Psalm 38

¹ LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.

² For your arrows have pierced me, your hand presses hard on me.

³ There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation, neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.

⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head. As a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

⁵ My wounds are loathsome and corrupt because of my foolishness.

⁶ I am in pain and bowed down greatly. I go mourning all day long.

⁷ For my waist is filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh.

⁸ I am faint and severely bruised. I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before you. My groaning is not hidden from you.

¹⁰ My heart throbs. My strength fails me. As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.

¹¹ My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.

¹² They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.

¹³ But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear. I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.

¹⁴ Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear, in whose mouth are no reproofs.

¹⁵ For I hope in you, LORD. You will answer, Lord my God.

¹⁶ For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me, or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.

¹⁸ For I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin.

¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰ They who give evil for good are also adversaries to me, because I follow what is good.

²¹ Don’t forsake me, LORD. My God, don’t be far from me.

²² Hurry to help me, Lord, my salvation.

Around Psalm 38

Book context

PsalmsEditorial draft

Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers used in Israel’s worship, written by several people over a long period. Headings name David most often, along with Asaph, the sons of Korah and others. The collection falls into five books, each ending with a short blessing of the LORD (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48), and it closes with a call for everything that has breath to praise the LORD (150:6). The psalms hold praise, lament, thanksgiving, confession and trust, so readers find words for nearly every season of life.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · broad consensus · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

About Psalms as a whole · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this book is about

“How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?” A prayer can begin like that, and in the Psalms it does. Four times the poet asks how long, and then, in the same short song, comes the turn: “But I trust in your loving kindness.”

That honesty runs through the whole book. Psalms is a collection of 150 songs and prayers, and it holds praise, thanksgiving, lament, confession, songs for the king, and reflections on wisdom and on God's law. It is arranged in five books and moves, on the whole, from many laments at the start to pure praise at the end.

Joy, fear, anger, guilt and doubt are all spoken to God directly.

Background

The psalms were written and gathered over several centuries. Their headings link about half of them with David and others with Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon and Moses. They were sung in the worship of the temple and later in synagogues and churches.

How Christians read it

Jews and Christians have prayed the Psalms daily for well over two thousand years. The New Testament quotes them more than any other book and reads many as speaking of Christ, among them Psalms 2, 22 and 110. The psalms that call for judgment on enemies are hard to read. Many understand them as handing vengeance over to God instead of taking it oneself.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 19 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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