Psalms 38:4-14

4 For my 1iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
6 I am 2utterly bowed down and 3prostrate; all the day I 4go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning, and there is 5no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed; I 6groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my 7sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and 8the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
11 My 9friends and companions 10stand aloof from my 11plague, and my nearest kin 12stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life 13lay their snares; those who seek my hurt 14speak of ruin and meditate 15treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like 16a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no 17rebukes.

Psalms 38:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 38

\\<>\\. This psalm was composed by David under some sore affliction, and when in great distress of mind by reason of sin, perhaps his sin with Bathsheba; and was written as a memorial of his sense of sin, of his great afflictions, and deliverance from them; and therefore is said to be "to bring to remembrance", or to refresh his memory with the said things. Kimchi and Ben Melech think the psalm was made for the sake of such as are in distress, to put them in mind and teach them how to pray. The Targum calls the psalm, ``a good remembrance concerning Israel;'' and Jarchi says it was to remember the distress of Israel before the Lord, and that it is said with respect to all Israel; though others think the word "lehazcir" is the name of a psalm tune; and Aben Ezra was of opinion that it was the first word of some pleasant poem. The Septuagint version adds, ``concerning the sabbath,'' as if it was wrote to put persons in mind of that day; whereas there is nothing in the whole psalm that has any such tendency.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Psalms 40:12; Ezra 9:6
  • 2. Psalms 35:14; Psalms 42:5, 6, 11; Psalms 43:5
  • 3. Isaiah 21:3
  • 4. [Job 30:28]
  • 5. [See ver. 3 above]
  • 6. See Psalms 22:1
  • 7. Psalms 6:6
  • 8. See Psalms 6:7
  • 9. Psalms 88:18; See Job 19:13-20
  • 10. [Luke 10:31, 32]
  • 11. Psalms 39:10; Isaiah 53:4, 8
  • 12. [Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49]
  • 13. [Matthew 22:15]; Mark 12:13; Luke 20:20; See 2 Samuel 17:1-3
  • 14. [2 Samuel 16:7, 8]
  • 15. Psalms 35:20
  • 16. Psalms 39:2, 9; Isaiah 53:7; 1 Peter 2:23
  • 17. [Job 23:4]
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.