Psalm 38 – Do Not Punish Me!
Psalm 38 – do not punish me in your anger. So begins Psalm 38. What does this psalm have to teach us about prayer? And what does it teach us about God?
Psalm 38 – For Remembrance
Psalm 38 is a penitential psalm, attributed to David. The superscription for Psalm 38 is for remembrance, or to get your attention in the New English Translation, to bring to remembrance in King James Version. Is the writer making note of something he wants to remember, or, as implied in “to get your attention”, is he trying to get God to take note of all of David’s troubles?
He then goes on to say in the first verse of Psalm 38 – do not punish me in your anger. Another version of this first verse is: “When you are angry, Lord, please don’t punish me or even correct me.” (Contemporary English Version) This is basic parenting 101. Parents learn quickly that it is not a good idea to punish our children when caught up in anger. So, is David trying to give God a lesson on being a good parent?
David’s Suffering
David goes on to recount his suffering in great detail and with great emphasis:
“Your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down on me.
Because of your wrath there is no health in my body; there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” (2-4 NIV)
God has not literally shot an arrow into David’s body, but it feels like it. Childlike, he blames God for all of his problems. It is God’s hand that is punishing him, taking away his health. However, he does acknowledge his sin.
He goes on to describe his great pain.
“My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my sinful folly.
I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning.
My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body.
I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.” (5-8)
Further Suffering
David is defenseless before those attacking him, not even able to hear or speak:
“I am like the deaf, who cannot hear, like the mute, who cannot speak;
I have become like one who does not hear, whose mouth can offer no reply.” (13-14)
And if all of his physical ailments aren’t enough, he has been abandoned by his friends and is at the mercy of his enemies.
“My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.
Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.” (11-12)
In his pain, he confesses his sins, recognizing that his sin is causing him pain.
“For I am about to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” (17-18)
He concludes by asking God to save him.
“Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God.
Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my Savior.” (21-22)
A Very Human Prayer
When reflecting on this psalm, I found myself thinking about the children’s book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. In the book, Alexander wakes up with gum in his hair. It is downhill from there, including having no dessert in his lunch and having to eat lima beans for dinner.
David is having his own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, or months, in this psalm. Certainly, what Alexander is dealing with is nothing in comparison to what David is experiencing. Or is it?
From a child’s perspective, what Alexander is experiencing is every bit as terrible as what David is experiencing. Which leads me to ask, will the trials and sufferings that we experience, appear as small to us when we are in heaven as Alexander’s experiences appear to us as adults?
It also struck me that David spent this whole time moaning about his complaints. Then I realized I was doing the same. I had come into the prayer chapel and spent most of the time going through a laundry list of things I needed to do, problems I was working on, rather than sitting in reflective prayer before our God. I would bring myself back to God, only to have my prayers waylaid again by the pressing agendas in my head. So, who am I to criticize David. His is a very human prayer.
When in pain, that is often all we can think about. God doesn’t mind. God is happy to listen to us prattle on about whatever we want. Still, it is so much better to put all those issues clamoring for attention aside if even for a moment and bask in the presence of God. We get glimpses of this in Psalm 38. “LORD, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God,” (15) he prays before going on another long rant about his problems. And he ends with the beautiful appeal to God mentioned above – “Lord do not forsake me.”
Hyperbole in the Psalms
David uses dramatic exaggeration – a literary device called hyperbole. He uses beautiful imagery to tell the truth of his pain. As one commentator states:
“Hyperbole is not lying. Hyperbole is stating emotional truth. Now, emotional truth may not be – and usually is not – factual truth. For example, God was not really shooting arrows at David. And yet, that’s exactly how David felt – as if God was shooting arrows right into his body.”
“So, I think the big problem here in interpreting lament psalms for us is that when we’re lamenting to God, our laments are so bland. We’re not thinking of expressing our difficulties and struggles with such vivid pictures. But David is and he does throughout the book of Psalms.” Psalm 38 Commentary – Explaining The Book
Like David, we need not hold back when speaking our truth to our God.
Psalm 38 – Do Not Punish Me!
In Psalm 38 – do not punish me, we see David, coming before God in childlike trust, pouring out all of his sorrows and pain, asking God as only a child can, why are you punishing me? Don’t punish me in anger. In the limited vision of the child, God appears to be greatly afflicting him for his sins. But our God responds as a loving parent. God listens to the cries of his children while still holding us accountable for our misdeeds.
Have you ever felt like David in this psalm, that everyone and everything was against you? Have you ever gone through a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad time in your life?
(For another take on this psalm, see Psalm 38 – Whatever Happened to Guilt? – Patricia M Robertson)
This post is part of a series of blog posts on the Psalms. Sign up to follow this blog and receive a free copy of Still Dancing, the second book in my Dancing through Life Series. click here to sign up
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