Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 38:1-11

"O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath; Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation; Neither is there any health 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 are loathsome and corrupt, Because of my foolishness. I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with burning; And there is no soundness in my flesh. I am faint and sore bruised: I have groaned 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 throbbeth, my strength faileth me: As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague; And my kinsmen stand afar off." — Psalms 38:1-11 (ASV)

Nothing will trouble the heart of a good person as much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear and would sink people into despair and ruin unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God.

If there were no sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. The guilt of sin is a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it. It will be a burden to sinners themselves when they are heavy-laden under it, or a burden of ruin when it sinks them to hell.

When we perceive our true condition, the Good Physician will be valued, sought, and obeyed. Yet many let their wounds rankle because they delay going to their merciful Friend. When, at any time, we are unwell in our bodies, we should remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies. The groanings which cannot be uttered are not hidden from Him who searches the heart and knows the mind of the Spirit.

David, in his troubles, was a type of Christ in his agonies, of Christ on his cross, suffering and deserted.