Today's Featured Psalm
Psalm 38

Read this Psalm

A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
   nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me,
   and your hand has come down on me.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh
   because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
   because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head;
   like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds stink and fester
   because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
   all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
   and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed;
   I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

9 O Lord, all my longing is before you;
   my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
   and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
   and my nearest kin stand far off.

12 Those who seek my life lay their snares;
   those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
   and meditate treachery all day long.

13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
   like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear,
   and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
   it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
   who boast against me when my foot slips!”

17 For I am ready to fall,
   and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity;
   I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
   and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good
   accuse me because I follow after good.

21 Do not forsake me, O LORD!
   O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me,
   O Lord, my salvation!

Scripture taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Psalm Devotional
From Discipline to Deliverance

Discipline is never easy to accept, even when it is well deserved. When I was a child, my parents frequently disciplined me (more times than I would like to admit!). It was only when I became an adult that I comprehended that this discipline was ultimately for my own good. God, as our heavenly Father, also disciplines us for our own good. In Psalm 38, the psalmist experiences the discipline of God.

The psalmist begins by revealing the “who, why, and how” of his discipline. First, he reveals that he is being disciplined by God. In verse 1, he begs God not to discipline him in “anger” or “wrath,” and in verse 2 he cites God as the source of the arrows that pierce him and the hand that has come upon him.

Second, the psalmist tells us the “why” of his discipline. He directly links his suffering to his sin (vv. 3, 5).

Third, in verses 3-4, the psalmist reveals the “how” of the discipline. He tells us that God is using the instrument of physical suffering to correct him. This reminds us that God uses trials, tribulations, and even physical illness to conform us to the image of His Son.

Listen to this Psalm

Restoration album art Lord, Do Not in Hot Displeasure Speak (Psalm 38A)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Restoration
Abundance album art My Desire and Ceaseless Wailing (Psalm 38B)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Abundance
Restoration album art You, O Lord, I Have Been Trusting (Psalm 38C)
The Book of Psalms for Worship | Restoration