:27.

      In singing this, and praying it over, whatever burden lies upon our spirits, we would by faith cast it upon God, and all our care concerning it, and then be easy.