The Passionate Expression Of A Suffering Man
David writes that he has a serious skin disease and attributes it to him being guilty of sin. He asks God, in His mercy to lighten his suffering. Because of his condition his family and friends are keeping their distance and his enemies are taking advantage of his weakened condition.
Davids condition and circumstances are much like those of Job whose friends either desert of fail to sympathize properly with him.
Job 2:7-9 (NLT2)7 So Satan left the LORD’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”
Job 2:12-13 (NLT2)12 When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief.13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.
Job 6:14-16 (NLT2)14 “One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty.15 My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring16 when it is swollen with ice and melting snow.
Forsaken and dejected, he looks to God as his last and only hope.
Psalm 38:22 (NLT2) Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.