詩篇 38
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
受苦者的祈求
大衛求上帝眷顧的詩。
38 耶和華啊，
求你不要在發怒時懲罰我，
不要在烈怒下管教我。
2 因為你的箭射穿我，
你的手擊打我。
3 你的怒氣使我渾身是病，
我的罪惡使我骨頭朽爛。
4 我的罪惡滔天，使我不堪其重。
5 我因愚昧而傷口潰爛流膿。
6 我疼得彎腰駝背，
終日哀傷。
7 我的腰灼痛難忍，
我渾身是病。
8 我精疲力盡，徹底崩潰；
我心中悲傷，呻吟不止。
9 主啊，你知道我的渴望，
聽見了我的歎息。
10 我的心砰砰直跳，
氣力衰竭，
眼睛黯淡無光。
11 因我的疾病，朋友同伴迴避我，
親人遠離我。
12 謀害我的人設下陷阱，
想害我的人威脅我，
整天圖謀奸計。
13 但我像聽不見的聾子，
無法說話的啞巴。
14 我就像一個不能聽、不能辯的人。
15 耶和華啊，我等候你；
主，我的上帝啊，你必應允我。
16 我曾求告你，
別讓他們幸災樂禍，
在我失腳時沾沾自喜。
17 我快要跌倒，
我的痛苦無休無止。
18 我要承認我的罪過，
罪惡使我心裡惴惴不安。
19 我的仇敵勢力強大，
無故恨我的人不計其數。
20 我追求良善，
他們就恨我，以惡報善。
21 耶和華啊，求你不要撇棄我！
我的上帝啊，求你不要遠離我！
22 拯救我的主啊，
求你快來幫助我！
Psalm 38
New English Translation
Psalm 38[a]
A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention.[b]
38 O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger.
Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury.[c]
2 For your arrows pierce[d] me,
and your hand presses me down.[e]
3 My whole body is sick because of your judgment;[f]
I am deprived of health because of my sin.[g]
4 For my sins overwhelm me;[h]
like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear.
5 My wounds[i] are infected and starting to smell,[j]
because of my foolish sins.[k]
6 I am dazed[l] and completely humiliated;[m]
all day long I walk around mourning.
7 For I am overcome with shame,[n]
and my whole body is sick.[o]
8 I am numb with pain and severely battered;[p]
I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel.[q]
9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire;[r]
my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart beats quickly;
my strength leaves me.
I can hardly see.[s]
11 Because of my condition,[t] even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance;[u]
my neighbors stand far away.[v]
12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me;[w]
those who want to harm me speak destructive words.
All day long they say deceitful things.
13 But I am like a deaf man—I hear nothing;
I am like a mute who cannot speak.[x]
14 I am like a man who cannot hear
and is incapable of arguing his defense.[y]
15 Yet[z] I wait for you, O Lord!
You will respond, O Lord, my God!
16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me;[aa]
when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me.[ab]
17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain.[ac]
18 Yes,[ad] I confess my wrongdoing,
and I am concerned about my sins.
19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous;[ae]
those who hate me without cause outnumber me.[af]
20 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me.[ag]
21 Do not abandon me, O Lord.
My God, do not remain far away from me.
22 Hurry and help me,[ah] O Lord, my deliverer.
Footnotes
- Psalm 38:1 sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.
- Psalm 38:1 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).
- Psalm 38:1 tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.sn Cf. Ps 38:1 with Ps 6:1, which has similar wording.
- Psalm 38:2 tn The verb Hebrew נָחַת (nakhat) apparently here means “penetrate, pierce” (note the use of the Qal in Prov 17:10). The psalmist pictures the Lord as a warrior who shoots arrows at him (see Ps 7:12-13).
- Psalm 38:2 tn Heb “and your hand [?] upon me.” The meaning of the verb נָחַת (nakhat) is unclear in this context. It could mean “your hand comes down on me.” It may be preferable to emend the form to וַתָּנַח (vattanakh) from the verb נוּחַ (nuakh, “rest”). In this case the text would read literally, “and your hand rests upon me” (see Isa 25:10, though the phrase is used in a positive sense there, unlike Ps 38:2).
- Psalm 38:3 tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh from before your anger.” “Anger” here refers metonymically to divine judgment, which is the practical effect of God’s anger at the psalmist’s sin.
- Psalm 38:3 tn Heb “there is no health in my bones from before my sin.”
- Psalm 38:4 tn Heb “pass over my head.”
- Psalm 38:5 sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.
- Psalm 38:5 tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).
- Psalm 38:5 tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”
- Psalm 38:6 tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”
- Psalm 38:6 tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”
- Psalm 38:7 tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).
- Psalm 38:7 tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).
- Psalm 38:8 tn Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”
- Psalm 38:8 tn Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”
- Psalm 38:9 tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”
- Psalm 38:10 tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).
- Psalm 38:11 tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”
- Psalm 38:11 tn Heb “stand [aloof].”
- Psalm 38:11 tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”
- Psalm 38:12 tn Heb “lay snares.”
- Psalm 38:13 sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).
- Psalm 38:14 tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”
- Psalm 38:15 tn Or perhaps “surely.”
- Psalm 38:16 tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).
- Psalm 38:16 tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.
- Psalm 38:17 tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”
- Psalm 38:18 tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
- Psalm 38:19 tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinnam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (ʿatsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).
- Psalm 38:19 tn Heb “are many.”
- Psalm 38:20 tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”
- Psalm 38:22 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.
Psalm 38
1599 Geneva Bible
38 1 David lying sick of some grievous disease, acknowledgeth himself to be chastised of the Lord for his sins, and therefore prayeth God to turn away his wrath. 5 He uttereth the greatness of his grief by many words and circumstances, as wounded with the arrows of God’s ire, forsaken of his friends, evil intreated of his enemies. 22 But in the end with firm confidence he commendeth his cause to God, and hopeth for speedy help at his hand.
A Psalm of David for [a]remembrance.
1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine [b]anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath.
2 For thine [c]arrows have light upon me, and thine hand lieth upon me.
3 There is nothing sound in my flesh, because of thine anger: neither is there rest in my bones, because of my [d]sin.
4 For mine [e]iniquities are gone over mine head, and as a weighty burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are putrefied, and corrupt because of [f]my foolishness.
6 I am bowed, and crooked very sore: I go [g]mourning all the day.
7 For my reins are full of burning, and there is nothing sound in my flesh.
8 I am weakened and sore broken: I [h]roar for the very grief of mine heart.
9 Lord, I pour my whole desire before thee, and my sighing is not hid from thee.
10 Mine heart [i]panteth: my strength faileth me, and the light of mine eyes, even [j]they are not mine own.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aside from my plague, and my [k]kinsmen stand afar off.
12 They also that seek after my life, lay snares, and they that go about to do me evil, talk wicked things and imagine deceit continually.
13 But I as a [l]deaf man heard not, and am as a dumb man, which openeth not his mouth.
14 Thus am I as a man, that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 For on thee, O Lord, do I wait: thou wilt hear me, my Lord, my God.
16 For I said, Hear me, lest they rejoice over me: for [m]when my foot slippeth, they extol themselves against me.
17 Surely I am ready to [n]halt, and my sorrow is ever before me.
18 When I declare my pain, and am sorry for my sin,
19 Then mine [o]enemies are alive, and are mighty, and they that hate me wrongfully are many.
20 They also, that reward evil for good, are mine adversaries, because I follow [p]goodness.
21 Forsake me not, O Lord, be not thou far from me, my God.
22 Haste thee, to help me, O my Lord, my [q]salvation.
Footnotes
- Psalm 38:1 To put himself and others in mind of God’s chastisement for sin.
- Psalm 38:1 He desireth not to be exempted from God’s rod, but that he would so moderate his hand, that he might be able to bear it.
- Psalm 38:2 Thy sickness, wherewith thou hast visited me.
- Psalm 38:3 David acknowledgeth God to be just in his punishments, because his sins had deserved much more.
- Psalm 38:4 He confesseth his sins, God’s justice, and maketh prayer his refuge.
- Psalm 38:5 That rather gave place to mine own lusts, than to the will of God.
- Psalm 38:6 Or, black as one that is disfigured and consumed with sickness.
- Psalm 38:8 This example warneth us never to despair, be the torment never so great: but always to cry unto God with sure trust for deliverance.
- Psalm 38:10 Hebrew, runneth about, or, is tossed to and fro, meaning, that he was destitute of all help and counsel.
- Psalm 38:10 My sight faileth me for very sorrow.
- Psalm 38:11 Partly for fear and partly for pride, they denied all duty and friendship.
- Psalm 38:13 For I can have no audience before men, and therefore patiently wait for the help of God.
- Psalm 38:16 That is, if they see that thou succor me not in time, they will mock and triumph, as though thou hadst forsaken me.
- Psalm 38:17 I am without hope to recover my strength.
- Psalm 38:19 In my greatest misery they most rejoice.
- Psalm 38:20 He had rather have the hatred of all the world, than to fail in any part of his duty to Godward.
- Psalm 38:22 Which are the author of my salvation: and this declareth that he prayed with sure hope of deliverance.
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