This Psalm is about repentance but also sounds very much like Psalm 31. It centers around his ill health that he interprets as chastisement for sin about which he feels guilty. So the Psalm is a plea for forgiveness, and healing.
"I Cor. 11: ___ "For this cause many are weak and sickly and many sleep." Many, says Paul, are weak and sickly for a reason. There is a cause. There is an effect. There is a solution.
When some strange, or prolonged, or undiagnosed illness plagues us along with a sense of having grieved the Holy Spirit, then we need to understand, and respond to the rebuke of the Lord.
It's not just a matter of quickly saying, "Whoops, forgive me if I have sinned." But It is a prolonged time of introspection, specific confession, and waiting on the Lord for his heavy hand to be removed. Waiting on God is not a bad thing. It's a good thing.
In another place David said, "It was good for me to be afflicted." And "Before I was afflicted I went astray."
Not all sickness is chastisement and not all chastisements are sicknesses. But "many", as Paul mentions, ought to give us pause for introspection.
New King James Bible, Bible Gateway Index
Our Devotional Index