But the warped souls, absorbed in themselves with false opinions and deceptive good intentions, glory in themselves and not in God.
THE THIRD PENITENTIAL PSALM 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger, nor chasten me in Thy wrath!
2. For Thy arrows have sunk into me, and Thy hand has come down on me.
3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thy indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4. For ray iniquities have gone over my head; they weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
5. My wounds grow foul and fester because of my foolishness.
6. I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
7. For my loins are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in ray flesh.
8. I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9. Lord, all my longing is known to Thee, my sighing is not hidden from Thee.
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 kinsmen stand afar off.
12. Those who seek my life lay their snares, those who seek my hurt speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all the day long.
13. But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear, like a dumb man who does not open his mouth.
14. Yea, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15. But for Thee, O Lord, do I wait; it is Thou, O Lord my God, who wilt answer.
16. For I pray: Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!
17. For I am made for trouble, and my pain is ever with me.
18. I confess my iniquity, and I am sorry for my sin.
19. But my foes live and are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20. Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries 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!
THIS psalm portrays most clearly the manner, words, acts, thoughts, and gestures of a truly penitent heart.
1. O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger.
The chastisement is understood by means of words, as one rebukes an evildoer.
Nor chasten me in Thy wrath!
This is done with deeds, as is written in Ps. 2:5: "Then will He speak to them in His wrath (i. e., rebuke in wrath), and in His fury will He terrify them (i. e., punish with acts and deeds)."
2. For Thy arrows have sunk into me.
The words with which God rebukes and threatens in Scripture are arrows. Whoever feels them cries out: "O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger." However, only he feels them into whose heart they are thrust and whose conscience is terrified. It is the sensitive into whose heart God shoots the arrows. From the smug, who have become hardened, the arrows glance off as from a hard stone. And this continues as long as the words are spoken by the preaching of man without the co-operation and the inner penetration of God.
And Thy hand has come down on me.
That is, not only Thy angry words and threats penetrate deeply into my heart, but also Thy angry deeds are always over me and oppress me.
3. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thy indignation.
That is, as is written in the first of these psalms (6:2): "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing"; for the flesh is weak and sick when it comes to suffering; it cannot bear the hand and the acts of the punishment of God.
There is no health in my bones.
For God's wrath terrifies me to such an extent that my bones shiver and my flesh and marrow fade away.
- 70 Because of the consciousness of my sin. For the arrows of God and His angry words make real the sin within the heart. This causes restlessness and terror in the conscience and in all the powers of the soul, and it makes the body sick throughout. Where this is the case, things are right with man; for the same thing happened to Christ.
4. For my iniquities have gone over my head.
That is, they have subdued me altogether and are greater and stronger than I am. This is due to the arrows which make sins so manifold, so great, and so strong that man can neither help nor counsel himself but lies there utterly helpless.
They weigh like a burden too heavy for me.
That is, heavier than I can bear, as is written in Ps. 65:3: "Lord God, the deed of our sin has overwhelmed us; be gracious toward our iniquity." Thus our sin treads us underfoot until grace comes, treads sin underfoot, and raises our head above it so that we become master and rule over sin, not sin over us. Those, however, who lie in sin, who are either dead or too holy, do not sense these things.
Therefore it is an amazing thing: He who has no sin feels and has it, and he who has sin does not feel it and has none. For it would be impossible for him to complain about and against sin if he did not live in righteousness and grace. One devil does not drive out the other (Luke 11:18); sin does not accuse its kind; and one wolf does not cry out against the other. And yet it is impossible for him who cries out against sin to be without it, for he dare not speak to God in fiction. It must be true that he has sin, as he says, and yet also true that he is without sin. Just as Christ was at the same time truly alive and dead, so also those who are real Christians must be full of sin and without sin at the same time.
5. My wounds grow foul and fester.
Just as wounds and swellings of the body decay, fester, and stink, so also the evil sores of human nature get worse and begin to stink if they are not treated and healed daily with the ointment of grace and the water of the Word of God. Now others go on smugly, not heeding these sores, just as though they were well. Therefore this follows:
Because of my foolishness.
Because of my present situation. For wisdom is the salt and water that cleanses the wounds, and this wisdom is none other than thoroughly knowing oneself, as Prov. 11:2 says: "With the humble is wisdom." For insight will not permit a man to let himself be destroyed. But it is foolishness when a man does not know himself but imagines he is altogether well. The arrows, however, reveal this foolishness that man may realize how blind he has been in knowing himself. Hence this is the meaning: When I recognized my own foolishness and lack of self-understanding, I also recognized how very foul and stinking my wounds really are. Formerly, in my foolishness, I did not see this. Therefore
6. I am utterly bowed down and prostrate.
He is just like a man who is griefstricken and ill at ease. He has a sad expression outwardly. He bows his head downward and has no desire to raise his head, to see, hear, or speak, but directs his eyes to the ground.
All the day I go about mourning.
These are true signs of real repentance for sin, just as the publican in the Gospel did not dare raise his eyes (Luke 18:13) but considered himself evil and bowed down to the ground, more with his heart than with his body.
7. For my loins are filled with burning.
That is, I am inwardly so full of fear that I could die of thirst; so parched am I because of my affliction. Thus it happens to all who experience great fear and terror. Prov. 31:6: "Give strong drink to him who is perishing."
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
As stated above, the body cannot bear such terror of conscience; not even the bones.
8. I am utterly spent and crushed.
As a sorrowful heart that is utterly crushed by such terror of conscience.
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
Just as a lion cries out and roars, so it is when the heart is so full of affliction and moaning that it cannot contain itself but breaks forth in miserable wailing.
9. Lord, all my longing is known to Thee, my sighing is not hidden from Thee.
- 71 That is, my longing is so great that I cannot express it in words and cannot pray. My heart, Thou dost see it; what more can I say? My sorrow is greater than my sighing can ever be. The first of these psalms also says this (6:6): "I am weary with my moaning."
If the heart throbs and quakes before the great anger of God, these are all signs of great terror.
My strength fails me.
That is, all my strength is gone, and in all things I am weak and despondent. Thus Christ also says in Ps. 22:14–15: "My heart is like melting wax, and My strength is dried up." This is due to the arrows; they cause this inner misery.
And the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
That is, my countenance is not lighted up and happy but looks sour, sorrowful, and dark.
11. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague.
That is, I have become an object of horror even to my friends. They flee from my misery, as the psalmist says elsewhere (31:11): "My relatives flee from me"; for they are so terrified at the wrath of God upon me that they dare not even comfort me.
My kinsmen stand afar off.
They are watching to see how it will turn out, and they refuse to befriend me, for fear of being punished with me by the tyrants who persecute me.
12. Those who seek my life lay their snares.
Here he points out the source of his afflictions. He is attacked outwardly by tyrants and evil people for the sake of God's Word and His justice. This makes him tremble inwardly and fear the wrath of God.
Then all the old sins appear which he otherwise never felt or remembered, and which have become foul.
Misfortune never comes alone.
Those who seek my hurt speak of ruin, and meditate treachery all the day long.
That is, they attack me with lies and false accusations and invent things against me to destroy me.
13. But I am like a deaf man, I do not hear, like a dumb man who does not open his mouth.
That is, I must let them prevail and must keep silence like a stick; for my speech and reply does not count or help.
14. Yea, I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
In addition, I must let them go unrebuked, must keep my mouth shut and be in the wrong; for they do not hear; they rage and refuse to be told anything.
15. But for Thee, O Lord, do I wait; it is Thou, O Lord my God, who wilt answer.
These are words of a true and strong faith, which in time of trouble lets everything else go and clings to the Word and grace of God, and does not doubt that God will hear and help him. Yet he does not prescribe to God the time or manner but simply says: "Thou wilt answer; I will hope and continue to hope."
16. For I pray: Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!
My concern has been, and I thought to myself: "Would to God that they did not rejoice over me!
"Let them not prevail in the end! Rather let it be as is written in the first of these psalms (6:10), that they are disgraced and must be ashamed."
Slipping of the foot means to suffer defeat and not to be able to stand. That is to say: "Therefore I hope in Thee, for trouble forces me to it. If they should win out, then I would be forever mocked by them, and they would prevail. I am worried and fearful about this, for then also Thy Word would be mockery."
This verse shows how a troubled man worries and frets because the wicked fare so well. He thinks that they will continue to do so, while he is completely ruined. But God does not permit this. If they do prosper so that they think they have succeeded, He casts them down and makes the righteous joyful.
17. For I am made for trouble, and my pain is ever with me.
The heart which must suffer one affliction after another speaks and thinks: "O God, there is no end of trouble! when one stops, another begins. I see I am made for trouble and must always be miserable."
Ps. 34:19: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
18. I confess my iniquity.