Psalms 38:10

10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.

Psalms 38:10 in Other Translations

KJV
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
ESV
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
NLT
10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.
MSG
10 My heart's about to break; I'm a burned-out case. Cataracts blind me to God and good;
CSB
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded.

Psalms 38:10 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 38:10

My heart panteth
Or "goes about" F13; runs here and there, and finds no rest; as Aben Ezra interprets the word from the Targum he cites; though the Targum we have renders it, "my heart shakes with fear", or dread, as persons in a fever. Jarchi interprets the word, surrounded with grief; it denotes the panting or palpitation of the heart, through sorrow and dread, and the failing of it, even as at death;

my strength faileth me,
or "forsakes me" F14; bodily strength and spiritual strength; the strength of faith, hope, and confidence;

as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me;
which is often the case of persons under bodily disorders, their eyes grow dim, and sight fails them; and this might be true in a spiritual sense of the psalmist, who had lost sight of God as his covenant God; of his interest in his love, in the blessings of his grace, and in eternal salvation, and was walking in darkness, and saw no light.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rxrxo) "circuivit", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.
F14 (ynbze) "dereliquit me", Pagninus, Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Musculus, Cocceius.

Psalms 38:10 In-Context

8 I am feeble and utterly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart.
9 All my longings lie open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fails me; even the light has gone from my eyes.
11 My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds; my neighbors stay far away.
12 Those who want to kill me set their traps, those who would harm me talk of my ruin; all day long they scheme and lie.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Job 37:1
  • 2. S Psalms 31:10
  • 3. S Psalms 6:7; S Psalms 19:8; Psalms 88:9
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