Psalm 38:1–22

¹A Psalm of David, for remembrance.

O 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,^a

and many hate me without reason.^b

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.