Click here to read PSALM 38 in poetic form.
Background
This Psalm shows in great detail the enemies and evil that Messiah would face, as evidenced in the life of his ancestor David. These words are not all directly the Messiah’s (verse 18: “For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin”) for he was sinless. The Psalm closes with a plea for God’s salvation. That prayer was answered in the life of Jesus Christ.
This Psalm has the postscript “Jeduthun.” Jeduthun was one of the three principal directors (“chief Musicians”) over worship in the Temple. I Chronicles 25:1: “Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals.” Each of these three directors represented one of the sons of Aaron, the original high priest: Asaph (from Gershom), Heman (from Kohath) and Jeduthun (from Merari). Jeduthun was also called “Ethan” (I Chronicles 15:17,19). Psalms 61 and 76 also have this postscript.
Some Bible scholars say that Psalms 25—41 are prayers and praise in reference to Psalms 16—23. The following list describes this:
Psalm 16: Messiah’s suffering
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalm 25: Prayer about Messiah’s suffering
Psalm 17: Requests about Messiah’s suffering
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalm 26: Messiah’s faithfulness
Psalm 18: Messiah’s promised victory in overcoming suffering
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalms 27,28: Messiah’s fulfilled victory in overcoming suffering
Psalm 19: God’s Word in the heavens and written regarding Messiah
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalm 29: Praising God for His Word in the heavens and written regarding Messiah
Psalm 20: Prayer regarding Messiah bringing salvation
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalms 30—34: Praise for Messiah bringing salvation
Psalm 21: Messiah’s victory and strength
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalm 34: God saves Messiah in all his troubles
Psalm 22: Messiah as shepherd: giving his life
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalms 35,36: Messiah’s victory over evil
Psalm 23: Messiah as shepherd: like his Father
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalm 37: Messiah brings deliverance from his Father
Psalm 24: Messiah as shepherd: king in glory
CORRESPONDS TO
Psalms 38—41: Messiah overcomes attacks to reign
Structure
(Verse 1) Prayer for mercy
(Verses 2-10) Messiah’s physical suffering foretold
(Verses 11-20) Messiah’s mental and emotional suffering foretold
(Verse 21) Prayer for mercy
Key Scriptures
Verse 11—“my kinsmen stand afar off.” Jesus’ own family did not support him at times.
Verse 12—“They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.” This is a recurring theme in the gospels where the religious leaders plot to kill Jesus Christ.
Verse 13—“as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.” Jesus Christ fulfilled this truth in Isaiah 53:7, which Phillip read with the eunuch in Acts 8:32: “The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth.”
Verse 20—“They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.” Jesus Christ exposed darkness and did good, so he was hated by evil men (John 3:19,20; 7:7).
FOR FURTHER STUDY
All 150 of The Psalms in Poetic Form are available from Amazon in a book, either Large Print or a smaller Bedside Reader. Also available for free with a Kindle Unlimited membership. Enjoy!
The entire blog series is now available in the publication The Psalms: Background & Structure with Key Scriptures Explained.
