Psalm 38
מִזְמ֖וֹר לְדָוִ֣ד לְהַזְכִּֽיר
BSB
Do Not Rebuke Me in Your Anger
(Psalms 6:1–10)
A Psalm of David, for remembrance.
1O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath.
2For Your arrows have pierced me deeply,
and Your hand has pressed down on me.
3There is no soundness in my body
because of Your anger;
there is no rest in my bones
because of my sin.
4For my iniquities have overwhelmed me;
they are a burden too heavy to bear.
5My wounds are foul and festering
because of my sinful folly.
6I am bent and brought low;
all day long I go about mourning.
7For my loins are full of burning pain,
and no soundness remains in my body.
8I am numb and badly crushed;
I groan in anguish of heart.
9O Lord, my every desire is before You;
my groaning is not hidden from You.
10My heart pounds, my strength fails,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.
11My beloved and friends shun my disease,
and my kinsmen stand at a distance.
12Those who seek my life lay snares;
those who wish me harm speak destruction,
plotting deceit all day long.
13But like a deaf man, I do not hear;
and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth.
14I am like a man who cannot hear,
whose mouth offers no reply.
15I wait for You, O LORD;
You will answer, O Lord my God.
16For I said, “Let them not gloat over me—
those who taunt me when my foot slips.”
17For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever with me.
18Yes, I confess my iniquity;
I am troubled by my sin.
19Many are my enemies without cause,
and many hate me without reason.
20Those who repay my good with evil
attack me for pursuing the good.
21Do not forsake me, O LORD;
be not far from me, O my God.
22Come quickly to help me,
O Lord my Savior.
Introduction
Psalms 38
This is one of the penitential psalms; it is full of grief and complaint from the beginning to the end. David's sins and his afflictions are the cause of his grief and the matter of his complaints. It should seem he was now sick and in pain, which reminded him of his sins and helped to humble him for them; he was, at the same time, deserted by his friends and persecuted by his enemies; so that the psalm is calculated for the depth of distress and a complication of calamities. He complains, I. Of God's displeasure, and of his own sin which provoked God against him (Psa 38:1-5). II. Of his bodily sickness (Psa 38:6-10). III. Of the unkindness of his friends (Psa 38:11). IV. Of the injuries which his enemies did him, pleading his good conduct towards them, yet confessing his sins against God (Psa 38:12-20). Lastly, he concludes the psalm with earnest prayers to God for his gracious presence and help (Psa 38:21, Psa 38:22). In singing this psalm we ought to be much affected with the malignity of sin; and, if we have not such troubles as are here described, we know not how soon we may have, and therefore must sing of them by way of preparation and we know that others have them, and therefore we must sing of the by way of sympathy.
A psalm of David to bring to remembrance.
Cross-references: Ps 38:1 · Ps 38:6 · Ps 38:11 · Ps 38:12 · Ps 38:21 · Ps 38:22