Read Psalm 38 here (text coming …) or at Bible Gateway.
The Hebrew paragraph:
38:1-22 {p} The anguish of the heart when convicted of sin, leading to confession, and then hope
Psa 38:1-22 Reverse Parallelism (A Chiastic Structure without the central axis):
When the Holy Spirit convicts the heart of sin (Joh 16:7-8), anguish results. This is godly sorrow, which leads to life, as opposed to worldly sorrow, which leads to death.
For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. 2 Cor 7:10
That is, godly sorrow—true anguish of heart because someone realizes the gravity and wickedness of their sin—leads to salvation. Why? Because confession and repentance (vs. 18) are the fruit of godly sorrow, and salvation is the fruit of confession and repentance (vs. 22). Worldly sorrow is sorrow that sin has been found out, and now there is a penalty to pay. But worldly sorrow does not acknowledge the gravity or wickedness of the sin, and so, when the penalty is over, they return to the sin. Since there has been no confession or repentance, there is no fruit of salvation, and death is the ultimate result of a life of unrepented sin.
The conviction-confession arc leads to hope in YHVH (vs. 15).
To hope is in Hebrew, Strong’s H3176 יחל yachal, a primitive verb from the ancient pictographs yud + chet + lamed.
yud י = closed hand, thus work, throw, worship
chet ח = wall, thus outside, divide, half
lamed ל = shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
The parable being told by the Hebrew Root Word is of working (yud) outside (chet) with the staff (lamed), i.e., to work as a shepherd caring for sheep, or to work as a farmer, for the staff also symbolized the yoke of the oxen who draw the plow. Why do men spend their labor in the field or pasture, or whatever their work is in this life? They have an expectation of a return or profit, but since the profit is not immediate, his labor is an investment.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Rom 8:24-25
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