Psalm 37: A Penitent Sufferer’s Plea for Healing

This series by Fr Stravinskas was originally published during Lent, but given the ongoing pandemic, I thought I'd share them. I've edited the Psalms and their numbering to conform to the Douai-Rheims Bible. 

Previously:
The Seven Penitential Psalms in Time of Pandemic
Psalm 31: The Joy of Forgiveness


From Catholic World Report

By Fr Peter M.J. Stravinskas

Alienation, physical suffering, abandonment, psychological anguish, social distancing. One could imagine that this psalm was composed for our present situation.

37:1. A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath.
For a remembrance. . .Viz., of our miseries and sins: and to be sung on the sabbath day.

37:2. Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.

37:3. For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me.

37:4. There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins.

37:5. For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.

37:6. My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness.

37:7. I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long.

37:8. For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh.

37:9. I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart.

37:10. Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee.

37:11. My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.

37:12. My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off:

37:13. And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long.

37:14. But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth.

37:15. And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproofs in his mouth.

37:16. For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God.

37:17. For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.

37:18. For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me.

37:19. For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think for my sin.

37:20. But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

37:21. They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness.

37:22. For sake me not, O Lord my God: do not thou depart from me.

37:23. Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation.

Alienation, physical suffering, abandonment, psychological anguish, social distancing. One could imagine that this psalm was composed for our present situation. Of course, one would then have to recall that that is precisely how Holy Scripture interfaces with us: it is perennially relevant.

The psalmist declares his guilt before God and rehearses the results of that guilt in his own person. Once more, we see the holistic view of man, which is consistently put forth in the biblical texts: Body and soul in constant conversation and interaction. The sins I commit have a ripple effect: first, in my soul; then, in my body; finally, in the world around me. Isn’t that exactly what occurred with the commission of the original sin? Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent; they both hid from God; they became dissatisfied with their natural state. These are the effects of guilt, pure and simple.

We should note, however, that there is good guilt and bad guilt. If I have just murdered someone and feel guilty, that is a good sign; if I don’t, I am a sociopath. The Gospels present us with both forms of guilt. Peter and Judas both betrayed Our Lord. Peter’s guilt launched him onto the royal road of repentance. Indeed, St. Luke tells us that when Peter’s glance met that of Christ, Peter wept bitterly (22:62); that encounter is memorialized on the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica. St. John informs us that the Risen Lord gave Peter an opportunity to undo his triple denial with a triple affirmation of love (see 21:15-19). Good guilt. Judas also repented, but his repentance – rooted merely in himself – led him to despair. Bad guilt.

The sacred author’s sufferings are multiplied because he is forced to stand alone in his suffering; he discovers that he has only fair weather friends (and even such relatives). Worse still: Those same people actively turn against him. Conscious of his guilt, he suffers their reproaches in silence, knowing that he deserves their rebukes. The Christian, however, never suffers alone, for he belongs to the great Communion of Saints: Christ is with him in his time of trial; the company of the blessed in Heaven and the souls in Purgatory offer prayers in solidarity; the faithful on earth in their daily walk with Christ stand shoulder to shoulder with every beleaguered member of the Body of Christ. What consolation!

Those fair weather friends of our psalmist do not simply stand aloof from the besieged one; they actually become his enemies – because of his repentance, suggests the psalmist. Is that not often the case? How frequently do we discover that those with whom we had merrily sinned, perceive our repentance as a rebuke? Or, when we simply refuse to engage in sinful activity, our refusal is interpreted as a personal attack on those who think and do otherwise? How many of us have witnessed the silent, peaceful and prayerful protest outside an abortion clinic rouse the rage and fury of purveyors of death? This should not amaze us, though, for Our Lord predicted – in fact, warned us: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (Jn 15:18).

In carefully surveying the responses of those around him to both his suffering and his repentance, the psalmist comes to the realization that he can appeal for help to God alone, the God of his salvation. In what does this salvation consist? It is wholeness, healing, right judgments and right relationships; it is human life in its fullness; it is participation in the life of God Himself; it is the very life that Christ came to bring: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). And is that not our plea in every Mass: “May we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity”? Surely the good God will not be deaf to such a prayer.

As we approach the end of the psalm, we learn that he has developed new adversaries – because of his change of life, because he now pursues the good. A similar phenomenon afflicted Our Lord, causing him to ask: “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?” (Jn 10:32). While it is true that good is diffusive of itself, so is evil, and the mysterium iniquitatis does not brook any opposition. So, forewarned is forearmed.

The alienation, physical suffering, abandonment, psychological anguish, social distancing we highlighted at the outset are resolved by the conclusion of our hymn. The psalmist has learned, by a long and painful route, what St. Paul would later sum up thus: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). This is not optimism, which is elusive and illusionary; this is Christian hope, inspired the awareness that “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).