Psalms 38:17

Psa 38:17 For I [am] ready to halt, and my sorrow [is] continually before me.

Ver. 17. For I am ready to halt] i.e. To misbehave mysetf and so to mar a good cause by ill-managing it, and then what will become of thy great name? This is a very forcible motive to prevail with a jealous and just God.

And my sorrow is continually before me] That is, my sin, as Ecc 11:10 : or, my sorrow, but much more my sin the cause of it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_38:17

For I am ready to halt.

Resolution almost exhausted

We reach the I will by I must and I ought. Now, this struggle with self-will is like a man with narrow chest and feeble lungs walking in the teeth of a biting north-east wind; it is like a bare-footed girl treading a road made with rough stones and sharp flints; it is like a feeble man climbing a mountain by a rocky path beneath a noon-day sun; and under the exhaustion of resolution and courage and patience there be many that say, I am ready to halt. (Samuel Martin.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 38:17-18. For I am ready to halt — To fall into destruction, Jer 20:10. And, therefore, if thou dost not help me speedily it will be too late. My sorrow is continually before me — I am deeply and constantly sensible of thy justice in my chastisement, and I shall be overwhelmed with sorrow if thou dost not prevent it. For I will declare mine iniquity — I will confess it to thee as the cause of my sufferings. I will be sorry for my sin — Hebrew, אדאג, edag, I will be, or am solicitous, or anxious; full of grief for what is past, and of cares and fears for the future; therefore pity, pardon, and save me.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18. (Psa 38:17). Because I for limping (am) ready (to halt), and my grief (sorrow) is before me always (or continually before me). This verse assigns a reason for the triumph of his enemies, to wit, that he was really in danger. Ready to halt or limp, i.e. constantly liable to some interruption of his even prosperous course. See above, on Psa 35:15. The form of expression does not exclude the idea of his actually halting, but rather suggests it. As if he had said, "The slightest occasion makes me halt or limp." Grief or sorrow seems to be put here for that which causes it. I am always in full view of my worst distress.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

38:17-20 No longer able to endure his suffering and teetering on the verge of collapse (cp. 15:5), the psalmist confesses his sin (see 32:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

I am without hope to recover my strength.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 17. For I am ready to halt] Literally, I am prepared to halt. So completely infirm is my soul, that it is impossible for me to take one right step in the way of righteousness, unless strengthened by thee.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17 Surely I am ready to halt This verse has led expositors to suppose that David was afflicted with some sore, from which he was afraid of having brought upon him the infirmity of halting all his days; but I have already shown, in Psalm 35:15, that this supposition is very improbable. We have certainly no greater reason for supposing that David was lame than that Jeremiah was so, when he said,

“All my familiars watched for my halting.” — (Jeremiah 20:10,)

I therefore think that David here employs a metaphorical mode of expression, and that his meaning is, that if God did not soon come to his aid, there was no hope of his ever being restored to his former condition; and that he was so greatly afflicted, that he would walk as if he had been maimed or lame all the days of his life. It next follows by way of exposition, that his sorrow was continually before him. The sense is, that he was so grievously afflicted, that he could not forget it for a single moment, so as to obtain some relaxation. In both the clauses of the verse, David confesses that his disease is incurable, unless he obtain some remedy from God, and that he cannot endure it, unless he be raised up and sustained by the hand of God himself. This is the reason why he directs all his thoughts and his requests to God alone; for as soon as he shall turn aside from him, he sees nothing but immediate ruin.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

17. For &c.] A further argument for a speedy hearing. For the metaphor cp. Psa_35:15.

my sorrow &c.] I.e. my suffering is unceasingly present with me. Cp. Psa_51:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I will declare mine iniquity,.... Either to men, to ease his mind, justify God in his proceedings with him, and for their caution and admonition: or rather to God, against whom he had sinned, and who only could pardon him; with a view to which he was determined to make a free and open confession of it before him:

I will be sorry for my sin, or "careful" (p) about it; that is, how he committed it for the future: true repentance for sin produces a carefulness to abstain from all appearance of it; see Co2 7:10.

(p) "solicitus ero", Montanus; so Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus, Michaelis, Ainsworth.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

For I am ready to halt - Margin, as in Hebrew, “for halting.” The word from which the word used here is derived means properly to lean on one side, and then to halt or limp. The meaning here is, that he was like one who was limping along, and who was ready to fall; that is, in the case here referred to, he felt that his strength was almost gone, and that he was in continual danger of falling into sin, or sinking under his accumulated burdens, and of thus giving occasion for all that his enemies said of him, or occasion for their triumphing over him. Men often have this feeling - that their sorrows are so great that they cannot hope to hold out much longer, and that if God does not interpose they must fall.

And my sorrow is continually before me - That is, my grief or suffering is unintermitted. Probably the reference here is particularly to that which “caused” his grief, or which was the source of his trouble - his sin. The fact that he was a sinner was never absent from his mind; that was the source of all his trouble; that was what so pressed upon him that it was likely to crush him to the dust.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ready to halt; just falling into utter destruction; see Jer 20:10; and therefore if thou dost not help me speedily, it will be too late.

My sorrow is continually before me; I am deeply and constantly sensible of thy just hand, and of my sins, the cause of it; wherewith I shall be overwhelmed, if thou dost not prevent it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 17. For I am ready to halt. Like one who limps, or a person with tottering footsteps, in danger of falling. How well this befits us all. "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." How small a thing will lame a Christian, how insignificant a stumbling block may cause him to fall! This passage refers to a weakness caused by pain and sorrow; the sufferer was ready to give up in despair; he was so depressed in spirit that he stumbled at a straw. Some of us painfully know what it is to be like dry tinder for the sparks of sorrow; ready to halt, ready to mourn, and sigh and cry upon any occasion, and for any cause. And my sorrow is continually before me. He did not need to look out of window to find sorrow, he felt it within, and groaned under a body of sin which was an increasing plague to him. Deep conviction continues to irritate the conscience; it will not endure a patched up peace; but cries war to the knife till the enmity is slain. Until the Holy Ghost applies the precious blood of Jesus, a truly awakened sinner is covered with raw wounds which cannot be healed nor bound up, nor mollified with ointment.

Ver. 17. For I am ready to halt: to show my infirmity in my trials and afflictions; as Jacob halted after his wrestling with God. Ge 32:31. In the Greek, I am ready for scourges, that is, to suffer correction and punishment for my sins: so the Chaldee saith, for calamity. Henry Ainsworth.

Ver. 17. Mr. Ready to halt. His pedigree, and infirmity; his crutches, and his cure; his history, and safe departure.

Psalms 38:18*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. I am ready to halt—The idea is, literally, My fall is certain; that is, humanly speaking, nothing is left for me but inevitable ruin, or help from God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For I am ready to halt. I am weak and helpless, liable at any moment to stumble and fall. And my sorrow is continually before me; i.e. my sin, which I sorrow over, which lies at the root of all my distress. (comp. Psa_51:3)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To halt - just falling into destruction. Before me - I am constantly sensible of thy just hand, and of my sins the cause of it.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I am about to stumble

Possible meanings for this metaphor are 1) "I am so sick that I am about to die" or 2) "I will soon be ruined." It may be best not to interpret the metaphor in the text. (See: Metaphor)

I am in constant pain

"I am always in pain"

translationWords

stumble

confess

guilt

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

For I said, “Lest they rejoice over me” For this reason we remain silent, because we say to ourselves, “If we answer them brazenly, they may witness our downfall and rejoice over us when our feet falter, and they will magnify themselves over us saying, ‘Weren’t you boasting of your salvation?’”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.