Psalm 38
The Message
38 1-2 Take a deep breath, God; calm down—
don’t be so hasty with your punishing rod.
Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood;
my backside stings from your discipline.
3-4 I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months
because of your accusation.
My bones are brittle as dry sticks
because of my sin.
I’m swamped by my bad behavior,
collapsed under an avalanche of guilt.
5-8 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots
because I’ve lived so badly.
And now I’m flat on my face
feeling sorry for myself morning to night.
All my insides are on fire,
my body is a wreck.
I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it—
my life is a vomit of groans.
9-16 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight,
my groans an old story to you.
My heart’s about to break;
I’m a burned-out case.
Cataracts blind me to God and good;
old friends avoid me like the plague.
My cousins never visit,
my neighbors stab me in the back.
My competitors blacken my name,
devoutly they pray for my ruin.
But I’m deaf and mute to it all,
ears shut, mouth shut.
I don’t hear a word they say,
don’t speak a word in response.
What I do, God, is wait for you,
wait for my Lord, my God—you will answer!
I wait and pray so they won’t laugh me off,
won’t smugly strut off when I stumble.
17-20 I’m on the edge of losing it—
the pain in my gut keeps burning.
I’m ready to tell my story of failure,
I’m no longer smug in my sin.
My enemies are alive and in action,
a lynch mob after my neck.
I give out good and get back evil
from God-haters who can’t stand a God-lover.
21-22 Don’t dump me, God;
my God, don’t stand me up.
Hurry and help me;
I want some wide-open space in my life!
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
Living Bible
38 O Lord, don’t punish me while you are angry! 2 Your arrows have struck deep; your blows are crushing me. 3-4 Because of your anger, my body is sick, my health is broken beneath my sins. They are like a flood, higher than my head; they are a burden too heavy to bear. 5-6 My wounds are festering and full of pus. Because of my sins, I am bent and racked with pain. My days are filled with anguish. 7 My loins burn with inflammation,[a] and my whole body is diseased. 8 I am exhausted and crushed; I groan in despair.[b]
9 Lord, you know how I long for my health once more. You hear my every sigh. 10 My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. 11 My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease. Even my own family stands at a distance.
12 Meanwhile my enemies are trying to kill me. They plot my ruin and spend all their waking hours planning treachery. 13-14 But I am deaf to all their threats; I am silent before them as a man who cannot speak. I have nothing to say. 15 For I am waiting for you, O Lord my God. Come and protect me. 16 Put an end to their arrogance, these who gloat when I am cast down!
17 How constantly I find myself upon the verge of sin;[c] this source of sorrow always stares me in the face. 18 I confess my sins; I am sorry for what I have done. 19 But my enemies persecute with vigor and continue to hate me—though I have done nothing against them to deserve it. 20 They repay me evil for good and hate me for standing for the right.
21 Don’t leave me, Lord; don’t go away! 22 Come quickly! Help me, O my Savior.
Footnotes
- Psalm 38:7 My loins burn with inflammation, implied.
- Psalm 38:8 in despair, or “because of the pains in my heart.”
- Psalm 38:17 How constantly I find myself upon the verge of sin, literally, “I am ready to fall.”
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.