Catholic Commentary on Psalm 38

"Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God." (Psalm 38:15)

The Third Penitential Psalm

Psalm 38 is one of the most intensely personal of the Penitential Psalms, and its honesty about physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering is almost overwhelming. David is sick: his body is without soundness, his wounds fester and are loathsome, his back is filled with searing pain, there is no health in him. He is isolated: his friends and companions avoid him because of his wounds, his neighbours stay far away. He is hunted: his enemies seek to harm him, speaking of his ruin, plotting treachery all day long.

The connection between the illness and the sin is explicitly made: My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly. This is not a general theological claim that illness is always the consequence of sin. It is a personal acknowledgment in a specific situation that David's suffering is connected to something wrong he has done. The Catechism warns against the automatic connection of suffering and sin but also affirms that the person who makes a genuine connection in their own experience should not suppress it (CCC 1502).

Crushed and Waiting

The middle of the psalm is a catalogue of abandonment: David is like a deaf man who cannot hear, like a mute man who cannot speak. His enemies are strong and have no cause to hate him. Those who repay good with evil oppose him. In the midst of this total isolation, the prayer holds firm: Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God. The waiting is not passive resignation. It is the active posture of trust that has no other option and needs no other option because the Lord is enough.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Psalm 38 gives voice to the experience of those who are suffering on multiple fronts simultaneously: physically, emotionally, relationally, spiritually. If you are in that place, this psalm prays it for you. You do not need to articulate it better. Just bring it. And hold the thread of verse 15: Lord, I wait for you; you will answer. That thread is enough.

Prayer

Lord my God, you see my groaning and my longing is before you. I confess my iniquity and am troubled by my sin. Do not forsake me. Do not be far from me. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Saviour. I wait for you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

38
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
(Psalms 6:1–10)
A Psalm of David, for remembrance.
 
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath.
2 For Your arrows have pierced me deeply,
and Your hand has pressed down on me.
 
3 There is no soundness in my body
because of Your anger;
there is no rest in my bones
because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have overwhelmed me;
they are a burden too heavy to bear.
5 My wounds are foul and festering
because of my sinful folly.
6 I am bent and brought low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7 For my loins are full of burning pain,
and no soundness remains in my body.
8 I am numb and badly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
 
9 O Lord, my every desire is before You;
my groaning is not hidden from You.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.
11 My beloved and friends shun my disease,
and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares;
those who wish me harm speak destruction,
plotting deceit all day long.
 
13 But like a deaf man, I do not hear;
and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.
14 I am like a man who cannot hear,
whose mouth offers no reply.
15 I wait for You, O LORD;
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, “Let them not gloat over me—
those who taunt me when my foot slips.”
 
17 For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18 Yes, I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
19 Many are my enemies without cause,* 38:19 One DSS manuscript; MT My enemies are vigorous and strong
and many hate me without reason.† 38:19 See John 15:25
20 Those who repay my good with evil
attack me for pursuing the good.
 
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD;
be not far from me, O my God.
22 Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior.

*38:19 38:19 One DSS manuscript; MT My enemies are vigorous and strong

†38:19 38:19 See John 15:25

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