Salmo 38, 14-15: Faith, Meekness, sin or Illness?

Abstract

Pain and human suffering have been looked over by the Holy Scriptures from different perspectives which concur in the possibility to find God very close to us in the midst of our existential limits: Think, for instance, about Job, the Canticle of the Suffering Servant and the psalms of lamentation. The psalm 38 is the prayer of a man who recognizes his sin as the cause of his illness. Versicles 14 and 15 draw the readers attention as they express the deafness and muteness of the psalmist in front of the attacks of his enemies and the despising friends. The objective of this article is to give an answer to the unusual attitude of the man in prayer: is he behaving in this way because he expects to have God on his side? Because is meekness his most important virtue? Because, as he acknowledges being a sinner, is he aware that he has no authority to complain against those who insult him? Because his illness is so acute that he can´t hear and speak? The exegetical analysis will allow the confrontation of this psalm with the fourth Canticle of the Suffering Servant besides a correct interpretation of the text.