Prayer in Time of Chastening

A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.

38 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure!² For Your arrows pierce me deeply,And Your hand presses me down.

³ There is no soundness in my fleshBecause of Your anger,Nor any health in my bonesBecause of my sin.⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head;Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.⁵ My wounds are foul and festeringBecause of my foolishness.

⁶ I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly;I go mourning all the day long.⁷ For my loins are full of inflammation,And there is no soundness in my flesh.⁸ I am feeble and severely broken;I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.

⁹ Lord, all my desire is before You;And my sighing is not hidden from You.¹⁰ My heart pants, my strength fails me;As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me.

¹¹ My loved ones and my friends stand aloof from my plague,And my relatives stand afar off.¹² Those also who seek my life lay snares for me;Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction,And plan deception all the day long.

¹³ But I, like a deaf man, do not hear;And I am like a mute who does not open his mouth.¹⁴ Thus I am like a man who does not hear,And in whose mouth is no response.

¹⁵ For in You, O Lord, I hope;You will hear, O Lord my God.¹⁶ For I said, “Hear me, lest they rejoice over me,Lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.”

¹⁷ For I am ready to fall,And my sorrow is continually before me.¹⁸ For I will declare my iniquity;I will be in anguish over my sin.¹⁹ But my enemies are vigorous, and they are strong;And those who hate me wrongfully have multiplied.²⁰ Those also who render evil for good,They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.

²¹ Do not forsake me, O Lord;O my God, be not far from me!²² Make haste to help me,O Lord, my salvation!