Psalm 38/Overview/Structure

v. 1 A psalm. By David. To bring to remembrance.	Superscription
v. 2 YHWH, do not rebuke me when you’re angry, or discipline me when you’re wrathful!	My suffering	My sin has caused my suffering. There is no sound spot in my flesh.		guilt misery
v. 3 For your arrows have been shot into me, and your hand has struck me.
v. 4 There is no sound spot in my flesh because of your anger. There is no well-being in my bones because of my sin.
v. 5 For my iniquities have gone over my head. Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me to handle.
v. 6 My wounds have become foul with rot because of my folly.
v. 7 I have become completely contorted. I have walked about constantly mourning.
v. 8 For my sides are full of inflammation, and there is no sound spot in my flesh.
v. 9 I have become weak and have been crushed completely. I have been groaning because of the severe suffering of my heart.
v. 10 My Lord, everything I long for is before you, and my moaning is not hidden from you.	My abandonment	My strength and my friends have abandoned me, and my enemies pursue my harm. I am unable to speak.		abandonment vulnerability
v. 11 My heart has been pounding. My strength has abandoned me, and the light of my eyes, even that is not with me!
v. 12 Those who love me, my companions, are standing far away from my injury, and my relatives have stood at a distance.
v. 13 And those who seek to take my life have set a trap, and those who pursue my harm have been speaking of disaster, and they are constantly muttering treachery.
v. 14 But I, like a deaf person, cannot hear. And [I am] like a mute person [who] cannot open his mouth.
v. 15 And so I have become like a man who does not hear and who has no arguments in his mouth.
v. 16 But, YHWH, I have hoped for you. You yourself must answer, my Lord, my God.	My only hope	I am distressed about what will happen because of my suffering and my sin and my enemies' baseless accusations. You, YHWH, must answer. Don’t abandon me now!		distress dependence
v. 17 For I thought that they would rejoice concerning me, [those who] have considered themselves superior to me when my feet slip.
v. 18 For I am certain to stumble, and my pain is always before me.
v. 19 Although I confess my iniquity, I am distressed because of my sin.
v. 20 And those who are my enemies for no reason are mighty, and those who hate me without cause are numerous.
v. 21 And those who repay with evil in response to good accuse me in response to my pursuit of good.
v. 22 Do not abandon me, YHWH! My God, do not be far from me!
v. 23 Hurry to help me, my Lord, my salvation!