Psalm 38:15 Study Bible: For in you, LORD, do I hope. You will answer, Lord my God.

◄ Psalm 38:15 ►

I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.

I wait for You, O LORD;
The act of waiting on the LORD is a recurring theme throughout the Psalms and the broader biblical narrative. It signifies a posture of trust and patience, acknowledging God's sovereignty and timing. In the ancient Near Eastern context, waiting was often associated with hope and expectation, not passive resignation. This phrase reflects a deep reliance on God, reminiscent of other scriptures such as Isaiah 40:31, which speaks of those who wait on the LORD renewing their strength. The psalmist's use of "LORD" (YHWH) emphasizes the covenant relationship between God and His people, highlighting trust in God's faithfulness and promises.

You will answer,
This expression of confidence in God's response is rooted in the understanding of God's character as attentive and responsive to His people's cries. The assurance of divine intervention is a common theme in the Psalms, as seen in Psalm 34:17, where the righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them. Historically, the Israelites experienced God's deliverance repeatedly, reinforcing their belief in His willingness to answer. This phrase also points to the prophetic nature of God's promises, where His word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11).

O Lord my God.
The personal nature of this address underscores a relationship that is both intimate and reverent. "Lord" (Adonai) conveys authority and mastery, while "my God" indicates personal possession and devotion. This duality reflects the balance of fear and love in the believer's relationship with God. The phrase echoes the covenantal language found throughout the Old Testament, where God declares, "I will be their God, and they will be my people" (Jeremiah 31:33). It also foreshadows the New Testament revelation of Jesus Christ as both Lord and God, as seen in Thomas's declaration in John 20:28.

Persons / Places / Events

1. David
The author of Psalm 38, traditionally believed to be King David, who is expressing his deep distress and reliance on God.

2. LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal and unchanging nature.

3. O Lord my God (Adonai Elohai)
A personal address to God, highlighting a relationship of reverence and submission.

Teaching Points

The Importance of Waiting on God
Waiting on God is an act of faith and trust, acknowledging His sovereignty and perfect timing.

Confidence in God's Response
Believers can have confidence that God will answer, as He is faithful to His promises and attentive to the cries of His people.

The Role of Prayer in Distress
In times of trouble, turning to God in prayer is crucial, as it aligns our hearts with His will and opens us to His guidance and comfort.

Developing Patience and Endurance
Patience is a fruit of the Spirit that is cultivated through trials and waiting, leading to spiritual maturity and deeper reliance on God.

Personal Relationship with God
Addressing God as "my God" signifies a personal and intimate relationship, encouraging believers to cultivate a close walk with the Lord.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does the act of waiting on the LORD demonstrate faith in His character and promises?

2. In what ways can we cultivate patience and endurance in our spiritual lives, especially during challenging times?

3. How does addressing God as "my God" influence our understanding of our relationship with Him?

4. What are some practical steps we can take to ensure that we are actively waiting on God rather than passively enduring our circumstances?

5. How can the themes of waiting and divine response in Psalm 38:15 be seen in other parts of Scripture, and how do they apply to our lives today?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Psalm 40:1
This verse also speaks of waiting patiently for the LORD, showing a consistent theme of trust and patience in God's timing.

Isaiah 40:31
This passage emphasizes the strength and renewal that comes from waiting on the LORD, reinforcing the idea of divine response and empowerment.

James 5:7-8
These verses encourage believers to be patient and stand firm, as the Lord's coming is near, paralleling the theme of waiting and expectation.

Sermons

Hope's Lever	W. Birch.	Psalm 38:15
A Fearful Picture of the Sufferings Which a Great Sin Can Cause	C. Short	Psalm 38:1-22
Great Personal Affliction	Homilist	Psalm 38:1-22
Sin Stinging Like an Adder	C. Clemance	Psalm 38:1-22
Things to be Remembered		Psalm 38:1-22
Thoughts in Affliction	W. Forsyth	Psalm 38:1-22

People

David, Jeduthun, Psalmist

Places

Jerusalem

Topics

Hope, O, Wait, Waited, Wilt

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Psalm 38:15

     1230   God, the Lord
     8318   patience
     8613   prayer, persistence

Psalm 38:1-22

5888 inferiority

Psalm 38:12-15

5496 revenge, examples

Psalm 38:15-16

8797 persecution, attitudes

Library

"Come unto Me, all Ye that Labour, and are Wearied," &C.
Matth. xi. 28.--"Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are wearied," &c. It is the great misery of Christians in this life, that they have such poor, narrow, and limited spirits, that are not fit to receive the truth of the gospel in its full comprehension; from whence manifold misapprehensions in judgment, and stumbling in practice proceed. The beauty and life of things consist in their entire union with one another, and in the conjunction of all their parts. Therefore it would not be a fit way …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Question Lxxxii of Devotion
I. Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Meaning of the Term "Devotion" S. Augustine, Confessions, XIII. viii. 2 II. Is Devotion an Act of the Virtue of Religion? III. Is Contemplation, that is Meditation, the Cause of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Causes of Devotion " " On the Devotion of Women IV. Is Joy an Effect of Devotion? Cardinal Cajetan, On Melancholy S. Augustine, Confessions, II. x. I Is Devotion a Special Kind of Act? It is by our acts that we merit. But …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Christ's Resurrection Song.
WHEN the blessed Lord appeared in the midst of His disciples and they beheld the risen One in His glorified body of flesh and bones and He ate before them, He told them that all things which were written in the Law of Moses, and the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Him, had to be fulfilled (Luke xxiv:44). While on the way to Emmaus He said to the two sorrowing and perplexed disciples "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all …
Arno Gaebelein—The Lord of Glory

The Acceptable Sacrifice;
OR, THE EXCELLENCY OF A BROKEN HEART: SHOWING THE NATURE, SIGNS, AND PROPER EFFECTS OF A CONTRITE SPIRIT. BEING THE LAST WORKS OF THAT EMINENT PREACHER AND FAITHFUL MINISTER OF JESUS CHRIST, MR. JOHN BUNYAN, OF BEDFORD. WITH A PREFACE PREFIXED THEREUNTO BY AN EMINENT MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL IN LONDON. London: Sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgates, 1692. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. The very excellent preface to this treatise, written by George Cokayn, will inform the reader of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Question Lxxxiii of Prayer
I. Is Prayer an Act of the Appetitive Powers? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer based on Friendship II. Is it Fitting to Pray? Cardinal Cajetan, On Prayer as a True Cause S. Augustine, On the Sermon on the Mount, II. iii. 14 " On the Gift of Perseverance, vii. 15 III. Is Prayer an Act of the Virtue of Religion? Cardinal Cajetan, On the Humility of Prayer S. Augustine, On Psalm cii. 10 " Of the Gift of Perseverance, xvi. 39 IV. Ought We to Pray to God Alone? S. Augustine, Sermon, cxxvii. 2 V. …
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

His Past Work.
His past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It was finished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to consider first of all these fundamentals of our faith. I. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the Old Testament Scriptures. II. The incarnation of the Son of God. III. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it. I. Through the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the work of His Son. This is a great theme and one …
A. C. Gaebelein—The Work Of Christ

What Manner of Man Ought not to Come to Rule.
Wherefore let every one measure himself wisely, lest he venture to assume a place of rule, while in himself vice still reigns unto condemnation; lest one whom his own guilt depraves desire to become an intercessor for the faults of others. For on this account it is said to Moses by the supernal voice, Speak unto Aaron; Whosoever he be of thy seed throughout their generations that hath a blemish, he shall not offer loaves of bread to the Lord his God (Lev. xxi. 17). And it is also immediately subjoined; …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Third Sunday after Trinity Humility, Trust, Watchfulness, Suffering
Text: 1 Peter 5, 5-11. 5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; 7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. 8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 whom withstand stedfast …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

Cæsarius of Arles.
He was born in the district of Chalons-sur-Saone, A. D. 470. He seems to have been early awakened, by a pious education, to vital Christianity. When he was between seven and eight years old, it would often happen that he would give a portion of his clothes to the poor whom he met, and would say, when he came home, that he had been, constrained to do so. When yet a youth, he entered the celebrated convent on the island of Lerins, (Lerina,) in Provence, from which a spirit of deep and practical piety …
Augustus Neander—Light in the Dark Places

Christian Meekness
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5:5 We are now got to the third step leading in the way to blessedness, Christian meekness. Blessed are the meek'. See how the Spirit of God adorns the hidden man of the heart, with multiplicity of graces! The workmanship of the Holy Ghost is not only curious, but various. It makes the heart meek, pure, peaceable etc. The graces therefore are compared to needlework, which is different and various in its flowers and colours (Psalm 45:14). …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

How is Christ, as the Life, to be Applied by a Soul that Misseth God's Favour and Countenance.
The sixth case, that we shall speak a little to, is a deadness, occasioned by the Lord's hiding of himself, who is their life, and "the fountain of life," Ps. xxxvi. 9, and "whose loving-kindness is better than life," Ps. lxiii. 3, and "in whose favour is their life," Ps. xxx. 5. A case, which the frequent complaints of the saints manifest to be rife enough, concerning which we shall, 1. Shew some of the consequences of the Lord's hiding his face, whereby the soul's case will appear. 2. Shew the …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also-
OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER; WHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED, 1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. WRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought:--the Spirit--helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26). ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. There is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than prayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. "It is …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links

Psalm 38:15 NIV
Psalm 38:15 NLT
Psalm 38:15 ESV
Psalm 38:15 NASB
Psalm 38:15 KJV

Psalm 38:15 Commentaries

Bible Hub