Mazmur 38:9-22

38:9 O Lord, you understand my heart’s desire; ¹ 

my groaning is not hidden from you.

38:10 My heart beats quickly;

my strength leaves me;

I can hardly see. ² 

38:11 Because of my condition, ³  even my friends and acquaintances keep their distance; ⁴ 

my neighbors stand far away. ⁵ 

38:12 Those who seek my life try to entrap me; ⁶ 

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. ⁷ 

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ⁸ 

38:15 Yet ⁹  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; ¹⁰ 

when my foot slips they will arrogantly taunt me. ¹¹ 

38:17 For I am about to stumble,

and I am in constant pain. ¹² 

38:18 Yes, ¹³  I confess my wrongdoing,

and I am concerned about my sins.

38:19 But those who are my enemies for no reason are numerous; ¹⁴ 

those who hate me without cause outnumber me. ¹⁵ 

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. ¹⁶ 

38:21 Do not abandon me, O Lord!

My God, do not remain far away from me!

38:22 Hurry and help me, ¹⁷  O Lord, my deliverer!

[38:9]  ¹ tn Heb “O Lord, before you [is] all my desire.”

[38:10]  ² 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).

[38:11]  ³ tn Or “wound,” or “illness.”

[38:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “stand [aloof].”

[38:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the ones near me off at a distance stand.”

[38:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “lay snares.”

[38:13]  ⁷ 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).

[38:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

[38:15]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

[38:16]  ¹⁰ 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).

[38:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they will magnify against me.” See Pss 35:26; 55:13.

[38:17]  ¹² tn Heb “and my pain [is] before me continually.”

[38:18]  ¹³ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[38:19]  ¹⁴ 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”).

[38:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “are many.”

[38:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the ones who repay evil instead of good accuse me, instead of my pursuing good.”

[38:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Ps 22:19.