Sickness and Wholeness in Psalm 38
Luke Ijezie
Abstract
The Bible presents YHWH, Israel’s God, as a God of healing, just as He is also a Gd of justice and a God of mercy. He is
seen as the answer to human sickness, whether natural or caused by human sin. All these are dramatized in the text of
Psalm 38. The Psalmist is presented as suffering from a serious sickness that has affected his entire frame, and the
sickness is attributed to his sinfulness. The Bible often presents sickness as a consequence oi human sin. This paper
examines the idea of sickness n the entire text of Psalm 38 together with the proposed means of regaining wholeness. The study of the psalm opens up discussion on some aspects of the traditional and modern approaches to sickness and healing, most particularly in the African context. The historical critical method of exegesis Is adopted in the analysis as it helps to address both the diachronic and synchronic dimensions of the text.