Psalm 38

A psalm of David. A petition.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

²Your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

³Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

⁴My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

⁶I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

⁷My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹All my longings lie open before you, Lord;

my sighing is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbors stay far away.

¹²Those who want to kill me set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they scheme and lie.

¹³I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,

like the mute, who cannot speak;

¹⁴I have become like one who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

¹⁵Lord, I wait for you;

you will answer, Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, “Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

¹⁷For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many have become my enemies without cause;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰Those who repay my good with evil

lodge accusations against me,

though I seek only to do what is good.

²¹Lord, do not forsake me;

do not be far from me, my God.

²²Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my Savior.