Psalm 38

¹ Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
    or discipline me in your wrath.
² Your arrows have pierced me,
    and your hand has come down on me.
³ Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;
    there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.
⁴ My guilt has overwhelmed me
    like a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵ My wounds fester and are loathsome
    because of my sinful folly.
⁶ I am bowed down and brought very low;
    all day long I go about mourning.
⁷ My back is filled with searing pain;
    there is no health in my body.
⁸ I am feeble and utterly crushed;
    I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹ All my longings lie open before you, Lord;
    my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹⁰ My heart pounds, my strength fails me;
    even the light has gone from my eyes.
¹¹ My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;
    my neighbors stay far away.
¹² Those who want to kill me set their traps,
    those who would harm me talk of my ruin;
    all day long they scheme and lie.

¹³ I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,
    like the mute, who cannot speak;
¹⁴ I have become like one who does not hear,
    whose mouth can offer no reply.
¹⁵ Lord, I wait for you;
    you will answer, Lord my God.
¹⁶ For I said, “Do not let them gloat
    or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”

¹⁷ For I am about to fall,
    and my pain is ever with me.
¹⁸ I confess my iniquity;
    I am troubled by my sin.
¹⁹ Many have become my enemies without cause;
    those who hate me without reason are numerous.
²⁰ Those who repay my good with evil
    lodge accusations against me,
    though I seek only to do what is good.

²¹ Lord, do not forsake me;
    do not be far from me, my God.
²² Come quickly to help me,
    my Lord and my Savior.