Text -- Psalms 38:4-22 (NET)

38:4 For my sins overwhelm me; like a heavy load, they are too much for me to bear. 38:5 My wounds are infected and starting to smell, because of my foolish sins. 38:6 I am dazed and completely humiliated; all day long I walk around mourning. 38:7 For I am overcome with shame and my whole body is sick. 38:8 I am numb with pain and severely battered; I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. 38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; my groaning is not hidden from you. 38:10 My heart beats quickly; my strength leaves me; I can hardly see. 38:11 Because of my condition, even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; my neighbors stand far away. 38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; those who want to harm me speak destructive words; all day long they say deceitful things. 38:13 But I am like a deaf man– I hear nothing; I am like a mute who cannot speak. 38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear and is incapable of arguing his defense. 38:15 Yet I wait for you, O Lord! You will respond, O Lord, my God! 38:16 I have prayed for deliverance, because otherwise they will gloat over me; when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. 38:17 For I am about to stumble, and I am in constant pain. 38:18 Yes, I confess my wrongdoing, and I am concerned about my sins. 38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; those who hate me without cause outnumber me. 38:20 They repay me evil for the good I have done; though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me. 38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord! My God, do not remain far away from me! 38:22 Hurry and help me, O Lord, my deliverer!

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 38:4

¹ tn Heb “pass over my head.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:5

¹ sn The reference to wounds may be an extension of the metaphorical language of v. 2. The psalmist pictures himself as one whose flesh is ripped and torn by arrows.

² tn Heb “my wounds stink, they are festering” (cf. NEB).

³ tn Heb “from before my foolishness.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:6

¹ tn The verb’s precise shade of meaning in this context is not entirely clear. The verb, which literally means “to bend,” may refer to the psalmist’s posture. In Isa 21:3 it seems to mean “be confused, dazed.”

² tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:7

¹ tn Heb “for my loins are filled with shame.” The “loins” are viewed here as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. The present translation assumes that נִקְלֶה (niqleh) is derived from קָלָה (qalah, “be dishonored”). Some derive it instead from a homonymic root קָלָה (qalah), meaning “to roast.” In this case one might translate “fever” (cf. NEB “my loins burn with fever”).

² tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

NET Notes: Psa 38:8

¹ tn Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”

² tn Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:9

¹ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:10

¹ tn Heb “and the light of my eyes, even they, there is not with me.” The “light of the eyes” may refer to physical energy (see 1 Sam 14:27, 29), life itself (Ps 13:3), or the ability to see (Prov 29:23).

NET Notes: Psa 38:11

¹ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

² tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

³ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:12

¹ tn Heb “lay snares.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:13

¹ sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

NET Notes: Psa 38:14

¹ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:15

¹ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:16

¹ tn Heb “For I said, ‘Lest they rejoice over me.’” The psalmist recalls the motivating argument of his petition. He probably prefaced this statement with a prayer for deliverance (see Pss 7:1-2; 13:3-4; 28:1).

² tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

NET Notes: Psa 38:17

¹ tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:18

¹ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

NET Notes: Psa 38:19

¹ tn Heb “and my enemies, life, are many.” The noun חַיִּים (khayyim, “life”) fits very awkwardly here. The translation assumes an emendation to חִנָּם (khinam, “without reason”; note the parallelism with שֶׁקֶר [sheqer, “falsely”] and see Pss 35:19; 69:4; Lam 3:52). The verb עָצַם (’atsam) can sometimes mean “are strong,” but here it probably focuses on numerical superiority (note the parallel verb רָבַב, ravav, “be many”).

² tn Heb “are many.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:20

¹ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

NET Notes: Psa 38:22

¹ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.