John Calvin Commentary Psalms 38:17

"For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me." — Psalms 38:17 (ASV)

Surely I am ready to halt – this verse has led commentators to suppose that David was afflicted with some ailment, from which he was afraid of having brought upon himself the condition of limping for the rest of his life. However, I have already shown in Psalm 35:15 that this supposition is very improbable. We certainly have no greater reason for supposing that David was lame than that Jeremiah was so, when he said, All my familiars watched for my halting (Jeremiah 20:10).

I therefore think that David here speaks metaphorically. His meaning is that if God did not soon come to his aid, there was no hope of his ever being restored to his former condition. He was so greatly afflicted that he felt he would walk as if he had been maimed or lame for the rest of his life.

To explain further, the passage continues, his sorrow was continually before him. The sense is that he was so severely afflicted that he could not forget it for a single moment, so as to find any relief.

In both clauses of the verse, David confesses that his condition is incurable unless he obtains some remedy from God, and that he cannot endure it unless he is raised up and sustained by the hand of God Himself. This is why he directs all his thoughts and requests to God alone, for as soon as he turns away from Him, he sees nothing but immediate ruin.