Psalm 38

Psalm 38

New King James Version (NKJV)

Prayer in Time of Chastening

A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.

38 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!
² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,
And Your hand presses me down.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh
Because of Your anger,
Nor any health in my bones
Because of my sin.
⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;
Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
⁵ My wounds are foul and festering
Because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
⁷ For my loins are full of inflammation,
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;
I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.
¹⁰ My heart pants, my strength fails me;
As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.

¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague,
And my relatives stand afar off.
¹² Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;
Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,
And plan deception all the day long.

¹³ But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;
And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.
¹⁴ Thus I am like a man who does not hear,
And in whose mouth is no response.

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, I hope;
You will hear, O Lord my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,
Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
¹⁸ For I will declare my iniquity;
I will be in anguish over my sin.
¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;
And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.
²⁰ Those also who render evil for good,
They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, be not far from me!
²² Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!