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

King James Version (KJV)
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
New Living Translation (NLT)
10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.
The Message Bible (MSG)
10 My heart's about to break; I'm a burned-out case. Cataracts blind me to God and good;
American Standard Version (ASV)
10 My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me: As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
10 My heart is pounding. I have lost my strength. Even the light of my eyes has left me.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me, and even the light of my eyes has faded.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
10 My heart pounds. My strength is gone. My eyes can hardly see.

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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