Psalms 38:1

A psalm of David, written to get God’s attention. ²  O Lord, do not continue to rebuke me in your anger! Do not continue to punish me in your raging fury! ³ 

De 9:19; Ps 6:1; Ps 70:1; Ps 88:7,15,16; Isa 27:8; Isa 54:8; Jer 10:24; Jer 30:11; Hab 3:2; Heb 12:5-11

¹ sn Psalm 38. The author asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies. He confesses his sin and recognizes that the crisis he faces is the result of divine discipline. Yet he begs the Lord not to reject him.

² tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “to cause to remember.” The same form, the Hiphil infinitive of זָכַר (zakhar, “remember”), also appears in the heading of Ps 70. Some understand this in the sense of “for the memorial offering,” but it may carry the idea of bringing one’s plight to God’s attention (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 303).

³ tn The words “continue to” are supplied in the translation of both lines. The following verses make it clear that the psalmist is already experiencing divine rebuke/punishment. He asks that it might cease.

sn Compare Ps 38:1 with Ps 6:1, which has similar wording.