It Starts Small

The depth of David’s trouble.

Pierced by God’s displeasure.

¹ Lord, do not punish me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
² For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.

Psalm 38:1-2

Lord, do not punish me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath: Under a sense of God’s deep displeasure, David cried out to God. He followed a wise path, drawing near to the LORD though he sensed both God’s wrath and displeasure.

For your arrows have sunk into me,and your hand has pressed down on me: David used poetic pictures to describe how deeply he sensed the displeasure of God.

Your arrows pierce me: This no doubt, refers to the acute pains which he endured; each appearing to his feeling as if an arrow were shot into his body.

Your hand presses me down: We read of the deep distress and agony of David in the psalm and recognize that it was because of his own sin (as will be described). We then understand that on the cross Jesus was made the target of the same agony, but for our sins, not for His own. This hand pressed down upon Jesus, and in a greater way than David ever knew. The holy Jesus, at the time of his passion, received these arrows, and sustained this weight, for the sins of the whole world. Understanding the agony helps us to understand something of the greatness of the love that sent Him to the cross – for us.

Overwhelmed by iniquity.

³ There is no soundness in my body
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
⁵ My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.

Psalm 35:1-5

There is no soundness in my bodybecause of your indignation: David not only sensed God’s displeasure spiritually, but also physically. This may have been because the chastening hand of God was evident in some kind of illness or injury, or it may have been because of the physical toll of stress in a season of deep spiritual depression. That David describes a natural disease here cannot reasonably be doubted; but what that disease was, who shall attempt to say? However, this is evident, that whatever it was, he most deeply deplored the cause of it; and as he worthily lamented it, so he found mercy at the hand of God.

there is no health in my bonesbecause of my sin: David recognized the hand of God in his misery, but he did not think it was without cause. He knew that it was because of his sin, his iniquities, and his foolishness. David was miserable, but not a victim in the commonly understood sense – because his sins were the cause of the crisis.

Because of my sin: For although David confesses that he is being judged for his sin – God has made this clear to him – he is nevertheless glorifying God in the way he deals with it. Primarily, he is not faulting God.

For my iniquities have flooded over my head; they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.: David felt oppressed under the weight of his sins. He hoped that an honest and heartfelt telling of his misery would move God’s compassion.

My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness.: Sin is the wound of the soul, which must be washed with the tears of repentance, cleansed by the blood of Christ, and healed by the Spirit of the Holy One. Am I addressing any, who think they are not saved because they have not known such terrors as some others have experienced? Let me remind you, dear friends, that there are many of the true children of God who have never known these horrors…. These horrors and terrors are not essential to salvation, or else they would have been commanded. -Spurgeon

David’s trouble and turmoil.

⁶ I am bent over and brought very low;
all day long I go around in mourning.
⁷ For my insides are full of burning pain,
and there is no soundness in my body.
⁸ I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.

Psalm 35:1-8

I am bent over and brought very low; all day long I go around in mourning: The pain of David’s sin affected him in almost every way. He described a severe depression and melancholy as well as specific bodily afflictions (full of burning pain…no soundness in my body). He was weak and severely crushed.

bent over and brought very low: As the body by pain, so the soul by guilt, is ‘distorted’ from its original uprightness; it is ‘bowed down’ to the earth, through shame and fear.

I groan because of the anguish of my heart: David was known as the sweet psalmist of Israel (2 Samuel 23:1). Yet with great honesty, he could also groan before God and man, composing a bitter psalm describing his misery in the strongest of terms.

I groan: The King James Version may follow the Hebrew more accurately by translating, I have roared. When our prayers appear to be rather animal than spiritual, they are none the less prevalent with the…Father of mercy.

Hiding nothing in his misery.

⁹ Lord, my every desire is in front of you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.

Psalm 35:9-10

Lord, my every desire is in front of you: Speaking to God as his master (Lord, Adonai), David appealed to God with complete transparency. His misery was not hidden from God or from any who would hear this psalm. Our instinct is to follow the pattern of Adam and Eve and hide our sin and hide from God. David here is an example of the kind of unconcealed communication that is important for the one who truly desires God.

even the light of my eyes has faded: David felt so low that life and light were leaving him.

My heart races: The heart’s action is described by a rare word, which in its root means to go round and round, and is here in an intensive form expressive of violent motion.

Forsaken by friends, hunted by enemies.

My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.
¹² Those who intend to kill me set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long.
¹³ I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.
I am like a speechless person
who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ I am like a man who does not hear
and has no arguments in his mouth.

Psalm 35:11-14

My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction: David’s misery was unrelieved by either friends or relatives. His loved ones either did not care or could not help David. Relief may come in the form of the little pleasures of life and in the moments of shared experiences with friends, but the psalmist had none of these.

 Those who intend to kill me set traps: David endured worse than the lack of support from friends and relatives. He also faced determined enemies who constantly plotted his destruction.

I am like a deaf person: David was so depressed and afflicted that he felt powerless to respond to these attacks. His inability to defend himself meant that he needed God more than ever.

The glimmer of hope in the LORD.

Hope in the God who will hear.

¹⁵ For I put my hope in you, Lord;
you will answer me, my Lord, my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me—
those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.”

Psalm 35:15-16

For I put my hope in you, Lord: Despite his spiritual depression, David clung to hope in the LORD. Though he did not feel it, in faith he said, You will answer. David chose to allow his affliction to press him toward God instead of away from the God who was his only hope.

LORD, my Lord, my God: Psalm 38:15 is an example of the use of the three Hebrew words most commonly used to refer to God in one verse.

LORD, translated from Yahweh, referring to the covenant God of Israel.

Lord, translated from Adonai, referring to God as Master or person of respect.

God, translated from Elohim, the plural of the word for God in the generic sense.

Don’t let them rejoice over me: David appealed to God not only because he was miserable, but also because he did not want his adversaries to rejoice over him.

Ready to fall before strong enemies.

¹⁷ For I am about to fall,
and my pain is constantly with me.
¹⁸ So I confess my iniquity;
I am anxious because of my sin.
¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous and powerful;
many hate me for no reason.
²⁰ Those who repay evil for good
attack me for pursuing good.

Psalm 35:17-20

I confess my iniquity: David again thought about his own sin that was the cause of his misery. In many other psalms David declared his innocence, especially in comparison to his enemies – but not in this psalm. This psalm came out of David’s anguish over his sin. To be sorry for sin is no atonement for it, but it is the right spirit in which to [turn] to Jesus, who is the reconciliation and the Saviour.

my enemies are vigorous and powerful: David appealed to God for help in light of the energy and strength of his enemies, and because they were against him for no good reason (for pursuing good).

The urgent plea unto God.

²¹ Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.
²² Hurry to help me,
my Lord, my salvation.

Psalm 35:21-22

 Lord, do not abandon me: The psalm closes without eloquence, only with a heartfelt cry. More than anything, David wanted the sense of God’s presence (do not be far from me). It is likely that the absence of that sense was David’s greatest trial in this dark season. Whoever carefully reads over this psalm will see what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and especially to sin after having known his mercy, and after having escaped from the corruption that is in the world. Reader, be on thy guard; a life of righteousness may be lost by giving way to a moment’s temptation, and a fair character sullied for ever!

Hurry to help me,my Lord, my salvation: David pressed his need before God with urgency and looked to the LORD as his only salvation. The psalm ends without a change in circumstances but with continued faith in God. In these last two verses, David again used the three most common Hebrew references to Deity. “The God he knew by name (Yahweh, 21a) and by covenant (my God), and as Master and Saviour (22b).