For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
Psalm 38 stands among seven psalms known as the Penitential Psalms, together with Psalms 6, 25, 32, 35, 51, and 130, with Psalm 51 as the familiar example. The verse is a prayer of conviction and confession in which conviction of sin leads the penitent to declare iniquity and be sorry for sin. The arrows of conviction pierce the heart and make the sinner loathe both sin and self because of it.
Conscience was already active under the Old Testament dispensation, as this psalm makes plain. The psalm also reaches beyond David to convey prophetically Christ's innermost experience in his struggles with the enemy. By revealing the suffering he endured when tempted, it shows him as able to help those who are tempted.
Psalm 38 stands among seven psalms known as the Penitential Psalms, together with Psalms 6, 25, 32, 35, 51, and 130, with Psalm 51 as the familiar example. The verse is a prayer of conviction and confession in which conviction of sin leads the penitent to declare iniquity and be sorry for sin. The arrows of conviction pierce the heart and make the sinner loathe both sin and self because of it.
Conscience was already active under the Old Testament dispensation, as this psalm makes plain. The psalm also reaches beyond David to convey prophetically Christ's innermost experience in his struggles with the enemy. By revealing the suffering he endured when tempted, it shows him as able to help those who are tempted.