Psaume 38:6-16

6 Mes plaies sont fétides, et elles coulent, à cause de ma folie.
7 Je suis courbé, affaissé au dernier point; je marche en deuil tout le jour.
8 Car mes reins sont pleins d'inflammation; il n'y a rien d'entier dans ma chair.
9 Je suis affaibli et tout brisé; je rugis dans l'agitation de mon cœur.
10 Seigneur, tout mon désir est devant toi, et mon gémissement ne t'est point caché.
11 Mon cœur palpite, ma force m'abandonne; et la lumière de mes yeux même, je ne l'ai plus.
12 Devant le coup qui me frappe, mes amis, mes compagnons s'arrêtent, et mes proches se tiennent loin.
13 Ceux qui en veulent à ma vie me tendent des pièges; ceux qui cherchent mon mal parlent de ruine, et chaque jour ils méditent des tromperies.
14 Mais moi, comme un sourd, je n'entends point; je suis comme un muet qui n'ouvre point la bouche.
15 Oui, je suis comme un homme qui n'entend point, et qui n'a point de réplique en sa bouche.
16 Car c'est à toi, Éternel, que je m'attends; tu répondras, Seigneur, mon Dieu!

Psaume 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.

The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.