Psalm 38

The Prayer of a Suffering Man^m

38 O Lord, don’t punish me in your anger!

²You have wounded me with your arrows;

you have struck me down.

³Because of your anger, I am in great pain;

my whole body is diseased because of my sins.

⁴I am drowning in the flood of my sins;

they are a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵Because I have been foolish,

my sores stink and rot.

⁶I am bowed down, I am crushed;

I mourn all day long.

⁷I am burning with fever

and I am near to death.

⁸I am worn out and utterly crushed;

my heart is troubled, and I groan with pain.

⁹O Lord, you know what I long for;

you hear all my groans.

¹⁰My heart is pounding, my strength is gone,

and my eyes have lost their brightness.

¹¹My friends and neighbours will not come near me,

because of my sores;

even my family keeps away from me.

¹²Those who want to kill me lay traps for me,

and those who want to hurt me threaten to ruin me;

they never stop plotting against me.

¹³I am like the deaf and cannot hear,

like the dumb and cannot speak.

¹⁴I am like those who do not answer,

because they cannot hear.

¹⁵But I trust in you, O Lord;

and you, O Lord my God, will answer me.

¹⁶Don’t let my enemies gloat over my distress;

don’t let them boast about my downfall!

¹⁷I am about to fall

and am in constant pain.

¹⁸I confess my sins;

they fill me with anxiety.

¹⁹My enemies are healthy and strong;

there are many who hate me for no reason.

²⁰Those who pay back evil for good

are against me because I try to do right.

²¹Do not abandon me, O Lord;

do not stay away, my God!

²²Help me now, O Lord my saviour!