Tap any verse number for what that verse means.
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.
Understand This
Psalm 38, explained
What Psalm 38 is saying
Psalm 38, the third Penitential Psalm, describes suffering with unflinching physical detail: wounds festering, back filled with searing pain, heart pounding, strength failing, eyes losing their light. The psalmist acknowledges that his suffering stems from sin ('because of my sinful folly'), yet simultaneously laments the abandonment by friends and the plotting of enemies. The repeated structure of complaint punctuated by 'but I trust in You, LORD' creates a dialectic of agony and faith.
The background behind it
The superscription 'for remembrance' (l'hazkir) may indicate its association with the memorial offering or its function as a prayer to bring the sufferer to God's remembrance. The vivid physical descriptions have led some scholars to associate it with a specific illness, though the language may be metaphorical for the consequences of sin.
Themes running underneath
The psalm holds together what many theologies separate: sin as the cause of suffering and yet continued appeal to God's mercy. The silence of the psalmist before his accusers ('I am like the deaf... like the mute') anticipates the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who 'did not open his mouth.'
Why it still matters
Psalm 38 gives language to those who know their suffering is connected to their own choices yet still need God's help. It models the paradox of guilt-laden prayer: confessing fault while simultaneously calling on God's faithfulness.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.