PSALM 38

Prayer of a Suffering Penitent.

A Psalm of David, for a memorial.

1 O Lord, arebuke me not in Your wrath,

And chasten me not in Your burning anger.

2 For Your aarrows have sunk deep into me,

And bYour hand has pressed down on me.

3 There is ano soundness in my flesh bbecause of Your indignation;

There is no health cin my bones because of my sin.

4 For my ainiquities are gone over my head;

As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

5 My 1wounds grow foul and fester

Because of amy folly.

6 I am bent over and agreatly bowed down;

I bgo mourning all day long.

7 For my loins are filled with aburning,

And there is bno soundness in my flesh.

8 I am abenumbed and 1badly crushed;

I 2bgroan because of the 3agitation of my heart.

9 Lord, all amy desire is 1before You;

And my bsighing is not hidden from You.

10 My heart throbs, amy strength fails me;

And the blight of my eyes, even 1that 2has gone from me.

11 My 1aloved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague;

And my kinsmen bstand afar off.

12 Those who aseek my life blay snares for me;

And those who cseek to injure me have 1threatened destruction,

And they ddevise treachery all day long.

13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;

And I am like a amute man who does not open his mouth.

14 Yes, I am like a man who does not hear,

And in whose mouth are no arguments.

15 For aI 1hope in You, O Lord;

You bwill answer, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, “May they not rejoice over me,

Who, when my foot slips, awould magnify themselves against me.”

17 For I am aready to fall,

And bmy 1sorrow is continually before me.

18 For I 1aconfess my iniquity;

I am full of banxiety because of my sin.

19 But my aenemies are vigorous and 1strong,

And many are those who bhate me wrongfully.

20 And those who arepay evil for good,

They boppose me, because I follow what is good.

21 Do not forsake me, O Lord;

O my God, ado not be far from me!

22 Make ahaste to help me,

O Lord, bmy salvation!