The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 38:1-22
Sin stinging like an adder. This has been called one of the penitential psalms. It may be called so without any severe strain of language; and yet its penitential tone is very far removed from that of either the thirty-second or the fifty-first psalm. There is little doubt that there is a sincere acknowledgment of the sin; but here the main stress of the grief seems to be attributable rather to the suffering consequent upon the sin, than to the guilt of the sin itself. And we cannot... read more
The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 38:1-22
The psalm is ascribed to David by the title, but is not generally allowed to be his. It is assigned commonly to an unknown sufferer. Still, some modern critics, notably Canon Cook, in the 'Speaker's Commentary,' accept the statement of the title, and find the psalm very suitable to the circumstances of David "at the period just preceding the revolt of Absalom." Canon Cook holds that "at that time there are indications that David was prostrate by disease, which gave full scope to the... read more