Psalms 38:6-16

6 I am bent over and 1greatly bowed down; I 2go mourning all day long.
7 For my loins are filled with 3burning, And there is 4no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am 5benumbed and badly crushed; I 6groan because of the agitation of my heart.
9 Lord, all 7my desire is before You; And my 8sighing is not hidden from You.
10 My heart throbs, 9my strength fails me; And the 10light of my eyes, even that has gone from me.
11 My 11loved ones and my friends stand aloof * from my plague; And my kinsmen 12stand afar off.
12 Those who 13seek my life 14lay snares for me; And those who 15seek to injure me have threatened destruction, And they 16devise treachery all day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; And I am like a 17mute 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 18I hope in You, O LORD; You 19will answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, "May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, 20would magnify themselves against me."

Psalms 38:6-16 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 20

  • 1. Psalms 35:14
  • 2. Job 30:28; Psalms 42:9; Psalms 43:2
  • 3. Psalms 102:3
  • 4. Psalms 38:3
  • 5. Lamentations 1:13, 20; Lamentations 2:11; Lamentations 5:17
  • 6. Job 3:24; Psalms 22:1; Psalms 32:3
  • 7. Psalms 10:17
  • 8. Psalms 6:6; Psalms 102:5
  • 9. Psalms 31:10
  • 10. Psalms 6:7; Psalms 69:3; Psalms 88:9
  • 11. Psalms 31:11; Psalms 88:18
  • 12. Luke 23:49
  • 13. Psalms 54:3
  • 14. Psalms 140:5
  • 15. Psalms 35:4
  • 16. Psalms 35:20
  • 17. Psalms 39:2, 9
  • 18. Psalms 39:7
  • 19. Psalms 17:6
  • 20. Psalms 35:26

Footnotes 9

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