Psalms 38:7

_FOR MY LOINS ARE FILLED WITH A LOATHSOME DISEASE: AND THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS IN MY FLESH._ For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease (_ NIQLEH_ (H7033)) - literally, with vileness; 'ignominy' (Jerome) - i:e., with such a loathsome disease as exposes me to mockings. So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Ethiopic, and Arabic. But the Chaldaic, 'with burning,' as the Hebrew often means (cf. Psalms 102:3). But the loins are not the seat of burning fever usually. Hengstenberg translates, 'are full of the dried' - i:e., are quite dried up, instead of being "full of fat," as "the loins" are in the healthy (Job 15:27). The English version is simplest....

In the next verse, the word כסלים, _kesalaim, _which I have rendered _reins, _is by some translated _the flanks. _But the more generally received opinion is, that it denotes the part under the reins, which extends towards the haunch, or the space between the thighs and flanks, where it is supposed there had been a sore. Commentators also differ in their opinion respecting the word נקלה, _nikleh, _which I have rendered _burning _In my translation I have followed those who adhere to the original meaning of the word; for the verb קלה, _kalah, _signifies _to burn, _or _to consume with fire. _Others, indeed, explain it not improperly in the sense _of filthiness and corruption. _I am, however, not inclined to limit it to a sore. In my opinion, the sense simply is, that his reins, or flanks, or thighs, were filled with an inflammatory disease

1-11 Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God. If there were not sin in our souls, there would be no pain in our bones, no illness in our bodies. The guilt of sin is a burden to the whole creation, which groans under it. It will be a burden to the sinners themselves, when they are heavy-laden under it, or a burden of ruin, when it sinks them to hell. When we perceive our true condition, the Good Physician will be valued, sought, and obeyed. Yet many let their wounds rankle, because they delay to go to their merciful Friend. When, at any time, we are distempered in our bodies, we ought to remember how God has been dishonoured in and by our bodies...

Verse Psalms 38:7. _FOR MY LOINS ARE FILLED WITH A LOATHSOME_ DISEASE] Or rather, a _burning_; נקלה nikleh, from קלה _kalah_, to _fry,_ _scorch_, c., hence נקלה _nikleh, a burning_, or _strongly feverish_ _disease_. THERE IS _NO SOUNDNESS IN MY FLESH._] All _without_ and all _within_ bears evidence that the whole of my solids and fluids are corrupt....

FOR MY BONES ARE FILLED WITH A LOATHSOME DISEASE - This would seem to indicate the seat of the disease, though not its nature. The word used here, according to Gesenius (Lexicon), properly denotes the internal muscles of the loins near the kidneys, to which the fat adheres. The word rendered “loathsome” - the word “disease” being supplied by our translators - is derived from קלה _qâlâh_, a word which means to roast, to parch, as fruit, grain, etc.; and then, in the form used here, it means scorched, burned; hence, a burning or inflammation; and the whole phrase would be synonymous with “an inflammation of the kidneys.” The word used here does not imply that there was any eruption, or ulcer, though it would seem from Psalms 38:5 that this was the fact, and that the inflammation had produced this effect....

EXPOSITION THIS is the third of the penitential psalms, and is appropriately recited by the Church on Ash Wednesday. Of all the penitential psalms it is the one which shows the deepest marks of utter prostration of heart and spirit under a combination of the severest trials, both mental and bodily. The mind of the writer is racked by a sense of God's displeasure (Psalms 38:1, Psalms 38:2, etc.), by grief at the desertion of friends (Psalms 38:11), by fear of the machinations and threats of enemies (Psalms 38:12, Psalms 38:19,...

FOR MY LOINS ARE FILLED WITH A LOATHSOME [DISEASE],.... The word here used has the signification of burning k; and the Targum renders it, "my loins are filled with burning"; a burning fever was upon him, or there was an inflammation in those parts; a hot burning ulcer, which might be nauseous; and so was true in both senses. Aben Ezra interprets it abominable and vile; something not fit to be mentioned; and so Kimchi and Ben Melech. The word is rendered sometimes "lightly esteemed"; as in 1 Samuel 18:23; and Jarchi thinks it has this sense here; and the meaning is, that he was vile in his own eyes, and mean in his own esteem. Doubtless the psalmist has reference to something more than a bodily disease; at least not to that only, but to the disease of his soul also, sin, which has the nature of a disease; it is an hereditary one, which is derived from one to another by propagation; it is...

A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance. Remember, although this is a very sorrowful Psalm, it was written by a man of God. It will show you what a terrible thing sin must be, for even a child of God feels the smart of it very grievously. This is not the language of an unforgiven sinner; it is the cry of a saint who, for a while, has sinned, and is feeling the bitterness of his transgression. Psalms 38:1. _O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath:_ «If thou dost rebuke me, O Lord, do it gently! Be not very angry with me, for I cannot bear it, I shall die under it. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath.» Psalms 38:1. _Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure._ «Chasten me, it will do me good; it is needful; it is profitable; but not in thy displeasure, certainly not

Psalms 38 The Suffering Saint and Confession of Sin _ 1. Suffering and Humiliation (Psalms 38:1)_ 2. Looking to the Lord (Psalms 38:9) 3. Confession and prayer (Psalms 38:16) This Psalm is read by the Jews on the day of atonement. It pictures great suffering in body and soul; it reminds us in different ways of the book of Job. (See and compare Psalms 38:2 with Job 6:4; Psalms

XXXVIII. A PENITENTIAL PSALM. After a short prayer for pity (verbally identical with Psalms 6:2), the poet describes his bodily and mental pains, the desertion of his friends, and the unscrupulous attack of his foes. But he waits in silence for Yahweh's answer and is ready to confess his sin, turning eagerly and hopefully to his God. PSALMS 38:2. ARROWS: the pains God sends. Psalms 38:8_ b_. Read, I have cried out louder than the roaring of a lion. Psalms 38:18. It is impossible to say whether the poet is referring to some definite sin or only to the general sinfulness of human nature....