Psalms 38:6-10

38:6 I am dazed ¹  and completely humiliated; ² 

all day long I walk around mourning.

38:7 For I am overcome with shame ³ 

and my whole body is sick. ⁴ 

38:8 I am numb with pain and severely battered; ⁵ 

I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ⁶ 

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ⁷ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ⁸ 

[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.”

[38:6]  ² tn Heb “I am bowed down to excess.”

[38:7]  ³ 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”).

[38:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “there is no soundness in my flesh” (see v. 3).

[38:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “I am numb and crushed to excess.”

[38:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “I roar because of the moaning of my heart.”

[38:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[38:10]  ⁹ 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).