Psalms 38

I confess my iniquity

A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. ²For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. ³There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin.

⁴For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.a ⁵My wounds are foul and festering because of my sinful folly. ⁶I am bent and brought low; all day long I go about mourning.

⁷For my loins are full of burning pain, and no soundness remains in my body. ⁸I am numb and badly crushed; I groan in anguish of heart. ⁹O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You.b

¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails, and even the light of my eyes has faded. ¹¹My beloved and friends shun my disease, and my kinsmen stand at a distance.c ¹²Those who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.d

¹³But like a deaf man, I do not hear; and like a mute man, I do not open my mouth. ¹⁴I am like a man who cannot hear, whose mouth offers no reply. ¹⁵I wait for You, O LORD; You will answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, “Let them not gloat over me— those who taunt me when my foot slips.” ¹⁷For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me. ¹⁸Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many are my enemies without cause, and many hate me without reason. ²⁰Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.e ²¹Do not forsake me, O LORD; be not far from me, O my God.

²²Come quickly to help me, O Lord my Savior.f