Psalms 102:5

Because of the anxiety that makes me groan, my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

Job 19:20; Ps 6:6,8; Ps 32:3,4; Ps 38:8-10; Pr 17:22; La 4:8

¹ tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.