Psalm 38

Prayer of a Suffering Sinner

A psalm of David to bring remembrance.(A)

Lord, do not punish me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.(B)
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has pressed down on me.(C)

There is no soundness in my body
because of your indignation;
there is no health[a] in my bones
because of my sin.(D)
For my iniquities have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.(E)
My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.(F)
I am bent over and brought very low;
all day long I go around in mourning.(G)
For my insides are full of burning pain,
and there is no soundness in my body.(H)
I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.(I)

Lord, my every desire is in front of you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.(J)
10 My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.[b](K)
11 My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.(L)
12 Those who intend to kill me set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long.(M)

13 I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.
I am like a speechless person
who does not open his mouth.(N)
14 I am like a man who does not hear
and has no arguments in his mouth.(O)
15 For I put my hope in you, Lord;
you will answer me, my Lord, my God.(P)
16 For I said, “Don’t let them rejoice over me—
those who are arrogant toward me when I stumble.”(Q)
17 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is constantly with me.(R)
18 So I confess my iniquity;
I am anxious because of my sin.(S)
19 But my enemies are vigorous and powerful;[c]
many hate me for no reason.(T)
20 Those who repay evil for good
attack me for pursuing good.(U)

21 Lord, do not abandon me;
my God, do not be far from me.(V)
22 Hurry to help me,
my Lord, my salvation.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 38:3 Hb shalom
  2. 38:10 Or and the light of my eyes—even that is not with me
  3. 38:19 Or numerous

19 A servant cannot be disciplined by words;
though he understands, he doesn’t respond.(A)

20 Do you see someone who speaks too soon?(B)
There is more hope for a fool than for him.(C)

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Apostates: Past and Present

Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus[a] saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;(A) and the angels(B) who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day. Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah(C) and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions,[b] and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.(D)

In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones.(E) Yet when Michael(F) the archangel(G) was disputing with the devil(H) in an argument about Moses’s(I) body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct—like irrational animals—by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain,(J) have plunged into Balaam’s error(K) for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.(L)

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Footnotes

  1. 5 Other mss read the Lord, or God
  2. 7 Or and went after other flesh

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