Psalm 38: Rebuke Me Not In Thy Wrath Poem by King David of Israel

1 O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath:
neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

2 For thine arrows stick fast in me,
and thy hand presseth me sore.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger;
neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head:
as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

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

6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.

7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease:
and there is no soundness in my flesh.

8 I am feeble and sore broken:
I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

9 Lord, all my desire is before thee;
and my groaning is not hid from thee.

10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me:
as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore;
and my kinsmen stand afar off.

12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me:
and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
and imagine deceits all the day long.

13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not;
and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not,
and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope:
thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, Hear me,
lest otherwise they should rejoice over me:
when my foot slippeth,
they magnify themselves against me.

17 For I am ready to halt,
and my sorrow is continually before me.

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

19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong:
and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries;
because I follow the thing that good is.

21 Forsake me not, O LORD:
O my God, be not far from me.

22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord my salvation.

(KJV)